Thoughts, opinions and suggestions are appreciated! It's a long read but I need help and input. Many thanks!


So I've been fighting a running issue for over a year now. My 89 Formula with 186,000 miles would run for a few minutes then die. It wouldn't start back up until the next day with the same result. I replaced the plugs, wires and distributor cap (just because it needed them), coil, ignition module and fuel filter to no avail. It got to where it wouldn't start at all so I finally decided to take it to a shop I had been dealing with for the last couple of years. "Sure we can handle it, we have a GM certified tech" they said. So I have it towed there and they call the next day and said they had it running. The timing was out so they adjusted the distributor but it still would die after 5 minutes or so and they recommended replacing the timing chain and plugs. I'm no mechanic but I know a little about engines and I questioned him on why he thought that was the problem and he said as the engine warms up the timing is off. I've had this car since '94 with 60,000 miles and I know that was the original chain so my logic was surely it need's replaced and even though I was skeptical, hopefully it would fix my problem. They are professionals by the way. Well.... that didn't fix it! Shocker HUH?!! A few days later they call up and say that it definitely needed the timing chain because it was so loose they could almost touch it together when they squeezed it and my (new) plugs looked wet and its a good thing they replaced them but they found the initial problem. A faulty fuel injector. So I was at about $1,000 for the timing chain and it will be an additional $400 to replace the injector, but it runs good he said!! At this point I was shocked by the cost but glad to get her back on the road!! I went Saturday DEC. 13 to pay the bill but couldn't drive it home at that time. They left it out and I went back that night to pick it up. I could tell immediately upon pulling out on the road she wasn't running quite right. Not for $1400!! It was like she was running on 7 cylinders. I drove home anyways and parked it. I drove it back Monday DEC.15 and told them it wasn't running right. A week goes by....
He calls on Tuesday DEC.23 and tells me they replaced the distributor and it helped a little but it still didn't run quite right. He said I could either A) have a bent exhaust valve or B) because it smokes so much I could have carbon build up on my valves causing then not to close properly. B is very important because it's always smoked on start up and at idle, but not that bad. So he wants to sell me a distributor and a valve cleaning service. Another $500!!! I tell him not to do anything, let me come to the shop and drive it to see if its better with the distributor. I drive around the block and it runs LIKE CRAP!!!! MUCH WORSE THAN BEFORE!! I go to get gas and it wouldn't even start back up. I called the shop and they send some guys over and after 5 minutes of messing with the distributor she starts up. I drive back to the shop. BARELY MADE IT! The owner says he had to fire a mechanic and he may have loosened the distributor. He said he would get it running and call me when he knew for sure. 2 1/2 weeks go by and I hear nothing! I drive by the shop on JAN.9 and see my car sitting outside. I pull in to check on the progress.


Kalvin (owner) - Hey man, whats up?


Me- Just checking on my car. Its been a few weeks and I haven't heard anything.


Kalvin - Oh, I thought Scott called you...


Me - No one has called me. It's been 2 1/2 weeks


Kalvin - OH, well I thought we were waiting on you to give us the go ahead on that valve cleaning service....


Me - The last time I drove my car it ran like S-!T. You were going check out why and call me.


Kalvin - Oh. Well.. "YOUR MOTOR is BAD, IT STARTED KNOCKING AND YOU NEED TO REPLACE IT"

Me - WHAT!! WHAT DO MEAN IT'S BAD!!! I DROVE IT HOME AND BACK! 20 mile roundtrip!! No knocking and NO SMOKING


Kalvin - I don't know what happened. It's got nearly 190,000 miles on it!!


Me - That wasn't a problem BEFORE you took my $1400!!!


Kalvin - Well, I can't predict when a motor goes bad. I can't do anything else but put a motor in it.


Me - All I know is I brought it to you to fix. You charged me $1400 and told me it was fixed and ran good. I drove it home and back. 20 mile round trip! At least it ran but not good!


So anyways, you get the gist of it. This went on for 20 more minutes! I accused them of blowing my motor up, he never said they didn't but denied it was their fault and wouldn't give me my money back. Finally he agreed to give me $500 "credit" on labor to replace it. I told him to call me and let me know how much that would cost. Never called!! What an A--hole!!!


So my question is...


Should I dispute the charge on my credit card?
Did the mechanic he claimed to fire over rev my motor?
It smokes worse than ever after the second visit. Blue smoke.
I don't even know what would cause that!


They put parts in it (timing chain, spark plug, oil and antifreeze) and it "runs" as in I can move it, but I sure as hell can't drive it! They told me it was fixed and because it had been "sitting" it needed to be driven.
And what REALLY pisses me of is they didn't call me for over 2 weeks! He knew my motor was trashed and didn't even have the ***** to call.
And my car DID NOT smoke before. Looks like I'm spraying Agent Orange now when I drive it! It smokes like a drunk Russian sailor!




What to do......

 

You can allways threaten to take them to small claims court.

 

190k miles, bad inj, wet plugs and a smoking motor..

Sounds like you should have spent 1400$ on a rebuilt short block and heads to me.

Good luck

 

The $1400 should have went to a shortblock

 

$1400 was WAY too much to spend on that motor. I realize that. I had no intentions of spending that much. I figured 600-700 tops just to get it running again until I could set back the money for a new motor, but that motor was strong AND IT WAS NOT SMOKING. I'm the only person that has driven that car in the last 24 years (with the exception of my wife). It wasn't smoking and it wasn't knocking when they started working on it.


My question is: Should I dispute the charge on my credit card?


They said it was fixed and took my money. It wasn't fixed. And after I took it back, it got worse I can't even drive my car now.

 

I paid with a credit card so I may dispute the charge.
I just want him to answer to someone for screwing me over.

 

Dispute the charges...what do you have to lose at this point

 

If the motor smokes at idle it's done. Rings are crap. Get a new engine. From a different place. You can get something reliable and more modern pretty cheap, like a Vortec L31 crate is about $2k, not too bad. Way better than the goodwrench 350 garbage that you may be tempted to get because it's cheeeeep.

The guys on the baord will help you out with all of it, but if it's already smoking a burning oil at idle (burning oil at startup isnt a concern, just valve seals) then it needs to be considered a sunk cost.

Do these guys not know how to run a compression or a leakdown test?

 

dispute the charges quickly! the longer you wait, the worse it looks on your end.
i just went through a situation a bit different and our money was returned/credited to the card in 1 day. but you cant wait, do it now!

find a good, reliable, reputable mechanic. i know it can be be hard to find. ask around.

sometimes you gotta admitt you got hosed. about 5 years ago i put new calipers, rotors, struts, and tires on my car. figured why not get an alignment? before i dropped the car off, i spray painted all the adjustment bolts/nuts just make sure they did anything. when i picked my car up my t-tops were looose, like ready to fall off, 20 miles on the odometer, and not one bolt was loosened/tighten, etc. showed it all to the manager. "you required a 20 mile road test with the t-tops off and never did anything?" all BS followed. yup, contested that bill, and they never got my business again. people suk today!

 

Make them take you to court, then you'll have a chance to tell your story !

I'm glad I was raised by a mechanic, instead of play'n with toys, I played with tools out in the garage. NO one touches any of my vehicles.....

 

You say it didn't smoke then u say it smoked at startup and idle, confused

 

I'm interested to know the bs they told u

 

the BS that followed was, they had to take the car for a test ride. OK, but 20 miles?
why are my t-tops loose? "we didnt do that". yea, right. one was sitting up an inch and the other wasnt locked down. it, or both could have easily fallen off the car in 1/10 of a mile or less had i not noticed.
"look, i painted these nuts and bolts before i came here,...you guys didnt even do anything!"
he had every excuse,...the alignment guy left, heres the computer print out its straight, etc. all BS.
i will say the car did and does run perfectly straight. the only reason i even got an alignment was after new front tires and the other parts mentioned above.

i do about 99% of the stuff on my cars, but alignments arent one.

 

So after 20+ years of ownership what compelled you to take it somewhere to get fixed?
who maintained it the past 20+ years?

The alleged work the shop did you could have done yourself and possibly better. Did you get your old parts back to confirm they actually did that work?
sometimes they will sabotage a car (by disconnecting a wire or such) in hopes of getting more work. then they 'Fix it' by undoing their sabotage and charge you money to do nothing.... real scum bag tricks..

I caught a shop once. I took a car in for emissions repairs to get a waiver because in IL you can't do work yourself.

Long story short I picked up the car and they tell me the power steering is damaged, funny I had power steering when I dropped it off. I did not make a scene, I drove the car home parked in my garage . I found a small vice grip clamped on the power steering hose and they tried the hide it because from above when you opened the hood you could not see it.

Wow power steering was fixed ! LOL I went back to this place and confronted the manager with the vice grip in my hand... they refunded my money on the emissions work.. That was over 10 years ago, I kept the vice grip as a reminder to never trust anyone.

My point is check it over yourself 100% before you assume it's damaged... 190,000 miles with proper maintenance is nothing.

 

I would start by checking the timing

check the spark plug wires.. all 8 may be there maybe they cut one, maybe they altered the firing order so it runs "rough"

same with the cap.. all the plugs may be connected.. maybe they broke a pin off

make sure the ESC is plugged in, that will throw off the curb idle and make the engine run like crap... you only unplug it to set base timing.

if you can prove the car was sabotaged you can lean on them to get your money back or take them to small claims court.

the engine will smoke on start-up and while running if the valve stem seals are worn out common problem on SBCs

don't assume the engine is trashed until you do a compression test.