Cars and passion. (my 911)

I don't want to toss a shop name under the bus and create a situation (no one here, but still). Some time about a year ago I had a place do a valve adjust/oil change on my car. I never let ANYONE work on my cars but they had a good rep, I was overdue on a valve adjustment and it needed to be done. So I took it in, forked out some money and had it done.

 

Fastforward to this year... I go ahead and do my valve adjustment and get ready for an oil change. When it was time to actually drain the oil though I had a major issue... the drain plugs wouldn't come out. I used a proper 6 point socket, got a breaker bar and a small extension and decided to give that a go. Sure as hell, it wouldn't come out. On the sump screen I ended up using a breaker bar, cheater pipe and my LEGS and finally "POP" it came out. I thought I broke a ratchet when it happened, but actually it was the bolt coming out.

 

I thought "Well, maybe it's just on a tad TOO tight.. maybe someone was in a hurry." so I went to the oil tank... guess what? Wouldn't come out. At this point, I'm pissed. The nuts on the valve covers were perfect, flawless, and everything else was in fantastic shape. I called up and said, "You guys need to get this bolt out" and was told that I should have used a 6 point socket and extension and a breaker bar (and I did) and it'll come out. I went back out, gave it a whirl and it still wouldn't come out and it started rounding off. To my amazement, it still wasn't coming out. So I did what most people would do and got out the air tools. Even THAT wouldn't get it out.

 

I got a 1/2" extractor bit and used the proper tool... thinking "i've gotcha now..." the 1/2" bit physically snapped in half before the bolt came out. I decided maybe I'd grind it off, but that was taking forever.

 

I called back up, SUPER pissed and was told at this point that I had no business trying to extract it on my own and this was all my fault for my "lack of experience." instead of them admitting that they put it in way too tight.

 

I called up various parts places where people work on these all the time. Pelicanparts for one, Ianseuroparts was the other. Both told me there's no reason in hell they shouldn't come out after what I did.

 

So what did I do? Dropped the oil tank OUT OF THE CAR. I went and bought some vice grip channel locks with reverse teeth, got my foot on it, grabbed it with my hands so it wouldn't budge to the side and it FINALLY came out.

 

 

But now that it's all said and done, 2 NEW drain plugs, seals later... I'm ripping through the entire engine bay doing a complete maintenance on it. Tore out the oil sender, cleaned it. Also cleaned and waxed the tank as you can see (which is totally unnecessary, but at least it'll be clean and nice now, compare to the above picture with the grime around it)

 

 

- Valve adjustment

- Head stud check

- Compression test

- Fuel tank cleaning (inside and out)

- Sender cleaning

- New sender gasket

- Replacement ignition coil

- Cap, rotor, plugs

- New oil hoses

- New breather hoses

- New brake lines (stainless braided)

List goes on and on... I'm just going through it completely. Car is in pieces in the garage.

 

 

So lesson learned... if you want it done right and you have a passion for your car? DO IT YOURSELF, or find someone who will take as much pride in their cars as they do with a customer car. It is easy as cake to work on a new car that is pristine and clean and make it look like a pristine and clean job was done. It takes someone with a ridiculous amount of pride to take an OLD car and do a fantastic job. There is no excuse, even for an old car, that quality work cannot be done if one takes the time, the effort, the pride, the passion.... to make it right.

Glad that you got it fixed. I have had the same problems in the past.

 

Last night I changed the oil in the Murci, filter came off by hand. The previous change was done by a shop, and I had to destroy the filter to get it off. Total PITA. It's so much nicer knowing when things are done properly.

Glad that you got it fixed. I have had the same problems in the past.

 

Last night I changed the oil in the Murci, filter came off by hand. The previous change was done by a shop, and I had to destroy the filter to get it off. Total PITA. It's so much nicer knowing when things are done properly.

 

Wow you had to DESTROY it to get it off? That's crazy man! Did they try and tell you it was your fault too? LOL. It just drives me nuts. I had to rant. Makes me happy knowing there are DIY types in all car types, even exotics. Mine was definitely not on "hand tight"... what a pain.

 

Today I rewired the back and as I was checking the wires I found MORE wires that were messed up. So tomorrow I'll finish soldering those and redoing all the wiring. I'll snag a photo of the tank and things now that it's back together. Nice and clean!

Yeah, the oil filter wrench couldn't get a strong enough grip, so I had to stab it with a very large screwdriver and turn the filter.

 

Once, my H1's was on so tight that I had to remove the oil filter housing and put it in a vice to get it off. Total nightmare.

Sorry you got screwed by them but always enjoy reading your maintenance threads.

 

Gives me hope that one day I will feel confident enough to purchase a car that is maintenance intensive and be able to handle what it throws at me.

 

Like say an 07 Audi RS4. Would make a badass car to commute in. The NA V-8 should be more friendly to work on then the newer Supercharged V-6 they are putting in their S4s.