Getting crewed by mechanic?

[nisssan-drive]

Ok too make a very long story short my mechanic is trying too screw me over. He did some work on my car then 800 miles later the crank is broken.

I no he replaced 2 pistons, a rod and of course bearing rings ect... but sadly the receipt does not say that. It just says that he did a valve job, replaced starter, and motor mount.

So I m am screwed in court I think... but today we got him to admit that he replaced pistons rings. I basically just want to ask if he would have too drop the crank to replace the piston rings? He says he just popped the piston right off the rod through the top of the block??? Any advice is appreciated.

[gumby74]

That is....some work right there.But yes, the pistons are installed from the top of the block, and no the crank does not have to be removed to do so.

[nisssan-drive]

But... when replacing the rod bearings then he has too remove the crank right?

[krazydriver]

nope, i replaced my rod bearings in the driveway. It's not easy, but it's possible. You just need to get the oil pan off.Now, if he replaced the main bearings.... he would have to remove the crank.

What exactly "broke" with the crank though?

[IanS]

nope, i replaced my rod bearings in the driveway. It's not easy, but it's possible. You just need to get the oil pan off.Now, if he replaced the main bearings.... he would have to remove the crank.

What exactly "broke" with the crank though?

Cranks dont just "break" some sort of catastrophic failure must have caused it. Im guessing something got messed up, and any decent engine builder should be able to figure out what. Get the engine to a reputable shop to inspect it, that way you know exactly what broke, and why.

[nisssan-drive]

I am not even too sure right now I got a look at the crank while it was still attached and couldn't see any visible damage.

[nisssan-drive]

I am saying wait this mechanic had said to me. This is exactly what he said to me"your fuel pump went out causing the crank to break" I showed up and he said "you need a new one of these" then just pointed at my crank. Now at this point I couldn't focus very well because I was pissed off about some stolen property of mine. I am picking my car and motor up today so I can take a better look at it, and hopefully have some more questions you guys could answer for me.

[mistamacadamian]

eh just shows you gotta make sure EVERYTHING is on paper, i made sure to name every little thing on my head build. GL with it though but like another member said get a opinion from a shop.

[480sx]

Sounds like your mechanic did indeed screw you, or atleast try to.

[Vegascorbin]

..."your fuel pump went out causing the crank to break" ...

That's your best evidence of him trying to $crew you. Did anybody else hear him say that a bad fuel pump broke your crank?

NOt only have I never heard of that happening, I can not even think of any way one could cause the other.

Do you know for sure that your engine is even bad?

[IanS]

That's your best evidence of him trying to $crew you. Did anybody else hear him say that a bad fuel pump broke your crank?

NOt only have I never heard of that happening, I can not even think of any way one could cause the other.

Do you know for sure that your engine is even bad?

[nisssan-drive]

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[nisssan-drive]

So if you guys don't mind takin a look at these pictures(its not much at all I no) maybe it will rule some things out... The crank looks fine from what I can see I was thinking maybe my rod bearing went out on me??? what you guys think.

[ZOMG.SR20]

im not an expert when it comes too engine internals but doesnt the crank have to be balanced when redoing bearings not 100% so dont quote me or could this be do to haveing the crank apart then when he put it back together it hit a weak spot and well idk.... hope i put a little insight

[krazydriver]

no you don't need to rebalance the crank if you swap bearings.Generally there's no need to balance at all unless your going for a crazy high end build.

As far as the pictures look all i see is normal casting marks. If he changed the bearings and then it died i could see a spun bearing from not re-lubing stuff/not checking the clearance.

NOt only have I never heard of that happening, I can not even think of any way one could cause the other.

Do you know for sure that your engine is even bad?

This is what i'm wondering as well. If your really worried just find a reputable machine shop in your area and just have them look over everything.

[nisssan-drive]

Oh no the engine would start and all but I would hear some nasty sounds coming from the engine. Sounded horrible like metal rocks flying around in there!

[Vegascorbin]

Did he replace rod bearings on all 4 pistons?

Hard to tell from the pics but it looks to me like #1 and #4 rod caps have not been off recently.

#1 step is to get that motor away from that "mecanic" as soon as possible before he does any real damage.

#2 take it to a real shop and have them inspect it.

#3 sue the other guy for any cost you are exposed to.

#4 complain to the State Consumers affares, BBB, Chamber of comerice, local news (print and broadcast) and anybody else that will listen.

If you don't know where to take your motor ask somebody that races. Doesn't matter what type of car they race. Racesrs know the good machine shops in the area. Also ask at the local comunity college auto shop.

[Vegascorbin]

Oh no the engine would start and all but I would hear some nasty sounds coming from the engine. Sounded horrible like metal rocks flying around in there!

And he said he did the valves, right? How about some pic of the valve train. I bet he messed up the valve job and figgured by saying your crank broke he would not have to fix is mess and you would just trash the motor and satart over.

[nisssan-drive]

Yeah these pictures were takin in my garage I picked the motor up today. As for as takin it to a machine shop well... I am broke as hell and don't get paid until friday so its going to have to wait, but yeah I planned on doing that I am just lookin for a cheap way to get through this. Thats why I am on here... Another thing he said my oil pump went out so what usually gets crewed when there is no oil in the motor?

[Vegascorbin]

#1 Don't belive ANYTHING he has said.Oil pump going out causes things like rod through the side of the block due to seized bearings (ask how I know this, wink, wink )

KA oil pumps are known to fail so DO NOT reinstall this motor wiht out replaceing the oil pump no matter what shape you "think" it is in. Not real expesive and a lot cheaper than a new motor.

[Toadstool]

huh... try to push crank back and forth like front to back. I never seen that?maybe he chiped em trying to turn it to line up rods?WIERD!Q?

[IanS]

Hmmmm

Oil pump failure, nasty knocking noises.

Id lay out a pretty good guess that your rod and or main bearings are shot. Not to mention any damage that was done to the cam journals and lobes.

If the oil pump did indeed fail, you are now looking at a FULL rebuild.

Why was this engine being worked on in the first place?

[nisssan-drive]

****....

The first time it had got a short rebuild, replacedrod bearing and piston rings.

[Vegascorbin]

You are going to take one in the pocketbook but I think your best bet right now i to just go ahead and do a FULL rebuild of the motor. That is the only way to really know what has been done to it. And when you get done you will be good to go for a lot of miles.

A full rebuild is not as scarry to do as some would have you think. The hard work is done by the machine shop. The rest is just be carfull and work slow. If you have a basic tool set all you need to add is a couple torque wrenches (I know, they should be part of a basic set allready), a ring compresser, an after market guide to go ALONG with the FSM you should allready have. Add in a friend or two that is more experianced and your in.

Don't underestimate the satifaction of hearing a motor you rebuilt yourself fire up for hte first time. Way cool sound. You will learn more about your motor and probably take better care of it after.

Then yo ucan go after the MF that stole your cash the first time

[nisssan-drive]

Yeah I dunno I am thinking of parting the motor out to start my savings on a rb20 or a ca18.

Thanks for the help guys.

[NelsonPSI]

well depending on the mileage of the motor, stock sized rod bearings would have been a bad choice. as the rod & crank wear tolerance become larger. if he replaced any bearing the crank should have been ground and had over sized bearings put in, or you'll just end up spinning a rod bearing. as for the fuel pump....hes numb in the skull.

[nuts510]

just looking at the picture you took it looks like number four rod has been hot take the bolts off and look at it , I bet the bearing is destroyed and the oil smells burnt. If that's the case basically you have a very expensive paperweight. Since your complaint about being applied on a budget model GC about just getting a used motor. I would like to see a picture with the rod bearing caps removed.

[MasterOfAngle]

You dont have to drop the crank. If I were you i'd save up some cash and get either an sr swap, rb swap, or fully build you ka but with a broken crank rebuilding the ka wont be cost effective.