shop replaced ignition coil, now car is screwed and i have a big repair bill. Help!!

[RGdsmNewb]

Please please help I dont know what to do here at all...

So a while back i was driving and the car when the rev's dropped and i had absolutely no power. I took it to a shop because I have no one where to work on my car myself anymore, and they diagnosed the problem as being the ignition coil. They replaced that for me for like 300 bucks.

After picking the car up, it over heated during acceleration(never overheated before), and the radio was cutting out every time i started the car for about 2 minutes until it started acting normally. I was annoyed at these problems but didn't pay too much attention because i needed the car for work.

Fast forward 2 weeks, i'm driving with the gf, and there's a smell of like rotten eggs coming from under the hood. I pop the hood and the battery is spewing out acid. I drive the car over to the shop and the electrical system just starts going crazy ( gauges reading totally off and finally the battery dies).

Now, the shop says that the battery is toast due to the alternator overcharging at like 17 instead of 14...

Both my alternator and battery are relatively new and now they are saying both need to be replaced which is going to cost me another 500 bucks with labor. I had no electrical problems or overheating prior to this.

So was wondering if something could have gone wrong with the original ignition coil install to cause this or what.... ? I'm freakin out cause i really don't have the money for all this right now and am unsure of what to do

 

[g4ebguy90]

The coil is ran by the ECU sort of, the ECU controls that transister, I don't see how it would tie to the alternator.

Stuff happens bro. Alternators overcharge and do alot of damage.
I think you just a had a little bit of bad luck.
But honestly you could have done that coil yourself in about 10 mins. To diagnose you would have just had to test for spark and then took a multimeter to the coils primary and secondarys.

 

[DOHCTA]

do you have a pic of the battery? Was it a terminal that failed due to a loose connection, overheated and burst? I know I almost ran into a problem with my charging system by a slight glow in the battery light on my cluster (lucky it was at night and I could see it just fading on and off), immediately stopped and opened the hood. Looked at the battery posts and the postive terminal had come loose. *reminder* put back on my tie down but yeah, it probably has everything to do with the coil's bein worked on. Assuming they disconnected the battery before removal and installation of them, probably didn't re-check their connections (ALL OF THEM).

Pics!

 

[Tfitch90]

Dude put it all on the shop and dont ease up. Like the guy above me said they disconnected the battery. If you can get proof of how old the battery and altenator is and say it was fine until you guys got it.

 

[RGdsmNewb]

god i really don't know how i'm going to go about arguing with the shop about this. I'm working like 50 hours a week to pay for school next semester and just dont really have the time to deal with the car. There's no way the shop will admit to screwing it up and paying for it, i tried to imply that yesterday to the receptionist and she said the tech will call me..

Any other opinions on this if the prior repair could have screwed up my alternator / battery?

freakin car literally makes me want to cry , so unlucky always.

 

[Tfitch90]

It wasnt a dealership was it ?

 

[95TalonOwner]

If the alternator is somewhat new, then take it back to where you got it and have it warrantied.

 

[BoostedPhoenix]

Clearly if the battery boiled over the terminals were making a good contact. The the voltage regulator in the alternator failed plain and simple as stated above if its just been replaced it should have a warranty.

Future advise, always buy the alternator (or starter) with the lifetime warranty if its not OEM, you will find you usually will go through several of them before you get one that lasts.

And on another note pushing your "old" cars problems back on the shop that just fixed your car is not going to get you anywhere except making the service manager very angry at you. If you cant fix it yourself the last thing you should be doing is angering the person that will still work on it. Though 500 is pretty steep for that unless it was OEM parts.

 

[jahjahSQC]

Clearly if the battery boiled over the terminals were making a good contact. The the voltage regulator in the alternator failed plain and simple as stated above if its just been replaced it should have a warranty.

Very well noted.

Future advise, always buy the alternator (or starter) with the lifetime warranty if its not OEM, you will find you usually will go through several of them before you get one that lasts.

Very true. i went through 4 o'reilly Lifetime Alternators before i found a 1wire Gm Aly that didnt fall apart

And on another note pushing your "old" cars problems back on the shop that just fixed your car is not going to get you anywhere except making the service manager very angry at you. If you cant fix it yourself the last thing you should be doing is angering the person that will still work on it. Though 500 is pretty steep for that unless it was OEM parts.

i don't think there is any aftermarket availability on the coil, so OEM is probably the only option.

 

[suntzu350]

I'd double check ALL of your grounds in the engine bay, if they did electrical work they could have disconnected one and "forgot" to reconnect it. Then check for any frayed wires or possible shorted out wires. It'd be hard to tie it back to them but you find find anything directly related to the procedure to replace the coil; stick to your guns and make them pay! Take Lots of PICS!

Good Luck

 

[BoostedPhoenix]

i don't think there is any aftermarket availability on the coil, so OEM is probably the only option.

I just meant for and alternator and battery but I guess on second thought I have not priced an alternator for a DSM recently so that might not be too out of line including labor