Idiots...

-
7

70DartSedan

Not Banned - just hiding
Joined
Dec 18, 2011
Messages
373
Reaction score
7
Location
None
Stay away from Stevens Automotive in St. Charles IL (for you local guys) Here is the story I thought I'd share, it may be interesting to some...

OK so I pick up the Dart from the previous owners at the bank (4-30-12) and it is running fine until I leave St. Charles, then about 12 miles up the road it starts to idle like crap, and the oil pressure light comes on so I figure I could have a catastrophic situation here, so I drive and it seems fine at speed, it idles like crap and the pressure goes down. We get home and the car is acting up. The next morning, she is fine... that afternoon she acts up. So we take it to our restoration buddy who orders a new fuel pump, it gets installed. I come get the car and we try to drive it home. It stalls in the left turn lane about an 1/8 mile from the shop. I try to start it and it won't. So the resto guys come get it and take it back. Well the mechanical guy, Chuck says, after talking to Kevin, our buddy, well if the fuel pump was leaking and the carb was rebuilt at Stevens Automotive, then the people there rebuilt the carb to run with a bad fuel pump, and never fixed the REAL problem. Everytime we tried to run the engine we, unknowningly flooded it out. This was on 5-9-12, when we tuned the carb to get it to run. I just found out about the rebuild the day after it stalled on me. So the carb has internal problems because a bunch of idiots cut corners.:banghead:
 
Though they should stand behind their work, it may not be entirely their fault. Sounds like your gas tank may be full of junk that is getting stuck in the needle and seat in the carb and causing it to flood.
 
Get a manual,learn your car,and do the work yourself.
These cars a very simple.
 
I agree with Johnny Dart and SGBARRACUDA...... Now if it was a new car it would take years and many man hours to figure anything out not to mention how long it takes just to change the plugs in the new models
Low fuel pressure easy fix, carb clean up after gunk from the fuel line or gas tank hit's it....... gas fowled plugs or some vapor lock going on .... enjoy and if you can , get some small tools out and enjoy learning about these great old cars, this is why I drive a 66 simple and easy to ask for help... sorry to hear you are having a hard time.
 
**** happens.
I wish I had a magic wand to fix every problem and miraculously predict what is going to happen down the road with these old cars.

Sounds like those guys tried to get it right but sometimes without the advantage of a crystal ball, you gotta try stuff until you fix it especially if it's an intermittent problem.

It's nice if we can have the time to drive the cars for a couple days before handing the keys back to the customer but now days everyone is in such a big hurry and they pressure you to fix it right away and think you are supposed to wave a magic wand and miraculously know what is causing the problem.
Sometimes diagnosis is easy and sometimes it goes away for days while you though you fixed it then it acts up on the customer again.
This sucks but such is life.

As a mechanic I understand with my own vehicles that stuff happens but trying to explain that to a bubble gum chewing trust fund brat is another story.
 
this is why i know every inch of my cars. i would never pay anyone to mess with any of my fuel systems or anything else for that matter. i can bet i know more about my cars than they do. it really pays to know this stuff, especially on the side of the road.
 
I had just rebuilt my engine, new carb, new fuel pump, new water pump etc. The second time i drove it, just getting it broke in, I tached it up to 5500 rpm and the fan pulled the bearings out the water pump. A month later we were going over to Back to the Bricks in Flint and it quits and leaves us stranded. Let it set while we went to car show and comes back starts right up. Drive home fine. Drive again and quits. Turned out to be the brand new Carter fuel pump.. I am a mechanic by trade and these parts now days JUST PISS YOU OFF.
 
Good advice above. Get to know your Mopar and learn how to fix it. Don't be too hard on the previous "technician" who worked on it. Unfortunately It's Trial & Error sometimes even for the best of the best Mechanics. I learn something new every day and different causes produce the same symptoms.
A little Stabil in the Fuel tank goes a very long way. JMO.
 
..............1 guy refered to me as the car doctor, so now it looks like i'll have to raise my prices.....try this, if its not better in a week , come back and see me....kim.......
 
I agree with everyone above and the responses.
The first thing i would do is pull out the gas tank and clean it at least as well as the pick up screen and tubes as well as all of the fuel lines.
Then clean the carb and fuel pump lines again.
I'll bet it runs great and never gives you problems after that.
Even if you have to buy a new fuel tank and pickup/sending unit, you'll be happy you did, they aren't really that expensive anyway.......
Get a FSM for your car, you will never regret it.
 
You may want to pull the gas tank or at least the sending unit to see if the screen is intact at the pickup end. After several decades these screens disintegrate and all kinds of bad stuff can get sucked into the fuel pump and possibly all the way to the carb. If you've never flushed the tank it's cheap insurance or good preventative maintenance to do so on a car that old. Don't be too quick to blame the mechanic, all it takes is one little piece of dirt in the system and the engine runs poorly quite quickly.
 
It’s an old car; anything can happen, just fix it, be happy, and be ready for the next thing to fail. That’s the old car biz.

These cars can be made reliable, but it takes a lot of time and attention to detail rebuilding and refreshing every component. Treat yourself to a copy of its Factory Service Manual, and you can learn how to fix everything.
 
Well there are some facts to note: The previous owners were charged over 300 dollars to get this carb rebuilt,for that kind of money you think the mechanic would do be a little smarter than to just rebuild the carb, the previous owners were not at all car people, per se. I may be an owner/enthusiast but, I'm still a kid, I don't know everything, and I can't be expected to. I'm the third owner, for only a week and four days, I haven't discovered everything about my little Dart. Yes, I plan on buying a service manual, I blew my money on shocks though, I'll have to save up a bit. I'd rather get someone who I (I can't emphasize this enough) trust to work on this car, until I learn more about A-bodies myself, then I'll work on it myself, rather than go headlong into a brickwall and ruin the car. Your talking to a guy who's done nothing but Big block B-bodies since I got into Mopars... I'm on a learning curve to widen my Mopar knowledge.
 
I'm still trying to figure out how you would go about rebuilding a carb to run with a bad fuel pump. I've been doing this for 40+ years and have never heard of such a procedure.
 
I wouldn't flame the shop. You are lucky to have found one that will even touch a carburetor. Modern fuel injection is much easier to trouble-shoot. You can separately verify fuel pressure on the rail, that injectors are commanded to fire, and even remove injectors and flow test them, or just replace them. That all takes money, but they rarely have problems. Nobody can tell you what is going on inside a carburetor, and trouble-shooting is just a series of guesses and taking it apart to see if everything looks right.

I am guessing this was the 1970 Dart 225. I had a 69 Dart slant for 20 yrs. If you have the Holley 1920, it has a sealed innards assembly, which nobody can look at and know it is OK. I went thru at least 3 of those carbs, with crappy idling and dying at red lights for years until I found one that made it purr like a kitten. Also, your "oil light comes on, then goes away" is common. I think it is usually crud against the oil pickup screen. Since it is hard to pull the oil pan, try draining the oil and filling the bottom of the pan with gas or kerosene and let it sit for a week. That might dissolve the gunk.
 
a carter AVS was the very first car part i took apart and put back together entirely by myself when i was 11 years old. put it on my dads dodge van at the time, and he showed me how to tune it. it just snowballed from there. then it grew to entire cars. all in all, there really isnt a whole lot to an old mopar. pretty basic systems, with the most complex being the electrical, followed by the engine/trans/rear axle and the brake systems. there just isnt all the sensors and nightvision the cars have today lol
 
Hey, dont forget to (and if you can help?) find out when Mickey 'D's on Rt. 132 starts 'nostalgia days and I will drive up and we can meet up there and have some fun with the Darts. Ask if you need some free advice or whatever on your car. Ive been wrenching and driving Slant 6 Darts for 35 plus years. Im the only one who turns screws on my car and it performs better than ANY car I own. I would not trade mine for the world!!
Chas.

Ho Ho Ho!!!
 

Attachments

  • 001.jpg
    65.3 KB · Views: 496
Thanks for the offer ChazRam, I'll look into the Nostalgia Days at Mickey D's.

Well, lrazor, the fuel pump was spitting out half the gas it sucked from the tank out on the K-member, the carb was rebuilt to work with a low amount of gas (the floats set wrong and who knows what else the shop did). The carb got flooded when a good fuel pump that delivered 100% of what it was pumping was installed, it's not really all that hard to figure out, obviously the guy who "fixed" this addressed a sypmtom, not the real problem (read, taking Motrin for a cold).

73AbodEE I tried to be humble about what attitude I take but if you didn't understand, I like old cars and I know how a car works, I don't need my intelligence questioned by being told mopars are simple, I KNOW, I just don't have a lot of experience, I get that Mopars are simple! It's great your dad helped you out on the AVS rebuild but I didn't grow up in a car family, I'm the first. It's great that Mopars are the way they are, that's why I picked a manual steering, manual brakes Dart, because of it's simplicity. Sorry if I sound crude, I'm not good with words, I'm working on that.
 
70DartSedan said:
73AbodEE I tried to be humble about what attitude I take but if you didn't understand, I like old cars and I know how a car works, I don't need my intelligence questioned by being told mopars are simple, I KNOW, I just don't have a lot of experience, I get that Mopars are simple! It's great your dad helped you out on the AVS rebuild but I didn't grow up in a car family, I'm the first. It's great that Mopars are the way they are, that's why I picked a manual steering, manual brakes Dart, because of it's simplicity. Sorry if I sound crude, I'm not good with words, I'm working on that.
Click to expand...

John ,dont take what i said the wrong way. that was more just to suggest that you try not to get overwhelmed. i dont know you or how much you know, and i wasnt trying to insult your intelligence or mechanical capacity. sometimes when things arent working the way they should and you get 10 different opinions from people at shops or on a forum, it can be frustrating. it really truly helps to dive in and take things apart, read and figure out exactly how things work. i was lucky to have someone there to help me for a little while. not to get personal but, my dad has not been around since i was 15. so i have had to learn everything on my own. not only because at times i simply could not afford to pay someone, but to know how to fix something the next time it breaks. i did this by tearing things apart and putting them back together, attacking each system one at a time, reading and learning how the stuff works. i grew up learning WITHOUT the internet and only by others experiences, hands -on and reading and screwing things up. i learn something new every single time i log in here. in my 25+ years, it amazes me how much i DONT know and how i much i have to learn. my apologies if i came across like an ***...
 
No need for apologies, now, that you've explained a little more it's understandable. :D I get it. I really apprieciate your concern and I am grateful, because having people with a common interest is a wonderful benefit to not just me, but maybe someone else who has a problem. Thanks, 73AbodEE :)
 
Fact is, you come on here bashing someone for making a repair on a car in the past, before you bought it, when someone else still owned it. Have I got that part right? Please correct me if I am wrong.

If I'm wrong, just disregard all this. If I am not wrong, let me point something out. I run an office at a busy transmission shop. I answer phones, give estimates, take payments file stuff...you know.....I'm a sexytary. Although the wife says I caint wear mini skirts to work. Dammit all.

Anyway, I see on a DAILY basis how CUSTOMERS, not shops want to cheap out on repairs. How do you know what the original shop proposed? Maybe they propesed to drop the TANK where the problem probably originates, clean it out.....or replace it and basically refurbish the rest of the fuel system. Were you there when the shop told the previous owner what needed to be done?

All too often customers think they know best. I gave an estimate a few weeks ago on a Honda transmission. 1800-2200 bucks. There's always a range with us, because you just don't know what you'll find when you tear one down. SO, they elected to go buy a used transmission with NO warranty for 900 bucks. We get 450 plus fluid (usually around 50 bucks) to install a used transmission. Plus of course, we cannot warranty somebody else's transmission. That's about 1400 bucks that customer just spent. Guess what? The transmission was bad. Talk about a stupid decision. We'd have given them a 12 month 12K mile warranty, ALL new electronic solenoids, a NEW converter plus all the upgrades we do to the valve body. It would have been better than it was when Honda built it. Dumbasses. Guess where the car is now? Sittin out in our lot. We'll probably end up buying it. Most of the time it's the customers who are the idiots.
 
StrokerScamp said:
All too often customers think they know best. I gave an estimate a few weeks ago on a Honda transmission. 1800-2200 bucks. There's always a range with us, because you just don't know what you'll find when you tear one down. SO, they elected to go buy a used transmission with NO warranty for 900 bucks. We get 450 plus fluid (usually around 50 bucks) to install a used transmission. Plus of course, we cannot warranty somebody else's transmission. That's about 1400 bucks that customer just spent. Guess what? The transmission was bad. Talk about a stupid decision. We'd have given them a 12 month 12K mile warranty, ALL new electronic solenoids, a NEW converter plus all the upgrades we do to the valve body. It would have been better than it was when Honda built it. Dumbasses. Guess where the car is now? Sittin out in our lot. We'll probably end up buying it. Most of the time it's the customers who are the idiots.
Click to expand...

Not defending the stupid customer here, but sometimes their decisions are made based on finances, not common sense.

I just took the wife's car to a buddy's shop. Ford Focus. I don't have the time nor the patience to work on it. After telling him what I thought it needed (water pump) I then told him I wanted the timing belt and all the accessories with it replaced while he is in there. He agreed.

He is not one to cheap out on repairs, I have seen him diagnose a customers car and tell them exactly what it needs. He told one lady that her car needed this and that and she wanted to cheap out. He put the car back together and asked her to take it somewhere else. This way when it doesn't function the way it should she can't come back complaining to him.

I agree with Rob, too many customers elect not to have something done, or done right, whether it be money related or good common sense. They usually find out in the long run they should have done it right the first time.

I know some folks around here that won't use his services because he tells them up front when doing repairs that this or that should be done while we are at it. They think he is just trying to take their money. That is not the case he is a top notch mechanic and looks at things based on experience and common sense, something all too lacking nowadays.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top