so back at the time I got the cat replaced back in August, I had other issues start happening to the car.
car was idling really bad still, it was missing 100 times a minute. replaced spark plugs, didnt fix problem, tested coil packs, they weren't bad, #2 fuel injector was bad, replaced it, didn't solve issue.
did a compression test, got
Cyl 1 - 130
Cyl 2 - 0
Cyl 3 - 60
Cyl 4 - 90
did a wet compression test, same results. so knew it was in the head.
mechanic friend of mine (at the time) started taking it apart to get the head off to a machine shop. She coudn't get the crank pulley bolt off, didn't have the right tools. She even broke an extension with a breaker bar trying to get it off.
So, after wasting money renting an 8 hp gas compressor, a 3/4" air gun and a 1/2" air gun, she still couldn't budge the damn crank pulley bolt.
So I rented a tow dolly and towed it to a shop. They finally got it off, and I towed the car back to my friend's house on the 27th.
Getting the car on the dolly she rips my front bumper completely off my car and then trashed my rear bumper and the lower portion of my trunk decklid, and broke my taillight lenses by using her car to push it up the driveway. I didn't want her to do this, but she did it anyway. I was so angry.
On the 28th, I had to go back up to Ft. Collins for work, so I told my friend that was working on it to text me when she had the head off the car. She said no problem.
Well Sept 30th, comes and goes and I haven't heard a word, so I'm like wtf. Text her and ask for a status update and she said the head was off, and she took it to a machine shop. So I ask her what shop, so I can call over there and talk about whats wrong with it, what parts are being put in, etc. She says she doesn't know. WTF?!?!?! How do you not know what shop you took it to? You got in your car and you drove there. You know what ****ing shop it is, I'm not stupid. Then I was like you were supposed to text me when you had it off and let me know. Oh yeah, I forgot sorry, lol.
Sorry but I am NOT laughing! I'm like you need to communicate this stuff with me and she's like ok, I'll do a better job.
So the 2nd of October comes, she text me again and says the shop called, valves are burnt, and valve guides are bad. It's $620 part/labor/tax to fix the head. I asked her for the number of the shop and she says I don't have it, but gave me the name of the machine shop finally, and I'm like they just called you and you don't have the number? ANd I'm like no, you know the number. Tired of being lied to and not taken seriously.
I'm like this is MY car, I have a right to know who is working on it, what's being done to it, I have a right to know what parts are being used, and I have the right to talk to the shop. I'm really losing my patience at this point.
Then this dumb ***** tells me to fix my car myself, and that she isn't doing another thing and not putting it back together. I was beyond pissed, and I was more than right to be upset with her. Never cussed at her, or called her names, was just like you need to be relaying the info I ask for, and she just screwed me over right in the middle of the repairs. Left me with no way to fix it, and it was stuck a mutual friends house.
This stupid bag of douche took all my bolts and parts, and just threw them in a garbage bag. Conveniently she also lost one of my timing chain tensioner guides and my exhaust header bolts. I was so effing pissed but glad I had only paid her $175 to this point. $100 in cash (big mistake) and $75 check.
Thanks to a different friend, I got a referral to another female mechanic who went over there trying to get the car done and running. But she couldn't get it all done because her job and school kept interrupting the progress, and she was like if we can get it towed to her house, she could get it done.
So Oct 12, I went over there with a truck and dolly and loaded up my car, my bumper, and my bicycle and bike rack and towed it all up to Loveland to my new mechanics house.
New mechanic was almost done with it, when the stupid neighbors started complaining about the car being worked on, which is apparently against HOA rules, and some cop left a warning notice on my car in the street, move it within 72 hours, or it will be towed.
So she couldn't finish the job. But she gave me $150 of the $300 I had given her back, so I was really appreciative of her honesty.
I found an ASE certified mechanic on craigslist, 26 years experience, said he could finish it for $250, which was the rest of the money I was gonna pay the mechanic that was just working on it.
Got it towed over there last night, and he called today and said it will be done Monday before noon.
So I am FINALLY going to get my car back tomorrow...and it's been 8 frickin' weeks this crap has been going on and I haven't had my car. :banghead:
So the head has 8 new valves, the other 8 were fine, new valve guides, and everything was checked for warps and cracks, and the decking was checked.
new water pump
new thermostat and housing
new spark plugs
radiator/cooling system flush
oil drained, with new oil and filter
had to replace the missing timing chain tensioner guide.
I am having a sinus surgery on Tuesday, so will be out of work for 10 days, but once I get back to work and get a paycheck coming again, then I have to buy 2 new bumpers (front and rear), have them painted and installed, along with my front bumper lip.
Then I got get the driver 1/4 panel re-painted because it's faded and peeling, and then have the rear deck lid fixed and repainted.
then i gotta get the big dent out of the roof (someone threw a rock through my rear window last november), probably repaint it too.
and at some point, get the door moldings removed and tab slots filled in and repaint the doors.
so before the end of the year the car is gonna be looking pretty snazzy finally.
never again will I let a friend do "sidework" on my car.
If this guy that is working on it now (cleaning up the mess of the first idiot) does a good job, then I'm gonna bring it back to him and have him do
new alternator and serpentine belt
shocks/struts/springs (yes I'm gonna lower it!)
new fuel pump/filter
cv boots
and some time next year have him put in the new forged ERL shortblock.
there's some other stuff, but right now idk what it is, got it written down in my notebook.
im gonna put on new injectors and coil on plugs next chance I get cause I can do that myself.
take it to get a 4 wheel alignment
put a new battery in it.
so ya, i learned a lesson, next time just take it to a shop and let them hassle with it. Don't trust friends. ever.
this has been a giant cluster **** and I'm glad it's about over. shoulda taken it to a shop to begin with and I'd have paid a lot less and been done by now!
car was idling really bad still, it was missing 100 times a minute. replaced spark plugs, didnt fix problem, tested coil packs, they weren't bad, #2 fuel injector was bad, replaced it, didn't solve issue.
did a compression test, got
Cyl 1 - 130
Cyl 2 - 0
Cyl 3 - 60
Cyl 4 - 90
did a wet compression test, same results. so knew it was in the head.
mechanic friend of mine (at the time) started taking it apart to get the head off to a machine shop. She coudn't get the crank pulley bolt off, didn't have the right tools. She even broke an extension with a breaker bar trying to get it off.
So, after wasting money renting an 8 hp gas compressor, a 3/4" air gun and a 1/2" air gun, she still couldn't budge the damn crank pulley bolt.
So I rented a tow dolly and towed it to a shop. They finally got it off, and I towed the car back to my friend's house on the 27th.
Getting the car on the dolly she rips my front bumper completely off my car and then trashed my rear bumper and the lower portion of my trunk decklid, and broke my taillight lenses by using her car to push it up the driveway. I didn't want her to do this, but she did it anyway. I was so angry.
On the 28th, I had to go back up to Ft. Collins for work, so I told my friend that was working on it to text me when she had the head off the car. She said no problem.
Well Sept 30th, comes and goes and I haven't heard a word, so I'm like wtf. Text her and ask for a status update and she said the head was off, and she took it to a machine shop. So I ask her what shop, so I can call over there and talk about whats wrong with it, what parts are being put in, etc. She says she doesn't know. WTF?!?!?! How do you not know what shop you took it to? You got in your car and you drove there. You know what ****ing shop it is, I'm not stupid. Then I was like you were supposed to text me when you had it off and let me know. Oh yeah, I forgot sorry, lol.
Sorry but I am NOT laughing! I'm like you need to communicate this stuff with me and she's like ok, I'll do a better job.
So the 2nd of October comes, she text me again and says the shop called, valves are burnt, and valve guides are bad. It's $620 part/labor/tax to fix the head. I asked her for the number of the shop and she says I don't have it, but gave me the name of the machine shop finally, and I'm like they just called you and you don't have the number? ANd I'm like no, you know the number. Tired of being lied to and not taken seriously.
I'm like this is MY car, I have a right to know who is working on it, what's being done to it, I have a right to know what parts are being used, and I have the right to talk to the shop. I'm really losing my patience at this point.
Then this dumb ***** tells me to fix my car myself, and that she isn't doing another thing and not putting it back together. I was beyond pissed, and I was more than right to be upset with her. Never cussed at her, or called her names, was just like you need to be relaying the info I ask for, and she just screwed me over right in the middle of the repairs. Left me with no way to fix it, and it was stuck a mutual friends house.
This stupid bag of douche took all my bolts and parts, and just threw them in a garbage bag. Conveniently she also lost one of my timing chain tensioner guides and my exhaust header bolts. I was so effing pissed but glad I had only paid her $175 to this point. $100 in cash (big mistake) and $75 check.
Thanks to a different friend, I got a referral to another female mechanic who went over there trying to get the car done and running. But she couldn't get it all done because her job and school kept interrupting the progress, and she was like if we can get it towed to her house, she could get it done.
So Oct 12, I went over there with a truck and dolly and loaded up my car, my bumper, and my bicycle and bike rack and towed it all up to Loveland to my new mechanics house.
New mechanic was almost done with it, when the stupid neighbors started complaining about the car being worked on, which is apparently against HOA rules, and some cop left a warning notice on my car in the street, move it within 72 hours, or it will be towed.
So she couldn't finish the job. But she gave me $150 of the $300 I had given her back, so I was really appreciative of her honesty.
I found an ASE certified mechanic on craigslist, 26 years experience, said he could finish it for $250, which was the rest of the money I was gonna pay the mechanic that was just working on it.
Got it towed over there last night, and he called today and said it will be done Monday before noon.
So I am FINALLY going to get my car back tomorrow...and it's been 8 frickin' weeks this crap has been going on and I haven't had my car. :banghead:
So the head has 8 new valves, the other 8 were fine, new valve guides, and everything was checked for warps and cracks, and the decking was checked.
new water pump
new thermostat and housing
new spark plugs
radiator/cooling system flush
oil drained, with new oil and filter
had to replace the missing timing chain tensioner guide.
I am having a sinus surgery on Tuesday, so will be out of work for 10 days, but once I get back to work and get a paycheck coming again, then I have to buy 2 new bumpers (front and rear), have them painted and installed, along with my front bumper lip.
Then I got get the driver 1/4 panel re-painted because it's faded and peeling, and then have the rear deck lid fixed and repainted.
then i gotta get the big dent out of the roof (someone threw a rock through my rear window last november), probably repaint it too.
and at some point, get the door moldings removed and tab slots filled in and repaint the doors.
so before the end of the year the car is gonna be looking pretty snazzy finally.
never again will I let a friend do "sidework" on my car.
If this guy that is working on it now (cleaning up the mess of the first idiot) does a good job, then I'm gonna bring it back to him and have him do
new alternator and serpentine belt
shocks/struts/springs (yes I'm gonna lower it!)
new fuel pump/filter
cv boots
and some time next year have him put in the new forged ERL shortblock.
there's some other stuff, but right now idk what it is, got it written down in my notebook.
im gonna put on new injectors and coil on plugs next chance I get cause I can do that myself.
take it to get a 4 wheel alignment
put a new battery in it.
so ya, i learned a lesson, next time just take it to a shop and let them hassle with it. Don't trust friends. ever.
this has been a giant cluster **** and I'm glad it's about over. shoulda taken it to a shop to begin with and I'd have paid a lot less and been done by now!