Topic: I hate mechanics

[sirean_syan]

The short: Went in for checkup, left with something screwy in the steering system.

The long(er): Today I took my car into a shop near my parent's in Southern California because it hasn't had a tune up in a while and I intend to drive the thing across the country in a couple months. This shop is supposedly a trusted place for my family. My brother probably goes there often to take care of his well-aged, but still aged Mercedes and this guy supposedly knows his stuff. My car has ~80K miles on it and really hasn't seen a mechanic outside of a tire shop for a number of years. He was to replace to timing belt, the water pump, and a number of random small parts like other belts and spark plug. When I picked up the car he asked if my car has always been hard to steer when at slow speeds. I said no, but I might have just not noticed. Driving home, the wheel seemed a little stiff, but nothing major. Going out later, I figure out that something is messed up. At slow/parking speeds its about 3-4 times harder to steer. at driving speeds, somewhere around 1.5-3 times depending on how sharp of turn it is. I have no solid idea why this would happen. Power steering fluid is totally full and they shouldn't have touched the steering stuff. All I can figure is that a tube connecting the steering fluid somehow got pinched in the work they were doing as the timing belt and water pump are both near the power steering fluid reservoir. So now, I get to go back and complain and hope they can fix this shit. I intended to be back in the Bay Area tomorrow afternoon, but that's going to be later. I NEED to be home by Wednesday because I leave for a month long trip/class on Thursday morning. Lets hope this dude can fix this shit.

What's the saying? Something about going to a mechanic to fix one problem and driving out with another. I feel like I shouldn't have even bothered right now.

[Pugnate]

Hmmm... you might need to get the axle serviced/changed. I have that done every year or it becomes difficult to steer at lower speeds without a big MMMMMMMMPH sound.

[ren]

When my family finally found a good, honest mechanic we practically went out and celebrated. We ended up finding them after one mechanic quoted us $1000 to fix something on a car worth about $4000. These guys fixed it for $50.

This mechanic is the one where all the cab drivers seem to go. The garage is always filled with taxis and a constant stream is always coming in while we wait. So go make friends with taxi drivers and ask them where they go.

[sirean_syan]

Got it fixed. The dude messed up one of the belt replacements and it was a bit loose. From what I gather, this belt was attached to the power steering fluid pump.

This time, another guy worked on the car (at the same place). This was the father; the person who did the work yesterday was his son. Go fig.

[Cobra951]

Aha!  I was about to post about power steering and serpentine belts.  Cool.  Glad you got it fixed.

When I had my radiator replaced a couple years back, a throttle-bypass part went kaput.  If I let my foot off the gas for even a moment, the engine would die.  I mentioned it was just fine before taking the car in, to no avail.  I still had to pay for it.  Luckily, that was cheap.

[gpw11]

I feel like I shouldn't have even bothered right now.

That is one way to look at it, but as much as a bitch as it is, it's no where near the headache you'd be having if your timing belt went in your (most likely) interference engine. Apart from crashing into something at high speeds, that's the quickest way to go from having a perfectly drivable car to a hunk of metal that probably wouldn't be cost-effective to fix.

But yeah, serpentine belts make sense. How old is your car?  Most relatively new ones have a self adjusting tensioner which makes it pretty hard to have it too loose.  I'd guess it was a cover up for the idiot son not actually hooking it up to the power steering pump.  Usually, the diagrams for the belts have a schematic for how to hook it up to the pump and how to bypass the pump (I'm assuming you'd only do this if it's not there).  Could have looked at the wrong one....although why they would still have diagrams like that is entirely beyond me....do they even sell cars without power steering anymore?

[Ghandi]

Mechanics are worse than used car dealers. Some people can find a good one but most people get ripped off.

[gpw11]

Yeah, as stupid as it sounds dealerships are starting to be a better bet for servicing for your specific car.  They'll rape you, but they'll at least do it honestly through high rates.  They're too worried about reputation to actually make shit up (most of the time).

That said, I have a $20/hour + parts under the table guy who is fucking great.  Has a full shop in his garage and charges reg. mechanic rates to most, but if you have an in you're set.  The downside is it's really out of the way...like I need someone to follow me there and then drop me off later. 

[Pugnate]

They'll rape you, but they'll at least do it honestly through high rates.

Well said... but there are still good mechanics out there. The key is to take someone who knows everything about car repair (like my dad).