The idiot mechanic strikes again.........

[suprahero]

Some of you have probably read where I had ten quarts of oil in my oil pan. I blamed the xpress lube where I get it changed. Turns out, it wasn't their fault. Let me explain from the begining.............
I had a new engine installed in my wifes car. The guys that installed the motor had never worked on a supra with a turbo. I was working on my wifes car yesterday and noticed that the lines were crossed under the hood by the radiator. They had my transmission lines running into the oil cooler. I've been losing transmission fluid, but just thought it was the seals leaking. (I only had the car for a week, when I put the new engine in. It had a lot of flaws that we hadn't figured out yet) I replaced the seals and thought I had that problem solved. When the turbo seals blew, I had the turbo upgraded. Changed the oil and realized that I had ten quarts of oil in the motor. Now I've got to go to the xpress lube and apologize for blaming them. Mechanics shouldn't be that stupid, but I guess even I make mistakes every now and then.....................lol

Just thought I would share that story with you. Am I the only one a mechanic has screwed over? I think not. I might be the only one willing to talk about it though..................:dunno:

 

[DaSuprawolf]

holy crap! that stinks. glad you figured it out!

 

[suprahero]

I just posted it so you would know that it could happen. I will be extremely careful in the future with any other mechanics. Most of the time I do the work myself, but I didn't want to pull the motor and install a new one. The whole job was suppose to take ten days. It took like six months. I can't remember the exact amount of time, but it was around that. I didn't know that they had never worked on a supra until the motor was already out, and they were having problems putting it back in...................live and learn I guess. No use crying now.

 

[SupraMario]

WTF, now thats effed up. almost all engines are run with the same principal. how could guys who do engine changes for a living eff up that bad.
and that they didnt even read up on something like that is BS.

 

[suprahero]

Brother, your preaching to the choir. I agree. What some dumbasses will do just to get a job finished. Just hooked up the hoses to the closest tubing.................lol

 

[smokey]

i was screwed by 2 mechanics in a row on the same build

-1st mechanic- took it to them and said 'HG and bottom end appear to be shot'
them ' yeah thats fine leave it with us'

after over 2 months they finally call me 'we are taking it for a test drive, come down'
turns out they didnt even pull the motor, just took the head off and it was still fucked .

2nd mechanic - took 12 months+ to do a standard rebuild, the head still had sand in it from the last mechanics. havent started the engine yet due to issues getting it started

 

[suprahero]

Hang in there like a rusty fish hook Smokey. It's definately worth it once you get it done correctly. The only thing is you'll probably have to fix it youself to get it done right..............good luck.

 

[Nick M]

I know where your problem lies. For many on this board too.

"where is the cheapest I can insert anything hereget it done".

Mistakes do happen.

 

[suprahero]

I didn't find the cheapest. I found the only one around here that would work on a turbo car. Nobody will touch a car here that has a turbo. I bought a brand new motor and head for my wife's car. How is that cheapest? Cheapest would have been buying a used one out of a wrecked car. I do know what you mean though, cause most threads start off with" What are the cheapest upgrades..............." I'm not like that though..............lol

 

[Nick M]

You ever see how many threads here have that? That was all I am getting at. Good for you if you don't. I really hope you aren't looking for low bid on your car.

What does turbo have to do with anything? Since when does Toyota not work on a Supra Turbo?

I do know that some Toyota dealers out east are no better than taking it "Bill's tire and muffler shop"

 

[suprahero]

I did let Toyota look at it. They quoted me a price of ten thousand dollars. They said I needed a new turbo..........2700.00 and a new block and some other crap...........grand total a little over ten thousand dollars. I just couldn't justify spending that much on a car I spent 3500.00 on. I got a new motor, new head and labor for 2850.00 It was the only other price I could get. No one would touch it. They did a few things wrong, but nothing I couldn't fix. Don't get me wrong, I'll never go back there. I will rebuild it myself is there is a next time, or just buy the engine from them and install it myself. It comes with a three year, unlimited mileage warranty. That's like a sore peter............just can't beat it................lol

 

[Nick M]

They quoted me a price of ten thousand dollars. They said I needed a new turbo..........2700.00 and a new block and some other crap...........grand total a little over ten thousand dollars. I just couldn't justify spending that much on a car I spent 3500.00 on. I

The CT26 is one of the worst priced turbochargers I have ever seen, no doubt. So is the intercooler. Their intercooler and all the piping is more than the HK$ unit IIRC.

I got a new motor, new head and labor for 2850.00

That is good to hear, but they are rebuilt parts, not new. And I think that is what you were gettting at.

I will stand corrected there. Toyota parts prices on some stuff is pretty outrageous.

 

[suprahero]

Yeah, no kidding Nick. Who in their right mind would pay 2700.00 for a ct26? They've got to be out of their mind. I could get a 1jz for less than that. I guess their are some people out there that can afford to pay it though...........lol

 

[Mosupra9]

dam well glad u figured it out soooner rather than later....it would of cost u an enggine or tranny...

 

[Nick M]

Yeah, no kidding Nick. Who in their right mind would pay 2700.00 for a ct26? They've got to be out of their mind. I could get a 1jz for less than that. I guess their are some people out there that can afford to pay it though...........lol

I don't want to hijack your thread, thruth is, I do it a lot. But here is a story for you.

This was in West Denver. And in Denver, Toyota is much more popular a car than were I grew up in the midwest.
So a man brings his 92 pickup in for ticking. I pull the valve cover with feeler gauge in hand. The 22RE is an easy check. Well, his plastic guides for the metal timing chain are broke, and the chain is hitting the timing cover. It hasn't dug into the water jacket yet, but it has dug in.

I quote him a price. The 22RE in the factory time manual is 10 hours, as the head has to be removed to be finished correctly. At this time, the service writer lets him know that with 212,000 miles, if we pull the head we will find wear on the cylinder walls. He says ok. Sure enough, the crosshatch at 212k is pretty much gone. But his Toyota still ran good. Just a little smoke(duh). By the book, Toyota says to overbore with worn cross hatch.

I give the service writer the $3700 estimate for an overhaul. That is overbore .5mm, valve job, all the gaskets, etc. No "JDM" crap, proper repair. He didn't flinch.

The moral of the story, many many Toyota mainstream customers are willing to pay big bucks to keep their car. He agreed to pay more for an overhaul than the truck is worth retail. That is why Toyota charges a lot for parts. Because they can.

 

[suprahero]

Don't worry about hijaking Nick. Yeah, I know it's just an example, but I would have jumped at $3700.00 also. It's the ten grand that kind of turned me away from Toyota. If I spend ten grand on a motor, it's not going to be a stock one...................lol

 

[born2drv]

that's why i'm glad to have found this website.... now i know of 2 excellent shops in my area (my car is at one of them right now getting a maftpro installed).

i'll never let another shop touch my car again that doesn't have lots of experience working on supras.

 

[NDBoost]

TEN days to pull a motor. Hell get me pizza and corona and a few illegals and we can swap it in a day!

 

[JustAnotherVictim]

TEN days to pull a motor. Hell get me pizza and corona and a few illegals and we can swap it in a day!

Seriously. I could do that by myself in two days. One if I rushed.

 

[Shytheed Dumas]

I'm going to butt in with what might be a really ignorant statement, so let me know where I'm off the mark. I just don't get the "need to have a shop with lots of Supra experience" concept or a shop that won't work on a Supra for that matter.

Five or ten minutes with a TSRM gives all the information anybody would need to do a job correctly. I understand that a seasoned mechanic would feel able to do a job with minimal reading, but I just don't see any excuse for an experienced pro doing any Supra job wrong or feeling unqualified to work on one. Look how many recreational wrenches on this forum do some pretty advanced work on their own cars without much or any formal training. Is it just laziness at these shops or what? I do understand that honest mistakes can and do happen, btw, but come on...