Last year I had my 1990 Nissan Pickup to my mechanic to run down a persistent engine missing problem, fix some dash lights that were out, and do the front CV axles. He called and said it was ready, but said, "It sure is making a helluva noise, does it always make such a clatter?" Very uneasy, I went to pick it up and drove it maybe ten feet before stopping and taking it back. It sounded like it was popping metal popcorn. Or mixing bolts in a food processor. In other words, not a good sound.
The year before this visit to my mechanic, I'd found that I needed the timing chain replaced, and a different mechanic, let's call him Bad Mechanic, replaced the belt but not the guides. He was supposed to have replace them, but Bad Mechanic tried to kluge the old ones, which were broken, into working and thus gypping me. It was the guides tumbling around in my engine that day I took the truck straight back to my mechanic.
You'll be glad to know that Bad Mechanic went out of business. No mystery there.
How my current mechanic could have even considered giving my truck back to me with that noise I still can't fathom. I wonder about that to this very day. It sent up, if not a red flag, a pinkish, maroony faded one, like a mechanic's rag.
Oh my boyfriend of the time stuck up for him and said it wasn't his fault, it was Bad Mechanic's fault and that it was just lucky for me the guides fell off then, and not when I was running down the road. Okay, I can see that.
But I still needed a new engine. We're talking over $2,000 just to rebuild, and lots more for a completely different engine.
After searching all over and looking into it, the best option was to have the current engine rebuilt locally. Real Good Engine guys did the job. My mechanic did all the dropping off and picking up. At one point someone put something in backwards and they had to redo the whole thing. Are you getting to see how this goes?
Engine finally installed with no backward components. Truck now has new engine, CV axles, a fuel pump from another junked Nissan, plus the stuff I'd already done: new distributor, rotor, cap, spark plug wires...and a bunch of other stuff that both of us did. Truck should have been good to go. Truck should have been perfect.
It had been gone for five months, as my mechanic was working on it in his spare time. I was beginning to feel like I'd never see it again. Finally I got it back, drove it last winter, all was fine.
Spring came and guess what? It's missing again. It's not bad gas. (It's not water in the gas, which is a seasonal problem here.) And I notice that coolant is low, but it's not leaking. I mention this to the now ex-boyfriend (who does all his own mechanic work) and he says, "It's fine, you still have some in the reserve, don't worry about it. You worry too much." On other words, "There there, little lady, you just don't know what you are talking about."
Do you see the steam coming from my ears?
The truck starts missing again. I tell my mechanic what's going on. We replace the used fuel pump with a new fuel pump.
Truck is still missing. I feel like beating someone up.
It's the head gasket, has always been the head gasket, which was slowly going from the time they put in the new engine. I won't be taking the truck back to "my" mechanic, as he should have caught that instead of replacing the fuel pump.
The good news is: it still runs, the engine isn't wrecked and I believe, due to the symptoms, it doesn't have a cracked head. There's a guy here in town who is a real expert on old Nissan trucks, but of course he costs over a hundred an hour. Estimate to fix the truck: $1700.
The new engine came with a warranty. The guy who put the engine in handed me some papers in a plastic envelope the day I picked up the truck, and said, "Here is your warranty, keep these papers safe." And I did, I put them in the glove box after giving them a quick glance. Big red phone number to call if I ever need to . Check.
It turns out that he should have said, but didn't, "Here is your warranty, send these papers in RIGHT AWAY." I had no idea any papers had to be sent in. When I called about the head gasket (possible cracked head) I was told I didn't have a warranty because I didn't return their paper within 15 days of getting the engine. Even though the guy looked my engine up on his database and had record of it right there. Can you say SCAM? I called the engine rebuilders and they weren't surprised, and told me they don't use that company any more for just that reason. And offered to resurface the head for free. Which is only right. But they aren't going to pay for the work to install head gasket.
If I had the income to buy a new car and make payments, I would, but I don't. Not even with Cash for Clunkers. The truck is a HUGE loss if I sell it now. If I sold both my vehicles I'd be damn lucky to come up with $3000. That's not enough to buy a decent vehicle, a reliable vehicle. And I need something with 4WD and cargo capacity. The truck is a known quantity. The only option is to fix it. However it is out of service until I can fix it right, with Expert Expensive Mechanic.
Meanwhile let me introduce: Danger Car! It's a 1989 Toyota Camry the needs struts, CV axles, a front shoulder belt (Ole ate it during an anxiety attack when I first got him), and the engine makes a nice tack-tack-tack sounds when idling. Among many, many other more minor things.
When I rolled Danger Car out to get to work because the truck was out of commission, it became immediately clear that something was Not Right with the transmission. It would try to shift down but then go back up, kind of going UH-uh, no way, not gonna do it! When I got to a stop and stepped on the gas, I couldn't tell if it was the engine or the transmission or both that weren't working right so that I didn't go anywhere. And while driving the engine misfired and the transmission reacted together at one point that the hood of the car actually jumped up and down!
Enter yet another mechanic. This guy I've used before and he's good, and he's inexpensive at the same time. We determine, after at least an hour of testing and driving and talking, that the transmission is okay, but the engine has a misfire/ignition problem that isn't doing it any good. So I go buy all the parts to fix struts, CV axles, distributor cap, rotor, etc. Long and short of it, Danger Car is costing about $600 to fix.
The mechanic told me that it IS a Danger Car due to the extremely bad shape of the front axles that could go at any time. He was so concerned that he's putting Danger Car ahead of another vehicle that's in the queue. I appreciate that. Ex-boyfriend is going to loan me something to drive while Danger Car is being transformed back into Reasonably Safe Back-Up Vehicle. Thank goodness!
Now I just have one more trip in Danger Car to drop it off at the mechanic's today. Wish me luck!
