Moron mechanics

[jackbombay]

So my friend has a nice TD caddy, he got it off e-bay at the beginning of summer, I saw him in town and noted that it sounds like the timing was WAY advanced and he should bring it by my place so I could check it out for him, well today he towed it to my place, no start. I start by checking the timing, it was at 2mm  :roll:

  He also told me that when he started it lots of smoke came out from under the hood, WTF? Once I set the timing correctly I turned the key and he wasn't joking, the smoke was clearly coming from the turbo to mani connection, 2 of the bolts had fallen out and the third was really loose. Also 1 of the IP mounting bolts was loose and the one on the right side had fallen out, but was still laying on a lower part of the engine, seems the "mechanic" had an affinity for not tightening anything very much.

   After looking around town for 2 9mmX45mm bolts to no avail I "stole" 2 from my currently disassembled TD quantum, bolted the turbo back on, cranked it up and it ran sweet, smoky from all the diesel sitting in on the piston from him trying to start it before he brought it to me, but that cleaned up soon and it purrs now.

  Oh, also the idle was set to ~1300, I dropped that back to ~900 and he's in love with it all over again, it drives really nice, thats for sure.

  This is the 3rd one I've fixed like this, the other 2 were "fixed" by the one shop around here that claims to be diesel specialists, even though they sent a caddy out with the timing set to 2.1mm, even worse than the one I dealt with this morning.

  If they don't have the tools to set the timing, or don't use them how can they justify charging $80 an hour?

  Morons.

[burnt_servo]

take pictures , fill out a bill to fix the mechanics mistakes , and bill the shop that the mechanic works at their shop rate , but double your time to fix his mistakes .

and next time you have a "mechanic " fix your car , pay with a credit card .

if they screw up , document it and ask for repayment of their shoddy services  .  if they don't , have the charges reversed through your credit card company .


very rarely will i  have anything i own worked on by someone else who isn't a family member ( even then it's because i didn'y have the time myself ) .

but once in a awhile ( mostly while travelling ) something needs to be fixed by a stranger ... have some sort of recourse so you don't get raped .

[jtanguay]

i didn't know our motors could run at 2mm timing... that thing must've sounded messed up  :lol:  no wonder the idle had to be set to 1300... anything lower and it would've stalled

[fatmobile]

If they don't have the tools to set the timing, or don't use them how can they justify charging $80 an hour?

 Even if they do have the proper timing tool and don't know how to use it,... they should know what a diesel is supposed to sound like, you did you could tell right away without any special tools.
 Good thing you were around to help him out.

[jackbombay]

very rarely will i  have anything i own worked on by someone else who isn't a family member ( even then it's because i didn'y have the time myself ) .

but once in a awhile ( mostly while travelling ) something needs to be fixed by a stranger ... have some sort of recourse so you don't get raped .

  I'm the same way, I turn all my own wrenches. When I travel I bring a LOT of tools with me just in case, I might not be the fastest wrench around, but I know what I'm doing.

[jackbombay]

i didn't know our motors could run at 2mm timing... that thing must've sounded messed up  :lol:

   It sounded like a mind tone xylophone key being struck, a few thousand times a minute :shock:

  And the HG is leaking a bit of coolant down the front side of the block, but the oil is clean, the cylinder pressure must have been through the roof with the advanced timing, hopefully it'll quit losing coolant, it doesn't go through much, and the expansion tank doesn't smell of exhaust at all. If it keeps leaking I'll put a new HG on for him this winter.

[Dakotakid]

But, in all fairness, it is time for the owner to step up to the plate and get a little grease on himself as well.

[scottyroccodiesel]

I cant see how they can ever be trusted, I dont like being in a different room when even inspecting my car.  

A few years ago one of the injector lines on my moms tdi cracked, my dad who does everything himself decided well maybe the dealership should do it just in case... well my mom took it there and they quoted it for $600!!!!!!!!!!  thats with labor.....

so my dad just said no way I will do it my self.  bought the single injector line online for like $50 bucks and it took him like 1.5hours to install!

In my opinion they are all crooks

[the caveman]

I took my love of cars and became a mechanic  because i was so sick of seeing my friends and family getting ripped off. I know that 80-90 % of garages rip customers off one way or another. However now that i've been in business for myself for the last 2 1/2 years  and seeing how hard it is to keep your head above water [ i'm in Montreal so you need permits for everything, I'm very centrally located so my rent is high, chasing customers for money that they owe me etc, etc.] i can see how tempting and easy it is to hose people. I'm getting a good reputation and lots of refurals, but then i'll get someone who has heard i'm honest but then *** and *** about the price. If you don't like it go somewhere else! Those one a week cheap f..kers ruin my good mood. So instead i'm going to close up at the end of december because it's having a big strain on my health ,homelife, my bankbook, and i'm catching my self not caring -which i refuse to do. I'd rather not do it then just replacing parts that can be fixed ,or are still okay,overcharging labor . I'll work for someone else and fix my friends cars on the weekend.

[clbanman]

When I was in my teens I loved working on cars, and planned on becoming a mechanic.  I spoke with several mechanics and each one asked if I enjoyed working on cars.  The advice each time was that if I wanted to keep that sense of enjoyment, don't become a mechanic.  In the company I work for now, there are many guys who claim they were mechanics before they came there.  Some I wouldn't let assemble a swing set for me, others know what they are doing.  Modern cars involve so many systems that it involves constant training to keep on top of the technology and be skilled in all aspects.  Many mechanics that "rip people off" are just either no longer skilled enough to properly diagnose and solve a problem or can't be bothered.  Proper diagnosis can take some time, and if you're being paid flat rate it's much easier to replace a likely part and hope it fixes the problem.  Having run a business myself (non-automotive) I can appreciate how much overhead and costs that your customers never see eat into the "profits" from the money your customer shells out.   I don't envy any mechanic who is trying to make an honest living.   Having said that, my list of mechanics I trust is much shorter than those I'd never let work on my cars.

[burn_your_money]

That's the reason I do all my own work. At least if I cut corners I know about it :lol:

I've heard the "if you like working on cars, don't become a mechanic" thing a lot. I wanted to be a mechanic for the longest time.

Unfortunatly with the new cars, and even some of the old; if you charged the customer an hourly rate to fix the vehicle you would never see them again. Chasing wiring problems would be the best example of this. It just takes too long.

As much as I don`t want to say it, most mechanics do not make enough money for the work they do

[the caveman]

I should have clued in years ago when i noticed all the guys who had been mechanics for years drove the most reliable cars . who wants to come home to keep working on something you've done all day . To be honest, i'm a little burnt out after 25 years solid  and i'm almost but not quite sick of wrenching. I've only driven my 2.2 l super beetle twice this year because i have to rejet after changing exhaust [ for the 6 th time in 10 years ] and i can barely muster up any enhtusaism to do it.

[the caveman]

sorry about hijacking the thread and ranting, just had to get it off my chest   :roll:

[BlackTieTD]

I agree Tyler but the dealerships who employ the mechanics collect 4 or 5+ times the wage that they pay the mechanics. ie: When I worked at the VW/Audi dealer in town they charged over 90 bucks for service, then they would do things like have the apprentice service braking systems on audis. Do you think the guy paying a grand for brake service on his A6 is imaging that the guy doing the work is lucky to be making 15 bucks an hour and has around a year of experience with a wrench? (not knocking the apprentice of course, very nice guy)

The big dealerships, VW/Audi around here anyway, make all their money from service, not sales. They'll do what they can to stay profitable.

It should be expected more than surprising when the dealership screws you over. Its just business.

I have never paid for a 'professional mechanic' to do work on my car since leaving that job. ...except getting a wheel bearing pressed in.  :lol:

If you want it done right, do it yourself.  :mrgreen:

..or find someone you trust who owns his own shop.

[the caveman]

I was lucky in that  the dealer i worked at was pretty honest [for a dealer] , otherwise i wouldn't have stayed there for so long [ Campbell and Cameron in Verdun/Montreal ]. But yes it's always expensive at the dealer even at the honest ones. One reason i got fed up i because i had been at it so long, i was the tech and had to contend with all the pain in the ass problems -like current drains on Touaregs,or " i have a squeak behind the dash of my new passat but only on dirt roads at dusk with a S/W wind at exactly 37.5 kmh and the hvac is set at 21 o" , etc etc.