Repair Shop BS-O-Meter

[vdragonmpc]

Well I got a call from the shop that has to warranty a headgasket job for me. They broke a lot of stuff doing the job and returned a very dirty car back. Well when I took it home it left a HUGE puddle of oil in my garage. It had not done that before. I took it back as it also would not idle. Another 550$ for an ISV and a sent off turbo (Perfermance Techniques) for what they claimed "Must be a turbo seal" along with new (very nice from MDC) braided oil lines I find the leak is my CPS. I also sprung a VERY nice Antifreeze leak behind the Power steering pump.

I got a parts estimate of 673$ for 'lines' a cable (transmission wouldnt shift when I first drove it but was fine after a bit of a drive) and some misc gasket.

WTF?!?! I was expecting the TPS to be an issue or the solinoid on the transmission... But what does the downshift cable have to do with shifting from first to second driving the car easy?

What 'pipes' are behind my Power Steering Res and under the CPS? My turbo lines are NEW. (Again awesome Performance Tech for sending me a better set than I had)

Now my Differential had a leak and that may be a gasket but good lord!
The parts I had to replace that were broken were bad enough. (I personally liked the loose intercooler lines that was a clean bonus as I drove the car easy for a while and the first time I romped on it I thought I had ruined my car....)

Im reserving judgement until the repair is done and I will then post who it is and whether to stay away from them. If anyone has a rough guess what 'pipes' cost 375$ let me know. Along with what cable costs 173$?
<edit> As an aside there was NOTHING wrong with my turbo or the original lines and Performance Tech was honest enough to tell me... Did I give them enough kudos?
MDC gets ++ also for helping a guy out.
V

 

[suprahero]

Sounds like the kind of luck I have with garages. I'm fixing all my own stuff from now on. No more garages for me, if I can help it...............good luck

 

[americanjebus]

yea do the work yourself you will save hundreds if not thousands of dollars by doing work on your own.

about the only thing i let other people do for me is balancing and alignments.

 

[Jaguar_5]

:word8kn:

 

[Nick M]

Well I got a call from the shop that has to warranty a headgasket job for me. They broke a lot of stuff doing the job and returned a very dirty car back. Well when I took it home it left a HUGE puddle of oil in my garage. It had not done that before. I took it back as it also would not idle. Another 550$ for an ISV and a sent off turbo (Perfermance Techniques) for what they claimed "Must be a turbo seal" along with new (very nice from MDC) braided oil lines I find the leak is my CPS. I also sprung a VERY nice Antifreeze leak behind the Power steering pump.

I got a parts estimate of 673$ for 'lines' a cable (transmission wouldnt shift when I first drove it but was fine after a bit of a drive) and some misc gasket.

WTF?!?! I was expecting the TPS to be an issue or the solinoid on the transmission... But what does the downshift cable have to do with shifting from first to second driving the car easy?

What 'pipes' are behind my Power Steering Res and under the CPS? My turbo lines are NEW. (Again awesome Performance Tech for sending me a better set than I had)

Now my Differential had a leak and that may be a gasket but good lord!
The parts I had to replace that were broken were bad enough. (I personally liked the loose intercooler lines that was a clean bonus as I drove the car easy for a while and the first time I romped on it I thought I had ruined my car....)

Im reserving judgement until the repair is done and I will then post who it is and whether to stay away from them. If anyone has a rough guess what 'pipes' cost 375$ let me know. Along with what cable costs 173$?
<edit> As an aside there was NOTHING wrong with my turbo or the original lines and Performance Tech was honest enough to tell me... Did I give them enough kudos?
MDC gets ++ also for helping a guy out.
V

Well, you are only telling half of the story. No reason for a dirty car, or for breaking things, but what do you know that they really broke?

The cable raises pressure, it does not cause shifting.

 

[boost PSSH boost]

"What 'pipes' are behind my Power Steering Res and under the CPS?"

There's the lower radiator pipe, the 90 degree hose off the thermostat housing that always likes to crack/not go on all the way....

 

[bigaaron]

$375 would be enough to buy all the pipes and most of the hoses on a 7m brand new from Toyota. If it's the metal coolant pipe that wraps around the back of the block then that is tough to change with the engine in the car but he cost of the pipe itself is no where near $375.

 

[Insidious Surmiser]

Sounds like the kind of luck I have with garages. I'm fixing all my own stuff from now on. No more garages for me, if I can help it...............good luck

only one that's touched my car is me, cj (buddy in greensboro), and my uncle tim

 

[boost PSSH boost]

I recently slipped and let my friend change my honda's oil.

He left a double gasket on the filter, ran it out of oil, and nearly blew up my motor. I pulled out my dipstick and it screamed "FUUUUUUUUUUU*K!!!" at me.

 

[vdragonmpc]

Well here is a lesson:
Dont let people call customers from your shop if they are uninformed. It gets them riled up.

I talked with the service manager and things are MUCH more reasonable.

There are some things I just cant fix by myself... The rear Differential leak is a pain and the transmission not shifting has baffled me as I have tried to fix that but using the fix it all approach gets expensive. Better to get it diagnosed and repaired correctly... Nothing like trying to get more performance but you cant lay into the gas because the car might not shift!!

I will have to wait and see how the finished repair looks.

V

 

[JMDigital]

I let IdealSupra install my stuff.. I trust him more then any "shop" I barely trust the shop to do the dyno.. Until IdealSupra blows up his car :biglaugh: I will always pay him to install the hard stuff for me. Keep the cash in the "Supra" family. Try and find someone on SF that’s close to you that can do the work. It was not hard to figure out that IdealSupra knew what he was doing; besides when you get there if there are 3 supras in the driveway and enough parts in the garage to almost build a 4th one then he may know some things...

Everyone in the Orlando Tampa are should get together and buy a dyno and talk him into running it!! Maybe they will be on eBay one day!

 

[madsupra88]

I recently slipped and let my friend change my honda's oil.

He left a double gasket on the filter, ran it out of oil, and nearly blew up my motor. I pulled out my dipstick and it screamed "FUUUUUUUUUUU*K!!!" at me.

I seriously laughed out loud haha

 

[vdragonmpc]

I seriously laughed out loud haha

I had a honda a while back but it wasnt the satan power toyota corolla I had in high school.... We actually drove a 77 toyota corolla to va beach and back in the summer where the new oil from the oil change was sitting on the terrace where it sat forgotten.

Another time it hit a dumpster in reverse during a temper tantrum... It just had a small crease next to the tail light... The BFI dumpster was cratered.


That car was seriously insane.... My mom said we could get a new car when it finally died. It NEVER did. We sold it to a guy and I still see it from time to time in the midlothian area. Its a Brown 77 toyota 4 door corolla with a big honkin USA sticker next to the license plate.
<sniff> They just dont make em like that anymore...

V

 

[3p141592654]

The misnamed "kickdown" cable is pretty expensive. I think it is over $120 from Toyota, and to replace it you have to drop the transmission pan and valve body. So your estimate doesn't sound completely off to me.

Replacing the side oil seals in the diff is not too bad, but you will need a slide hammer to pull the half shafts out and also to pull the oil seal out. The front pinion seal is considerably harder.

For your transmission, first step would be to check the ECU for codes. You can find the details of doing that here

http://www.cygnusx1.net/supra/Library/TSRM/MK3/manual.aspx?Section=AT&Page=13

 

[boost PSSH boost]

I seriously laughed out loud haha

I drove it 30 miles at 4K rpm on the highway.

It still runs like a champ.

 

[vdragonmpc]

Well, you are only telling half of the story. No reason for a dirty car, or for breaking things, but what do you know that they really broke?

The cable raises pressure, it does not cause shifting.

Well whatever the cable does it killed my power it seems... The car is a dog now...

Bad enough it handles like a SUV with blown shocks but now it has the power of my wife's Altima.

In fairness I need to check over my lines and hoses and make sure everything is right as there is always something missed.

V

 

[3p141592654]

If that cable is broken you will get very soft drawn out shifts as if the clutches are slipping.