Hey guys,
First time poster here, been lurking for a few weeks now since I bought a 2001 Protege DX (1.6). Let me start by saying I love the site and from what I have seen this is a community of knowledgeable and friendly people. I have learned a tremendous amount from reading for a few weeks but now I have a unfortunate request: I need advice on a sticky situation. Warning: long winded and definitely not interesting.
I bought the Protege for a reasonable price (3rd party) and based on my inspection it seemed to be in pretty decent condition(all stock, very maintained) despite having 108k on the odo. Been driving it around for a few weeks loving every aspect of my Protege. One minor problem though: it had a rough idle when at a dead stop in drive (automatic) such as at city stoplights. My research indicated it was a minor problem(s), like a dirty and stuck EGR valve or some other minor issue.
Aside from that, the car was also ridiculously dirty and muddy. So I decided to get it detailed "professionally" with all the fixin's. Engine compartment, Interior/Exterior, Headlight restoration, etc. All my best high school (age 22 now) buds work for a well known detail shop and the 4 of them literally compromise the entire workforce at the shop. The owner is out of town for 2 weeks on vacation so they are running the entire show, I brought the car to them the Monday after he left. The small business owner gave them permission to charge me wholesale prices for the detail job, pretty sweet right?
This is where things get sticky, like molasses. I came to pick up the car the day after it was finished. I paid for the detail, got the key back from my buddy, and hung out for a minute bs'ing with the guys. I leave to go get in my car, turn on the engine, it starts (barely) and is shaking front to back. I put it in R, back it out, pull forward about 10 feet and it becomes perfectly clear something is seriously messed up. So I get out, walk back into the shop where my "friends" are detailing and nobody looks surprised when I walk in confused. I found out later, through careful cross examination of stories, that everyone was fully aware the car was awry, and nobody said a word. Some friends, right?
So, dumbfounded and not sure how to feel, I drive it to auto-zone (500 ft away) and have the codes read off. P0300 and P0303, Random misfire and Cylinder #3 misfire. My first impression: no big deal, something just got wet. By random chance I had in my possession OES spark plugs and wires which I planned to use in the immediate future. While at auto-zone I noticed one of the coil packs was arching onto the valve cover. Auto-zone had one for 100 bucks so I went ahead and bought it. Got everything back to the shop, everyone was acting very strangely but allowed me to bring it inside to use the shop's professional set of tools (owner is a former ASE mechanic).
I switched out plugs, wires, 1 coil pack and tested the other coil pack for functionality, it was well within spec. Slapped it all back together with dielectric and anti-seize. However, while taking out the old plugs my heart stopped when I pulled out #2 and #3. Lots of oil on the plugs and down inside the cylinders. Suspecting I purchased a lemon, my mind instantly went to piston rings. Then I realized its not burning oil at all, no blue smoke, no smoke at all. Chances are number 2 and 3 have not been firing at all. Stumped, it's put back into place and the engine fired up. No improvement, what a surprise.
While running I disconnected the MAF and other sensors, all of them killed the engine indicating they are working properly. So I started isolating fuel injectors. When number #1 and #3 are disconnected the car continues to run, when #2 and #4 are disconnected it dies instantly. A voltage check indicated they were getting no power. I also tested the resistance on each injector, they all ran a consistent 15.1 ohms, slightly outside the 13.8 spec at 70? degrees. It was 100+ in the shop though so I'm sure that has something to do with it. It's becoming obvious major problems have arisen and it's time to make a decision.
I am out of ideas, so I got it towed to the #1 repair shop in the country which happens to be a few miles up the road. This leads me to the entire point of this utterance of impotence. If, and only if, the shop finds proof that the detailers (my...friends?) FUBAR'd something, should I demand (via certified mail) for remittance of payment to cover the repair bill? There's a good chance a previous condition was causing the car's rough idle, but CLEARLY whatever they used on the engine components/interior electronics threw something out of whack and brought the vehicle to it's knees.
Obviously if the engine is bunk I will be eating the cost, but clearly something they did tipped the first domino, and I feel like they should pay for that specific repair. Considering the detail shop owner is out of town and these people were my childhood friends, conclusive proof will not be enough to convince him of fault and the subsequent payment. Legal action will undoubtedly become necessary.
Should I take it to that point? Any idea's on how to go about this sort of thing? I have never taken anyone to court and this is especially sour considering these guys were my friends and are trying to sweep it under the rug like nothing happened. Nobody wants to admit fault and I know the owner is going to freak out when he gets a demand for payment. Any ideas or opinions are greatly appreciated, I really need advice from someone who has experienced this sort of thing before.
The repair shop wont even be looking at the car until Monday, they are always at max capacity. When I know precisely what happened with the car I will post it. I am anticipating an internal engine failure and probably a bunch of stuff fried by chemicals and water from the high-pressure steamer they use. Hopefully that info will give me something to go on. Thanks in advance if you actually read all that, your a trooper.
First time poster here, been lurking for a few weeks now since I bought a 2001 Protege DX (1.6). Let me start by saying I love the site and from what I have seen this is a community of knowledgeable and friendly people. I have learned a tremendous amount from reading for a few weeks but now I have a unfortunate request: I need advice on a sticky situation. Warning: long winded and definitely not interesting.
I bought the Protege for a reasonable price (3rd party) and based on my inspection it seemed to be in pretty decent condition(all stock, very maintained) despite having 108k on the odo. Been driving it around for a few weeks loving every aspect of my Protege. One minor problem though: it had a rough idle when at a dead stop in drive (automatic) such as at city stoplights. My research indicated it was a minor problem(s), like a dirty and stuck EGR valve or some other minor issue.
Aside from that, the car was also ridiculously dirty and muddy. So I decided to get it detailed "professionally" with all the fixin's. Engine compartment, Interior/Exterior, Headlight restoration, etc. All my best high school (age 22 now) buds work for a well known detail shop and the 4 of them literally compromise the entire workforce at the shop. The owner is out of town for 2 weeks on vacation so they are running the entire show, I brought the car to them the Monday after he left. The small business owner gave them permission to charge me wholesale prices for the detail job, pretty sweet right?
This is where things get sticky, like molasses. I came to pick up the car the day after it was finished. I paid for the detail, got the key back from my buddy, and hung out for a minute bs'ing with the guys. I leave to go get in my car, turn on the engine, it starts (barely) and is shaking front to back. I put it in R, back it out, pull forward about 10 feet and it becomes perfectly clear something is seriously messed up. So I get out, walk back into the shop where my "friends" are detailing and nobody looks surprised when I walk in confused. I found out later, through careful cross examination of stories, that everyone was fully aware the car was awry, and nobody said a word. Some friends, right?
So, dumbfounded and not sure how to feel, I drive it to auto-zone (500 ft away) and have the codes read off. P0300 and P0303, Random misfire and Cylinder #3 misfire. My first impression: no big deal, something just got wet. By random chance I had in my possession OES spark plugs and wires which I planned to use in the immediate future. While at auto-zone I noticed one of the coil packs was arching onto the valve cover. Auto-zone had one for 100 bucks so I went ahead and bought it. Got everything back to the shop, everyone was acting very strangely but allowed me to bring it inside to use the shop's professional set of tools (owner is a former ASE mechanic).
I switched out plugs, wires, 1 coil pack and tested the other coil pack for functionality, it was well within spec. Slapped it all back together with dielectric and anti-seize. However, while taking out the old plugs my heart stopped when I pulled out #2 and #3. Lots of oil on the plugs and down inside the cylinders. Suspecting I purchased a lemon, my mind instantly went to piston rings. Then I realized its not burning oil at all, no blue smoke, no smoke at all. Chances are number 2 and 3 have not been firing at all. Stumped, it's put back into place and the engine fired up. No improvement, what a surprise.
While running I disconnected the MAF and other sensors, all of them killed the engine indicating they are working properly. So I started isolating fuel injectors. When number #1 and #3 are disconnected the car continues to run, when #2 and #4 are disconnected it dies instantly. A voltage check indicated they were getting no power. I also tested the resistance on each injector, they all ran a consistent 15.1 ohms, slightly outside the 13.8 spec at 70? degrees. It was 100+ in the shop though so I'm sure that has something to do with it. It's becoming obvious major problems have arisen and it's time to make a decision.
I am out of ideas, so I got it towed to the #1 repair shop in the country which happens to be a few miles up the road. This leads me to the entire point of this utterance of impotence. If, and only if, the shop finds proof that the detailers (my...friends?) FUBAR'd something, should I demand (via certified mail) for remittance of payment to cover the repair bill? There's a good chance a previous condition was causing the car's rough idle, but CLEARLY whatever they used on the engine components/interior electronics threw something out of whack and brought the vehicle to it's knees.
Obviously if the engine is bunk I will be eating the cost, but clearly something they did tipped the first domino, and I feel like they should pay for that specific repair. Considering the detail shop owner is out of town and these people were my childhood friends, conclusive proof will not be enough to convince him of fault and the subsequent payment. Legal action will undoubtedly become necessary.
Should I take it to that point? Any idea's on how to go about this sort of thing? I have never taken anyone to court and this is especially sour considering these guys were my friends and are trying to sweep it under the rug like nothing happened. Nobody wants to admit fault and I know the owner is going to freak out when he gets a demand for payment. Any ideas or opinions are greatly appreciated, I really need advice from someone who has experienced this sort of thing before.
The repair shop wont even be looking at the car until Monday, they are always at max capacity. When I know precisely what happened with the car I will post it. I am anticipating an internal engine failure and probably a bunch of stuff fried by chemicals and water from the high-pressure steamer they use. Hopefully that info will give me something to go on. Thanks in advance if you actually read all that, your a trooper.
