GTA88

Well, I'm not getting anywhere with this electrical problem by myself, and I'm thinking of paying someone to fix it, so I can actually use my auto insurance to drive my car. ( 88 GTA 5.7 TPI)

I called up a mech who worked on my car before, and he sounded very negative, saying he might take a long time to track down all the problems. ( I have a fuse link from the starter that burned out. I replaced the FL, drove the car 10 minutes, and it died again, this time with smoke from the dashboard, and this time a 20 amp fuse also blew. I found a melted wire just above the steering column, and it is melted all the way into the loom. The melted wire was touching part of the frame, so I pushed it away from the frame, put in a new fuse, hooked up the battery, and it blew again.)

A couple guys here have said they don't think a mechanic would take more than a couple hours to fix it, which, at $40 an hour plus $100 in parts (wiring, defective switch, etc), would be $180, well worth it to me.

But since it is an electrical problem, I wonder if it will really just be 2 hours, so I am considering going the VoTech route, where you pay $100 up front, and all parts, but no labor.

I can drive my daily driver while the GTA is laid up.

I'll have to have the GTA towed to wherever I take it.


Anyone know if VoTechs are good? I'm sort of paranoid that my car will get screwed up there. But I've heard good things about VoTechs from some folks, that they are actually better and more careful, since they have time and motivation, than many pro mechs. I haven't actually heard anything negatvie about them.

Any opinions ?

Thanks

DanRS

If it blew a normal fuse as well, then I would check out whatever is on that circuit first. Fuses have a time delay before they blow. It is possible that something could draw a ton of current and blow the FL before a fuse.

As for having a mechanic troubleshooting it, it could take 5 minutes or 5 hours (or more). If there are multiple problems, it will take a lot longer. Some mechanics only charge for the time it takes to fix something, not find something - you might want to see if anyone around you does that. You'd be lucky to find one, but hope for it.

Maybe someone who knows more about this can help you. I know far more about electronics than I do about cars.

I went to a Voc. Tech school and some of the students in auto tech. knew their stuff and some were just stupid. I wouldn't trust my car with them.