Need important advice before I spend $800 at 8 AM tomorrow*** - Page 2

QueensLacMan · #16 (**permalink**) 07-13-07, 12:45 PM

Long story short, I got home from work at 4 AM. I walked over to the shop, handed a handwritten note to my mechanic telling him not to install anything, and then bumped into a transsexual hooker on the way home. Scared the living daylights out of me.

Mechanic wakes me up at 8 AM and asks what's up. I tell him I don't think it's the compressor, and that he should check some of the things you guys mentioned above, etc. He tells me he's 100 percent sure it's the compressor and that he'll show me later how the piece is busted. He said his two assistants agree it's the compressor as well. He said he already ordered the parts and removed stuff from the car, etc. He told me not to worry, etc. Whatever -- I went back to sleep. This car situation has been a complete nightmare. It's as if I tossed $2200 out the window in just three months.

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the help. The SLS is in the shop too getting new TP sensors and such put in. Not fun.

**Playdrv4me** · #17 (**permalink**) 07-13-07, 02:03 PM

My thing is, if this dude is buying the car from you with blown headgaskets, Im sure he aint givin you much for it and doin you any favors. I would have just told him the A/C compressor was shot and you rerouted the belt for the car to run properly, if it is indeed that.

ROGER L · #18 (**permalink**) 07-13-07, 03:32 PM

my 1992 has a seised a/c so I found a guy that put a different belt on my car so the a/c dont work big deal let some one else worry about that. Are you going to take a bath on the car It does have a blown head! Is this the only problem. 1996 STS with that miles her in WI a guy would for sure take that off your hands in the milwaukee journal sentinal is where you should put an ad for that car if it is in good condition. Here north of Chicago these cars are on the road. NY is mabey diff you could get 8995.00$ here I just saw a black eldo with 31k and it is 6995.00$ firm no problems.

QueensLacMan · #19 (**permalink**) 07-13-07, 04:53 PM

Sold the car on eBay for $3200. Then the same day, after speaking to the guy who will be shipping the car out across the country, I found out the car has a bad compressor. The belt was torn up and the car won't start. So I can't pass this car off to the guy when it's not operable. My post said the car needs nothing except for head gasket repair. And that was the truth until after the listing expired and I found this problem. So I have to fix it. Otherwise I'll feel like a scumbag liar who ripped someone off.

It's already in the shop being fixed. The mechanic changed the compressor, although now he's saying the new part is/was faulty. He needs to do it over again. He asked if I ever had a problem with the AC and the answer is NO.

The bill is $820. I'm going to call the buyer today and tell him the story. Maybe he'll throw me a few hundred bucks for fixing it up for him. Maybe not. Either way, the title is mine as is the car. I could always re-list it with a buy-it-now price of $3500 or so and get some money back. I had several people willing to buy it for $3750 but those deals fell through.

We'll see...

**Playdrv4me** · #20 (**permalink**) 07-13-07, 05:50 PM

So yea, it sounds like the mechanic is full of shit. Obviously something else is wrong and now hes covering his tracks. I only hope he doesnt expect you to pay a dime for whatever else he finds after you told him it WASNT the A/C Compressor.

So the point of this story is ask the forum question *before* you drop the car off at the mechanic shop. Had he not already started working on it your options would be alot wider right now, including just plain telling the guy whats wrong and if he wasnt ok with it just relisting the car. I guarantee you at most you would have knocked 200 bucks off the price rather than SPENDING 820. No scumbag tactics involved, just honesty and less out of your pocket.

QueensLacMan · #21 (**permalink**) 07-14-07, 10:20 AM

I hear what you're saying, but try and look at this from a different point of view. The car was fine on Thursday morning, and then someone won it on eBay for $3200, and then the car was inoperable Thursday afternoon. I had to tow it to the shop.

With the car at the shop, my options were to have it made operable again or to pay to have it towed to another shop. There was no power steering, the car wouldn't turn on... etc. This is simply bad timing and bad luck. My mechanic said he was sure it was the AC compressor. For a guy who seems unsure 75% of the time he seemed pretty damn sure this time. Fine. I'm thinking, I pay the money and move on. The headache comes to an end. The car gets picked up to be shipped in a couple of days.

Guess not. The mechanic called me today and asked if I'm sure the AC was working fine before this problem happened. I said, yes. Apparently, something else caused the AC compressor to freeze. He showed me the old AC compressor and the wheel part of it didn't spin fluidly. He then showed me a little piece from inside the compressor (I guess, what turns it on - something little silver piece that looked like a miniature flute) that was covered in a substance that resembled liquid metal. It looked like ground up tiny bits of metal that were wet and sludgy. So... it looks like the AC compressor was responsible - I think - although we're finding now that something else caused the AC compressor to bust, which in in turn caused the belt to shred.

I told him the AC was working fine. He needs to fix this shit. If he tries to charge me for the problem he caused, I will say no. The AC was working fine and now it doesn't blow cold inside the car.

I'm going to go to APEX tech and learn the basics of being an auto mechanic. Then I'm going to learn Cadillacs. Then I'm going to put a sign on my house that reads: "Only Guy in Queens Who Can Fix a Caddy." I'll be rich and retired before I reach the age of 35. This has been a nightmare.

QueensLacMan · #22 (**permalink**) 07-14-07, 10:53 AM

Actually, the AC isn't getting power. It's not that it isn't blowing cold, but rather that it's not getting power.

QueensLacMan · #23 (**permalink**) 07-14-07, 02:43 PM

Mechanic is telling me has no idea what the problem is but that either way he did his job. He expects me to walk over there today and pay him $820 and then leave with the a new serpentine belt and AC compressor, but no AC capabilities. The AC won't turn on now. He's saying he spent all this time with an electrical specialist and that all the guy could suggest was bringing it to the [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]dealership[/color][/color] to "re-program" the computer. He said he thinks when the compressor busted that the computer screwed up or something. He has no idea how to fix it.

Our conversation is like this:

Mechanic: "I did my job... what I did was just mechanical. I changed the compressor and put in a new one... anyone can see that the old compressor was damaged. I put the new belt... I put freon... when I use "direct power" everything works fine... but without "direct power" the AC doesn't work."

Me: "This problem didn't exist before you touched the car. You said the compressor needed to be replaced and that doing that would solve the problem. But now there's a new problem -- the AC doesn't won't turn on. Aren't you responsible for that?"

Mechanic: "No. I did my job. I fixed the compressor."

Me: "And now the AC doesn't work."

Mechanic: "Take it to the [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]dealership[/color][/color] to get it re-programmed."

Me: "The dealership is going to charge me a few hundred dollars for that. Are you going to pay for that since you helped to create this problem?"

Mechanic. "No. I did my part."

Am I in the wrong here? What am I supposed to do? I don't want to go over there and pay him and take the car because I feel once I do that the problem is in my hands. I feel he should be responsible for this. I never had a problem with the AC. It always turned on and blew cold/hot. I leave my car sitting in a driveway for three weeks only to turn it on and go around the block and find the serpentine belt is shredded. I took it to the mechanic who insisted the compressor was to blame. I triple-checked with him that maybe it was something else, and he said he was 100 percent sure the compressor was faulty.

Now the AC doesn't turn on... he wants $800+ and for me to pick the car up.

Someone tell me the dealership needs to re-program this car, otherwise I'm really going to flip out.

zonie77 · #24 (**permalink**) 07-14-07, 03:09 PM

The codes have to be cleared for the compressor to kick on. Has he cleared them?

QueensLacMan · #25 (**permalink**) 07-14-07, 03:31 PM

There are no codes! I told him that he needed to clear codes, and he said there were none.

Krashed989 · #26 (**permalink**) 07-14-07, 10:48 PM

He either did not plug it in all the way, or the coil on the clutch on that compressor is defective. He should be able to remove the clutch/pulley/coil from the compressor and get a new one to replace it with. You can do so without opening the system.

I would have do some diagnosing on it with a multimeter to be sure what exactly is the problem, but that would be my first guess.

cadillac_tech · #27 (**permalink**) 07-15-07, 07:42 PM

Did the A/C fuse blow when the compressor grenaded? You had a major failure in the compressor involving alot of excessive heat and wear around the coil. If you have no codes, the system has freon, and the compressor doesn't engage; he needs to go to the fuse and relay to check for proper power, signal, resistance, etc.

cl1986 · #28 (**permalink**) 07-16-07, 12:57 AM

What the hell...someone bought a car with bad headgasket....hmm....they are going to pull the motor and fix it.....why fix the ac hes going to take it apart anyway...

Just my $.02

Too late now anyway....

Really the guy bought the car.....ac quit.....he now owns a car with no ac.....pretty sure thats how it works....just dumb luck....