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Post by motdaugrnds on May 13, 2019 23:17:34 GMT
I sure would like to talk with someone who understands how to work on cars. I own a 1988 GMC van that has served me quite well. I've had the same mechanics (he and his father) for over 20 yrs and have never had cause to doubt them until now; may not be cause to doubt even now.... (I'm quite ignorant when it comes to mechanics!)
A few years back my van was giving me problems starting. Three times I got caught out shopping and could not get it started. Had it towed to these mechanics each time; and after replacing different parts I was told it was the alternator giving me the problems. Well all those little events totaled to well over a thousand dollars; but I thought nothing of it. I figured they were replacing defective parts.
Now my son has a 1993 sedan that will not start. He had it towed to these same mechanics and left word with their receptionist (the wife/mother) that he thought the problem might have to do with various parts of the vehicle. Of course my son is not a mechanic per se; but has worked on his own cars for years. He figured these mechanics could run whatever tests are needed to ascertain what the cause is; then would call him to tell him; then fix it. That, however, is not what occurred. And this is what bothers me!
The mechanic did call and told my son, before he could start working on his car...even to find out what is wrong with it...that he would need a thousand dollars up front. Of course this made no sense to my son; so he had the car towed back home. Here at home he has discovered the battery would not hold a charge for very long at all; and the posts that battery needed connected to were stripped. (This is a car he bought sight unseen for $500 last year. It had been running well until just recently when he could not get it started even with battery cables.)
Now my question for mechanics in this forum is: Do you need to actually take a part out and put in a new one just to find out if the old one is not working? (I'm guessing this is rather labor intensive!) If so then I can understand the high cost; if not, I'm puzzled. (My son has told me there are ways to test a part without taking it out of the car. Of course he fully admits he is not a mechanic; so I question his knowledge about this.)
Would appreciate any information anyone can give in this matter.
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Post by AD in WNC on May 14, 2019 1:43:36 GMT
You need new mechanics.
No you don't have to take a part out of a vehicle to test it. (Some you do, but not all of them).
I have a friend who sometimes fixes my oldest cars. He replaces the part that he thinks is bad, and if that doesn't work, he replaces the next most likely part. His labor is free, but by the time he has replaced 3 or 4 parts, I could have gone to the Dealership and paid the same amount of money. That sounds like what your group is doing.
If I was paying someone who called themselves a mechanic, I would expect them to be able to run a diagnostic program on the car and let the car tell them what is wrong. Even if they charge for an hour's time $100 is better than $1000.
Is there a national chain like Pep Boys near you? Or you could call the tow truck company and ask about a good reliable mechanic in the area. If you belong to AAA, they can recommend a reliable mechanic. Even Advance Auto should be able to recommend someone who could fix your vehicle at a more reasonable price.
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Post by laurazone5 on May 14, 2019 11:47:24 GMT
1. They are ripping you off.
2. Google search / You Tube search your cars make model and year, and the issue.
3. AutoZone, and other major auto parts stores, do free checks to tell you what's wrong.
4. Go to the library and get the Haynes Manual to your car, and troubleshoot from there.
Won't start? Could be the battery. Could be bad plugs and wires. Could be you need a new cap and roater. Could be an altenator.
No, you don't take a car apart to find a problem. You start with the problem, eliminate one by one each cause, until you get to the problem.
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Post by beowoulf90 on May 14, 2019 11:50:12 GMT
Yes there are ways to check certain parts on older vehicles. On newer vehicles all you have to do is plug it into a diagnostic machine. On the 1988 van, the first thing I would check if it didn't start is the battery, then the Starter and solenoid and so on. For the battery you would only need a volt meter. Then you would continue going thru the check list until you found the problem. This of course is with out removing a single part and maybe 20 mins of time, depending on where things are at and how hard it is to get to them. on the '88 van it might be a little hard to get to the starter & solenoid, but us "shade tree" mechanics could check the starter & solenoid with a screw driver only..
Anyway, find a new mechanic you can trust. One that will tell and show you the old parts and what failed. One that knows the value of a dollar and that some of us have to do things as cheaply as we can in order to make ends meet.
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Post by motdaugrnds on May 14, 2019 16:52:09 GMT
Oh that information does cause me pain. I have trusted these mechanics for many, many years. I know they did check the starter and did check/clean fuel injectors. I was told some things they had to check were difficult to get to. And with my old 1988 van being so old and running on the same engine I have no doubt quite a few things needed replaced. I told myself these mechanics were doing the best they could to make sure my van ran well without it costing me too much. (They do know my financial situation and have since before mother passed away. They have also done many things for me they saw needing done and refused to accept pay for it.)
I've told my son what you have all said; and now that he has the new cable/battery terminals he said, once he gets the car started he will take it down to O'Reilley's Auto Shop and have tested whatever they can test. (I did see many signs up on their windows about "free testing" of a variety of elements.) If the new battery and new terminals do not get it started he is talking about the starter next. But isn't this starter something he would have to actually take out of the car in order to take it to where it can be tested? Or is there some tool that will permit my son to test it himself?
Thanks so much for helping....
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Post by beowoulf90 on May 15, 2019 11:34:39 GMT
He may be able to test the starter, but that will depend or the vehicle. Also the internet can be your friend when it comes to this. Type in the make and model and the issue and do a search. You may be surprised to find that others have had the same issue. Plus you and your son will be able to see and learn what is going on and may even be able to fix it yourselves.
Are you anywhere near New Market VA? If so my wife and I will be in the New Market area doing a Civil War reenactment this weekend. I might be able to find time to help you all.
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Post by motdaugrnds on May 26, 2019 2:21:45 GMT
Sorry I missed this; however, that beautiful area is far northwest of us. We're near Danville, VA
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Post by comfortablynumb on May 26, 2019 16:29:05 GMT
No...common diagnostics will pinpoint most any problem. For most cars anymore, the obd/obd2 system tells you whats wrong or, points you in the right direction.
A halfway competent mechanic can tell why a car wont start in about 30 min.... if that.
Other pesky problems that come and go are harder but.... its not rocket science.
1k up front before they will pop the hood is reason to walk away.
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Post by comfortablynumb on May 26, 2019 16:38:46 GMT
Thats probably obd2 testing... before 1996 they were all obd or proprietary systems for each car.
The 88 has to be done the old fashioned way for the most part.... the 92 is when cars were all transitioning to obd2 and there are some screwy proprietary testing systems out there.
Those free testing offers are for OBD2 plug in standards. I'm not sure I'd trust a parts counter guy to diagnose my car/truck.
The 88 I have takes symptomatic diagnostics and visual checking. The crude engine computer doesn't do much but run the EFI.
For an example the old 88 toyota truck this spring was not wanting to start, or it would run then not want to start if you shut it off. Also the battery would die slowly over time. So I had to observe and figure out things. The not starting thing was often followed by a gas smell. A carb would be flooding problem but it has fuel injection.... fuel injectors don't flood. So where was the gas smell from? No leaks anywhere.... didnt matter if it was cold or warm.
After some looking around I found that on the 4 cyl it has..... 5 injectors. One injector is on the intake and is triggered by a water temp sensor. Basically, it senses a cold engine and shoots gas in the intake to mimic choking an engine to get it started. That thing was dirty and spitting gas and leaking. I cleaned it and poof, no more issues. I did go thru a fuel pump and lines and filter while checking it all out, they were old so.... why not.
The dying battery was the same.... some corroded wires here and there fixed, but didnt cure it. No current leaks anywhere to be found. So the old multimeter showed without taking the engine apart that the alternator was not putting out enough charge, minimal at best, sometimes nothing. A new alternator and the problem is fixed.
Tip de jour.... have the parts store bench test the NEW alternator you buy. The first one was dead and had me running in circles for a day trying to find the problem because... new alternator, how could it be bad right? Nope... dead out of the box. The second TESTED new one worked.
Now the only problem left is if you turn on the headlights, the battery will die fast unless you go home and disconnect the battery for the night. Something somewhere in there resets and all is well from there on.... just dont turn the lights on. LOL Probably a bad switch or a burned wire but I don't drive it at night so who cares.
Now for another example.... Willows truck started sputtering and losing power and acting like it was out of gas, and throwing codes all over.... rich, lean O2 sensors, misfires, you name it. I had to limp it home and the computer set it to default since the trims were so out of whack.... and the engine is new. So.... I'm thinking, bad fuel pump, bad pressure regulator, cracked ignition block, all kinds of things. When I got it home, I started witht he simplest things. Good wires... good plugs.... fuel pressure ok. No vac leaks... all sorts of free easy simple things.
What was it then?
A small feather was stuck in the tiny wire sensor in the MAF, beside the air cleaner. One of the snaps that keeps the air cleaner on broke and it sucked in.... a tiny feather. LOL That was enough to send the whole system into a tailspin.
Sometimes very simple things create the illusion of catastrophic failure.
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Post by mountainlover on Jul 19, 2019 19:45:21 GMT
I agree with the above poster. Our car wouldn't start. Or it would and then die somewhere. We took it to three different people who all said various things. From engine replacement to the alternator to a new battery. The battery was still under warranty so we got that changed. The car still did the same thing and either wouldn't start or start and die soon after. Took it back to the mechanic who told us to replace the battery and he said: "well it's not a good battery then since you got it from Walmart". Desperate to get our car working, we called around and took it to the only place that had open availability for that day. Not a good sign if they don't have business usually. The owner ended up looking under the hood and not even a few minutes later fired it right up.
Turns out someone who had worked on it before had knocked one of the battery wires off which was making it not get charge. Three mechanics from different places couldn't figure that out? This guy did in a few seconds. He also didn't charge us a cent. That was many months ago, we have had no issues since. So it really can be something simple but it takes the know-how, trial and error, or a good Samaritan to get it figured out.
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Post by comfortablynumb on Jul 30, 2019 19:16:46 GMT
A simple battery tester or even simpler... a multimeter mill show if a charge is getting back to the battery just by testing the posts while its running. Some "mechanics" are pretty lazy with diagnostics. A weak battery will cause all kinds of problems, moreso in a newer car that relies on complex computer systems and sensors.
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