Does anyone live in Wisconsin? Within the vicinity of Appleton? I am just trying to see if anyone out there lives close and knows of a good third gen mechanic. My car is running fine now but i recently had a huge headache (if you have the time https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...mechanics.html)
I'm just trying to find a good mechanic before something else comes up i can't fix
thanks

 

Yeah I live in Kaukauna. I took a look at that link you had. No offense intended, but not one of the places you took your car would be able to work on one of these cars. Goss is a body shop first and foremost, they may do some service work here and there, but they are a bodyshop. Bergstroms employees have long since forgotten what the in's and out's of these cars is, and unless they have some good long time techs, many probably haven't even worked ona third gen ever. Matthews, same deal, they don't do the kind of repair work you needed. They specialize in tires, brakes, suspension and minor tune up items. Not diagnosing actual engine problems.

Personally if I were you instead of paying mechanics I would invest that money into a good tool set and learn. If you really want to hand out your hard earned cash for things you can easily do yourself, then their are a few better places around town. One I trust very well is Van Hoofs service in Kaukauna. The owner, Jerry, as been around for a long time and knows his stuff. Another that I trust in Appleton is Van Krays service. Also Van Linns service is good as well. You need to look into where you are taking it to be fixed before paying them to do nothing. You definitely could have saved yourself a good handful of money by thinking about where you were taking it before sending it there.

Good luck, and again I recommend learning to do it yourself.

Jeff

 

thanks Jeff,
i understand completely with the fact that i should just get the tools and learn, but i was in a spot where i ran out of ideas and so did the couple people advising me on it. I also agree that bringing it to any of those places was completely stupid and a waste of money, but i didnt have the time to research some good mechanics. I would like to do almost all of the future work on my own, but i'm glad you came up with some alternatives, because obviously the people i went to knew nothing. Just wondering some about the van hoofs, have you taken a third gen there and what are they capable of doing. I would rather never have to use them but i just want a backup now
thanks again

 

wow there is alot of bs in those replys it is hard to find a shop that treats you right but your best bet is to find a dealer and pay the higher price to get it fixed right. if they charged more than what you sighned for complain. if they are replacing parts that arn't bad complain.

(don't get mad and throw a fit. just sit down with the service manager and ask why each part was bad and get specific details to show you are very serious the repairs and if they are really needed)

keep in mind the est. is befor taxes.


I would guess bergstrum charged

1 hour diag.
1.5-1.7 to repair your wires which is not bad if you think about it. the tech has to make a living too.

the lines well, that happens sometimes. with out seeing how he was treating them I can only guess they are very rusty and he saved your life.

everyone is very quick to say how good they are at fixing cars until they are stuck or really screw it up. then it's off to the dealer to fix what they messed up.

then you only hear the dealer "ripped me off" they don't need to work for free. and fixing a cobbled up mess takes longer, calling to get more money, longer wait yet.

time is money. they don't punch in the time clock like a factory worker so if they have cars in the shop taking up space it's costing them money

not yelling at you but those idiots in the thread are just stupid.


if you haven't guess by now I am a dealer tech, I do some side work from time to time. but I live south of madison.

and yes there are people I would not tust to put air in my tires. and then there are techs I would not question. but the way those guys talk you would think it's a party throwing parts around

 

No honestly I haven't taken a thirdgen to him, but I have never taken one anywhere. I have owned over a dozen of them over the course of the last 16 years or so, but I do all my own work on them. Personally I don't quite understand why people want somebody who works on thirdgens. Their is nothing really special what so ever about these cars, they work exactly the same as any other car of their vintage. I think you should worry less about finding somebody who works on thirdgens and more about finding somebody that works on cars of that vintage. Any capable mechanic that knows cars outside of today's newer OBDII cars can handle working on a thirdgen.

Any of the shops I listed have been around for quite some time, longer than our cars have for certain. Any of them should be capable of diagnosing and fixing your car. Again, do some leg work before sending it in, and you will be better of. Know who you are sending the car to, and whether or not they know anything about early 90's cars, if they do, you should be alright.

Please don't think I was calling you stupid for sending your car to the shops you did, that was not what I was intending. Rather, I was just suggesting that the reasons you had the problems you did was because you sent it to two shops that don't even specialize in engine work and a third one that specializes in engines on brand new cars, not 16 year old cars. Just learn from the mistake and move on.

Good luck in the future.

Jeff

 

This probably wont help you much but there is a place about a mile and a half from me that I would trust with my IROC (I'm on the south side of Milwaukee). I would asume the owner has knoweldge about f-bodies since he has a couple pics of thirdgens in the shop and he has his 4th gen TA undergoing a 502 transplant. He also worked on a friend of mines 4th gen Camaro a couple months ago and she said the shop did a good job and she has no complaints.

 

Guitarpic,
If you need some help/ advise or any parts, send me a PM. I may be able to help

 

Checked out that other thread. Wow.

There is a cost to maintaining your vehicle. Especially in nothern climates. Anyone who has changed a fuel pump in a third gen should not give you crap for not doing it yourself. Especially without having access to a hoist. They are a total pain in the @ss unless you try the "hacks" way of cutting a hole in your trunk. IMHO, it sucks that you spent so much but I think everyone was trying to help you.

I own a GM dealership in upper michigan. I've spent some time in my own service department. I've seen people who don't change their fuel filters (you should really do that often enought that they don't get rusted in place) and a plugged fuel filter can cause a drop in fuel pressure. Even if you needed a new pump you needed the new filter. The lines all run together and you probably did need new brake lines. The only thing I'd really question is the intake gasket. You probably did have an intake leak but I can't see that contributing to a low fuel pressure. They fixed something that probably needed to be fixed but I guess that is the only thing I can see that you probaby shouldn't have had to fix to get the car running. That should have been a suggested fix but not for this problem.

This project cost you a bunch of money but your car should provide you with transportation for a while longer now. Parts rust and wear out, that is why people buy newer cars as daily drivers. There is a cost of owning a car. Your choice is if it is a payment on newer car, repair bills on older car, or (time, knowledge and tools) to fix it yourself (which is also an expense, I feel my time is worth $$ as everyone should).

Good luck with one of these new shops. I would not recommend trying to sue one of your previous shops, that usually doesn't work out well. And don't feel bad about not fixing the car yourself. It can be a total pain and cost you more in the long run. Wrenching is not for everyone.