The filter on the frame rail is the only one-unless there's one in the tank. I let an old girlfriend talk me into installing an Automoan alternator on her 280Z since it was $15 cheaper than the one I wanted to buy. After I installed 3 of their "lifetime" POSs in about a month, I finally bought the other one and never had any more trouble with it. I had to go to an Automoan district mgr. to get her money back. I guess they mean lifetime pain in the butt.

 

uh oh..... I have some spare parts here and there and you are welcome to them but I doubt they will be of help.... Hope that everything works out for ya...

 

sorry about that, "Stump", did'nt mean to leave you hangin' like that, i'm just familiar w/the whole "...considerable turn for the worse"... type of statement.

why not go & get your ride & all of it's parts w/a flatbed or something, take them over to a storage unit that you'll have rented in advance & then contact the locals there that post here on the site, or just contact us & let's see whether or not the combined efforts of the 'yotatech community can't manage to get you all back together, then you, at the very least, won't have to deal w/those arses there anymore?!?

let us know what's what with what all & with that...

-f-

 

You're reading my mind, frankenrunner. I've been in contact with someone here in Houston about getting this all put back together and doing it ourselves. I don't have details yet but should soon.

Sorry to everyone for not posting the whole story yet, but things have been out of sorts since Friday. I will post the whole thing later today.

 

OK, here's the story. It's a little long.

After I received the parts list the guy said he needed and how much each part was I made calls to three dealerships in town and checked prices. Here they are.

Valve guides: 93.96
Oil pump housing: 73.62
Head bolts: 131.84
PCV hose: 15.05
Timing belt: 27.04
Timing belt tensioner: 34.18
Oil pressure switch: 47.61
Temperature switch: 25.73
Water pump: 103.32
Portavacuum switch: 46.13

Dealership total: 599.11

Mechanic's total: 997.53

Basically, he was trying to soak me for another $400 (which I don't have) for parts. Now, to give you a little background, when I first spoke to him on the phone before I had my truck taken to him, he said any additional parts needed would be charged "at cost". This doesn't seem to be the case.

So I called him back Friday afternoon to ask him some questions about this parts list. I didn't even get to ask my first question when starts tearing me a new one. He says, "Now you listen here! Every part I said you need, you need! I'm not going to let you bring anymore parts in here. I don't deal with any AutoZone crap or anything like that. Now I made an exception for your oversized valves, and I shouldn't have done that, but this is how it works! I don't appreciate you trying to tell me how to run my business!"

I said, "Any parts I bring you will come from a dealership and will be OEM. When I spoke to you last Friday, you said any extra parts would be charged to me "at cost". Why are you charging me twice the price of what a dealership would?"

He practically yells back at me, "How do you expect me to make any money?!? I can charge whatever I want for parts!"

Now, that's really not my concern. I could care less whether he makes money on the deal or not. All I want is my truck fixed, the way I want it fixed, and returned to me in working order. Considering I'm the owner of title of the vehicle and will probably never see this guy again, I don't think that's too much to ask. I chose not to answer his question.

I said, "What you told me was that I would pay for parts "at cost" and that is not what's happening."

He said, "If you don't like it, you can come pick up your Jeep and fix it your damn self!"

I said, "That sounds like a good idea. I'll pick it up Monday."

Then he hung up on me.

Basically, he was telling me, "I don't give a damn if you own the truck. It will be fixed my way, with the parts I say, whether you like it or not." Sort of a mechanic's version of "It's my ball. If you don't like it, I'll take my ball and go home!"

I called back about 15 minutes later to find out the status of my vehicle so I could be prepared to get it. He took this as another opportunity to lay into me.

I asked him what the problem was with me supplying parts and he said, "That not how we do things around here." I again asked what the problem was and he said, "We have a policy that doesn't allow customers to supply their own parts." I asked why I wasn't made aware of that when I brough my truck in. He didn't answer that. I asked him what the condition of my truck was and he said that all the parts will be in the cargo area sitting on plastic and cardboard when I come pick it up.

He has already charged my credit card $500 (half the labor cost) and he said I owe him $125 for the towing. He said, "We don't tow for free if we don't do the work!"

He then threatened me with, "You come get your piece of junk out of here on Monday or I'll have it towed!"

I said, "I'll be there."

Then he hung up on me again.

So now I will be taking the day off from work tomorrow to get this taken care of. I've spoken to some friends of mine who have worked with what they feel are reputable mechanics and have some referral numbers to call tomorrow. I will have a new shop tomorrow and have them start work.

Now, call me a noob if you want to, but when someone says to me that I will be paying for parts "at cost" I expect to be paying the price of what it would cost me to go purchase the part myself. I feel like this guy was dishonest from the beginning, but since this is the first time I've ever had an engine rebuilt, I took him at his word. I went with this guy in the first place because he had the best price and claimed he could have the work done in 5 working days.

My next step will be to file a complaint with the BBB and speak to my credit card company about disputing the $500 charge. We'll see where it goes from there.

 

holy ÅÅÅÅ!! I have toyota Factory Service Manuals hit me up if you need them! I dont know how else to help you out other than to say you need to bring a friend or two who are cops....

That way if this hot headed moron takes a swing at you for no reason you have GOOD witnesses...

Also try save ALL documentation that you may have regarding this transaction.

 

Hey Kevin!? Never heard from you Staurday, I guess things have gotten better, at least I hope! Let me know if you still need anything. I shoud be doing some slow going IT stuff all day at work so give me a call anytime you need.

 

Did he provide a written estimate? Sounds like a bait & switch. File consumer complaints with everyone you can. Send the shop copies of the complaints.

Anything on this shop in the BBB?

 

man thats crazy that he is charging you that much for thoes parts the only thing on that list that the price is even close is the t-belt. also wondering why are the valve guides need to be replaced . I have almost 300k on my 3.0 I torn into it last night and the valve guides are in great shape the valves are not though . What i think he is doing is charging you the list price on the parts. whenever i go down to napa or carquest I have an account at both and I get the account discount but if you buy something like your headbolts at 131.84 I might only have to play 50-60 for them.

 

Maybe the guy was trying to break even after giving a low labor quote to get the job. Kind of like baiting with the lower labor than the other places and then making up the difference by padding the parts prices. If that is the case, shame on him for shady practices.

Best of luck getting your truck engine back together without going broke and it taking too much longer.