[FullyZooked]

Fellow Zookers I need your advice!

BTW I am really fucking mad atm, take that into consideration.

As you may already know my 93 Vitara has been suffering some issues whem it comes to power. It could hardly hit 100km/h on the highway on a flat straight road and it generally felt lacking throughout the whole rev range.

Now before I start let me say that I do all work on my cars myself BUT not carby work as there are too many vac lines and idle up solinoids and whatnot for my liking. SOOOOO I take it to a carby mechanic yesterday to fix her up. He explaines to me that the carb is overfueling and that it will need a rebuild, $320 thats fine with me if it fixes it.

Calls me today and says the car is ready so I go in and pick it up as he is leaving. Thats after I pay a bill of Fucking $648.80! I expressed my concern re this with him and he said its what it needed-

Reco carb- $320
Remove, replace, time to inspect $95
H/Duty inline fuel filter $ 16.60
Check engine comp and adjust valve clearance $95
Rocker cover gasket $18.20
2H Secondary diaphram $45
GST $58.98
Total: $648.80!!!

At this stage I was like fark me but then thought if the car runs good and pulls how it should no problem.

Start her up out the front to drive it home and it takes a bit longer to start than usual. Drive down the road and the Fucking thing is the same! Got it to temp and anything above 3,000 rpm it will surge and then continue on! This is worse than before! I thought maybe the new secondary diaphram is a little stiff and may need time to loosen up, not the case.
Get it on the highway and it struggles to pull 90km/h!!!

Now the advice I am after before my head fuckin blows off, is this a fair amount to pay?

Also as I rarely deal with mechanics, what is the best way to have this resolved? Go in there and try to CALMLY tell him that its fucking worse and I paid $650! you son of a bitch!

Oh and before i took it he also said he felt like it is still lacking power and that i need to do the timing belt too as he feels when it was installed last that the cam timing was out!

Sorry for the flame/bitch. Please help!

[Westie]

Have to take it back and get them to check over it all UNDER WARANTY NO charge.

He gave you a quote to rebuild the carby. Was that IF YOU removed and installed it or drive in drive out price if so he is a specialist repairer and should know the price to do the job and above that I feel he should have contacted you before going further. A Quote is a Quote not a ball park figure.
Timing belt problem ......quite possible not that hard to pull the front cover off and pull the top back to locate the marks to check.

Some do not remover the Radiator to do them but I do as it is not a big job to remover the Radiator and it gives you lots more room.


The price you paid is double of what it cost me, and it was the best thing I had done to the car ran so good afterwards and do not get talked into a Webber .

[Rhino]

I've got no advice for you on the carb shop problems.
But on the power issue have u checked plug leads, plugs and timing?
I've had similar issues with power which tuned out to be plug leads braking down as revs increase.

[FullyZooked]

Yeah mate leads plugs are brand new, dizzy, cap, rotor. All that is new.

Everything is rulled out except for carb and crank timing. Ignition timing is spot on.

[Vits93]

FullyZooked wrote:

Yeah mate leads plugs are brand new, dizzy, cap, rotor. All that is new.

Everything is rulled out except for carb and crank timing. Ignition timing is spot on.

What about restricted exhaust e.g colapsed cat, muffler or any part of the system they'll make a car run like a dog.

[shakes]

final price was definately high but not unreasonbly high, as for the price vs quote you should of got up him on the day and said noo hang on you quoted me this and now charging double and haggled down to half the difference at worst.

Take the car back and politely say I brought my car here for this problem and you said you'd fixed it and charged me a premium for it. Be rude and you will be told were to go. be polite and they will get worked up but try to hold their tongues as your being so polite

as for what the problem could be I have nothing new to add sorry.

[benji]

seems as though he's taking you for a ride mate. ive been caught before but a quote is a quote and you have to stick to em.

[Blueberry]

FullyZooked wrote:

Fellow Zookers I need your advice!

BTW I am really fucking mad atm, take that into consideration.

As you may already know my 93 Vitara has been suffering some issues whem it comes to power. It could hardly hit 100km/h on the highway on a flat straight road and it generally felt lacking throughout the whole rev range.

Now before I start let me say that I do all work on my cars myself BUT not carby work as there are too many vac lines and idle up solinoids and whatnot for my liking. SOOOOO I take it to a carby mechanic yesterday to fix her up. He explaines to me that the carb is overfueling and that it will need a rebuild, $320 thats fine with me if it fixes it.

Calls me today and says the car is ready so I go in and pick it up as he is leaving. Thats after I pay a bill of Fucking $648.80! I expressed my concern re this with him and he said its what it needed-

Reco carb- $320
Remove, replace, time to inspect $95
H/Duty inline fuel filter $ 16.60
Check engine comp and adjust valve clearance $95
Rocker cover gasket $18.20
2H Secondary diaphram $45
GST $58.98
Total: $648.80!!!

At this stage I was like fark me but then thought if the car runs good and pulls how it should no problem.

Start her up out the front to drive it home and it takes a bit longer to start than usual. Drive down the road and the Fucking thing is the same! Got it to temp and anything above 3,000 rpm it will surge and then continue on! This is worse than before! I thought maybe the new secondary diaphram is a little stiff and may need time to loosen up, not the case.
Get it on the highway and it struggles to pull 90km/h!!!

Now the advice I am after before my head fuckin blows off, is this a fair amount to pay?

Also as I rarely deal with mechanics, what is the best way to have this resolved? Go in there and try to CALMLY tell him that its fucking worse and I paid $650! you son of a bitch!

Oh and before i took it he also said he felt like it is still lacking power and that i need to do the timing belt too as he feels when it was installed last that the cam timing was out!

Sorry for the flame/bitch. Please help!

The price for the carb reco and the labour are all very reasonable(although the diaphragm would normally be included in the price for the carb rebuild). he's only really charged you labour for around 1hr, and id struggle to do all that in an hour.

The fuel filter i guess i can understand although he should have mentioned this to you.

What he's charged you for the compression test and valve adjustments is a bit strange aswell as the rocker cover gasket, unless you've asked for this you should have been called and given an adjusted quote, every shop ive worked for or had anything to do with will tell you this is standard policy.

I would check the timing marks on the crank and cam line up, that does sound possible.

But like Westie said, warranty work, no question about it. You came to him with a problem, he said ill fix it for this much, charged you more and didnt fix it.

Thats not cricket.

[ajsr]

Vits93 wrote:

FullyZooked wrote:

Yeah mate leads plugs are brand new, dizzy, cap, rotor. All that is new.

Everything is rulled out except for carb and crank timing. Ignition timing is spot on.

What about restricted exhaust e.g colapsed cat, muffler or any part of the system they'll make a car run like a dog.

X 2 disconnect the exhaust pipe just down stream from the headers and take it for a run and see if its that before you go back.
maybe do it somewhere you won't meet a cop
I had a pulsar loan car when I had my panel shop that this happened too

[vermin]

I always expect my mechanics to call me if the price changes or additional work is required.

It's just common courtesy.

[ajsr]

vermin wrote:

I always expect my mechanics to call me if the price changes or additional work is required.

It's just common courtesy.

yeah I have a mechanic mate that does that shit all the time,I think its uber low thing to do. A phone call is say 30c and saves a bad rep and the arguement.
I always felt guilty doing shit like that even if I knew the customer would not care, still ring them first I say

[FullyZooked]

ajsr wrote:

Vits93 wrote:

FullyZooked wrote:

Yeah mate leads plugs are brand new, dizzy, cap, rotor. All that is new.

Everything is rulled out except for carb and crank timing. Ignition timing is spot on.

What about restricted exhaust e.g colapsed cat, muffler or any part of the system they'll make a car run like a dog.

X 2 disconnect the exhaust pipe just down stream from the headers and take it for a run and see if its that before you go back.
maybe do it somewhere you won't meet a cop
I had a pulsar loan car when I had my panel shop that this happened too

I might give this a go. Would this seem viable on 200,000ks with original exhaust? If it gets to 100kmh once this is done my floor won't burn to bits? As in will there be some flames?

[ajsr]

I wouldn't do 20 km at 100 but it will be fine for a few short bursts.
wire the wobbly end up just in case
Its quick and easy check

[FullyZooked]

Cheers mate. Please everyone cross their fingers. Please let this be it!

[Taylor74]

If you are going to check the timming belt, Make sure the 17mm bolt on the front of the crank is tight, when they come lose they flog the crank and gear for the belt and can cause a similar problem. If caught in time you will only need a new gear and key, too long and need a new crank.
Worth a check.

[losfer]

id bet on a flogged crank keyway , or a blocked cat

[flatcat_auz]

I wouldn't do anything until you take it back. If you do he might turn around and say that you have done something else..........

[jonno_racing]

i would take it back and ask to speek to who is in charge, then extremly calmly say "hey mate im not sure whats going on, but it feels like its doing the same thing, not sure if its just me, could you come for a drive with me and we can have a look"
dont touch it till then tho!

[stocker]

My First vit had the same problem, and thats exactly what it was, replace timing belt and correctly timed it. Voila Power problem solved

[FullyZooked]

I will wait until he checks it over again. Bloody nuts on the cat are rusted solid anyway.

So it's a toss up between blocked cat/muffler or timing belt not installed correctly.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll keep you updated.

Oh I checked the timing last week and it was spot on and vacuum advance was working correctly. Doesn't this mean the crank timing is ok? Or is it totally different.

Why did that last question feel so stupid. Must be a simple answer...

[2stroker]

Mate I don't mean to be negative here but you need to take some of the blame, you self diagnosed the problem and then got a carbie specialist to rebuild the carbie. I guess he went looking at compression and valve clearances because it was so underpower on the test drive after he did the carbie. In the end you diagnosed the problem and got it wrong, the carbie is probably awesome. It would be a different story if he diagnosed it as a carbie problem and the carbie didn't fix the problem.

[MrRocky]

crank timing and camshaft timing need to be in sync
I would wager that this is your problem, go through your manual and
re - check

[Bucket]

If you had complained at the time of getting the final price it would've been ok, but as you've paid and left the shop, you've ultimatly agreed upon the price.

I would be going back and POLITLY letting your mechanic know the power issue is still there, and maybe even what he suggests checking. If you walk in kicking and screaming, I wouldn't expect anything more then a kind "fuck off mate".

I don't know how other shops work, but when we are working on customer cars, we regularly update customers with any problems that have arisen and current state of the car. For example when fitting the last diff locker to a GU, we found all the internal bearings were shagged and that his wheel bearings were shagged. We came back with EXACT part prices and rough labour times so the client was well aware where their final bill was standing.

[Bucket]

2stroker wrote:

Mate I don't mean to be negative here but you need to take some of the blame, you self diagnosed the problem and then got a carbie specialist to rebuild the carbie. I guess he went looking at compression and valve clearances because it was so underpower on the test drive after he did the carbie. In the end you diagnosed the problem and got it wrong, the carbie is probably awesome. It would be a different story if he diagnosed it as a carbie problem and the carbie didn't fix the problem.

QFT
You diagnosed your carby as the problem and your mechanic has done what was asked of him (or so that's how it seems from your first post)

[royce]

2stroker wrote:

Mate I don't mean to be negative here but you need to take some of the blame, you self diagnosed the problem and then got a carbie specialist to rebuild the carbie. I guess he went looking at compression and valve clearances because it was so underpower on the test drive after he did the carbie. In the end you diagnosed the problem and got it wrong, the carbie is probably awesome. It would be a different story if he diagnosed it as a carbie problem and the carbie didn't fix the problem.

x2
Man I hate it when I read a mechanic bashing thread and i'm ready to nail somebody cause they got what they asked for but asked for the wrong thing and somebody beats me to it

least you wont have a carby problem after you fix the real fault

[FullyZooked]

I agree that is how it reads. This is not the case.

I first simply went to the mechanic for advice. He took a look under the hood and he said it was overfueling after my brief description of symptoms. We spoke about the other items that had been replaced eg. Plugs, leads etc and he was confident it being the carb.

I have calmed myself now somewhat after the missus had a go at me for being such a hot head. (she is scary when she wants to be)I agree with the above comments and it would seem both the mechanic and myself had a hunch that ended up costing $650.

Live and learn I guess. Still very dissapointed.

[FullyZooked]

Royce easy on mate.

The issue is I was quoted $320 for the carb rebuild. Even if this did not cure my problem it was agreed on by both the mechanic and myself. I would be satisfied even if this didn't cure the problem as I know I would have a fresh carb to work with as you say.


It's when you double the price without my knowledge when Alarm bells ring. Start playing round with valve clearances and compression tests without my knowledge. Had he called and said hey mate you'll need this and this I would have politely said no thanks I can look into that myself and Would have saved $300 for not an hour of my time.

Sorry to all mechanics reading this but you mustn't take this as a generic mechanic whinge but an individual Mechanic who had done the wrong thing.
I will chat to the fella tomorrow and I'm sure all will be fine.

[ninjamoses]

ajsr wrote:

Vits93 wrote:

What about restricted exhaust e.g colapsed cat, muffler or any part of the system they'll make a car run like a dog.

X 2 disconnect the exhaust pipe just down stream from the headers and take it for a run and see if its that before you go back.
maybe do it somewhere you won't meet a cop
I had a pulsar loan car when I had my panel shop that this happened too

I can confirm a collapsed cat makes them run like utter shit and results in bulk power loss. That said, I would have thought you would hear rattling from bits of it bouncing around if that was the case.

You'd want to clear the neighbourhood *very* quickly if you plan on driving it with it d/c from the cat onwards. I started mine up briefly for shits n giggles and bloody hell you'd hear it from a mile away - and that was with it idling.

[royce]

He quoted you $320 to rebuild the carby, obviously you both had differing ideas of what that included, the diaphragm means there was indeed a fault there

the valve clearances yeah you got jipped there, FWIW if you have a written quote for a job you dont have to pay for any extra work undertaken, but they wouldn't of done it if they didnt think it was needed, contrary to what ACA say mechanics generally aren't interested in trying to make extra work for themselves.

Earlier this year I got a quote to replace my AC compressor, replace teh drier and regas it, the overall bill was double that, yeah I was livid but its what it needed otherwise spending the original amount would of been a waste in the long run, I know I wasn't taken for a ride because it was arranged by family and the guy that did it gets too much work from them so there is no point, mostly they are jsut interested in not seeing a car come back with a problem cause it wastes their time

anyway, go check your cam timing and exhaust and go from there, inox will help with the rusty bolts better than WD40 and stuff

[FullyZooked]

Yeah i agree totally. It's just the extra work done has not helped the issue any but cost me.

It's like when you got your ac done, they charge you more than originally quoted which you were fine with as the repair was confirmed. Let's say your AC was worse than it was originally. I rekon you would go all kinds of Royce mad! Lmfao.

Thanks for the understanding guys. I'll let ya know when I get my car powerful enough to pull the skin of ya custard. My shout!