Who Should Pay?

[RT33]

i went to my mechanic because i needed to replace my water pump. it was ment to be a $300 job (parts and labour). the night it was done i was on my way to the central coast from sydney and.......i lose all power and my car stalls on the f3???

WTF happened???

i spent $220 to get it towed to my other mechanic. the next afternoon i was there while they stripped the motor down. timing belt was 50% of its normal thickness. little strands and belt reminence was everywhere. the head was taken off and just as i suspected...exhaust valves were f@kt! slight scratches on the top of the pistons, but they're ok.

i sent the head to the guilty mechanic and told him to replace the valves, seats and guides.

called him today and he said he's only changing the valves. thats when i called my mum...hahaha he's afraid of her! hahaha (don't laugh! you'd be too). now those three things are being changed and it's getting a port and polish too!

the guilty one says he's going to pay 50%

what do you guys think???

btw its an SI r33

[SKYL9]

half is better than nothing id be happy with that

[blacky]

Even though you shouldn't be paying a cent to this guy, its often not worth trying for more as they usually know how to be dodgy, sly pricks.

I'd say just take 50%.

blacky

[Big Rizza]

Take what you can get I reckon. Push him too far and you'll end up in Court. And that's a waste of everybody's time.

[danh]

excuse my ignorance, it is pretty late!

but how come its the mechanics fault the valves are fcukt..?

[Big Rizza]

I'm guessing the mechanics screwed up the timing belt while doing the water pump, which in turn caused the valves to fail. But I'm no mechanic...

In fact my mechanic friends regularly tell me that I know f**k all about f**k all. (Although when I try to tell them that the double negative in fact implies that I know everything about everything, they won't have a bar of it...).

So someone more knowlegable respond!

[PHATGTR]

^^^^^...................................

[PHATR32]

well he obviuosly has to take the timing belt off to change thw water pump, so the mecho must have put the belt back incorrectly. therefor he f**ked up and should pay for the damages.

i suppose 50% is good, better than paying for the lot.

steve

[xRHETTx]

How old was the timing belt? Did you tell him to change it when he was doing the water pump?

[danh]

stoopid idiooot stimpy!

god im a dummy sometimes sorry for imposing my stupidity! lol

in my favour it was like 2am!

[TTT]

damaged timing belt = valves hitting pistons at who knows what revs he was doing at the time.

= bent or broken valves and possibly more ... but as stated the pistons survived.

[WazR32GTSt]

so how much will you be out of pocket if you pay 50% each?

if its less than $400 or so, i would say bite the bullet and pay, then stay away from that mechanic!

after all, time is money. after months spent with lawyers and in court, is it going to be worth the stress and hassle? no.

Warren.

[shif_tea]

I'm with waz, if its gonna be a fair bit might be worth fighting for, then never ever go back to that mechanic. Otherwise probably not worth the aggravation even though it pains me to say that. Dodgy people shit me.

[Konrad]

You have to take the timing belt off to change the waterpump?? isnt that strange? Most cars arent like that.. waterpump runs off the alternator belt.

Excuse my ignorance (only just got my 'line and havent had a good chance to have a sticky under the bonnet )

[Duncan]

Yeah the water pump runs off the fan / alternator belt, but you can't remove the housing of the water pump from the block without taking off the timing belt first

[RT33]

$400???? more like $1500-$2000. but thats including a port and polish. hahaha. was doing maybe a little bit over 4000rpm. i have pics on my phone but i can get them onto the computer. show the damaged valves & scrapes on top of the pistons.

it feels weird not driving my car. i drive everyday sometimes have 1 day off a week or month. i miss her!!!

[xRHETTx]

So did the timing belt snap or was it just set in the wrong position?

[wrxhoon]

If you can prove that it's his fault ( sometimes very hard ) then he should pay fro everything including the tow . If he replaced the timing belt it maybe esier to prove .

If he refuses you can go to fair trading .

[R33S2]

Are you sure that is all the damage that was done? Did you ask him if he even looked at the timing belt because if he did and didnt advise you that it was old/worn he is a lame duck anyways. i'd get your scary mum ( mines scary too) to give him another rev or two and try for a better deal.

[GTR32]

i hate dodgy mechanics but can forgive anyone for making a mistake as long as they make good 100%

if he's doing anything by way of reparation you're lucky; you're getting something from him, but it also means he accepts liability. this is good for you in case there are more problems or you want to push for more. it's a no brainer but don't piss him off now or you'll get it back in peices. as for the port and polish make sure it's being done by someone good or or it'll be worse than ever.

the dept of fair trading is your friend in this - they can't stand dodgy arseholes any more than i can. he should make good 100% but if you've agreed to the current arrangement then there's probably not much more that you can do. if you have further troubles don't do anything with this guy, call the fair trading people and tell them the whole story. they will manage the negotiation for you - it's worked for me in the past.

at this stage however don't be disappointed, it's still a good outcome.

hope things work out for you