*Help* (Please!)

iPap · March 16, 2012, 15:48

Jack up the car and spin each wheel one by one.

MelBee42 · March 16, 2012, 16:59

Further update. Despite getting in fine this morning from the garage (and having given them £177 for the privelege) the car will now not start again. so it's once again stuck at work and i'm back to square one.... unbelievable. s:(

s:(

loadswine · March 16, 2012, 17:00

Blimey Mel, I'm gutted for you. I don't have any clever tech suggestions right now, just sympathy. s;)

s;)

Anonymous · March 16, 2012, 17:25

Can't belive it Mel. If it bad wiring do you want me to see you a spare wire loom? Other than my only sugestion is get matt to look at it and either get money back from the garage as it not fix or get them to collect and fix it.

MelBee42 · March 16, 2012, 17:53

Thanks both. The garage won't collect it but say they'll look at it for free (Too right they should!!). However they clearly can't fix it so there's no point taking it back to them. I'm going to get in touch with matt and see if he has time to look at it early next week, and see if the AA will tow it for a fee. currently doing the three hour jpurney back on public transport. s:(

s:(

smarty72 · March 16, 2012, 17:55

Quote from: "E"Possibly rust on the inner edge of the disks.

Same symptoms on mine was rust on inner edge.

Sympathy from me too. I can't believe your bad luck. s:(

s:(

Anonymous · March 16, 2012, 19:34

Mel what exactly did the garage do?

MelBee42 · March 16, 2012, 19:52

The charge was for 2.5 hours of labour fixing the wiring, one battery and one camshaft position sensor. I had a bit of an argument with them about the sensor as they ordered it despite me telling them not to order any parts without telling me. In the end they knocked £50 off the bill.
They said the cam sensor that I got fitted was not working but thought that it had probably been shorted due to the wiring still being faulty at the time. Hence them fitting another one. In any case, they *said* that they had been testing it to see if it fired up for two days and said it did every time, after they'd worked on the wiring and then fitted another sensor.
Symptoms remain the same as before though - turns over smoothly and continuously until I give up. Doesn't try to fire.

Anonymous · March 16, 2012, 20:28

Ok sounds like they def not sure. You say they worked on the wiring. Did they change any plugs to the sensors like the cam position sensor. I'm thinking that the wire in the plug broken.

MelBee42 · March 16, 2012, 20:34

They said the connections themselves were fine, but then, they haven't fixed it so I can't say whether that's right or wrong! I've sent mattperformance a PM so we'l see if he has time to look at it. Hopefully also the AA will offer a towing service I can pay for as I'm assuming they won't do it for free (I'll see what they say though!).
Just can't believe after ten days at the garage it's back to being stuck at flipping work again!

StuC · March 16, 2012, 20:48

They will offer a towing option, it will be pricey though. I have friends that have picked up SORN cars doing this.
There are plenty of other people about though, so get some quotes to see how uncompetitive/competitive the AA are.

Anonymous · March 16, 2012, 20:50

The fact you had a bill saying it was fixed the AA might tow it as a new fault for free unless you used your 5 free year tows

MelBee42 · March 16, 2012, 20:54

Thanks both. s:)

s:) It's easier for me if the AA do it as I'll trust them to take it without me going with them. But if it's cost prohibitive I guess I'll try to make other arrangements.
Richard - yeah, I was just going to explain the situation and see what they say. I'm sure being honest does me a dis-service sometimes but I'd rather do that than be economical with the truth. As you say, it was supposedly fixed so maybe they will tow it after all. s:)

s:)

E · March 16, 2012, 21:00

Mel the AA should recover you for free as it is genuinely a seperate breakdown, it's been supposedly fixed you have driven it to work and its broken down again, that's what you pay your fees for.

Anonymous · March 16, 2012, 21:01

Just remember as far as you know it might be something else, and they probably would not care and just tow you

MelBee42 · March 22, 2012, 19:28

Well. just to give everyone an update on this....
I have no good news to report really. I did manage to get the AA out without extra charge and get it to Mattperformance.
It appears the garage who fitted the head gasket (£760+) have made a proper hash of it. The head gasket is leaking and when they put the engine back in they made a mess of connecting it back up which may well have led to these additional problems. (I'm sure I mentioned I also paid them £177 to try and fix the non-starting problem, which they obviously didn't) Matt has sorted out the connections and replaced the crankshaft sensor (seemed to be crankshaft not camshaft despite the code on the reader) and the car now starts although don't think it's been tested on the road yet.
As the brakes felt odd I asked for an MOT to be done to see if there are any more obvious problems (and additional costs!). MOT fail and a few advisories. Handbrake cable seized and a few other more minor things. Total bill to sort including MOT,the crankshaft stuff and swapping front brake discs pads (I have a spare set) is around £460. Probably about half of that ish I have already committed to so far based on work already done.
If you've been following my calamties on here for the last few months you'll probably know that including the new(well, OK, from a facelift breaker) engine, I have now already spent getting on for £3k just on repairs on the car in the last six months. And that was pretty much all I had.
I've already called the garage twice to shout at them who say they'll 'look at it' but certainly no refund. It feels like the most I can hope for from them is that they will totally mess it up again for free this time. So even if I get it fixed to MOT standard and get it to them I'm worried any work they do will leave me with further problems and I'll be no further forward.
So do I borrow the money to get it past the MOT and risk taking it to the original garage? Or cut my losses now and sell it for scrap (leaving me without a car for work and no money to buy one...!!!)? Or exciting option number three which I haven't thought of?
I would do a frowny face at this point but it seems like a bit of an understatement given the circumstances.

Stephster · March 22, 2012, 19:34

Take the garage who messed up to small claims court. I did this when a garage many years ago, completely messed up my carburettor. I got a letter from the people who fixed it properly, to say what the other lot had done wrong, and started a claim which only cost me £30. They settled before it even went to court. This might recoup some of your money.

I am no expert re: whether to sink anymore more money into it, so others will be able to advise you better. Either way I think you are going to have to borrow some money, either to fix it or buy another cheap run around.

Sorry to hear of all your woes. I am not sure I should ask, but how did your date go the other day ?

stargazer30 · March 22, 2012, 19:37

Hi Mel,

The money you've paid the garage for the iffy work is I'm afraid what we call in the project management world, sunk costs. Gone, no value added, not comming back. I would not let them anywhere near your car.

Oh BTW if it makes you feel better I'm willing to bet I wasted more cash than you on my first MR2! I Still feel like an utter **** for stripping the turbo and selling it.

David

MelBee42 · March 22, 2012, 19:43

Thanks - I think to do that I would have to give them an opportunity to make good the work, which would mean taking it back to them, probably have them making a mess of it again, before I could attempt to take them to court? In any case I'm not sure I could cope with the stress at this point as it's been one stress after another since I bought it.
It might be unwise to borrow money in my situation (I'm being made redundant in two months).
Date was cancelled!
Sorry, I'm definitely full of doom and gloom at the moment... thanks though. Any comments are much appreciated.

David - getting Matt to fix the head gasket is way out of my price range. That's around £700, plus the £450 of other repairs/MOT, and I don't have that nor can I even borrow that much money so unfortunately that's not an option. s:(

s:(

Stephster · March 22, 2012, 20:08

No, you don't need to give them the chance - I just took mine to another garage who fixed it and then took the other lot to small claims court. Not much stress involved, as all you do is fill in forms and submit evidence and it runs itself from there.

If you do scrap the car, could you maybe get a little run around for the money ?

I am afraid I have no other suggestions. The situations really sucks though !

stargazer30 · March 22, 2012, 20:10

Quote from: "MelBee42"Or exciting option number three which I haven't thought of?.

I have an option 3. The head gaskett is mostly labour not parts, and your a single lady right? So you could date a mechanic s:crazyeyes: :crazyeyes: s:crazyeyes: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: s:lol: :lol: s:lol: win win situation!

Okay.... I'll get my coat....

I do have a serious option 3 as well but it costs more. Trade your knackered car in against a decent MR2. Matt will have a nice red one for sale soon.

StuC · March 22, 2012, 20:13

Bit of a random thought, as you are a member of the AA have you spoken to their legal services for some advice? or maybe trading standards can help you, see if they have any complaints against the garage in question.

I would deffo be going after them for the dodgy head gasket job and I would not let them anywhere near your car ever again! You have had it verified from an independent specialist that they f****d it up.
I understand that this is all very stressful and with you impending redundancy (really sorry to hear that)it makes things even worse.

I'd be happy to help you out with things like changing over the brakes, even have a go at the handbrake cable as I am sure it will be the caliper and not the cable.
Not sure I have the experience/time/equipment to help with the head gasket though.

kidkarter · March 22, 2012, 20:14

CHRIST ON A BIKE !!! you poor girl !! if you know what is wrong with it now, what about a good old fashioned car fixing party !!!(obviously the beer and pizza comes afterwards !haha) its a bit far for me but if you have no other option, just a thought ? we do it in my other club !

Stephster · March 22, 2012, 20:24

Quote from: "StuC"I'd be happy to help you out with things like changing over the brakes, even have a go at the handbrake cable as I am sure it will be the caliper and not the cable.

Don't be too certain about that, mine turned out to be cable and not the calliper as suspected.

kidkarter · March 22, 2012, 20:35

actually the mk2s suffer from that too ! the little boot on the end perishes lets the crud in and jams it on ! if you get to to it quick enough though you should be able to free it off and then what i did was copper slip it and made a new boot out of a couple of heavy duty rubber glove fingers doubled up and held in place with some stainless steal wire ! stiil going stong a year and half later ! s:D

s:D