Reposted from NASIOC, this is why my car is currently out of commission. There's even a fun song. "The Fresh Prince of Engine Problems." Now this is a story all about how My life got flipped turned upside-down And I'd like to sue this jackass Whose little "repair" Caused my Subaru to be deprived of some air In Atlanta Georgia drove for days Car gave me problems in a couple of ways Stuttering stumbling and stalling, too Tried to check it out with diagnostic tools My friend's a technician, I knew he was good Worked at the dealership in my neighborhood I went for one little check-up and my mom got scared She said "you're taking it in for independent repair" I begged and pleaded with her, day after day And my car completely died while I was on the way I had to push it home so I wouldn't get a ticket I was mad at my car - I wanted to kick it I whistled for a tow truck to take me there They looked at my engine and said it was weird They had to diagnose and do some repairs And ended up starving my engine of air They had my car for days, maybe 2 or 3 Only disconnected my IACV I looked at this jerkoff And I had to declare "That's the way my cylinders get their air." Now that I have your attention, here's the problem. My car had been randomly losing all power under WOT for a while, and I couldn't figure it out. It was pretty random and hard to replicate. It was also stalling like it was out of gas, except that it wasn't out of gas. Similar conditions (i.e. completely randomly). In addition to that, I needed a new throwout bearing and my rear brakes needed some work. These are all things that I knew were happening. I have a friend who works at a dealership - he's a Subaru Master Technician, not just some guy I know. He usually does the work on my car. However, my mother (yes, I live with my parents, I'm only 20 :unamused decided that the dealership was interested in selling me a new car and was totally making **** up to make me think that my car was on its way out (PS, it probably is, based on my analysis.) Regardless, she insisted that I take it to her mechanic. After a lot of fussing, I finally decided to do so. On the way to his shop, the car completely died and had to be towed the rest of the way. We asked him to figure out why the car stalled out and wouldn't turn over, as well as inspect the brakes and transmission, particularly the throwout bearing. Three days later, I finally get the call and return to the shop. The mechanic first informs me that they "didn't have time to look at the brakes and transmission." Bull**** number one - they had three days and mine was one of the only cars there. But whatever, I go along with it. Then he tells me that the primary reason the car was stalling was that it was out of gas. Bull**** number two. I had a half-tank of gas when I got there. He insisted that "maybe that gauge is just broken." - Sure enough, getting back to my car, I had no gas and my odometer seemed a bit higher. So after all this, he says the main problem with the car was a vacuum line. Hmm. Well that makes sense, it could have been a vacuum leak. I ask him for more detail. He says there isn't supposed to be a vacuum line on the intake. :huh: I explain, "yes, there is, and there is one from the factory." "Well there isn't supposed to be one there." "Yes there is. That feeds the idle air control valve." "Well you said you were having problems with how it was idling, right?" "No, I didn't." "Anyway, we blocked that hose off, so it shouldn't give you any more trouble." "...and the car still drives?" "Oh yeah, runs just fine with that block-off plate in place." "...:unamused:" I reluctantly drive the car (after fighting with it to start and refilling it with gas again :unamused and head to work. On my way to work, I notice that all my old problems are back. Still stuttering, stalling, losing power, etc. I also notice that the brakes seem to have gotten a lot worse and that my ScanGauge has been reset. Suddenly, I get a CEL. Cylinder 3 Misfire. Oh ****! Cylinder 1. ****! Idle Air Control Valve Malfunction. FFFFFUUUUUUUU- Also, about halfway there, my brake pedal stops working completely - presumably because that vacuum line feeds the brake system with air pressure or something? I'm not sure. I had to pull up on the e-brake to stop, though. That was terrifying. Anyway, I popped the hood on my lunch break and was pretty pissed with what I saw. The "block off plate" was duct tape. My intake breather hoses were also disconnected and all the holes in my intake were duct taped up. After a lot of fighting with the tape, I managed to reconnect my intake how it was. By the time I got home, I was getting misfire codes on all my cylinders. In addition to the Idle Air Control Valve Malfunction code, I'm also getting "Idle too high" - no ****, since my car now idles at 2500rpm instead of 700. At the end of the day, my mother thinks that this mechanic is far too competent to have messed things up, and that this must just be a coincidence. My feelings are that this guy pretty much completely ****ed my engine in the face. Who's right? Is it possible that this guy's little "repairs" caused all these problems? Seems likely, since I wasn't having these problems before I took it to him. Also...uh...how do I fix all this? :sadbanana: Oh, and here's the photos of the carnage in my engine bay:
im confused. you said you took it to him for those problems, and when you got it back from him the same problems came back. so, in effect he did nothing but duct tape all your shit and pass it off as work as a lot of little independent mechanics do. My parents trust their mechanic here, just like your parents. and guess what, he screws the ever-living dog shit out of them too. either you go back and confront him on your own without their knowledge, or suck it up and take it to King and get it done right. PERIOD EDIT: and why the fuck is your engine bay soaked in water?!?!?!?!??! a wet MAF would cause the exact symptoms your are explaining BTW
It's wet because I took those photos in the rain. The question is if it got fucked up worse because of his hack job, since not only do I have returning problems but a bunch of fun new ones.
it'd probly be hard to differentiate between the problems you were having before and the problems he caused, say if you took him to court. regardless, take it to King
Take it to King at SOK or Brandon at AllPro. Get one of them to fix it right and and see if they might be willing to document what they found in writing based on the previous shops work. Retake your pictures in good light for documentation prior to the repair. Then take your chances and sue the asswipe in small claims court for what you paid him plus any other damages you may have incurred due to the hack job. Oh thanks for the coffee the other day!
like throttle body cleaner costs $99. :| (maybe $5 a can and 10mins of your time, at MOST) thats what my parents mechanic said was wrong with my sisters car, when I TOLD HIM the torque converter was bad. he said he drove it and just thought it needed throttle body cleaner. this is a guy who now works at a transmission shop..... guess what torque converter still slips like a BITCH. so needless to say, when my sister buys a torque converter and has him install it, it will be at a $99 discount.
thought we had already talked about the hack jobs that worked on your car before. you brought it to me for a couple of repairs already and they were fixed. what do you do inbetween repairs?
Nothing - my throwout bearing was something we had talked about, and the brakes were squeaking a bit. Since my mother knew I was considering selling the car, she wanted it checked out by an independent shop. So here I am. :unamused:
just call and make an appointment at SOK and we will get it fixed for you. we will be glad to document for you what we find and if it is the independants fault we will give you a copy of what we find and if it helps you to get your money back then great. i will be at SOK this week but will be gone from oct.31-nov.11. if you come in while im gone ask for Hollingsworth to work on your car.
I'm sorry, and I'm not trying to be an ass (or am I? :unamused But seriously, who the fuck read that entire OP? If you did, :rofl: at you
Just wondering. Good luck with the car. I don't think your motor will be toast. I've been replacing all of the hoses in my engine bay and don't think just duct-taping them will really cause complete motor failure.
Driving for god knows how long with no main vacuum line, though? :wtc: The car had half a tank of gas when I took it in. I got it back a few days later with no gas.
Maybe, your A/F may have been screwed up driving around with no main vac line... As far as the gas is concerned, the shop could have driven your car more than needed. Most repair shops will note mileage when they get the car. You maybe able to ask if they did that and ask to see it.
They didn't record it. :unamused: Or if they did, they aren't giving it up. I've also reset the ECU, it hasn't helped.
Well, I would look into the legalities of the shop holding the information. But, it is only $100... just saying. I am no expert, but you misfire CEL could be from you A/F ratio, because no vac line means more air is let into the throttle body than is actually needed. Are you still getting CEL for misfires after you reset your ECU?
Yep. And yeah, I know it's only $100. But having my engine repaired will probably be more. :unamused:
Well, damn wish I could help more. I guess a compression and leak down will tell you what you need to know. You should probably expect some problems like this at 200k though. Good luck at SOK.
it may end up being allpro, since the folks are still hell-bent on it being an independent shop. More likely than not I'll tell them to fuck their faces, since their last "independent, competent mechanic" duct taped my fucking vacuum lines closed.
Please record that conversation with your parents some how and post it here! I have never had any experience with AllPro, but I have been there and hear they do good work. Either should have you back up and running.
if you do take it to another independant shop the only one i would suggest you take it to would be ALLPRO. look them up on yellow pages and talk to Brandon. he will do you rite.
only one I was planning on. Nothing personal, King. My mom just isn't too bright, and you guys do have the infamous Troncalli sales department. :hs:
if you come to SOK and feel you are being hassled to trade by one of hte salesman just tell them to screw off and that you wont be needing any help from them. Brandon is a highly qualified subaru tech and has been through subaru school just as i have. with that said if you do take it to ALLPRO its not like your taking your car to some independant shop that has no clue about subaru. Brandon knows subaru very well and his diagnosis would be just as good as any dealership.
Oh, I know how to handle them, and I know all the great stuff about Allpro. Appreciate the help, folks. Now I'm just trying to build my case against this jerkoff. :unamused:
You have no case. Your car was broken when you brought it in. The guy duct taped some things, and told you it was repaired. You drove it away still broken, and along the way more things broke. If your car was running well when you pulled into the Mechanics to begin with, you would have a case. As your situation is now, you have nothing. If you are lucky, you might be able to get the guy to refund you some of what you paid to have your car repaired (which in his mind meant duct taped).
Another shop to consider is 6star service in Marietta next to Dobbins. Alex just had some work done there and they are top notch.
True. I'm being hasty - just because I'm really pissed off. I know I don't have a case, but man, I wish I did. The thing is that the things that are currently broken are STILL broken in addition to more problems. :unamused: This thread is only here to ask if his duct tape job could have caused the problems.
Results are in, folks. Either/or: 1. 1 or more piston ringlands are cracked/shattered 2. 1 or more valves are bent Both as a result of increased crankcase pressure from blocking off the vacuum lines. Motor either needs a rebuild or swap.
Instead of buying a beater for 1k-3k and fixing that up or going into debt over the next 5-6 years purchasing a new car for 18K-25+K, why don't you have Brandon swap a low mileage motor in there, freshen up your tranny and you'll have a great car with no car note, low insurance for far less than you would pay for a beater not to mention going into debt for a new car.