mattdel

wow.
week after week i read threads about ****ty mechanics and big time schemes.

i simply can't believe you people keep going back to these cracker jacks.
like stated above.... why didnt a missing bolt cause alarm to this guy?
i cant imagine any circumstance where he wouldn't know that it happened. when you disassemble something, you put the bolts to the side. you never leave them over open holes.

good lord, some "mechanics" should be in jail.

Texas5.0

The missing bolt did cause alarm... He looked and found the washer. When the bolt was no where to be seen in the engine he thought it fell else where. I do not know how he missed it. When you look into a cylinder and do not see anything it's safe to assume nothing is there. He said they shook the upper and lower intake repeatedly to make sure nothing was lodged in it. They checked the valley and the head and saw nothing. They made a decision that the washer was the only thing that fell in. They were wrong. We can chalk this up to human error I guess. People do make mistakes. I am not so concerned with the making of mistakes. I am concerned with the fixing them and not making more mistakes. I am not a mechanic nor do I pretend to be one. Taking my car to a garage is the only option I have. This is a good garage and the owner is a good mechanic - he made a mistake - I can live with that.

However, I do not doubt the ability of any business man to make decisions on what is better for the bottom line instead of the appropriate solution to a mistake he made. This is the area that I am attempting to protect myself from. From what everyone has said so far is the repairs he has chosen has not been with my best interest in mind but his. I am inclined to let him make these repairs the way hewants and address the engine problems as they occur. This makes more sense to me then stopping him based on my opinion. This way I can say you broke it, attempted to fix it your way and it is still not running right. Now it is time to fix it my way. If that does not work for him then it's off to small claims court.

All of you have helped me know what to look for with problems. For that I am grateful. Any other help in that area is appreciated.

WhiteWindsor

I would have something in writing for him to sign for future repaires caused by his mis-hap. Chances are he wont sign it though. If you accept it now, he may say that he cant be responsible for future problems because of your driving, or neglect, or if you add parts in future, he can come up with sev. reasons as why to not be resposible for future problems you may have. He might give you a 30 day warr. and if you accept, run the car hard in those thirty days and see if you have problems. Good Luck. You are not the only one to have problems with mechanics.

Texas5.0

Got my car back today... Still will not idle.

He did not charge me anything. No bill. He said not right to charge me for a problem that he did not fix.

Car seems to be running fine... just the damn thing will not idle. Not sure what else to do.

92cobra

check the maf, timing, harmonic ballancer, and best of all the tfi module oh and the tps sensor. Those tfi modules can do crazy crazy things.

tmajikman

Triple check your vacuum lines, use some carb cleaner and spray your lines and listen for any changes.

Twisted

I would have trouble even leavinga repairshopin a carhaving one new piston and ringset, and one resurfaced cylinder head. As soon as you leave the shop, he could argue that you caused any problems that may arise. It's a shame that you agreed to let him fix the problem that way to begin with. At this point, I'd get some proof that his repair methods were not sanctioned by logic--such as the opinion of the manufacturer (Ford)--and use that to justify insisting that he do a complete rebuild...it it were me.

F250sd

Not going to happen with an 130K mile engine. The mechanic is responsible for repairing the damage he caused, not the wear and tear og 130K miles of driving. Even if the engine blew up completely, he would really only be responsible for another engine with 130K on it.

tinman

I'm sur glad that I do all my own engine work..........

86GT 93LX

i totally agree, u cant rebuild one cylinder on a motor and expect it to run normal, the rest have to keep up the pace, and yes one side will have diff compression. make them rebuild the entire thing for being so sloppy.dont pay a dime till its completely rebuilt. its not normal for whit smoke so yeah the head is likely to be messed up..cracked, etc....good lord, i feel for you