Mechanic Not great

So last November I needed a safety on my Grand-Am (M.O.T. kind of, to you Brits) I took it to a guy who apparently is very good.
He said I needed new brakes and lines. Ok I thought, sounds fair and thought rather than the hassle of doing it myself it's worth a couple hundred bucks to have him do it.

Been experiencing some issues of late, didn't want to do anything because it's been too cold to be rolling around the driveway.

So this morning I thought I'd have a play.

Issues have been wobble when breaking from 90-50kmh and if I had to break slightly hard it would bite and then clunk on release.

So I whipped off the back wheels, funny how break drums can look like they are 10 years old in just a few months huh.
Breaks were also adjusted so tight I had to use a hammer to get the drums off.
So I cleaned them up and readjusted them.
As I'm putting the wheels back on I notice written on the inside of the left rear wheel, the word "Wobble"
He never mentioned this.

I've yet to take the front off because I'm still convinced one of the discs (front right I think from the feel) is warped creating the judder when breaking.

I cleaned the back breaks out and reset them and now the wobble is halved and the clunk is gone.

I thought there was something not quite right when I drove away from his shop, he assured me older Grand-Am's have these clunks and wobbles. So I took his word for it.

I also realised I have no ABS/front right airbag sensor.
Nice safety eh.

Bloody glad I didn't pay him :-D

 

Wow that sounds pretty bad. And as I was reading I thought to myself this had to be some bad car person doing poor work. I use to say the things theres few people in life that I don't trust and never will. And 1 was a mechanic IMO had no good things come from them. And Ive been all 5 around here. Only place I still take it or anyone I know is a main dealer but they are high price and lacking good people(to save money). Personally I do minor engine work, I can do muffler, tires, anything on the basics. Like I said on another post about the horror stories of those people doing wrong.

 

Yeah good HONEST mechanics are few and far between, especially if the customer is female. I've never been one to use mechanics, either done it myself or had a mate help me.
I wont tackle something I know anything about but much of it is simple logic same as anything else.
I had a job on the Native Reservation in the cigarette factory, I used to bag the smokes until the machine operator was in a pickle one day and no one to help, I observed what was happening and after a little tinkering, fixed it lol, I was then promoted to on-site mechanic for this British made 50 year old machine, I was one of 2 people in the area who could keep it running properly. No experience, just logical thinking.

Diagnosis is everything.

That is all well and good until you need certain tools/equipment and this is where I get stuck with cars, nowhere to work on them except my driveway and not many tools since my huge collection of tools is in England.

So anyway I guess I'll gather some money and go grab a brake disc later in the week and throw it on, it's only a 30 minute job and will help keep my car running for a few more months lol

 

I had a car that I turned into a derby car about 4 yrs ago. It was the worst car I had running longest running with me. First off my I bought the car for like 900 bucks at an auction(they all started and looked darn good) started up and nothing making any noises.. and I checked underneath nothing.. miles little high but hey its a 900 dollar car. I drove with a friend and we went to go get something at my house, I let my parent drive it home(it breaks down). We take it to mechanic he said engine gone.. I replaced something small on it and it worked fine again. :-D Anyways this car ran for years and several miles a day to work. I had such a good job 6 out of 7 days a week working 10 hours at 15.50 an hour damn good. And me being younger I obviously wanted to hang on sundays and drink. So basically oil changes never happen. I think in 5 yrs I changed filter 3 times.. added oil twice. Some reason it never ate oil. Anyways things wrong with my car.. Everything ran by electric in it. And lost my job eventually and I moved and I got another job that paid (okay) but anyways I drove in the car that wobble pretty bad(wasn't the tires) think I bent frame being crazy in winter time.
Anyways list of wrong things in car
- Driver window wouldn't go up 3 inches(motors not work and replacing didn't work) and pulling them with a wrench stopped working after a while) so driver side window and back seat driver side was down an inch.
- Air condition and Heater didn't work at all
- Wipers were bad condition no matter how many times I changed them and tweaked em they didn't work and just scratched window eventually.
- Locks on doors didn't work
- Seats panel for them to go forward and backwards didn't work so they leaned backed whole time
- Also my radio was hanging from the area its normally in by just wires and if I was lucky Id get radio working on the way to work.

This is a few things that were wrong with it but another thing that was wrong with is it like it was just to weak to run and it just got worst. 1st with the windows always staying down for years and my blanket/plastic would fly off few times during bad storms here and also the winter time the wind blow my bricks off the stuff. Anyways eventually over years the seats and floor would be soaked and snowed on and rained on. I gave up on it.. and just stopped covering it. So I got a ghetto car and in the winter time Id go open the door to work and see a snow drift in my seat :-D Anyways another thing was several times since some reason the car would get weak running I had to drive it dangerously and I couldn't stop at stop signs, or stop lights in town I had either hold break down and rev the car up so it wouldn't idle and die.. or Id have to just stick it in neutral and rev it up.. some reason it died easy when stopped. SO imagine years and daily of doing this. And image the dangers I was doing in the winter (that scared me the most) driving a car which wants to dies easy and I had to go slow with snow and wind on a country road for an hour.. and most the time Id take 3 hours and scared the people waiting for me.. cause it was so bad driving. Plus in the winter I had no heater and that coldness would freeze the snow and ice on windsheild several times to where I had to pull over and scrap the car window on the road in winter because I had no heater/or heat at all.. I d have to stop atleast 10 times each night it was cold. I also hit the ditch several times with it because couldn't see out on the road and luckly I was able to get myself out. I remember few times so bad of ice one night no cars out at all.. and semis pulled over.. so I was worried lol.. anyways family felt bad and grandma specially thought and was worried nightly she even offered to fix what was wrong.. but I told her I doubt they can fix is and if so it cost much more then the car worth.. I took the dash and checked all wired and even replaced it a few times to try to get the heater to work but didn't. Anyways few years ago I was driving it to a job and It just suddenly died going straight on a main road in town.. and lights came on and stuff so I knew it was dead while driving.. so I got ready and angled it so I could pull into this sideways parking lot.. and I got in there and parked it and went back out and started it and I tried to reverse but couldnt due to cars being next to me and at this time my steering was gone so I had to crank it and I didnt have room and I sure in heck wasnt going to hit a car.. so I got out waiting.. late for work.. finally they leave and I am able to go.. now car wont start.. I talk to a cop there at the place and he says he can't give me a ride lol hes on duty.. well wtf.. safety reason to take me instead of me doing harm.. So I ended up getting it started.. and drove it almost to work.. and it died on the side of the road.. I walk to work and that night I called for buddy to pick it up and we take it to my house. Then it ended up being a demo car and I got 2cd in!

 

You didn't mention which brakes were repaired by the tech, but if he did the rears and set them too tight several months ago they would've burned off the tightness by now and stunk doing it. It sounds more like the parking brake was stuck on a little, or maybe your wheel cylinders are siezed. Either one will also age the appearance of the drums. Up front make sure the pads are not siezed on the slides, the pins are free, and the pistons push back fairly easily. These parts sticking will heat up the rotor (disc) and cause the shudder and ruin your new rotor too. Did you have ABS and Airbag warning lamps on at the time of inspection? If yes the car would not have passed.

Too bad we live so far apart, there are four of us at our shop...all honest.

 

God yes, honest mechanics are few indeed. I'm mourning my mechanic, who retired last year. He's an older fellow, and lived just down the allyway from the house I bought when I married my first wife.

I knew he worked on cars, and in fact ran a business out of his garage, but I didn't know him. One day the wife's car died, and since it (at that time) was a newer model and a mass of sensors and electronics, I checked with the guy to see if he could look at it. He even helped me push it over. Thus began a relationship that lasted a quarter of a century. Good mechanic, honest and very reasonable.

I'm kind of at a loss now. Makes me miss the old days and my trusty '68 GMC truck. If she wouldn't start (and that rarely happened) there were only three things it could be . . . and I could check those with a screwdriver. Anymore, with the electronics and such - I'm at a loss.

 

Not necessarily. I've found, from experience, that it's very easy to spot a dishonest one and avoid being ripped off by just saying one single word over and over again, with an attentive, disturbingly honest, and very persistent tone of voice: "Why?"

Example:

The mechanic says the transmission on my 2007 car has to be flushed, as a matter of safety. I say, "why?" He says, because the transmission fluid is too dark. I ask why that is bad. He attempts a stuttering stammering explanation that is not at all believable. I say , "um, no. Thanks but no thanks" and take my car to another shop.

I can keep this up for hours if I have to, but the end result is inevitably a good one for me.

 

"Why's" are good to do, that's for sure.
As for your tranny, my first thought would be that the dark fluid is an indication of burnt fluid from slippage, which would mean that there are particles (clutch debris) in the pan and starting to plug the filter, pump and torque converter, and after time will cause loss of gas mileage as well as the vehicle eventually not moving. If you would have said a 1987 vehicle, I would not think as much of it, but a 2007 does seem a little new to be in that state of decay. I myself would have it flushed and a new filter installed, but that is just my .02 cents

 

Ah, a gentleman that seems to know what he's talking about, no offense meant by the lack of good mechanics comment, I know you guys exist, just tricky to find you lol
It seems to be either doing work that doesn't need doing or charging waaaaay over the odds for it, something Canadian Tire is good at.

Thanks for the tips though

Both front and back brakes were "Replaced" along with lines from centre to front.
The rear drums are now new, they have a good 5+ years of rust flaking off the outside lol
The parking break wasn't stuck on but the cylinder could be a thought.
Basically if I break slightly harder than normal, like braking to stop at the bottom of a hill, the back will bite down drawing one side lower than the other and then release violently as I move forward creating a very loud clunk.
Loosening the back brakes off has nearly eliminated that but I've also taken them back too far so I need to tighten them again lol

The front wobble when braking feels more like either warped disc or blown bearing, since the disc and pads are supposedly new I don't see why it would bite to create an intense pulse when braking.

 

That's very similar to what the mechanic at the other shop said... their fees were lower too.

 

For sure. Also, don't rush to a decision if you don't know if you can trust your tech. Go home and Google what he';s telling you.
Good example Mimsy. Trans fluid is a tricky one. We just got a bulletin from Ford advising us that the new fluid in some new vehicles will darken as a normal characteristic. Some mechanics will take advantage of that, knowingly or not.
Our maintainance schedule recommends a trans flush every 60,000km, 40,000mi. If you drive it nice and stay out of the dust you can go longer. If the trans is working properly the filter won't plug. It should be changed every other flush.
It's a good idea to get this service done.

 

I don't suppose they mentioned if a Corolla uses the same fluid? :innocent

 

Smell the oil on the dip stick. Does it have a sweet smell or burnt smell? That's the best way to know if the oil is getting too hot.