OH MY GOD!, Argh! I hate my mechanic! Options

[Coomer]

So on Sunday I drove my car to my mechanic's shop so that I could do my clutch install myself in his garage using his tools, since I no longer have any tools because they got stolen. This was the same mechanic who did my swap, but I had no intention of having him touch the car. Well it turns out that I'm 100% completely mechanically retarded...at the end of the day I didn't even have both axles out of the car.

And since it was in the shop's main bay and my mechanic had to have it out of there and I had to work, I couldn't continue on it and had to pay him to do my clutch installation. So I got my car back today and took it for a drive...it is now so screwed up it's ridiculous. Now I have to hold the wheel ten degrees or so clockwise to drive straight!

I also have a new paint chip on the side of my door from my mechanic hitting the door with something, and my front brakes squeal when I come to a stop. It's so ridiculously sick how retarded my mechanic is. My car was fine except for a bad throwout bearing due to my mechanic being a retard and using the wrong one on my tranny. Now it doesn't drive straight and my brakes squeal.

I just don't even know what to do anymore...my car used to be nice...now look at it...it's a piece of garbage...I don't even think I could sell this car anymore.

[macavely]

damn coomer .. yea that sucks... i wish we lived in the same state i would take the car apart for you and rebuild it one weekend..


i say we all send coomer some money so he can but tools and all the tpypta repair mauals so he doesn't even have to go back to a shop..

[sphinx]

are you sure you're breaks are'nt wated already? Cause you don't disassemble the breaks to take out the axles. Maybe your breaks are just worn out.

As for the stearing wheel not being straight, it's not a big deal, it's an easy fix.

[Coomer]

Sphinx, my mechanic told me to remove the calipers so that we could pull the axles out. So I took off the calipers and the two bottom bolts for the strut and then the brake assembly swung out so I could remove the axles...I take it this isn't the right way to do it? And I don't think the brakes are worn out...I've never heard any noises from them ever prior to taking it to my mechanic's shop.

And how should I go about fixing the steering wheel issue?

And Mac, Thanks! But there's no need to send me any money. I wouldn't be able to buy tools with it anyway, as I'm already in debt to my parents still.

[sphinx]

to take off the axles, you just take off the wheels, the 2 bolts that hold the hub and the strut together, and then the main NUT that holds the axle in place with the hub. I believe the 2 bolts on the strut are 17MM and the one on the axle/hub is a 24MM

As for the strearing wheel, my buddy here knows how to fix that. I've never had that problem, but he says it real easy. I'll ask him how to do it

[Coomer]

[Anub1s]

An Air bubble in your power steering won't cause your steering to be off by that much. He must have screwed something up with your alignment. As for fixing all of this stuff man if you could get down here, me and my friends would be more than happy to get that thing going smooth for you. We just finished putting my friends '91 Eclipse GSt back together from a tranny swap. I'm itching to do something on SOMEONES car. As for the removal of the axles, sphinx is right all you have to do is remove those two nuts and the big'n thats holding the axle to the hub assembly. Then you just have to muscle them out of the transmission. If you decide to put the clutch assembly bavk on yourself make sure that you put all of the pressure plate bolts back on correctly and in the right fassion otherwise you could seriously screw stuff up and your clutch won't entirely dissengage. Is there anything wrong with the clutch itself? Is it not dissengaging? And not to be rude or anything but y did you take it back to the guy that screwed you over in the first place? Reading what you said it sounds like you didn't really have an option but I'm sure that someone in your neighborhood has the tools needed. Let me know if there is anything that I can do Coom. My friends mom lives in Goldendale, so we could road trip up there. Just say the word and I will see what I can do.

This post has been edited by Anub1s: Sep 2, 2004 - 4:47 PM

[Coomer]

Thanks Anub...I wouldn't have ever taken it there to get work done on it by him, but I needed to use his tools to do it myself, and none of my friends have the tools or anything required. Most of my friends are into drinking rather than cars, and the rest are mostly ricers who don't even change their own oil, so I had a hard time finding a place to do the work.

And yeah, an air bubble doesn't seem like it'd cause that...if I can find the right part number then I'll pick up a belt tonight and put that on and see if it helps any.

My gut feeling is that my mechanic took my car out for a test drive to make sure the clutch was working and hit something like a curb or something. He's retarded like that.

[Celicaca]

its ridiculous that you go back to that mechanic....even if u just wanted to use his tools. ridiculous.

[Coomer]

[Anub1s]

wow coomer you need to move man. It really sucks that you can't find a descent mechanic in your area. I'd say pick up a manual, buy some tools (when you can) and hunker down and work on the biotch.

[gtcelica94]

damn man i be feeling bad for you

[Celicaca]

[Coomer]

[BlackCelicaGT94]

Coomer! i told u once and ill tell you again..u need tools or someone to work on the car come over here! theres no use on working on ur car when u dont have the tools or having someone work on it over in Yakima! bring it to the seattle area!


Natalie

[Anub1s]

Your clutch is one of the most important parts of the drive train. If something goes wrong there, lots of bad things can happen. My freinds '91 Eclipse's tranny ate itself because there was something wrong with the clutch assembly, it wasn't dissengaging all the way. 600+ dollars later we have it back together and running, then it blew a seal in the differential casing and we have to replace that now. grrrr. Sometimes I hate cars but they are fun to work on with friends.

[BlackCelicaGT94]

[Coomer]

I know, I know...had I known that I wouldn't be able to finish the car, there is no way that I would've taken it there...I just didn't know...I guess that's what I get for trying to work on something myself though.

[Anub1s]

Are you kidding? Thats the only way to learn. And if you are going to have a car as hot as yours, you are going to have to do some work on it sometime. Coomer you have so many people on this site that can give you advice and tips on this its not even funny. Man if you need help I'm sure that anyone on here would be more than happy to help just ask.

[lagos]

taking out the axels should mess up anything in your steering. seems to me like your mechanic messed with the tierods (the steeing arms, or whaever they are officially called). if you payed a mechanic to do the job right, then you should ask for a refund when he did the job wrong, at least engough to cover the cost of getting your car back to normal.

just take your car to any tire and wheel place, describe your problem, and ask them to do an alight ment for youl. that should fix your issues.

after doing my swap, i have yet to take my car in for an alignment. for the most part it drives 100% normal because i didnt mess with those steering arms. i only get slight vibration of the wheel at high speeds.

[Andason]

do you not have an autozone by you coomer? you pay a deposit and you can borrow tools.

[hioctane]

take your car down to cali. we have car shops at every corner

[Kwanza26]

Dude Coomer... sometimes I really wish I could help you out... a clutch job for me is a couple of hours at most... with a lot of sitting and drinking... and for you... I'd do it dirt cheap man...

Hope it all works out... I also replied to your topic on club4ag...

[Batman722]

Coomer, option 1, hook up with another member or members to get your car right again. Option 2, bring your car to one of their trusted mechanics. Stop screwing around.

You have a world of information and help on this board, use it.

I admit it's entertaining reading how every week you have a new mishap or problem or disaster but it's getting painful now.

just my $.02

[Kwanza26]

Alright... I re-read the topic and am not happy... =/

Here's what you need to do Coomer:

Aside from beating the crap out of your mechanic...
Check the axles. It's possible that they may not be seated well either in the tranny or on the hubs (if the tranny, check for fluid leakage... if the hubs, check the pins at the end). Either or can cause the car to tilt and pull strongly to the side. If not that, all I can suggest is an alignent... As for the brakes... you mentioned he had to remove the calipers... if you removed them from the lines, you may just need a bleed job (bubbles can sometimes cause pulsations in the piston, causing the pads to squeak). If not, then get some more squeak-stop gunk and re-apply to your pads.

I really wish I can help you out... and please feel free to ask me anything related to fixing a car... I always answer (or try to). I just wrote up last night a long step-by-step list of instructions for another member on how to do his clutch. It's no problem for me (in fact, I kinda enjoy it)... so always, anyone, if you have questions like that, you can ask.

This post has been edited by Kwanza26: Sep 3, 2004 - 12:04 AM

[Coomer]

Thanks for all the support everyone. I love you all.

But owning a Celica is coming to an end for me. My mom just officially kicked me out of the house, and is dropping me from insurance, and promises that she'll never help me out with college funding again. She thinks I'm on drugs because I'm angry about the situation, and all she ever says is how cars completely ruin my life.

Apparently now it's my fault that my mechanic's retarded, it's my fault that my tools got stolen so I couldn't do it myself, everything is my fault, and I'm just trying to be a good kid. I don't steal, I don't hurt people, I don't do drugs, I'm just trying to have fun with a car, but now it's over. I'm in tears right now writing this, but there's just no way I'll be able to pay for insurance, especially since I'll have to live on my own now. And my car, I don't even know what to do...I'd love to keep it and slowly work on it, but it just can't happen. I just hate my parents, or at least my mom. For the last couple months, all she's done is hate me...everything's my fault...I'm the bad kid...I don't deserve any help from them because I have a job...I must be on drugs because I get angry when my car gets destroyed...etc. I HATE IT! Everything seems to go wrong with my life, and it seems like there's nothing I can do....now I'm in tears, gonna be without a Celica, gonna be without the love from my mom, my friends are doing cocaine, I'm constantly stressed/bitter/angry/pissed/depressed/sad/etc., life just sucks.

[Kwanza26]

[ghostdog]

coomer I sympathize with your situation; it hurts me to see you put in this position.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that you've made a lot of sacrifices for this community and if there is ANYTHING we can do for you please don't hesitate to mention it.

[95STHATCH]

I'm sorry that you are going through the crap you're having to go through coomer. About your steering being off, I've seen many people on this board and other boards always say "your alignment should be fine" after lowering,axles pulls,etc. If the bolts on that strut are loosened to do work such as pulling an axle and changing springs. The steering problems that you described are alignment and camber related. Granted you can get it close enough yourself for it not to be that noticable<but>it is still out of alignment! Get it aligned as soon as possible coomer, cause yourtires will be so far gone that you will have to buy new ones. If an alignment doesn't fix the steering problem I will pay the cost of your alignment. I just don't want you or anybody else on this board to have been given misleading information which will in turn cost more money in the long run. I hope things start going good for you soon coomer.

[hioctane]

there's a guy on the 1320stangs.com forums who got screwed over by AMP Phoenix and there were people all over the net from as many as 40 different car forums who showed him support. People from the rx7 community , mr2, eclipse, civic and the even the bmw community. you should sign up and check it out. I was astonished by how the net could unite people like that. If you post in the forum, your mechanic will need to find a new job.

[Coomer]

[sphinx]

well, look. I hate to post this here on this site, but if that's the kind of **** your mechanic is into then I have no problem playing that way. I live in LA and know a lot of people that owe me favors. So it's all up to you. If you say the work, he will never wake up.

you feel me?

[Coomer]

[hioctane]

[dstrbcelica]

holy cow..i'm gone for like a week and everything has gone to hell in a handbasket. i'm sorry coomer. but, you got to do what you gotta do.

-dstrb

[Coomer]

I read all about that a while back. It sounds a lot like my story. I won't widely post my story though because I fear for my car's protection and even my life. And there's no-one in Yakima who can help me...cops, parents, laywers, etc.

[Celicaca]

[Digndoug]

sell it on e-bay.. start over.. theres a time when you need to take the losses an start over.. look into a new 6gc with a blown motor or even somthing completley diff..

[Coomer]

Celicaca, I think you're right. I'm not going to go near my mechanic any more after today.

And yes, cars are a huge part of my life. When I pay my money that I don't have to have my car(that I've invested $16,000 into and spent countless hours and much stress working on) get destroyed, it makes me very angry. Cars are a large part of my life, just like my friends who I love dearly, my family(even though my mom hates me and we haven't said a kind word to each other in a month.), etc. There's more to life than my car, but like I said, cars are a big part of my life. I'm sure there are many other people on the site who share my love for cars.

[turboinduction]

[vangSTa_celica]

I'm with turboinduction. If you ever decide to drop by in WI, I got people all over the place. Ladies too . Sorry about all this BS that has happened and I completely feel you on the whole mom situation. My mother and I don't click either, but...best wishes buddy. You've made a big influenece on my life and my car.

- Chong Vang

[vangSTa_celica]

In fact, if SlowCelica94 ever decides to give me that NOS bottle I won, it's all yours buddy.



This post has been edited by vangSTa_celica: Sep 3, 2004 - 1:00 PM

[OrbitalGT95]

coomer i still love ur car even though it being gay to u..i really hope things work out for you cause this type if **** shouldn't happen to someone like you

[Rjb23]

This is gonna be sound harsh but it is what will be best for you in the long run coomer.

1) Find a new mechanic.
2) Get in school if your not already
3) Stop talking to all your friends that are into drugs and such, they are going no where and being around them makes it hard for you to go places. I've been in the same situation about 5 yrs back and have never been happier than I am now. It sounds bad but honestly if your friends are going down they are going to take you down with them.
4) Make new friends that are motivated and want to succeed in life, see step 2.

[Anub1s]

Dang Coomer life just threw a hard ball at you, but you gotta keep on swinging man. In life you can get as many strikes as you want but you can never strike out unless you stop trying. I have had similar situations with my mom. She grew up in a home that was not so loving and has since taken it out on me. I have been blamed for all of the health problems that she has had in the past and even for my brother being a "bad" kid. I know what it feels like. I will be the first to admit that I have been in so many fights with my mom that has brought me to tears. What you need to do is get rid of the celica, sell it for a descent price and put a nice down payment on something new and sensible. Something that you don't have to invest a whole ton of money into. When you look at what you have done and what you have in your posession you really can't be mad at life/god/yourself, you have a lot of loyal members on this site and I think I speak for most people on here when I say that we consider you our friend. You can call a favor on me any time, being able to come to this site while at work is the only thing that has made it bearable for me. It is a major release for me to come here and post my problems, and help others out. You are the man Coomer and if your mom thinks that you are a little piss ant for being who you are, FORGET HER! Moms are supposed to love you no matter what you do, sure she can get mad every now and again but as soon as she starts saying things that can never be taken back, thats when she stops being your mom and is only your mother. A mom is what makes a house a home. A mother is what makes families fall apart.

As we say at JetBlue "Forget It and Drive On" or FIDO its been my personal slogan ever since I started working there and I apply it every day.

I dont mean to pry but how much are you in debt? If its not too much then I would say find a sensible appartment, furnished if you can find one (probably through a college or something) to make it easier on you. Then sell the Celica and get a sensible car like I said above.

I say that we all need to road trip up there and beat the piss out of that mechanic until he gives you all of the money that you have had to spend on him break stuff on your car. You owe him nothing and if you took him to court I'm sure they would think so as well. Judge Judy his Ass!

Well I'm done rambling but Coomer just remember that it is never as bad as you think it is, it could always be worse. And remember that we are here to help you as well.

[fastgt]

hey man i know its hard....ive been in the same situation but ive never been kicked out(close but not yet) and my car is giving me helll.....its currently in my driveway with my smashed front end...but hey i cant tell you how to live your life i can only make a few suggestions.


1) talk your mom try to work things out with her tell you love her, do anything you can to work it out.

2) get some people in your area or tow your truck to a mechanic who can help you

3) save up some money and move out ...its hard but it needs to be done....

4) if you cant fix the car put it in storage for awhile until you able to fix and use ure other celi

most important make an effort to make peace with ure mom even if she doesnt let you move back in

i hope i helped coom , when i first started looking for a car i stumbled upon this site and immediatly fell in love with the 6th gen celi and your continued devotion to the site and your car have become an inspiration to fix up my car and hopefully see a beautiful final project...again im sorry about everyting coomer and i wish you the best

[bufferdan]

i didnt read all of this but from what it sounds like is your mechanic took loose the tie rod ends and didnt put them back the way they were (he needed to mark the threads as close as possible). Just tell him to do a alignment on it and you should be fine.

[hioctane]

[Andason]

[turboinduction]

i PROMISE Chris... if you do decide to come to Wisconsin for Vang and me..... I'll hide you from Shawn. lol.

just messing, look, even Shawn is excited.

[Sev408]

all you had to do was follow my swap guide. i just did a new clutch and flywheel install on my friends civic and he doesnt need to have an alignment. seems to me your mechanic sucks ass and doesnt know what hes doing.

but what do i know, im no mechanic i just do the **** myself by trying and completing it.

[slipgun]

If you cant work stuff out with your mom... I think it is time to move outa your area bro. I think a lot of us could pitch some money in if you need a lil help to get your ass outa that state. And dont be all hard ass about you not wantin help. You helped us, I wasnt a hardass about it.

[blkGT]

i say we move coomer to fl. cmon coomer its fun here. minus the hurricanes

[Yota]

I agree,

If everyone pitched in a little on this site, we could help you with anything you needed. You've created something in this website that EVERY member has benefited from. It would be our pleasure to repay you for all you've done for us.
You sound like you're a great kid, that I wish lived closer to me so I could personally know you. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. (vehicle related or not) I'd be glad to help you find the answers you need.

Good luck with everything and keep your head up and your shoulders square...

You have a great relationship with the members on this forum, use them.

Yota

[KAMiX]

Honestly I'm not willing to pay you money, but dude a lot of us have been through this before, and it will be good for you in the long run. I got booted out when I was 17, just started uni and not working. It was a wake up call for sure, but it will only make you stronger man.

[Coomer]

Thanks everyone for all the support and kindness.

After talking to my dad, he just said that my mom was out of control and that I should stick around and stuff, so I'm not kicked out as of now, which is good.

When I found that out today I went out and bought a slave cylinder and replaced mine, and that helped my shifting problems a little bit. I also got an accessory belt and put that on, so now I've got my power steering back, which makes the car feel so much more tolerable. I'll probably get an alignment early next week if the 'rents will lend me a bit more money, and hopefully that'll solve the steering wheel problem. The brakes still squeak, so I'll have to look into that soon too.

Oh, and I finished breaking in the new clutch today, and the car feels great with it...not much slower up high with the heavier flywheel, but a lot faster down low, which is very nice. Unfortunately, the quick shifts were better with the JUN flywheel, but oh well, there has to be a trade-off somewhere.

[Defgeph]

Sorry for your troubles coom.. Glad to see things are turning around for ya.

You have all of our support. keep your head up mang

DEF

[Coomer]

Woo Hoo! I just got back from a 2AM drive throughout the city and on some of the canyon roads and I think I'm back in love with the car. I don't know if it's the flywheel or the cool night temperature or what, but the car was pulling really hard tonight throughout the entire powerband!

Combined with the better handling feel provided by having power steering back, the car feels soooooooo much better than it did before. I drove the car for an hour and a half and loved every second of it...something that hasn't happened in a while.

[o8poa8o]

did you ever get vvti working?

[dstrbcelica]

that's great that you fell back in love with your car coomer!!!

-dstrb

This post has been edited by dstrbcelica: Sep 5, 2004 - 11:03 AM

[Coomer]

[Coomer]

Tonight I hooked up a VVT light, and VVT is working!

So things keep getting better and better. Today I put some B&M Trick Shift ATF into the tranny, and it smoothed things out a little bit, but I've still got the notchiness from 1st to 2nd.

[vangSTa_celica]

I'm so happy for you Coomer. I hope things keep goin up for you.

[celicaBEst]

glad everything is going better for you coomer!!! keep your head up buddy!

[sphinx]

did you mess arround with anything else besides the vvt wirring? Cause it makes no sense that it works all of a sudden. I've been busting my Grape Fruits trying to figure out why it would'nt work.

Well, either way, i'm glad it's finally working. If you messed with anything else, please let me know what you've done to the car since we last talked. I'm curious to know if it was being held back because of something else on the engine.

Good luck dude, If anything, you know you can hit me up anytime.

[Supersprynt]

Does this mean ur keeping it?

See when things are down they can only go back up.

As for the VVT, now i dont kno much about VVT, but what initiates it? is it rpm, speed, a combo? Perhaps the lwfw was messing with engines load and causing a disruption? IDK but if its working all of a sudden and the only things u changed were the FW and slave cylinder, id think it has something to do with those.

This post has been edited by Supersprynt: Sep 7, 2004 - 11:04 AM

[Coomer]

Well, basically, the VVT solenoid has two wires going to it...one is +12 volts that gets +12 volts when the ignition is on. When ground is sent through the other wire by the ECU, the VVT solenoid switches over and turns on VVT. So I tapped into the switch wire for the VVT solenoid, and ran the spliced wire to one side of a pushbutton switch, and the other side to ground. I started up the car, and pushed the switch, which caused the idle to be very poor, but it stopped the clicking noise which I previously suspected(thanks to Sphinx ) was the VVT pulley.

I let off the switch and started driving, and while at WOT I pressed the switch a couple times, but didn't notice any increases in performance or changes in sound. However, the car seemed much quicker, without me even touching the switch. I initially thought it was due to the colder air(this was at 2AM or so) and the OEM flywheel, since this was the night that I'd broken in the clutch and was able to drive it hard. However, the VVT thing had me confused, so it occurred to me that maybe VVT was working now.

So I hooked up a VVT light(shown below in the vent), and found that VVT was working flawlessly! Apparently when the ECU recieved ground manually by me manually grounding the wire that splices into it, it set something off...maybe the ECU was stuck or something from sitting for too long. That's the only possible thing that I can think of, but I'm happy because VVT is working perfectly, and the car feels a whole lot faster than it did before, especially in the lower RPM range.

And Super, the VVT engages mostly based on throttle position signal. The car has to be warmed up for it to engage(except when the car is starting...VVT is on when the car is starting to get more air into the engine to make starting easier...this is why in the photo below, the VVT light is on...the car is off, and the VVT wire will give ground until the car is running), and VVT engages anywhere from around 1900 RPM up to around 7000 RPM if your foot is on the throttle fairly hard. Above 7000 RPM or so, it becomes inefficient to have VVT on, so it will shut off.

Anyway, I'm just so happy that it works...the car feels sooooo much faster than before, and VVT sounds great when it comes on, although my loud exhaust drowns out the noise from the intake and individual throttle bodies. Anyway, here's the VVT light.

Attached image(s)

 

[Supersprynt]

Your pics mesmerize me, what is that setting u use to get that look of yellowness.

This post has been edited by Supersprynt: Sep 7, 2004 - 1:24 PM

[Coomer]

[Supersprynt]

Seriously I love photography but im becoming annoyed at how good u are. 8s is long time, tripod or what?

And the VVT light, stays on all the time?

[Coomer]

[Supersprynt]

[Coomer]

[Supersprynt]

I have discs but no calipers, they should be turned down though. (if ur interested)

This post has been edited by Supersprynt: Sep 7, 2004 - 1:52 PM

[97sccelica]