Mechanic ####ed Up !!!

[KidZnEclipses]

So I went to my mechanic yesterday night to pick up my baby. First of all when I first got there his ####in dumbass assistant took my car out of the rack and drove the side skirt right into the sidewall of the ####in rack... yeah that was pretty retarted I about lost it, but then my mechanic said bring it back and my body guy will do full work on it...but anyways I drove about a mile from the shop when my clutch felt like it was loosing power fluid or something, it was like getting impossible to push to the ground, then it was not going into gear... I cant take it anymore, i dont think i've had my baby for like over 3 1/2 weeks now I think I need to switch mechanics, we'll what do you guys think, he said he replaced it with a brand new stg. 3 clutch, yeah brand new and right out of the damn shop it was screwed up, what do you guys think happened...Now I have to wait like 3 more days or some shiat..


-wes

 

[yankees1919]

Well there is a reason most dsm owners choose to do there own work...Theres a prime example...Now this mechanic you speak of, is he a general mechanic or a strictly dsm? Most regular run of the mill gas station mechanics whether they know there crap or not aren't familiar with the workings of a modded dsm, and shouldn't be trusted with your car...Im a firm beleiver in if you want to mod your car, learn to do it yourself, or else a real close friend you can work with...or else quite simply your in the hands of the dsm gods...And that is NOT a "reliable" place to be my friend...Not at all...I recommend having him fix the clutch which he should do for free b/c sounds like he f'ed it up...then either learn to do it yourself or find a new guy...Good luck buddy

 

[Spyderman7]

It could be your old master cylinder or slave cylinder can't hold your new clutch.Can't say about the side of your car though.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

Exactly what kind of clutch was installed? "Stage 3" means nothing. Some pressure plates cause heavier pedal pressure. Did you launch the car or anything? You are suppose to put so many break-in miles on a clutch before you beat it... On an Act anyway. Take it back and have him fix it, For free.. Obviously.

 

[KidZnEclipses]

yeah, i still havent learned really how to do my own work on it yet, hes just my dad mechanic hes had for years, so i just kinda trusted him. I am gonna do all my work from now on though!!! it was an ACT clutch that he replaced with a "new" act clutch. i didn't launch it, i didn't even go a mile away from the fukin shop well he replacing it as we speak, well sending the parts back. I'm so frustrated I just want my baby back!!! thanks for the advice fellas

 

[92GSXBaltimore]

if it worked when you got it then it just got really bad to the point where you couldnt shift anymore, then your either:
a. leaking hydraulic fluid
b. blew your old master cylinder
c. blew your old slave cylinder

p.s. same thing happened to me when i first got my act2600

 

[PieEyedPiper]

I'm not aware of any ACT clutches going under any sort of "stage" nomenclature.
Can someone please educate me? or could it be that your mechanic doesn't even know what kind of clutch he put in the vehicle?

 

[Dream On]

Is it common for the master/slave to die after replacing the clutch? I'm about to put in a Spec Stage 3 and an aluminum flywheel, and am pretty much broke after doing that...

 

[97EclipseGS-T]

well the whole "stage thing" refers to act 2100 series, 2600 series, and 2900 series.... That guy is def. is a sunoco mechanic. Well, I'll tell YOU a story... see if it tops mine... HAHA...

The end of a summer 3 summers ago when I got my 97 GS-T, I love it. I cherished it and cleaned it everyday. Well, the following summer the clutch went. I took it to a guy that "new my car very well". So I had it towed there.... My car got broken into and the tow company completely ####D my front bumper up. Well, the guy said he received it like that, so I had to go through the insurance company for a claim... which i never received. The guy gave me my car back after the 2100 ACT install. It shifted pretty nicely, but a nasty knocking noise was occurring everytime I went over a bump (suspension knock). Well i called the guy and he was like, ooh yeah your front lower tranny mount is bad. I got it replaced and it STILL made the sound. Then he inspected it then said ALL my control arms were bad. I got those replaced. You know how expensive those are through OEM. After this, the knocking still occurred. He then said ball joints...replaced and still made a knocking noise... I drove like this for a few months. Well... It wasn't till I went to meinake to get an exhaust gasket put in until I found the real problem. The rear mount that connects the motor and tranny Cracked the casing and caused rocking... the guy literately moved everything with his hands.... ALL mounts were gone at this point... So i needed a tranny job. The guy didn't even torque or screw in the mounts correctly...they were hand tightened.

OK... So at this point I'm crap out of luck. I went to small claims for this dude I got my clutch done, and he's not even certified to do work. He just borrowed a friends shop to do it... he collects money from the government.... I was left in the dust.

Now I had to use my own money to fix this. I went to a tranny specialist to do the work this time. He looked at it and said I needed a new tranny case. He yanked it out and at this point, i was like Fuk it, do everything right? Well I got new cables, fork, Symbroski kit, the Mach V bearings, A fidanza short shifter, Fidanza flywheel, a Greddy Timing belt, and some BG synchro shift. He got the case and mounts from factory... cost me a CRAP load of money for those not including the parts I got. The labor for everything and parts on his part was 1400. My parts were a little over that.

Picked my car up and drove it. It drove so nice... but you can actually here the flywheel spin like crazy... didn't know what was up. Well my speedometer stopped working and when I got home, my expensive as hell synchro shift was now laying on the ground. Took it back and he said he forgot a seal...and it cost me 100 dollars for a new speedometer gear or sensor or w.e. Well, I went and got a full tune up. Then My oil housing gasket blew.... ALL my oil dropped to the ground. Changed that gasket and new oil filter. Got that fixed, and it blew not only one more time, but twice... 3 f'N times. spent 500 in tows and about 600 dollars in labor/parts.... come to find out.... it was a PCV valve that was gone.... yeah... I replaced that myself.

Hows about that one?

O yeah.... HA HA, my timing belt just skipped too.... hows about them apples..

WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DSM and assholes that don't know cars

guess what? I now do allll work on my own. Your better off. You will learn everything there is to about your own car. You will know what you put in, what you plan to put in, and what you expect out of it. The DSM world is all about research, hands on experience, trial and error, and lots and lots of money, fixing, and depression.

 

[jayman089]

^^^^^WOW life sucks... grab a snickers

 

[PieEyedPiper]

well the whole "stage thing" refers to act 2100 series, 2600 series, and 2900 series.... That guy is def. is a sunoco mechanic. Well, I'll tell YOU a story... see if it tops mine... HAHA...

The end of a summer 3 summers ago when I got my 97 GS-T, I love it. I cherished it and cleaned it everyday. Well, the following summer the clutch went. I took it to a guy that "new my car very well". So I had it towed there.... My car got broken into and the tow company completely ####D my front bumper up. Well, the guy said he received it like that, so I had to go through the insurance company for a claim... which i never received. The guy gave me my car back after the 2100 ACT install. It shifted pretty nicely, but a nasty knocking noise was occurring everytime I went over a bump (suspension knock). Well i called the guy and he was like, ooh yeah your front lower tranny mount is bad. I got it replaced and it STILL made the sound. Then he inspected it then said ALL my control arms were bad. I got those replaced. You know how expensive those are through OEM. After this, the knocking still occurred. He then said ball joints...replaced and still made a knocking noise... I drove like this for a few months. Well... It wasn't till I went to meinake to get an exhaust gasket put in until I found the real problem. The rear mount that connects the motor and tranny Cracked the casing and caused rocking... the guy literately moved everything with his hands.... ALL mounts were gone at this point... So i needed a tranny job. The guy didn't even torque or screw in the mounts correctly...they were hand tightened.

OK... So at this point I'm crap out of luck. I went to small claims for this dude I got my clutch done, and he's not even certified to do work. He just borrowed a friends shop to do it... he collects money from the government.... I was left in the dust.

Now I had to use my own money to fix this. I went to a tranny specialist to do the work this time. He looked at it and said I needed a new tranny case. He yanked it out and at this point, i was like Fuk it, do everything right? Well I got new cables, fork, Symbroski kit, the Mach V bearings, A fidanza short shifter, Fidanza flywheel, a Greddy Timing belt, and some BG synchro shift. He got the case and mounts from factory... cost me a CRAP load of money for those not including the parts I got. The labor for everything and parts on his part was 1400. My parts were a little over that.

Picked my car up and drove it. It drove so nice... but you can actually here the flywheel spin like crazy... didn't know what was up. Well my speedometer stopped working and when I got home, my expensive as hell synchro shift was now laying on the ground. Took it back and he said he forgot a seal...and it cost me 100 dollars for a new speedometer gear or sensor or w.e. Well, I went and got a full tune up. Then My oil housing gasket blew.... ALL my oil dropped to the ground. Changed that gasket and new oil filter. Got that fixed, and it blew not only one more time, but twice... 3 f'N times. spent 500 in tows and about 600 dollars in labor/parts.... come to find out.... it was a PCV valve that was gone.... yeah... I replaced that myself.

Hows about that one?

O yeah.... HA HA, my timing belt just skipped too.... hows about them apples..

WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DSM and assholes that don't know cars

guess what? I now do allll work on my own. Your better off. You will learn everything there is to about your own car. You will know what you put in, what you plan to put in, and what you expect out of it. The DSM world is all about research, hands on experience, trial and error, and lots and lots of money, fixing, and depression.

Thats rough dude, I hope the worst is over! haha or else it's time to buy a truck. j/k.
hmm, so are you trying to say the original poster is driving around with an ACT 2900 right now? I'd be suprised..

 

[KidZnEclipses]

holy crap, I've got it good compared to you. Shiat, how did you not give up on that car, I mean thats ALOT of stuff to just keep paying for it and going along with it. I admire you wow, thats just crazy!!! yeah grab like 100 snickers!



-wes

 

[mr95gst]

More than likely they just didn't bleed the clutch line good a common problem. I should not be hard figure out. Good Luck

 

[KidZnEclipses]

god, i hope thats all it is, but it felt really hard, like the clutch was gone...i dont know.

 

[travislaw]

I know your feeling. I bought my 96 Eclipse GS-T June of 2004. The guy I bought it from promised it was an excellent condition and a good driver. I test drove in town and it worked beautifully. It wasn't until I hit the highway that the problems started. (By the way he deposited the check before he gave me the keys, I had to drive him to the bank.) (That should have been my first sign.) My car started shking like crazy the minute I hit 60 mph. Well the car had a 118,000 miles on it and I was having the timing belt replaced the next morning. So I figured the shop could tell me. Well they said it my axel boot needing to be replaced. So I had that done, but still shook. I went to three different shops, the last one told me I shaft play. (That's when I learned about the famous 4G63-T 7-Bolt shaft play.) I was leaking oil and had the gasket replaced when my axel boot was fixed. Found out then that half the oil pan gasket was sitting in the oil pan. Well the shop that replaced my oil pan didn't crank down my oil filter. So as soon as I got off the highway I lost all of my oil at once. I ended up blowing a bearing. But didn't know it at the time. A month later the head gasket and the turbo went. So I replaced both. Then my bearing final shot through the car month later. Shooting metal through the engine and new turbo. I was irrate, I had already spent $4,000 to get the car back to regular stock status. I tried to go after the shop, but didn't have the evidence I needed to prove the shop screwed up with the oil filter. So now I had to replace the engine and then the turbo again. I ordered a rebuilt engine and got it put in with a mechanic friends help. Bought a rebuilt turbo and put that in. Everything was fine until 2 months ago when all of the sudden my car would fully boost at 3,500 RPMS and run like a Geo metro. Come to find out my rebuilt turbo blew a seal. So two weeks ago I bought a brand new Evo 3 16G Ported Turbo. (What a great turbo by the way.) I think I have spent $9,000 in the last year and a half just getting my car to run right. (Well, I added a 255 LPH Fuel Pump, FPR, 2.5" Catback Exhaust, Turbo Timer, some gauges, and a cold air intake.) But other than that the rest of the money has been spent on restoring the car. I think I have spent $1,500 in diagnostic fees alone. I love my Eclipse though. Wouldn't trade it for the world. I just hope everything stays running right.

 

[dr1665]

It's funny. My master cylinder has been leaking for some time, now, and I started to notice the same symptoms. Clutch pedal started engaging way low on the floor and fluid in the resie was becoming scarce. I picked up a master cylinder rebuild kit from Napa for, you're gonna love this part, $16.00. I had the master out, apart, rebuilt, and back in within 90 minutes of popping the hood. Now the clutch wouldn't fully disengage and I couldn't get the car into gear without a clunk and stalling her out. After some trouble shooting, it turned out the rubber boot on the slave cylinder (Guess what, turbos and NTs use the same slave cylinder) failed and was not pulling the piston back. F*ck it. I just bought a new slave cylinder from Napa. $40.00. I still have that Stainless Steel line from RRE to install, but I was lazy. It's like having a new car again.

Did I get frustrated? You bet. Did I get angry? Sure. Did I smoke way too many cigarettes during this ordeal last weekend? Damn straight, but I did it myself and spent less than $60 to restore my clutch system to brand new functionality. I suggest you get your feet wet with some of the BPUs in the upgrade guide, here on Tuners, and get comfortable working on your car before paying someone else to take a stab at it. When you really think about it, unless you take your car to RRE, Buschur's, or a trusted DSM owner friend, this "professional" is just going to be taking his best guess at what to do.

 

[97EclipseGS-T]

The reason why I haven't given up is the fact that a true DSM tuner is one that doesnt give up untill you are 100 percent satisified. If it involves spending lots and lots of money... i don't care. In the end, I know I will be happy. What sux is the fact that my timing is off when I found out a month ago and I have'nt started my car in a while because I know I'll just get pissed off. O yeah, to mention.... I lost my license for 1.5 years its been 4 months----dragging..... why do i keep dropping my money and my time? Because DSM cars are glorious and If I could bang them, i would.

 

[dalatinromeo]

yeah i would do what 92GSXBaltimore recommended.

Check for
a. leaking hydraulic fluid
b. blew your old master cylinder
c. blew your old slave cylinder

My friend has a GSX. And same thing happened to him when he first installed his spec 2. Master and slave cylinder both failed. So look at those two things before you go replacing the clutch and find out it was only your master or slave cylinder.

 

[jgr203]

Most mechanics think you can compare DSM's to civics
They dont realize these cars need 'special attention

I would never send my car to just anyone
I send it to a specific shop that specializes in Mitsu's

Your average mechanic could cause more problems to a DSM
Dont trust just anyone with your baby!

 

[IA97GST]

Hey Guys..... I like the thread..... Ive done all my work in the past outside of my first gen Eclipse that i had the timing belt dont at a known mitsu dealer... however on my last dsm before the one i have now.. i had it sold and just got the tranny back in and i needed 2 just have the t-case and exhuast welded up... well i thought the local Rookies could handle bolting the t-case on.. when i went pick my car up it shook and startled and not 2 mention only reason i had them do it cuz a guy was gonna be there after work 2 buy the car... well my exhast had a hole size of quarter and the idiots pouned the heck outta my t-case... they managed 2 get a 23 slpine t-case on a 22 slpine tranny.... this i found out after i got it home and tore the dam thing apart myself and Boy was i mad as hell... lost a sale on the car and had fix it myself... needless 2 say i told the guy i wasnt paying for what he didnt fix and just ####ed up.... Dsms are not your everday car and require special attention and maintaince.. but u can be sure if you do it your self and its right u know what you got.... The biggest failure ic is the fact that all theese small town mechanics dont know how set a timing belt on one of theese which is a BIG Key Part.. Buy a Haynes or Chiltons and READ READ READ... Cant beat hands on Pride with a DSM

 

[leftovercrack]

i hear you man. i put a new engine in my 91 alltrac. i drove it around for a couple days and the car died. i pushed it off the road and popped the hood to find pieces ground of my engine! after looking at it a bit, the air conditioning wasnt hooked up as well as several other things. im sick of it.

 

[MyBeatGSX]

This should be retitled, "Why not to take your DSM to Jiffy Lube" or "Why you should do your own work".

No one but my friends and I work on my car. I'm fortunate enough to work at a Toyota dealer so many of my friends are certified techs. I don't even trust them to work on it alone. They help me do the work, they don't do it themselves. I NEVER EVER leave my car unattended with anyone anywhere. I don't trust anyone with it and will stand and watch anyone working on it. If it absolutely has to be taken to the dealer, I'll request to go into the shop and watch (which most places won't allow) or I'll stand outside in the door way and watch the entire time. I refuse to drop my car off anywhere. I tell the service writer up front that if a test drive is nessesary, absolutely no one is given permission to drive it unless I'm in the car. If they don't like it I go to another dealer. I don't even trust the local DSM shop, I'll still sit and watch.

Did I get frustrated? You bet. Did I get angry? Sure. Did I smoke way too many cigarettes during this ordeal last weekend? Damn straight, but I did it myself and spent less than $60 to restore my clutch system to brand new functionality. I suggest you get your feet wet with some of the BPUs in the upgrade guide, here on Tuners, and get comfortable working on your car before paying someone else to take a stab at it. When you really think about it, unless you take your car to RRE, Buschur's, or a trusted DSM owner friend, this "professional" is just going to be taking his best guess at what to do.

My thought's exactly. From working at a dealer, I can tell you that when any non Toyota car is brought to us the techs just give it their best shot based on what they already know, they usually don't even have a factory repair manual. That's not any differant than what you would be doing. I watched 1 repair like that and then realized I could do my own work.

For the original poster. My slave and then master cylinders gave out after the 2100 was installed.