Cranks, mis-fires, backfires, won't start
10-12-15, 07:35 PM
#16
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Sorry for the delay, but, the problem was NONE of THE ABOVE 
I loaded the car on a trailer and took it back to the mechanic I've used for the last 25 years in Chattanooga and after replacing the starter it still took him about 7 hours of labour to the problem, a cut wire.
When the shop replaced my timing belt (I found out) one mechanic tore it down and different mechanic finished the job. Naughty, naughty!
Not only did he leave the alternator ground strap off but he left off nuts from various other front of engine parts.
He also did not secure the small wiring harness that goes down to the crank position sensor. The wire had come in contact with serpentine belt and worn through. When the wire was repaired, it cranked and ran perfectly!!
It ended up that wither with all the shop's incessant cranking or the 210k starter just gave out -either way the starter gear became jammed into the flywheel and prevented the car from cranking.
Lexus of Nashville refused to make any concession on their work. They claimed, and I'm not making this up, that if I'd let them change the radiator ($1050) that they would have found the problem!! Their only offer was to give me a discount on future maintenance work.
I went to the shop in Bowling Green and asked them to cover $2500 of the $2800 I'd spent. Maybe it was the starters time to go- I'll give them that one. But I've asked him to cover $2500 (the maximum allowed in small claims court) or we'll go to real court for the full amount of my cost including the cost of my time off from work, etc, with a total of ~$4000.
The moral of this story is: 1) Stay with a known mechanic no matter how inconvenient 2)Lexus dealers just can't be trusted, and 3) It's sad how 4 mechanics were just totally sucked into changing parts based on what the computer showed instead of including a good visual inspection.
I loaded the car on a trailer and took it back to the mechanic I've used for the last 25 years in Chattanooga and after replacing the starter it still took him about 7 hours of labour to the problem, a cut wire.
When the shop replaced my timing belt (I found out) one mechanic tore it down and different mechanic finished the job. Naughty, naughty!
Not only did he leave the alternator ground strap off but he left off nuts from various other front of engine parts.
He also did not secure the small wiring harness that goes down to the crank position sensor. The wire had come in contact with serpentine belt and worn through. When the wire was repaired, it cranked and ran perfectly!!
It ended up that wither with all the shop's incessant cranking or the 210k starter just gave out -either way the starter gear became jammed into the flywheel and prevented the car from cranking.
Lexus of Nashville refused to make any concession on their work. They claimed, and I'm not making this up, that if I'd let them change the radiator ($1050) that they would have found the problem!! Their only offer was to give me a discount on future maintenance work.
I went to the shop in Bowling Green and asked them to cover $2500 of the $2800 I'd spent. Maybe it was the starters time to go- I'll give them that one. But I've asked him to cover $2500 (the maximum allowed in small claims court) or we'll go to real court for the full amount of my cost including the cost of my time off from work, etc, with a total of ~$4000.
The moral of this story is: 1) Stay with a known mechanic no matter how inconvenient 2)Lexus dealers just can't be trusted, and 3) It's sad how 4 mechanics were just totally sucked into changing parts based on what the computer showed instead of including a good visual inspection.
10-15-15, 10:40 AM
#17
OK .... here is another PRIME example of why I do ALL of my own work. I'm getting ready to change the timing belt on my '03 starting tonight (my wife is out of town for a couple weeks so I can do it without any time-pressure). There is a mechanic literally around the block that gave my wife a price of $389 in labor to do the job if I provide the parts. Seems like a no-brainer to have him do it except that if I do it I know it will be done right. None of this BS runaround you just got. Ain't worth it, chasing down the mistakes of others.
10-16-15, 04:28 PM
#18
OK .... here is another PRIME example of why I do ALL of my own work. I'm getting ready to change the timing belt on my '03 starting tonight (my wife is out of town for a couple weeks so I can do it without any time-pressure). There is a mechanic literally around the block that gave my wife a price of $389 in labor to do the job if I provide the parts. Seems like a no-brainer to have him do it except that if I do it I know it will be done right. None of this BS runaround you just got. Ain't worth it, chasing down the mistakes of others.
But if I had a mechanic I could TRUST, I'd be all over the $389 labor plus parts deal!!!!
10-16-15, 07:07 PM
#19
That $389 will buy me a custom drop-in roof rack for my Xterra. Cha-ching! Besides, what else am I gonna do? Watch TV or surf the interwebs?!
Incidentally I started the teardown when I got home from work. Got it through radiator removal and ready to remove timing belt covers ~1 hr 30 minutes taking my time. No leaks or seepage of the water pump or any other front-of-the-engine surfaces. Good sign. Using the Aisin kit (hope the waterpump is a good one). My wife is gone for two more weeks and doesn't need her car so I'm in no hurry.
Might even go ahead and swap out my air sus for the Sport Springs/Shocks I picked up a few years ago. My air is still good and I like it so not really sure if I want to do that yet. I know eventually I will though.
Last edited by campisi; 10-16-15 at 07:17 PM.
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