Re: [DMCForum] A simple task

[Marc Levy <malevy_nj@xxxxxxxxx>]

I made this discovery many years ago..  Which forced
me to take on more jobs on my car than I would have
otherwise.  The process too a long time, but I
remember the exact moment I made the decision.

It was my Chevy Beretta.  One day on the way home, the
clutch went out. I had never done a front wheel drive
clutch before (heck, I had never done *ANY* clutch
before, but was always told FWD was VERY difficult) so
I took it to a reputable transmission shop.  

A week later (I was told the job would take 1 day) I
went to pick it up..  An extra $100 was added to the
bill for some bullshit thing they claimed they needed
to fix "while they were there".  

So, I pay my bill.. Get in the car, and drive off.. 
First bump I hit, I hear a loud noise.  Turn around,
go back.  They put it up on the lift, and the problem
was obvious.  The washer on the anti-sway bar was
broken.  They took it apart, and replaced it.  As they
put it back together they used the impact gun.  I
stopped the guy, and explained to him that THIS is why
he broke it in the first place!  

While the car was in the air, I then noticed that the
CV boot had slid off of the outer CV joint.  I asked
the mechanic if he had properly supported the axle
when the transmission was out.  He gave me a puzzled
look and called the boss out.  I then had to take out
my factory service manual to show them how the axle is
supposed to be supported.  He told me "Professional
mechanics don't need the manual"..

Either way, I told him he was going to need to fix the
boot.  He agreed, and told me to come back later in
the week when he had the part in.

<Skipping some boring details>

When the went to put the car back together, out comes
the impact gun again.  He puts on the axle nut with
the gun as I am yelling at him to stop!!  I said "You
need to use a torque wrench.  If you don't know the
specification, I will look it up for you".  He
responded "The gun will make it tight enough, it wont
fall off".  So, I had to try and explain to this
"Professional" the TOO Much force would crush the hub
bearing...  After some arguing, he went off to find a
torque wrench.  It took about 20 min for them to find
one.

Just one of many stories about lazy/stupid
mechanics... An no, Dealerships are no better.

Funny thing is, by the time I had my DeLorean I was
pretty confident in my ability to work on cars.  My
attitude was that I could do no worse than a
"professional".  At least I knew how to read the
service manuals.  

When I bought my DeLorean, I had so much trust in Rob
Grady that I would always bring my car to him.  My
thought was, I had all of my other cars to work on I
might as well use a trusted mechanic whenever
possible....  But there is SO much traffic on Long
Island!  ROB, MOVE TO JERSEY!!  :)



--- cruznmd <racuti1@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> In my life no matter where I've lived or what
> vehicle I've owned at 
> the time, from my 1964 IH Scout, to my 2 Chevy
> Trackers, to my 2002 
> PT Cruiser and including my DeLorean, EVERY single
> "professional" 
> ASE certified mechanic has caused more damage to my
> vehicle than 
> repair.
> 
> So why do I continue to go there? Because I'm an
> idiot. I keep 
> thinking "they can't all be this incompetent."
> 
> A smiple task, To wit;
> 
> Sir, I have two lugnuts on my DeLorean that have
> become too tight 
> for me to break loose. Can you put your impact gun
> on them for 
> me? "Sure" he says. The guy spins them loose and
> promptly 
> overtightens them with the pneumatic impact gun. I
> now have one 
> stripped lugnut that I can't get off.
> 
> I do solemnly swear that I will never trust a gas
> station mechanic 
> again as long as I live.
> 
> Rich A.
> #5335


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