Mechanics : need advice on a "mistake"

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by Cd

No. It's my fault. I should have proofread the work order before rushing off.
It states " Replaced both left and right C-V joint shaft . Ck alig "

150 labor and 177 parts.

Whuups

Wow, someone got screwed, complete drive axles with new boots, nut, c-clips, and a life time guarantee for a civic are $52 each and the last time I changed a drive axle on my dads civic it took me 20 minutes to do one side.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Cd

No. It's my fault. I should have proofread the work order before rushing off.
It states " Replaced both left and right C-V joint shaft . Ck alig "

OK, now that I go back and look at the link to your other post, I see that it is, because those are not the CV boots. They're the boots on your steering linkage. So the shop probably did just what you told them to :-)

If your car uses similar design to the CRX, you can (or could a few years ago, when I replaced one of mine) get rebuilt shaft & joints, with new boots, for $100 or so. You can also get split boots, which glue together to replace a torn boot without needing to remove it from the car. Something similar might be available for the steering boots...

[Cd]

O.K. folks : a question - did '93 Civics ever come without power steering ?

I took the car back to the mechanic. ( This is a guy that is late 40s to early 50s with the greasy, well worn hands of a longtime mechanic, so he is not just some fresh kid that doesn't know jack. )
He said that the part that he replaced had a split in it from being overtightened
"probably by some other mechanic ."
( As far as I know the part on the car was untouched. I am the third owner of the car, and all major work done to the car was documented.)
He said that it was leaking fluid and that this was probably because I did not have power steering.

Uh ... WHAT ?

( I was thinking " Did he just say that ? ) What puzzles me is that he even drove the car around the block after he put on the parts.

Maybe he just needs more rest.

I'd like to think that he is telling the truth, and that what I had replaced actually needed to be replaced.
What puzzles me though is that the guy didn't know that my car had power steering.

I took the fellow over to the car and showed him the split boot. " Oh - that's a factory part. You can't get those except from the dealer. " He said.

About this time I guess he started to see that I was beginning to trust him less and less.

He got on the phone and called his buddy for prices on the boots. I didn't know it but he told the guy to send them on over without me even saying if I was even going to have him put them on.
Blah, blah ... blah ... and I am thinking about this time that I really need something in writing.

I told him I could go for twentyfive but no more. He's doing the labor free, so I can't complain I guess.

My question to you guys is if I should even have the boots put on by this guy or not.


Thank you

As far as the car riding strange, I guess it just needed to be worn in. The car pulls to the right now, but it is not that bad ( At 50 MPH it takes around three to four seconds to pull me into the oncoming lane.

[Cd]

One more question : I changed job locations a few months ago.
Whereas before I could simply walk to work and was honestly putting only a few miles on the car a month, now I drive 14 miles per day.
I've been driving the car like this for the last ( three ? ) months.
Do you guys think that I have damaged the car badly enough to worry about replacing other parts affected by that boot cover ?
If I have the guy just slip on some new boots, won't that just be like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound ?

[Daox]

Originally Posted by Cd

If I have the guy just slip on some new boots, won't that just be like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound ?

Kind of, yes. The boot is there to keep dirt and grime out of the grease. It hasn't been doing its job for a while now. That dirt in there will work its way between your parts and cause accelerated wear. At the very least it should be taken apart and cleaned, then regreased and put back together. However, that accelerated wear may still take a good while to actually feel and effect your car. If you are planning on keeping it a good while I'd do this, if not, you might be able to get away with not doing it.

Does your wheel have a lot of free play in it before the wheels actually start turning? IE can you wiggle the wheel without actually turning.

The pull doesn't sound too bad to me, and an alignment is what you need to fix that.

[Cd]

" Does your wheel have a lot of free play in it before the wheels actually start turning? IE can you wiggle the wheel without actually turning."

I'll have to check on this, but I don't think there is any play what-so-ever.
Is this with the ignition on or off ? ( using the power steering )

[Whoops]

Here is some thoughts.

First, as you now know, the boot you were referring to is the tie rod boot, not the half shaft boot.

Second, although the mechanic did not replace the tie rod boot, because you told him the halfshaft, he did the halfshaft. The good/bad part is that the boots on the halfshaft, particularly the outer boot just die with time. If the car tie rod boot is that far gone, then there is a very high liklihood that the half shaft rebuilt was or would have shortly become an issue anyway.

However, the mechanic telling you that he did not see the tie rod boot, no there isn't anything else and etc. is 110% pure balarney. That guy has already displayed the fact that he is not ethical or have any integrity. I would not take the car back to him for zip.

I would get the tie rod boot and the end replaced at the same time. The tie rod ends are comparatively inexpensive, but they do wear and get loose. You will need to get the front end aligned, but they should include that in the cost.

Good Luck.

[Ford Man]

I would check underneath the car to see if the parts that he supposedly replaced looked like they were new or not. It seems very suspicious that if he worked on the car, driving it into the shop, and test driving it after the work was done he should have known it had power steering. I looked back at your previous post and pictures and it was inner tie rod boots that were torn in that picture. If the steering is still tight I wouldn't replace the tie rods right now. You could always jack the car up yourself and try to wiggle the tie rods to see if they have any play or not. Be sure to block up the car with jack stands or something before getting under it though. I have had CV boots tear before and be torn for a long time before I would know it and just put more grease on the joint and replace the boot and have never had any trouble with the CV joints going out. If he replaced an axle the car would most likely have needed realigning. If I could verify that he had replaced what I told him to replace and he was going to do the other work free of labor I would probably let him replace the boots, but if he came up telling me that other parts needed replacing I would take it to a mechanic I trusted and have them check it out before letting him do any other work. If you let him do the work get an estimate from him stating free labor. It certainly sounds like he is trying to work with you on the mistake. It does seem unlikely that he wouldn't notice the other torn boots and at least have mentioned them to you. Good luck.

[DifferentPointofView]

Learn to do your own work. Its easy.

yes, Definitely do this.

I am 5 days from being 17, and I do All of the work myself.

Why? because it saves you thousands of dollars in the long run, and... you never run into this problem of paying $350 bucks for something you didn't want in the first place.

That job probably cost like, 100 bucks to do yourself, probably not even that now that I think of it. I don't know what they replaced, but most things don't cost over 100 bucks if you do it yourself (unless its like, transmission or something major).

I replaced all 4 shocks and greased all my grease fittings on my Jeep for like, 68 bucks. I don't even know how much it is to get shocks all a round and your fittings greased, cause I do it all myself.

Oh, and first time I got my Jeep, I took it in for a lube job... the description clearly says 5 quarts of oil (6 in my Jeep) and Grease All Grease fittings.

Guess what? I got the Jeep back, and the oil was changed... but there was still an inch of dirt and mud crud on the grease fittings. Uh... yea... Never took my Jeep to anyone other than myself or other Mechanic friends of mine that I personally know from that moment on. and guess what? I know I've already saved a couple hundred dollars right then and there.

Oh, here is something. One quick story.

The I6 in my Jeep has a 90 degree elbow for the oil filter to screw onto. Well after a while, the o-rings get dry rotted and start to leak, so I went to the local dealership and bought the o rings.

$3.34 with tax

Then I went home and tried to take the elbow off, but not enough clearance with my tools, a/c compressor got in the way, as well as some piping and the axle if you went from underneath, and I broke my T60 bit because it was so tight on there. So Next day I went to the dealership and asked how much it would cost for them to do it..

Their reply-

"well, it'd be at least $60 and depending on how many parts we'd have to take off, like if we had to take the a/c compressor or the front axle off, itd cost anywhere from $100-300+ to do it."

I said to myself... F*** it, I'll call my friends up, and we'll get it done for $3.34.

Well guess what, from that one job, I saved up to 300+$$$,

Basically... they charge too much for labor. $300 job just to put in $3 o-rings? you kidding me?

Go out and buy a Hanes manual, and then find an experienced mechanic friend to show you the ropes. you'll be saving cash and stress (I use stress lightly ) in no time!

[DifferentPointofView]

Oh, you haven any better pictures of that? I can't tell from those pics very good, but it doesn't look like cv joints. more like steering parts. Is that in the wheel well?