I think I've been ripped off by a mate .(

[rattus18]

G'day all, I normaly do most of my own work but due to lack of space in my garage I had to rely on the professional help of a friend (mechanic). I took the car to him with what I diagnosed as having a leaking exhaust valve. To cut a long story short, 2 months later I finaly get my car back and a $1500 bill. He claims the timing belt had been replaced in the past and incorrectly installed, bending valves. I was under the impression the Zetec was a free spin engine. BTW my car was a 1 owner and he had NOT had the belt replaced. They insist it had. They also broke my timing belt cover, left A/C hose clamps off, and used the incorrect coolant, and this is a so called mate!

[EL_Monty]

some mate!!!

EL

[svo supporter]

Hard to comment on the timing case cover, without looking at it. However they can and do break occasionally when removing or re-fitting them.

Timing belt. You'd have to check if i does have one, before commenting there. If it does, there is a chance that hs caused the initial problems.

Coolant and hose clamp. We all make slight errors now and then. Human nature. So you might being a little harsh there

[rattus18]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Hard to comment on the timing case cover, without looking at it. However they can and do break occasionally when removing or re-fitting them.

Timing belt. You'd have to check if i does have one, before commenting there. If it does, there is a chance that hs caused the initial problems.

Coolant and hose clamp. We all make slight errors now and then. Human nature. So you might being a little harsh there

Not sure what you're talking about, Do you know the zetc engines AT ALL? of course they have timing belts secondly when you take your prized posession to a PROFESSIONAL and charges you for a professional job you don't expect broken things and forgotten brackets etc. I did pay for it remember.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by rattus18

Not sure what you're talking about, Do you know the zetc engines AT ALL? of course they have timing belts secondly when you take your prized posession to a PROFESSIONAL and charges you for a professional job you don't expect broken things and forgotten brackets etc. I did pay for it remember.

It's like this. Professionals do make mistakes. It's well documented around this forum for starters. What seperates the good from the bad is whether they fix their mistakes or not when you take it back.

So instead of giving your mate hurry curry on the forum, see what he'll do about rectifying the missed A/C clamps and replacing the coolant FIRST.

As for the timing belt scenario. Putting the belt on the wrong spot CAN cause bent valves. Isn't this the reason for taking it there in the first place?

To end it. Whether it's a Zetec engine or not has no relevance to me. What would have relevance is whether your mate fixes his mistakes free of charge or not. If he won't, then bad mouth him

[rattus18]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

It's like this. Professionals do make mistakes. It's well documented around this forum for starters. What seperates the good from the bad is whether they fix their mistakes or not when you take it back.

So instead of giving your mate hurry curry on the forum, see what he'll do about rectifying the missed A/C clamps and replacing the coolant FIRST.

As for the timing belt scenario. Putting the belt on the wrong spot CAN cause bent valves. Isn't this the reason for taking it there in the first place?

To end it. Whether it's a Zetec engine or not has no relevance to me. What would have relevance is whether your mate fixes his mistakes free of charge or not. If he won't, then bad mouth him

Ok, I guess you are the sort of customer every tech would love to encounter or... you are a tech yourself. Next time you have your car repaired and the tech keeps changing the reason why it's taking so long but still telling you it will be ready this arvo( this went on for 2months) remember, Then maybe you may see why I feel a little upset.

[Dustproof]

Originally Posted by rattus18

Ok, I guess you are the sort of customer every tech would love to encounter or... you are a tech yourself. Next time you have your car repaired and the tech keeps changing the reason why it's taking so long but still telling you it will be ready this arvo( this went on for 2months) remember, Then maybe you may see why I feel a little upset.

I had an engine rebuilt for my race car by a friend (A prefessional Race engine builder), $3000.00 for the rebuild only and I found they left Obviously bent pushrods in it, I found out in time before firing up the engine. So I feel your pain, I have also been ripped of by dealers so called Technicians. One thing you have to do is try (This is the hard part) cool down and approach your mate for some answers and rectification, he owes you an explanation as to why it took so long. I would be asking for a list of parts used making up the bill, then ask him to fix the broken and missing parts.

I found that people shut down if you go completely off at them, more than likely they will tell you to F#$@ Off and nothing will be resolved. I said it would be hard. You will loose a mate and not get what you want, this is what happened with my engine. I ended up doing another rebuild myself to make sure everything was done correctly and still didn't get any explanations.

Take a breath and discuss it rationally and maybe you will have more success than I did. :togo:

:

[MercurySilver]

he ripped you because you were a mate
that way, what he says he presumed would be taken as the truth because he is your mate and who else can you trust??
as if he would shark you
he's a mate

sorry... a shonky mate

[jumbuck]

Personally I never get things done by people I know. Not just car stuff but anything. It is much easier to sort it later if there is a problem. I might pay a bit more but well worth it in the long run imo.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by rattus18

Ok, I guess you are the sort of customer every tech would love to encounter or... you are a tech yourself. Next time you have your car repaired and the tech keeps changing the reason why it's taking so long but still telling you it will be ready this arvo( this went on for 2months) remember, Then maybe you may see why I feel a little upset.

I'm starting to read into this as being you're peeved at him because it took so long, rather than things being missed (ie clamps and coolant).

Where was this job done? Home, his workshop? Did the head have to be farmed out to another place to have things repaired? If the head was farmed out, what was the workload like at the other place. (Xmas is one of the busiest times of the year, as everyone want things done straight away).

If it was done at home, I don't know about your mate, but I'm stuffed when I get home and don't feel like doing much, even if I'm getting paid for the job. So there's another scenario.

Parts. Could he get them off the shelf? If not, where did the parts have to come from? Was there a stuff up at the other end where the parts were? (Paper work got lost or stuffed up to send them). Was there a break down in communication between the supplier and transport company?

Was your mate able to get onto the supplier everyday to chase them up? If he couldn't, that's understandable. Good chance he had to keep other people happy. (You're obviously not the only person he has to deal with)

By the way, I do frontends for a crust. Yes, people have come back because a car is drifting and they don't realise why. However, when I explain to them why, alls fine. Even if it means taking them for a drive to show them, explaining as I'm behind the wheel.

I'll also add in, 99.9% of those people come back, because I'm taking responsibility for my workmanship. Not fobbing them off. Of course there is that .1% that don't, but no one can please 100% of the population all the time.

If you were a customer of mine and you kept this sort of attitude up after I explained things to you, yes I'd tell you to f#*k off too.

To end it all. I'm really starting to think, he probably made those mistakes because he was being rushed. When you're being rushed mistakes are bound to happen. So just think about it all

[rattus18]

Originally Posted by Dustproof

I had an engine rebuilt for my race car by a friend (A prefessional Race engine builder), $3000.00 for the rebuild only and I found they left Obviously bent pushrods in it, I found out in time before firing up the engine. So I feel your pain, I have also been ripped of by dealers so called Technicians. One thing you have to do is try (This is the hard part) cool down and approach your mate for some answers and rectification, he owes you an explanation as to why it took so long. I would be asking for a list of parts used making up the bill, then ask him to fix the broken and missing parts.

I found that people shut down if you go completely off at them, more than likely they will tell you to F#$@ Off and nothing will be resolved. I said it would be hard. You will loose a mate and not get what you want, this is what happened with my engine. I ended up doing another rebuild myself to make sure everything was done correctly and still didn't get any explanations.

Take a breath and discuss it rationally and maybe you will have more success than I did. :togo:

:

Sounds like a plan, I just noticed you also ride a GSX 14

[Matt P]

Ztec is not a free spinner there are not many multi valve engines left that are. The 3 valve v8 is the only one in the modern Aussie Ford line up that was and it is now extinct.
I would suggest maybe a tensioner failure have seen it a bit on LR focus the key is always replace the tensioner when doing the belt they don't seem to last like the old ones did.

[melbzetec]

Everything I've read says that Zetec engines are "non interference" engines.

Is that different to a "free spinner"???

[Fredo]

25 years ago I had the exact same experience.
Asked a mate to fix the rattle in the engine. Got a complete rebuild and it took weeks and weeks and weeks and cost more money than I had.
Lost a good mate over that and I have never again asked a friend to do work for me.

Hope you get it sorted - good mates are hard to find these days. :

Fredo

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by Fredo

25 years ago I had the exact same experience.
Asked a mate to fix the rattle in the engine. Got a complete rebuild and it took weeks and weeks and weeks and cost more money than I had.
Lost a good mate over that and I have never again asked a friend to do work for me.

Hope you get it sorted - good mates are hard to find these days. :

Fredo

And what was the cause of this rattle? If it's been a bearing, generally a full rebuild is neeed, otherwise the motor would come back with more complaints to follow.

Yes good mates are hard to find. The problem exists when they do things for "mates" and more problems surface, the mate doing the work gets bad mouthed for it. So the majority of people won't get it done by a mate for that very reason.

[rattus18]

Originally Posted by melbzetec

Everything I've read says that Zetec engines are "non interference" engines.

Is that different to a "free spinner"???

Yep. it's the same thing; and yep I too have read in all the american focus sites say they are "non interference engines". what does one believe :