cygnusx1

Holy c#*%(*p!!!!

Cell Phone pic when I was getting it inspected.

Make sure the posts are also deep enough into the head. You said you unscrewed them 1/2". I don't remember how deep they are to begin with, so make sure you have at least half, to one full diameter of the post, of engaged thread.

IMO, run the short shims, and try to get the wipe as inboard (towards the post) as you can, if you have spare shims to try out. Just check your piston to valve clearances because that will get you more lift.

It was clear. $100 to write the estimate. $1100 to change an exhaust section (via phone call). I told them to hold off, and that I would provide an exhaust system for them to install. They then quoted me about 4 hours of labor + gasket + O2 sensor (via phone) to install my parts. Looks like the car won't be back today either....I am not sure if there is a due date on dealer services. At least I haven't seen one yet. I suppose some jobs are cut and dry, but since this job is "different" , they can leverage all the time they need...apparently.

Make sure the mounting surfaces from hub to rotor are clean, smooth, and flat. Also you might need to chamfer the inner bore of the rotor to fit over the fillet on the hub. Sometimes there can be interference from the fillet.

Dropped it off on Monday the 25th of Jan. Dropped of the correct parts last Friday morning. I wanted the car back while I waited for the parts to come but they had it partially dismantled already. I told them they need to order the turbo gasket and they waited until this Tuesday to order it. They made me wait for the gasket and now... "The tech is busy working on another car with a CEL problem he will get to your car next." Hey look, obviously I am willing to pay for the work. I just expect reasonably prompt, and correct work, placing more emphasis on the latter. Most guys think I am nuts for paying dealer prices but I trust they have the tools to do it right. My thought was that if they are charging $1100 to add a new section of pipe to old cats that have 150k miles on them...I might as well have them install the entire system ($650) + 4 hours, in SS with new cats. No? Did I piss them off? I am very polite and clarified everything with them. I guess they sense I am not the typical consumer and it throws them a little. They would rather deal with a blank face holding a credit card. I also don't use dealers often, thank god, so I don't have the experience to judge one from the next. I also guess they don't have the experience in dealing with knowledgeable consumers.

OK then I should change the title to "I chose a sucky dealer" to fix my car. Better? Almost two weeks have gone by now and still NO CAR! There is a legal term called "reasonable". Have you heard?

Take a look at your photo again. There are three bolts and bosses on your intake manifold. Those are usually used for mounting a throttle linkage kit. The fist boss towards the front of the car, close to the thermostat, is a perfect place to mount a stud with a rocker arm. Connect one end of the rocker arm to the choke levers (cold start levers) of the carbs, and the other to your stock choke cable. The rocker will reverse the action of the pull cable and pull the carb levers open. Kind of like a "see-saw" with its pivot on that one bolt

So $1100 to replace a short section of easily accessible straight pipe and one oxygen sensor is reasonable. OK even if it is, what about all the shenanigans they pull. That's not bad form is it? Oh let me just assume they are all honest, hardworking, apple pie eating, humanitarians. Some yes. in my experience, not all of them. When I saw the bag of oil with metal in it, should I have bought a new car from them or had them change my tranny? I am the first person to pay for a job well done without complaint. When I can see jerking around, I throw a flag. These guys are digging for gold. This is NY. Don't trust anyone. Dog eat dog out here. Don't pick up the soap.

hehe don't get me started on trade ins.... My strategy is to never mention a trade in, chew the new car price down as much as you can. Then agree on the sale at the price. Then ask for a value on a possible trade-in. We did that with my wife's Legacy to buy the Odyssey. After I got the van down to what I knew was rock bottom, I brought up the Legacy for possible trade. They had no wiggle room so they offered an insulting $1800 for a 5 year old Legacy with 60K miles. I walked out acting pissed and insulted at the offer. I listed the car on ebay and got an easy $7,000. Then I called the guy a few weeks later and said I am now ready to buy that van you quoted me $xxx for. As far as I am concerned, a trade-in mentioned up front is another tool the salesman can use to obfuscate the deal.

Don't worry, change orders are the killers. I gave them plenty of ammo to shoot me with. They quoted, I stopped their work, I purchased parts outside of their shop, they called me with a fuzzy verbal requote. It's so open now that they can drive the bank truck through it. It's partially my fault for opening the door.

Oh I fully expect my quoted four hour exhaust installation to well exceed their initial quote. They shoot themselves. When I go to buy my next car....I'll take my business to a different shady dealer. Possible excuses: -Gasket out of stock so we had to fabricate one out of titanium with scissors. -32.5% of the bolts were unusable so we had to make new ones from scratch. -The TurboXS exhaust system was 5/32" too long so we had to custom stretch the car. -Did you know that there was a dead raccoon stuck behind the muffler, it took animal control an extra 2 hours to peel it off, and we had to wait for the coroner? -We found an exhaust valve in the turbocharger, have you visited the showroom? -The box that the exhaust came in contained hazardous packing material so we have to charge you $100 for it's disposal. It's standard policy. Oh did I tell you about the time I brought the car in to the original dealer, for a leaking fuel rail...one of 10,000+ cars with leaking fuel rails that "was not a safety issue" I had to pay out of pocket for a TSB repair. I had them change the trans and diff oils while it as there. When I picked it up, the service writer reached under his desk, as if to grab a bottle of whiskey, and pulled up a ziplock of black oil and gear parts. he proceeded to tell me that the gear parts came from my transmission. I laughed at him and said "well what did you take them out for?' "Next time I come here you can put them back in." I was well aware of the scam. The car had about 100K miles on it and he wanted to put me in a new STi. No way that oil was from my trans. I know what trans oil looks/smells like buddy. I think I was right. I have 150K now with no tranny problems. BTW, 4 years later and the NHTSA is forcing Subaru to give me my money back for the fuel leak repair! Getting that letter in the mail made my week! I bitched to the NHTSA since 2004 about that one. VICTORY is sweet. Google this: WRX cold weather fuel leak Tony, I did my fair share of industrial contracting during my 8 year stint as a Project Engineer for a major corp. Millions of dollars a day. Dealing with corporations, it just seems to flow under the bridge like water. Sometimes these large corporations (dealers) forget that they are dealing with private sector people that have kids, mortgages, and can barely afford minimum payments. Nah, they dont forget, it's not even a spark of a thought. If anything, it's a joke.

I suppose I should start selling car repair insurance for items outside, warranty, or outside of the warranty for the warranty. We already have insurance to cover our insurance. Geez. I agree, ultimately, the man at the wrench gets the hose too. It has become a crazy world. Can I sue myself yet?

Let me explain. I brought the car in with a CEL readout I took. Efficiency Catalytic Bank 1. I also told them that there was an exhaust leak that was not visible. I mentioned that the CEL was probably related to the leak. They charged me $100 to investigate. Then they wanted to charge me $1100 to change a section of exhaust between the end of the downpipe to the mid cat, and one O2 sensor. I asked specifically....are you changing a cat? No, just a short section of pipe and a sensor, they said. I had spoken to the service manager and asked if they install aftermarket exhausts prior to ever making the appointment, because I had foreseen this. I told the service writer to hold off because for $1100 I can probably buy an entire stainless exhaust system, including cats. They held the car. I ordered a TurboXS 4" to 3" downpipe, and 3" all the way to the axle with cats. $650 shipped. I re-clarified that it was OK for them to install this for me. I already have a SS axle back to match up to. They called me a day after I dropped off the parts to tell me that labor was going to be 4 hours@$120 + a gasket, and the sensor, which I expected. The $100 diagnostic charge, is used towards the repair bill if they do the job. Again, it's not totally unreasonable. BUT when you are used to working on ALL of your own cars, you forget how pricey labor can be, and it sucks. On a side note: When I worked at Honda, there was a carburetor TSB that called for four hours. The mechanics figured out a way around the TSB by drilling a small access hole in the carb. They were pulling off 1/2 hour repairs charging the customer for four, and moving onto the next car on the prior customers dime.

They called me and said it would be a four hour labor charge and that they were going to work on it on Monday. Here we are 40 hours later....no car yet. I should call and say: "I thought you said it was a four hour job?". I should charge them back for my waiting time. $121/hr lol.

Lawyers, and brokers.

I can almost guarantee that I will need to bring the car back. I rarely use dealers or mechanics to work on my cars. When I do, it hurts financially, and I have had bad luck with the results. I have actually had better luck with small family owned garages. I agree, they are all struggling to stay in business even at $120/hr, which is why I think they resort to shady tactics when they can. I could have lived with a rusty pipe in my exhaust. Afterall times are tough. I would have continued to use it like that and pinched my pennies. However, Uncle Sam won't let me drive it like that, the CEL was on and it won't pass. So they can take a little but I can't.

They are in the business to make money but they don't need to rob people. That's what they do.

My stable is full, and it's COLD outside. She won't pass inspection so I borrowed my parents Accord while the WRX gets fixed. BUT the Accord promptly got nailed by someone's loose front wheel...and now needs to go to the body shop...I am in a corner, and the dealer has me by the bells.

4 hours to bolt on a turbo-back stainless exhaust on my WRX!!! @$120/hour. I can't use the word I want to use right now.

Well, if this is considered art...

Those McMaster spacers are just right. No cutting needed.

+1 on a WRX with snow tires! Fun Fun Fun. You don't know what you're missing until you try it yourself! Just remember it can accelerate in the snow WAY better than a 2wd car but it stops just as poorly. To skid-steer, turn the front wheels the way you want the front to go and step on the gas.

I like stuff from the 20's right up to current "pants on the ground". Some sucks and some doesn't. There is good and bad in every genre. I never restricted my listening. Generally I like anything with a good melody, a good message, or good energy. I am a bit surprised that I enjoy Big-Band quite a bit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY0CezOWFGs Probably comes from growing up with Tom and Jerry lol.