RB conversion not gone well

[omp]

How's it? I have fitted an RB20DET into my 180sx, to say it has not gone well is an understatement. I will tell you what has happened but I won't mention names.

I had the RB rebuilt standard, when it came to finishing off the engine mechanic no.1 asked for pics of the engine in magazines as he couldn't remember were hoses went. I also had to obtain torque settings for him as well. When it came time to start the car it idled but had no power. He asked me what the problem is (I am an electrical fitter and there is no mention of automotive mechanic on my ELECTRICAL license!).

So after I watched him scratch his head I sent it to workshop 2 who was told this is a rebuilt engine it idles but has no power and stalls after running a while. They diagnose it as ECU and I thought f*&k it install microtech. I am told that car is ready but is still low on power. I go to pick up car and the car won't start! After apologies and discussing with me, one thing I mention is that when mechanic 1 rebuilt the engine I asked how he aligns the cams (out of curiosity) he tells me that no.6 lobs face 180deg apart. This twigs workshop 2's curiosity, they check it out and do compression test, the result is 105psi! They check cams and lo-and-behold inlet cam 3 teeth retarded, exhaust cam 2 teeth advanced! I tell mechanic 1 and he swears that he checked it and offers to go and fix, but workshop 2 won't allow him into shop, insurance reasons. So I wear the cost to fix.

With the car running, I discovered that no.4 injector is leaking, turbo bearings are noisy (I knew that from the start), power steering pump is leaking at inlet, main seal leaking/trickling and some other minor stuff. I send the car back to mechanic 1 to fix these things up. He was the one who picked up no.4 injector was leaking so he fixes no.5, a week later he fixes no.4. The main seal was fixed no worries. Power steering pump was fixed, also he had to replace the power steer inlet pipe as he used the wrong type and the fluid was seeping out of the line, he fixed that. He replaces the turbo and assures me everything is kosher.

The next day the turbo again shit's itself! He assures me that oil was flowing in the turbo. The importer where we got front cut and replacement turbo now wants me to send it to turbo specialist as he doesn't want to keep replacing my turbo's, fair enough. So I send it back to workshop 2 as they are a performance shop and are a turbo specialists dealer. I am thinking oil starvation and so is the rest of Australia but this mechanic 1 assures me it is ok.

What in your opinion should I do? This mechanic 1 guy, if something comes up I don't hear about it till I ring him to ask if the car is ready. I obviously have to wait till I hear response from workshop 2 as I am also getting them to check other stuff out (more money out of my pocket), like engine compression mechanic 1 says it is at 140psi all cylinders which is very good for a turbo car (I thought 170psi?). And also the clutch, it has free play and is soft when cold and when it warms up the free play goes and the pedal becomes harder.

If it turns out bad (financially) what should I do? I took the car back to him as I payed him to do a job and I did help him with it (tickets on self everything I have done has turned out well, thermo's, fuel pump etc) so he did knock some labour price off due to this fact.

What do you think? Sorry for long post but you can't make this any shorter due to the shit I put up with. The disadvantage of it all is a mate introduced me to mechanic 1 and WAS sort of mates with mechanic 1. Thanks Pete

[2fardown]

Mechanic 1 sounds like a guy who works on commodores and fords and has no idea on the workings of anything outside that.

If he couldn't do the job properly at the start he should have said so. Though you have to give him credit for fixing everything and not telling you to get stuffed.

I'd hang in there, tell them you don't want it back until its running correctly.

It will all turn out in the end.

[Guest RedLineGTR]

man bad experience..hopefully it works out in the end

[omp]

Yea i suppose he did fix it even though it took a while. This thread was written for me to blow off steam.

[omp]

How's it? Thanks for replies folks, I have calmed down a bit since yesterday. The workshop it is at now has discovered I was given a dud turbo! The oil flow is sufficient, but they have offered a few suggestions that I won't go into. I spoke with workshop 1 again and they are willing to fix anything that needs fixing. For now I will leave it to that and I just hope it all works out in the end. Thanks again for allowing me to vent my frustration on the net rather than with a bazooka

[Duncan]

Hey Omp,

Sounds like you have been a victim of bad luck or under-experience.....but I think the most important type of customer service is not whether something goes wrong, but how they fix it when they do.

It takes a big comittment for a workshop to fix stuff without charging you for it, its time they could be charging someone else for.

[Kinks]

For sure. A previous car's gearbox wore out (oil wasn't replaced plus the box was given a hard life by the previous owner and then me), and I had the workshop I always took it to replace the box with a second hand one (not reco, but should be decent). That gearbox did not go well, it started leaking oil. Took it to a second workshop who thought the bolts were in the wrong places, thought hmm. Went back to #1 they threw it in the air and said woah the gearbox casing's cracked... that's a warranty repair fair enough. So they pulled the box out and replaced it under warranty. So after spending basically all my measly uni student spare change on that car at that workshop for a couple of years (and they weren't cheap) I finally got my moneys worth, the second box was great