C210 Wiring Woes

[coupe72001]

I fitted a Mallory distributor to the C210 last weekend, and was very pleased with the results. I plugged it into the existing wiring and it worked greatly.

I also had a go at fixing the electric fan that has been playing up (running continuously when the car is off/cold, and failing to run when the car is hot.)

Unfortunately, it seems that the two problems are linked. The fan is still continuing to play up, and the ignition module for the lovely new distributor suddenly fried on Tuesday. I used a multimeter and found that the + and the - from coil to distributor both have power. That's not right is it?

I think there must be a short somewhere that is causing the fan and distributor both to fail.

[Socrates]

make sure your coil fuse is all good.

wiring on correct side of distributor?

still using resistor?

[coupe72001]

Update. The car ended up stranded at a radiator mechanics (given I initially wanted a new switch soldered into the radiator) with a dead ignition module. I supplied another distributor and gave permission for a them to have it towed to a local auto electrician to sort out the wiring, and hopefully kill two birds with one stone (revive the buggy fan and stop the new ignition module from frying).

Anyway, the auto-electrician kept the car for over a month. Finally I got a call from the radiator guy saying the car was finished and running again, and they would go and get it in the morning. I expected to get bent over by the auto-electrician, and sure enough, the radiator guy told me that the auto electrician's bill had run up to $700 odd.

WTF? I don't remember giving anyone permission to clock up the better part of a grand's worth of... wiring. That's over a day's labor to find and fix a short and swap a distributor.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

[jrh001]

Hi Drew.

First step is to get an invoice from the Auto Elec showing parts, prices and labour costs. See if it looks reasonable. Also get one from radiator place.

JH

[coupe72001]

Ill see the invoice at the time that I am expected to pay for and pick up the car. Not sure what to expect...

[Silent Shadow]

fwoah id tell them to eat a dick at that price. or at least see if they thought to perhaps call you if a simple wiring job was gunna fetch that sort of price?

[coupe72001]

After grumbling on the phone a bit, when I arrived it turned out that $700 was the total for everything: an hour's labour at $100 for the radiator mechanic to call a tow truck, $80 for the tow truck, $100 for a standard bosch coil (source of wiring oddness), and 5 hours labour at $95 an hour to fit the coil. Greaaaaaat...

Anyway, I did some homework with consumer affairs; turns out a mechanic has every right to hold your car for nonpayment. The onus is on you to demand a quote before the mechanic starts work (or at least an estimate), force them to call if it's going over budget, find out what the mechanics labor rate is, and to find out what they will charge for any parts likely needed (I can tell you now if I knew they wanted $100 for a $50 coil I'd have told them to stick it on principle alone.)

The long and short of it is find out if you are going to get screwed before you hand the keys over, cause there is probably bugger all you can do about it once you have.

Better yet, fix your car yourself!

[V8skylineMAN]

5hours labour to replace an ignition coil? It's two screws, a plug and a couple of terminal nuts. 10-15 mins TOP! That being said, tracing electrical problems, even even in old cars, is troublesome and time consuming at the best of times. Also, its never a good idea to get a workshop to send you car anywhere else as they will add their own markup to what the other guy charges as well. If it has to go elsewhere, take it yourself.