99 OB nightmare car or mechanic?

May 17, 2005 4 Replies
L

At 95K miles I smelled burning oil or rubber. The mechanic said it was cam seals and replaced 3 of the four and the timing belt at the same time.. About 4K miles later it happend again and he replaced the crank seal. 40, yes forty, miles later the engine stopped at 60MPH and blew a lot of stuff including, of course, all of the valves. He said that the tensioner had failed, and the belt, tensioner, and all, went through that plastic cover. He wants to charge me thousands.



I only have a day or so to decide whether it is my car or him before I pickup the car or go to court.



Thank you.


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T

I wonder if the hydraulics failed or the bearing. I always check the bearing and I have never seen the hydraulics fail. I also don't see how a tensioner could come thru the cover unless the bolts were not tightened. The procedure is to install the tensioner with the bolts loose so it can move after the belt is installed, then after everything checks out it is torqued down....easy to forget. Again, never seen a tensioner "Break" and go thru the cover, bolts must have come out. If someone offers to replace the valves and everything outward don't forget that the valves are bent because they hit the pistons. This put a lot of force on the pistons, rods, bearings...I wouldn't settle for less than a used engine. TG

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R

No question the mechanic missed the tensioner the first (and second) time.

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R

Regardless of whether you proceed further w/ legal remedies, I'd think this guy shouldn't be allowed to touch your car ever again! I'd be getting it out of there ASAP if it were mine.

3 of 4 cam seals replaced, but not the fourth (four seals sounds like DOHC?) Didn't do the crank seal at the same time? Does this guy brush his teeth one per day (if he HAS teeth?) Tensioner causing blown engine 40 miles after last time he "played" with it? Different people have different tolerance levels for "incompetence" but this guy would max MY meter. Don't blame the car.

Rick

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L

"Rick Courtright" wrote: > lookie wrote: > > > I only have a day or so to decide whether it is my car or > him before I > > pickup the car or go to court. > > Regardless of whether you proceed further w/ legal remedies, > I'd think > this guy shouldn't be allowed to touch your car ever again! > I'd be > getting it out of there ASAP if it were mine. > > 3 of 4 cam seals replaced, but not the fourth (four seals > sounds like > DOHC?) Didn't do the crank seal at the same time? Does this > guy brush > his teeth one per day (if he HAS teeth?) Tensioner causing > blown engine > 40 miles after last time he "played" with it? Different people > have > different tolerance levels for "incompetence" but this guy > would max MY > meter. Don't blame the car. > > Rick

thank you all who replied. i have purchased a new outback sports and, of course, love it. it really bites into my modest rr pension but what the hey.

i have consulted -- better late than never -- with a subi expert mechanic and he has assured me that the guy really did screw up and that the problem probably was the oil pump anyhow. so i have taken the guy to court. any expert testimony would also be welcomed.

i guess these outbacks are addictive because i would go without bread to keep mine.

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