Re: Is "the distributor" a bolt-on modular item?
 

z wrote:
> jim beam wrote:
>> z wrote:
>>> Yeah, been there meself. 92 Honda, won't idle nicely, lopes or stays
>>> high. I figure, idle speed gadjet like with every other car that has
>>> this problem, but decide to take it to local mechanic who's pretty
>>> good. End up with new distributor (not OEM) for $500. Now I have loping
>>> idle and no VTEC and check engine light. Take it to another mechanic;
>>> "new" distributor has position sensor broken off inside. Can't be
>>> something that happened after distributor was assembled. Original
>>> mechanic can't/won't get refund for me on said distributor
>> did you pay by credit card? if so, take it up with the cc card company.
>> you can get your money back.
>
> Maybe... situation was, I paid mechanic, mechanic got distributor and
> included it in bill; he didn't want to go back to distributor
> distributor (haha, get it?) with the ziplock bag of parts I handed him;

of course - you have to give he back what he gave you - in the condition
he gave it.

> I want to keep him on good terms he's still the best mechanic around in
> general,

that's debatable. fixing a honda distributor is quick and simple [and
cheap] if you know what you're looking at. but if you don't, you
replace the whole thing.

> and in the past has been very good about living up to the
> warranty on parts he provided, like a water pump that started to leak
> after 9 months.

is that /his/ warranty or the pump manufacturer warranty??? no way
would i warranty something i didn't make myself!

>
>>> ; end up
>>> cannbilizing old distributor. Now car only has lopey idle. Turns out to
>>> be the idle speed gadget. Wow, what a surprise.
>>>
>>> Elle wrote:
>>>> Be aware that they may simply be trying to avoid a comeback.
>>>> This is reasonable, IMO.
>>>>
>>>> I griped several years ago about a shop that insisted the
>>>> problem with my 91 Honda's distributor was the jury-rigged
>>>> fix I'd done on the rotor set screw problem. They slapped a
>>>> new housing (salvaging the old coil and igniter) on. A week
>>>> later the stalling problem I'd been having recurred. Turned
>>>> out a new coil was in fact needed. At the time I figured
>>>> they'd taken me for around $500. In hindsight, though, the
>>>> old housing was pretty beat up, so I am more charitable
>>>> about their decision. Though it still annoys me that they
>>>> had the gall of accusing my jury-rigged fix as being
>>>> unacceptable. Wrong-o. Their first diagnosis was
>>>> extraordinarily unacceptable.
>>>>
>>>> "Dave O" <CycleZen@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:1168266046.013864.140110@11g2000cwr.googlegro ups.com...
>>>>> Thanks, Jim Beam and Elle, for your thoughts. I'm going
>>>>> down to have a
>>>>> chat with them about this now. Honestly I don't trust
>>>>> these guys
>>>>> technically (based on some dubious past experience) and
>>>>> I'm tempted to
>>>>> tow it away from their shop before I let them get to
>>>>> deeply into it.
>>>>>
>

Re: Is "the distributor" a bolt-on modular item?
 

z wrote:
> jim beam wrote:
>> z wrote:
>>> Yeah, been there meself. 92 Honda, won't idle nicely, lopes or stays
>>> high. I figure, idle speed gadjet like with every other car that has
>>> this problem, but decide to take it to local mechanic who's pretty
>>> good. End up with new distributor (not OEM) for $500. Now I have loping
>>> idle and no VTEC and check engine light. Take it to another mechanic;
>>> "new" distributor has position sensor broken off inside. Can't be
>>> something that happened after distributor was assembled. Original
>>> mechanic can't/won't get refund for me on said distributor
>> did you pay by credit card? if so, take it up with the cc card company.
>> you can get your money back.
>
> Maybe... situation was, I paid mechanic, mechanic got distributor and
> included it in bill; he didn't want to go back to distributor
> distributor (haha, get it?) with the ziplock bag of parts I handed him;

of course - you have to give he back what he gave you - in the condition
he gave it.

> I want to keep him on good terms he's still the best mechanic around in
> general,

that's debatable. fixing a honda distributor is quick and simple [and
cheap] if you know what you're looking at. but if you don't, you
replace the whole thing.

> and in the past has been very good about living up to the
> warranty on parts he provided, like a water pump that started to leak
> after 9 months.

is that /his/ warranty or the pump manufacturer warranty??? no way
would i warranty something i didn't make myself!

>
>>> ; end up
>>> cannbilizing old distributor. Now car only has lopey idle. Turns out to
>>> be the idle speed gadget. Wow, what a surprise.
>>>
>>> Elle wrote:
>>>> Be aware that they may simply be trying to avoid a comeback.
>>>> This is reasonable, IMO.
>>>>
>>>> I griped several years ago about a shop that insisted the
>>>> problem with my 91 Honda's distributor was the jury-rigged
>>>> fix I'd done on the rotor set screw problem. They slapped a
>>>> new housing (salvaging the old coil and igniter) on. A week
>>>> later the stalling problem I'd been having recurred. Turned
>>>> out a new coil was in fact needed. At the time I figured
>>>> they'd taken me for around $500. In hindsight, though, the
>>>> old housing was pretty beat up, so I am more charitable
>>>> about their decision. Though it still annoys me that they
>>>> had the gall of accusing my jury-rigged fix as being
>>>> unacceptable. Wrong-o. Their first diagnosis was
>>>> extraordinarily unacceptable.
>>>>
>>>> "Dave O" <CycleZen@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:1168266046.013864.140110@11g2000cwr.googlegro ups.com...
>>>>> Thanks, Jim Beam and Elle, for your thoughts. I'm going
>>>>> down to have a
>>>>> chat with them about this now. Honestly I don't trust
>>>>> these guys
>>>>> technically (based on some dubious past experience) and
>>>>> I'm tempted to
>>>>> tow it away from their shop before I let them get to
>>>>> deeply into it.
>>>>>
>

Re: Is "the distributor" a bolt-on modular item?
 

jim beam wrote:
> z wrote:
> > jim beam wrote:
> >> z wrote:
> >>> Yeah, been there meself. 92 Honda, won't idle nicely, lopes or stays
> >>> high. I figure, idle speed gadjet like with every other car that has
> >>> this problem, but decide to take it to local mechanic who's pretty
> >>> good. End up with new distributor (not OEM) for $500. Now I have loping
> >>> idle and no VTEC and check engine light. Take it to another mechanic;
> >>> "new" distributor has position sensor broken off inside. Can't be
> >>> something that happened after distributor was assembled. Original
> >>> mechanic can't/won't get refund for me on said distributor
> >> did you pay by credit card? if so, take it up with the cc card company.
> >> you can get your money back.
> >
> > Maybe... situation was, I paid mechanic, mechanic got distributor and
> > included it in bill; he didn't want to go back to distributor
> > distributor (haha, get it?) with the ziplock bag of parts I handed him;
>
> of course - you have to give he back what he gave you - in the condition
> he gave it.
>
> > I want to keep him on good terms he's still the best mechanic around in
> > general,
>
> that's debatable. fixing a honda distributor is quick and simple [and
> cheap] if you know what you're looking at. but if you don't, you
> replace the whole thing.

My guess is that he himself was on vacation at the time, and one of his
henchmen did the work. For one thing, I doubt he himself would have NOT
identified the idle speed adjust gadget as the problem, since it was
and since it's the obvious first place to look and since he's a good
mechanic. I noted at the time that I didn't see him around the shop
during the dropoff or pickup, which is unusual, but I never suspected
what it would lead to...

>
> > and in the past has been very good about living up to the
> > warranty on parts he provided, like a water pump that started to leak
> > after 9 months.
>
> is that /his/ warranty or the pump manufacturer warranty??? no way
> would i warranty something i didn't make myself!
>

Well, his position is that since we just left it to him to fix, and he
decided on the source of the pump, he was therefore responsible. That's
the usual kind of good service I want to keep him on good terms for,
despite the one malfunction regarding the distributor.

Re: Is "the distributor" a bolt-on modular item?
 

jim beam wrote:
> z wrote:
> > jim beam wrote:
> >> z wrote:
> >>> Yeah, been there meself. 92 Honda, won't idle nicely, lopes or stays
> >>> high. I figure, idle speed gadjet like with every other car that has
> >>> this problem, but decide to take it to local mechanic who's pretty
> >>> good. End up with new distributor (not OEM) for $500. Now I have loping
> >>> idle and no VTEC and check engine light. Take it to another mechanic;
> >>> "new" distributor has position sensor broken off inside. Can't be
> >>> something that happened after distributor was assembled. Original
> >>> mechanic can't/won't get refund for me on said distributor
> >> did you pay by credit card? if so, take it up with the cc card company.
> >> you can get your money back.
> >
> > Maybe... situation was, I paid mechanic, mechanic got distributor and
> > included it in bill; he didn't want to go back to distributor
> > distributor (haha, get it?) with the ziplock bag of parts I handed him;
>
> of course - you have to give he back what he gave you - in the condition
> he gave it.
>
> > I want to keep him on good terms he's still the best mechanic around in
> > general,
>
> that's debatable. fixing a honda distributor is quick and simple [and
> cheap] if you know what you're looking at. but if you don't, you
> replace the whole thing.

My guess is that he himself was on vacation at the time, and one of his
henchmen did the work. For one thing, I doubt he himself would have NOT
identified the idle speed adjust gadget as the problem, since it was
and since it's the obvious first place to look and since he's a good
mechanic. I noted at the time that I didn't see him around the shop
during the dropoff or pickup, which is unusual, but I never suspected
what it would lead to...

>
> > and in the past has been very good about living up to the
> > warranty on parts he provided, like a water pump that started to leak
> > after 9 months.
>
> is that /his/ warranty or the pump manufacturer warranty??? no way
> would i warranty something i didn't make myself!
>

Well, his position is that since we just left it to him to fix, and he
decided on the source of the pump, he was therefore responsible. That's
the usual kind of good service I want to keep him on good terms for,
despite the one malfunction regarding the distributor.

Re: Is "the distributor" a bolt-on modular item?
 

jim beam wrote:
> z wrote:
> > jim beam wrote:
> >> z wrote:
> >>> Yeah, been there meself. 92 Honda, won't idle nicely, lopes or stays
> >>> high. I figure, idle speed gadjet like with every other car that has
> >>> this problem, but decide to take it to local mechanic who's pretty
> >>> good. End up with new distributor (not OEM) for $500. Now I have loping
> >>> idle and no VTEC and check engine light. Take it to another mechanic;
> >>> "new" distributor has position sensor broken off inside. Can't be
> >>> something that happened after distributor was assembled. Original
> >>> mechanic can't/won't get refund for me on said distributor
> >> did you pay by credit card? if so, take it up with the cc card company.
> >> you can get your money back.
> >
> > Maybe... situation was, I paid mechanic, mechanic got distributor and
> > included it in bill; he didn't want to go back to distributor
> > distributor (haha, get it?) with the ziplock bag of parts I handed him;
>
> of course - you have to give he back what he gave you - in the condition
> he gave it.
>
> > I want to keep him on good terms he's still the best mechanic around in
> > general,
>
> that's debatable. fixing a honda distributor is quick and simple [and
> cheap] if you know what you're looking at. but if you don't, you
> replace the whole thing.

My guess is that he himself was on vacation at the time, and one of his
henchmen did the work. For one thing, I doubt he himself would have NOT
identified the idle speed adjust gadget as the problem, since it was
and since it's the obvious first place to look and since he's a good
mechanic. I noted at the time that I didn't see him around the shop
during the dropoff or pickup, which is unusual, but I never suspected
what it would lead to...

>
> > and in the past has been very good about living up to the
> > warranty on parts he provided, like a water pump that started to leak
> > after 9 months.
>
> is that /his/ warranty or the pump manufacturer warranty??? no way
> would i warranty something i didn't make myself!
>

Well, his position is that since we just left it to him to fix, and he
decided on the source of the pump, he was therefore responsible. That's
the usual kind of good service I want to keep him on good terms for,
despite the one malfunction regarding the distributor.

Re: Is "the distributor" a bolt-on modular item?
 

jim beam wrote:
> z wrote:
> > jim beam wrote:
> >> z wrote:
> >>> Yeah, been there meself. 92 Honda, won't idle nicely, lopes or stays
> >>> high. I figure, idle speed gadjet like with every other car that has
> >>> this problem, but decide to take it to local mechanic who's pretty
> >>> good. End up with new distributor (not OEM) for $500. Now I have loping
> >>> idle and no VTEC and check engine light. Take it to another mechanic;
> >>> "new" distributor has position sensor broken off inside. Can't be
> >>> something that happened after distributor was assembled. Original
> >>> mechanic can't/won't get refund for me on said distributor
> >> did you pay by credit card? if so, take it up with the cc card company.
> >> you can get your money back.
> >
> > Maybe... situation was, I paid mechanic, mechanic got distributor and
> > included it in bill; he didn't want to go back to distributor
> > distributor (haha, get it?) with the ziplock bag of parts I handed him;
>
> of course - you have to give he back what he gave you - in the condition
> he gave it.
>
> > I want to keep him on good terms he's still the best mechanic around in
> > general,
>
> that's debatable. fixing a honda distributor is quick and simple [and
> cheap] if you know what you're looking at. but if you don't, you
> replace the whole thing.

My guess is that he himself was on vacation at the time, and one of his
henchmen did the work. For one thing, I doubt he himself would have NOT
identified the idle speed adjust gadget as the problem, since it was
and since it's the obvious first place to look and since he's a good
mechanic. I noted at the time that I didn't see him around the shop
during the dropoff or pickup, which is unusual, but I never suspected
what it would lead to...

>
> > and in the past has been very good about living up to the
> > warranty on parts he provided, like a water pump that started to leak
> > after 9 months.
>
> is that /his/ warranty or the pump manufacturer warranty??? no way
> would i warranty something i didn't make myself!
>

Well, his position is that since we just left it to him to fix, and he
decided on the source of the pump, he was therefore responsible. That's
the usual kind of good service I want to keep him on good terms for,
despite the one malfunction regarding the distributor.