Today I got my car back from pepboys..

Its a 1997 Honda accord EX

It all started when it wouldnt start one morning. I thought the battery was dead. I got a jump and drove it to work only to find out when i get out of work it would be dead again. I get it jumped and drive home to get the warranty work for my battery and i take it to autozone. They test it and the alternator, both test fine.. but the battery is low. SO they take the battery and charge it. starts right up i drive it home and sleep on it. Next morning its dead again. I take it back, i figured lets do a tune-up its been a while. I replace the sparkplug wires at autozone and drive back... works fine. I get home i change the plugs and the cap.

THE CAR DOESNT START.

I cant figure it out. I take it to pepboys the next day. They cant figure it out they need to wait for the "honda specialist on monday (its friday and he doesnt work weekends.......).

Apprently the problem lies in the head. they have to send it out to the machine shop to be remeasured and to check the valves. SO they fix the head and replace 2 valves should be done on wednesday. its been 6 days now. I get there at 4:30 on wednesday im watching them finish up... they try and start it... IT STILL WONT START.

They tell me the distributor is bad, its after 5 they cant get another one until today. They get one i called them at 12 and they say give us a few hours we are going to check to make sure its working perfect and i asked them to check the fans on the front because the fan which cools the engine doesnt work at all and it was overheating when I had the AC on. They replace the fan and take it for a test drive.

Last night while i was sitting there waiting to find out the problem was the distributor i asked them to check the fan so they did. They also let me know I have a bad battery. BUT i just said AUTOZONE checked the battery and said it was fine. I said ok and i took the car straight to autozone. By the way the battery is a optima ( it was recommended to me because of my system? now i hear it doesnt make a difference but whatever).

SO they test the battery and tell me its fine, they test the alternator and they said its fine.. but it wasnt it was only pushing out 37 amps (which was found by the manager there after he was called over) instead of the 80-90 which it was made for.

I take it out AT autozone and put the new one in. While im sitting at the desk i call pepboys and ask them if they tested it because they were so fast in saying the battery was done. They said uhhhh hold on let me ask. He asks his employee and he says he did. I ask is it on this 7 page receipt of stuff you did to my car? uhhh.. no it wouldnt be on there.. (????? really?). I put the new one in it starts right up and I have them test it again. Its pushing out 87 amps and is now charging my battery.. thank god.

So 8 days and $2200 later the reason the car wont start was because of my alternator? my distributor? I dont know what the truth is anymore. They said when the car over heated it warped the head and I needed to replace 2 valves... I don't know how much of this is the truth and if that would cause my car to not even start because ultimately it was starting and running BEFORE i had the battery problem and i did a tuneup.

I just wanted to share this story with everyone and I dont think ill ever go back to pepboys. But it was a journey and I think... i mean IM GLAD its over and I finally have my accord back!

PS sorry if there was any typos or anything I was in a rush and still kinda stressed about the whole situation.

 

What rubes! The Cylinder head didn't have anything to do with the no start condition.

I would ask them to either prove it or refund your money.

Sorry you didn't run this by us b4 you went to Poopboys or Deathzone Autoparts. The Alternator would have been the first things to check.
Are you aware that an alternator can be checked with either a multimeter or a screwdriver?

P

 

No I wasn't aware.. They checked it the second time and thats how they found out that it was bad. But before when i took it there they said it was good.. maybe they just didnt know how to use that tester... They were very helpful at "Deathzone Autoparts" though and they helped us take off the alternator when we figured out that was the problem.

P.S its been 2 hours and I just tried to start it again and its working great now. WOOHOO

 

Lifes little Triumphs; aren't they great?
Too bad you have to spend so much time, energy and money to get to that point.
Good Luck

P