Eg_mE

It all started 2/1/09 i brought my car to a local tuner shop to have them do a compression test the numbers came out 140 130 120 100 at this point the shop tuner told me that my engine could go at any moment. I dont have alot of things that i can call my mines but this car and its my pride and joy. so i than got concerned and asked him what were my options as far as a engine build and they were N/A or boost he assured me that na would be alot better and more reliable as long as i got it tuned. so i trusted him and went NA 2000 in parts and 2400 in labor and tune later it came out 3-7-09 the first day i brought it home i noticed an oil leak it was in the cam seal area so i brought it back expecting for it to get done for free.... nope he said i had to make an appointment and it would around 120 and at that point i was BROKE so i asked him is this a problem that needs to get down asap he said no . so 3 months later the car ran fine with no problems i brought the car back to get the cam seals fixed 6-4-09 and after it was done i drove the car home and i didnt push it so i didnt noticed the difference. when i did push it i noticed the car was sluggish so i called him and told him that my car was faster before i brought it in and he denied that he had anything to do with it so i made an appointment he was backed up until 6-18-09 and it turned out that my timing was off so he fixed that for me and asked if anyone touched it( OF COURSE I DIDNT LET ANYONE TOUCH MY TIMING,Why would i pay him to do my cam seals and let someone due my timing?) but anyways the main reason for this post is I was driving home friday night on the highway and i noticed a weird noise in my car so i turned my music down and as soon as i did that i heard/saw something fall from my car so i pulled over right away and popped my hood and it turned out to be my crank pulley. at this point it was 4 am and no tow trunks were available so my friend came and brought some rope and we dragged my car home. Next morning i called the shop tuner and told him what happen once again he denied any responsibility and said that he never touched that part. I asked him what can i do if my motor jumped timing , he asked if the timing belt was still on and i said yes it is and he said as long as the belt is on all u need is a new crank pulley i than asked would he pay for it he got defensive and said NO i didnt touch anything if u want ur car to get fixed that bad tow ur car here bring the crank pulley and i'll fix it im tired of u calls about ur car(at this point i was very upset but i remained calm,i knew the last thing i want to do is make things worst. but i ordered a new crank pulley and we put it on today and everything seemed to be going smooth until we got done and started the car up..... all we heard were clicks and clacks and bangs....... at this point i felt like my world was over because i knew if he wouldnt take responsibility for a crank pulley what is he going to say about this problem i have...i called the shop back and they said he was busy and still i havent recieved a call back yet....at this point i feel hopeless and now im considering taking him to small calms court.

please fellow HT members give me some suggestions, we're all honda lovers and if u payed for a builted tuned motor and it only lasted 3 months...how would u feel?

redlinetuning

wow... I consider myself a pretty well-educated person, and this was very difficult to read. For one, there's hardly any punctuation, line breaks, etc...

Point is, I hope you kept your service receipts so you can at least take him to small claims. It sounds to me like a pretty shady shop though. You should have had another shop double-check the compression from the get-go, and as well as a second quote/estimate for the rebuild.

Did the shop use all new parts? I'd be surprised if they did anything really, just from the sounds of this.

95streetciv

What did the compression test yielded after the "rebuild"? What car\engine is this?
I would do my own tests, they can lie about it and how would you know?

He never took the crank pulley off, or the cam seal, but he rebuilt the engine? for $4400?!
What exactly was done in this rebuild? what was replaced?

feel sorry for you dude, what tuner is it? I would never use them again.

Weifast

I say take him to small claims court, hopefully you have all your receipts.

roadsqueegy95

id be highly pissed off to! mind me asking what shop this was?

fastrxu

Check your receipts to verify what parts were replaced during the rebuild.
and what engine is this anyways. Please don't tell me it's a d series

redlinetuning

I agree. I'd question the fact that they rebuilt it but claim they didn't touch the crank pulley. Even when resetting the timing.... you should be recording your phone conversations in case you want to go to court.

waaBAAH

what parts were installed when you spent the 2k plus range? intake header exhaust would be the first choice to go and those dont require removal of anything timing related.

what cam seal was leaking?...distrubutor side? or non dist. side? one is a simple removal of your valve cover and the otehr would require removal of your cam. meaning one is timing related and teh other is not timing related.

i find it kind of hard to believe that a knowledge tuner shop owner would completly deny removal of any timing related parts when if any of the installs require removal of a timing piece. im kind of with the shop owner on this one.

Bwill9886

Yeah, I would like to know how they claim the crank pulley isn't their fault. They are the only ones that have touched the motor. I mean, for what you paid for the rebuild I would think they had to have at least touched the crank pulley.

Sure, s**t happens, but you don't hear about crank pulleys just falling off very often (or ever).

As others have said, hope you have receipts and I wish you luck in small claims if you take it there.

Eg_mE

im very sorry for the grammer but after the rebuild we did a compression test and it was 290 300 on all cylinders,and during the cam seals i changed all 3 of them

the build was ls/vtec
weisco high compression pistons
eagle rods
skunk 2 pro2 cams
skunk 2 high compression vales
skunk 2 valve springs and retainers
tdm tri-y headers
rc 450 injectors
skunk 2 pro series intake manifold
all new bearings
gsr timing
theres more those are the main parts

and i still have all my receipts from the build i have everything except when he fixed my timing and they keep everything on record

at this point i dont want to disclose shop name until he calls me back and lets me know whats the final say,at this point he still hasnt return my calls. does anyone think i can win in small claims? if i have al the receipts ...



PLEASE KEEP UR COMMENTS COMING,UF U VIEW THIS JUST PLEASE PUT UR INPUT IN positive or negative just GIVE me ur opinion

Pothole987

So the car jumped timing? i don't see how they can redo the timing belt with out taking the crank pulley off.
and i've seen crank pulleys fall off 4 months after the car was worked on (timing and water pump)
Shitty luck, thats why when i have to deal with this i find a reputable shop.

But, i also had an engine rebuilt for a car a while ago and well, there was 2 holes in the block after 3000miles. the idiot didn't replace any of the bearings i bought him ( i raided his shop and found lots of my parts that i brought him as long as others.......)

thi3v3z

Well if he put in new pistons and valves, he took off the head, which for most people, involves pulling the timing belt and crank pulley. I find it highly unlikely he didnt pull it off. That sounds like his fault, however, until you find out what all those noises are, you cant say they are related to him. For all we know, all the upgrades caused a weaker part to fail, and hes not liable for that. Hang onto your receipts and try to keep as much communication with him. See what you can work out, and TAKE TONS AND TONS OF PICTURES. you want proof of his work so he cant say you f****d something up.

jtmartin96civic

I dont know anything about court... but i would definatly seek legal advice. Go see a lawyer and see what can be done about this... shitty shops like this deserve to be run out of business.

Its a damn shame. A GOOD shop in my area couldn't stay open because everyone said he had high prices... I saw them as fair... but everyone wanted to go up the street to the cheaper shop that does work similar to this. Needless to stay... he had to shut down because he was offering a honest service that people wouldnt pay for.

I hope you get all your problems straightened out and **** that bastard up in court... good luck man

waaBAAH

you will win small claims court.

get a manual for your car... scan the paragraph on how to remove the head..or install pistons or install all three cam seals. it does require timing to be readjusted.

take him to small claims and start thinking of a price you will sue him for. you cant get your full money back for pistons and all that stuff since you do still have them installed and they are working fine.

but you can get possibly some labor on it knocked off...defenitly the comebacks parts and labor, defintely your "bus money" of when you had to go to work and lunch every day you car was down, possibly gas money to his shop if it is far enough, and your money back for the small claims court fee for you to sue him on not counting the day off of work it will take

ej193

sue that dum *** retarded ***. lame *** excusse for a tuner **** that puto dawg

vetkid89

dude to be very very honest. i dont mean to rag u but u should have notice home boys attitude with you from the start. reading this half way through told me he was no good. it always helps to get the slips and call the people he got the part from. my problem was the motor and 2 diff shops gave me two diferent answers. one good one bad. if you have the paperwork take him on. (good luck bro)

Eg_mE

i will attempt to post my reciepts online for u guys to see word for word what was done to my car, thanks for everything guys keep the comments coming. And the "tuner" is a well known HT memeber what makes me disapointed because i WAS a firm believer due to all his posts and feedbacks and I wish i didnt have to find out the truth the hard way....

fastrxu

were you running 13's? are you sure he even put all those internals in your engine?
I can see taking the head off without the crank pulley off; it can be done if you're lazy but you need the crank pulley off in order to remove the lower timing belt cover in order to put in the gsr oil pump ( i think that's what you meant by gsr timing) plus why would he half *** shet on a $2400 labor job

tear the engine apart and verify that you even have those parts. Even if you do have them you can still sue him for all your valves seeing as you probably bent one.

I'm pretty sure there's some sort of board or licensing organization for automotive shops in your city. Find out where they got their license from and talk to them first.
They have to show you their business license or atleast the organization they got it from. Once you ask them for that they'll know you're serious/ know what you're talking about and they'll take you serious.

40mpg_dx00

How can a shop do timing without touching the crank? Lemon laws are your friend in this case. that is when you have three or more visits to the same shop for related issues. If you bought the car there, got it inspected there, and had it worked on there, there is no way a decent tech would have let all that stuff slip by. Threaten the a*^hole with a law suit. You've got some good ammo from what I can tell. I'm 2 hours south of Harrisburg. Licensed PA state inspector (went to school in PA). I might end up there in a few weeks. I might be able to help or at least hook you up with my friends in the Carlisle area

40mpg_dx00

You don't want to just jump straight to small claims court though. try and make him admit fault before you do that. you threaten him first. tell him what you've got against him and what you could do with it unless he... fill in the blank, otherwise you will take him to court.

Eg_mE

nver made it to the track and still the tuner still havent returned my call and what date will u be in pa we can meet up ,at this point i'll accept all the help i can get

forcefedferio

lemon laws do not apply here, i have a state inspection license as well (they practically give them away) and your license has nothing to do with his problem either.

don't threaten him, that will only make matters worse. be calm and relaxed, but be stern. state that if the situation cannot be resolved in a timely manner then you will be forced to take the next step and that you have already begun gathering your resources, just in case he continues down this path.

PM me atleast the first name of the tuner, and is the shop in harrisburg or is it in carlisle?

fastrxu

state that if the situation cannot be resolved in a timely manner then you will be forced to take the next step and that you have already begun gathering your resources, just in case he continues down this path.

that sounds like a threat to me.
a threat to take further action which is what you should do for him to take you seriously

forcefedferio

it is a threat but what makes it different is it's an indirect threat, it's the type of threat that will get them thinking differently if they are a good businessman and keeping their business running strongly is a priority for them. They will (or they should) realize that the negative word of mouth advertising they are going to get, on top of legal fees will far outweigh the costs of fixing what deffinetely appears to be their own wrong-doing. If you don't say something calmly and cleverly, they seem like they would more than likely just get into a pissing contest with you and that is NOT what you want.

40mpg_dx00

How is what you said any different from what I suggested in my second post. The inspection license comment, although cute, is also worthless. I threw it in there so EG would understand that I actually haave some practical knowledge, as I'm sure you do, and I'm willing to help. I'd like to know why lemon laws don't apply. It fits the rules to a T so why wouldn't they?