To all the Ottawa and surrounding area guys - where do you take your rides for repair, mods etc..?
My mechanic is good. Not great though. I started using him when I had a carb'd '83 but now I'm running a TPI. The first thing he mentioned to me was how rare it was that he got to work on one...that didn't fill me with confidence. Anyway, he gives me parts at almost cost, labor at $30/hour and generally good work. I've been going to him for 6+ years now and solidly trust him.
My only beef is he tends to be 'lazy'. He doesn't want to do work if he doesn't really need to. But how does he know if he needs to do or not, right?
I developed a mild leak which we assumed was oil. We couldn't find it, figured it was the rear seal, and let it be as it was only burning/losing about a quart a month. He didn't want to do the work because it was so much time for such a little a problem.
I suggested to him that it might be the tranny, but he shot that down right away. "Can you get it in gear?" Well, yeah. "Thats not the problem then..."
But ever since then, I have had intermittent transmission problems. That is my assumption anyway.
My big problem is that I can discuss all the technical aspects of an engine, but I can not diagnose a problem. I could not tear down an engine and rebuild it...I can do the basics, starter, alternator, plugs, wires etc..., but nothing big. So I have these various problems but can not specify what they are. I can describe them, but that could lead to numerous thoughts as to what the problem is. So when you guys have a problem, if you don't specifically know what it is, what do you do with it? How do you get it diagnosed? Do you guys have deep pockets? Like what if I were to tell him to pull the transmission and it turns out there is no problem there...Well I've just paid for x number of hours labor for nothing. You know what I mean?
Any thoughts/recomendations would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

 

For the leak, get under the car and wipe all of the oil off. Then go for a decent ride and jack the car up again. Get back under it, take the trans inspection cover off(plastic cover behind oil pan with 4 10mm bolts holding it on). Now grab a good light and inspect everything!! Look up at the heads for valve cover leaks/dist gasket leaks/lower intake leaks ect. Check the obvious areas around the oil pan/rear main seal area and of course the trans pan aswell. Don't be suprised if you have more than one or two leaking areas, which is why I am saying to check everything! Make sure the trans fluid is topped up if you have not already, and keep an eye on the colour of fluid you are loosing. Trans fluid has its own smell and is gonna be anywhere from a nice clean red to a burnt brown colour depending in how old it is.

If a mechanic ever said something this stupid to me, I would walk away and never go back!!


I do most work myself or with people I know, but best price/KVR peformance is alright. Their is better around so hopefully someone else will chime in here and help you out with this.

Cory

 

Thanks for the response. I will be checking for that leak definitely.
It doesn't seem that bad, but thats not the point is it.

Looking forward to coming across you on the roads somewhere.

Chris

 

Glad I could help, I'm the other black 91Z(you'll here me ). Ya, just keep an eye on the leak, atleast once you look into it you will know where it is coming from. Take some time under the car, look around, try to figure out what does what(as far as sensors go and all that stuff). It makes life much easier when you know your car real good!! Do searches on things you are unsure about, and ask about things you can't find info on. You will be doing your own work in no time. I had to learn fast cause these cars can suck you dry if you don't know anything about them and keep taking them to shops for repair.

 

I do just about everything on my car. Well, me or Dave. Actually, Dave mostly, lol. Anyway, I do everything I can but I don't do engine bottom end assembly and I won't touch a tranny any further than installing a shift kit. I know a couple of mechanics that i'll ask for advice but I don't have a shop that I take my stuff to. I'm sure Carm knows of some decent shops.

I also tend to bugger the car up pretty badly so maybe I should start taking the car somewhere.

 

I would be weary of a guy who says it's "rare" for him to work on TPI. They're everywhere. As for the leak, find out where it's leaking like 91wotROH17 said. Thats the only way. Find out where the leak is first before you can begin a game plan to fix it. A rear main leaking is not a "minor" problem. Especially on late model blocks. Once they start to go they can easily blow out completely under WOT and then you could lose your whole crankcase in a matter of seconds. I know, I just rebuilt my whole motor due to a leaky rear main.

As for diagnosing TPI problems. Paul knows his **** when it comes to knowing what does what, and ahything else he can't figure out i could probably come over and take a look at it.

I've gotten pretty sharp at putting these things together after ripping it apar/together so many times.

Good Luck

Dave

 

Parts at near cost and $30/hour labour??? Sounds like this is more of a "hobby job" for your mechanic- nobody runs a serious business like this.

Not that this is a problem- but what I would read into that is that he really doesn't want to get into major jobs (i.e. rear main seal replace and/or tranny pull). But- who says you only need one mechanic? Find me a shop that can and will do EVERYTHING efficiently and well- good luck. Maybe you'll find a shop that is efficient and can fix anything- but only for a specific line of car (i.e. like 'vettes and 4th gens)- but bring in your daily driver Suburban or Toyota and they'll tell you to 'take a hike'.

Use your current guy for what he can/will do, find another shop for your other work- maybe he'll even recommend someone for the jobs he really doesn't want to do, or won't get to until sometime after the cows come home.

 

The labor and parts costs are a 'friend' rate.
I lived across the street from him for ten years and he serviced my families entire fleet. Vettes, Maros, Caddies etc...
A normal person off of the street wouldn't get those rates.
I've taken the day off on Monday and will be spending it with him at the shop. We're going to be very meticulous and find everything (hopefully only one thing) wrong. I've got a few other things to do - outer tie rod, get my inner front fenders 'rolled', but the day is dedicated to my oil leak.
One of my dads friends (they are all Corvette boys), just redid his '75 with chrome for everything engine...he was out in the bush towards Carleton Place or Manotick (I know its not the bush anymore - Ottawa has gotten so big or is that small?) but he got the work done out there. Some place that specializes in Maros and Vettes. If I don't have success on Monday, I will be going with him to meet this guy. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

All is well and running great.
Oil leak is no more. It was the rear main seal, kinda burned through a bit...
I'd been experiencing some other problems like bogging and felt like I had an exhaust flow problem so I was looking to remedy that as well. Hooked it up to a 'SnapOn Tools PROM Reader' (if its even called a PROM Reader), got my codes and had a look. Turns out it was registering an EGR error. We looked, and the sensor wasn't connected. The vaccuum line/return line (I might be wrong on the terminology) is connected, but the wiring to the sensor just doesn't exist. So we go ahead and clear the codes. Run the diagnostic again and no errors...so just clearing the codes seems to have been enough to rectify all of these little problems I was having. I really didn't think it would be that simple. Anyway, my mechanic was saying that sometimes they just aren't hooked up in our cars. True/False? You guys can tell me.
Anyway, all seems to be going good at this point. Except for the speeding ticket I took on the way to work this morning. But thats another story.
Thanks for the support guys.

Chris

 

False. Only the 'vettes didn't have EGR. You also don't need a scanner to read or clear codes.

 

Thats good to know about the engine. I do have the Vette version of the engine. Yes I am positive about that.
Whats the other method to read and clear codes? Is it the piece of paper and paper clip trick?

 

The f-cars got different L98's than the C4's. The F car 5.7L was RPO B2L and it had a few things different than the vettes. The B2L has EGR, cast iron heads, drivers side fuel rail entry, and some other things that I don't remember.

If you're missing EGR components, you may want to have it disabled in the PROM.

 

Just so we are clear, my engine is a L98 Corvette engine swapped out of a 91 Vette - Corvette Badging on the head covers, aluminum heads, etc.... Original was the 305 with auto tranny.
So you're saying I should totally disable the egr then? Or just not have it register with the prom?

Thanks again.

 

You have to have a new prom burned with the egr removed, otherwise your problem will come back.

 

Unless, for some strange reason you used the corvette the corvette TPI gear, you still have EGR. I'd have it disabled in the PROM but then i'm fussy

Sounds like you've got a pretty sweet car. I hope to be able to see it this fall.

 

This guy that your Vette friend goes to, somewhere near Manotick possibly? If the guys name is Larry Ingram, STAY THE F**K AWAY. The man is a total fool and an idiot! He screwed my car up in so many ways everytime I dealt with him, it's too bad it took me so long to wise up. It was a couple years ago, But the $ still hurts looking back. I should have listened to some of the more prominent "Corvette Club" members at the time, they said he was nothing but a "carb" man, and knew nothing about modern tech. The guy that fixed my car for me years later (yes years- Larry left it srewed for me to enjoy, was "out of ideas") couldn't believe how out of wack everything was, some the very basics.
If it is him your friend goes to, do him a favour and tell him to look elsewhere, before his car explodes or something crazy.
If it's not, well then just remember that name, and steer clear, your car will thank you.

 

Stay away from "Vette crowds" all together. Most of them have their nose so far up in the air it's sad. And probably couldn't tell you the difference between a spark plug and an O2 sensor on their car.