Amateur Mechanic Rant

[blas]

Ok, with my recent car troubles, I just have to get this off my chest. I cannot stand people who think they know everything about cars, and then proceed to mess stuff up with mine.

This was bad judgement on my part, my only defense is that at this moment, I cannot afford $700-$1000 to get my car fixed by a mechanic and I was really desperate to just buy the parts and have someone who knew what they were doing fix my car.

My friend at work said her brother works on cars and he's the "only" reason her car still runs. So she had him come with me to buy the parts I needed and look at my car and see if he could do it himself.

First thing was he got me all paranoid. We KNEW already what was wrong with my car (water pump). He gets under the hood and immediately goes "Well this this and this is going bad too.....oh and you're going to need to replace this too soon, that's probably going to run you about $200....."

Now I don't know a LOT about cars, when I have a question I usually go to my bf, but he works all day and doesn't have the free time to drive to another city to work on it. He would have if he could.

But when this guy finally got done telling me every single little thing wrong with my car, he said "But this will be easy. It'll take all day, but I can definetly fix it."

So my dad said he could use the garage and take as much time as he needed and borrow any tools he may need. My dad has pretty much everything you'd need to fix a car, since my dad and brother use the garage as their own little shop when they work on their cars.

Three hours later, I get a phone call from my little brother. "Uh yeah....he couldn't get the harmonic balancer out of your car....so he just gave up and went home. My friends and I are going to take it to school tomorrow and fix it ourselves."

Well isn't that convenient. Then on Friday, little brother called once they tugged the car to school and got started and said "I don't know what the fuck he did, but he took something out of your car and we gotta put that on hold for a while while we figure out what the hell he did." Thankfully an hour later he called back and said, "It's ok....we got that taken care of. That guy was a fucking moron. He took out something he didn't even need to, but the teacher helped us and now we can get started."

It's still going to take a while to fix, because they can only use their free periods and their shop class hours to work on it, but it SHOULD be almost done by Monday and probably all done by Tuesday.

I guess what I'm getting at is I need to use better judgement next time...but I can't believe someone would say they know what they're doing and then fuck something up really bad. It wasted time for my brother and his friends and teacher to fix.

Also, the teacher told my brother to tell me that everything my friend's brother said was wrong with my car was NOT wrong and was fine. One specific thing was he had gone on a tirade that "Your spark plug wires touch the hood when it comes down! You're gonna lose a bunch of power and it's really gonna fuck your car up soon!" Um...no. It's going to be fine. However, the teacher said since these appear to be the ones that came with the car, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get new ones soon.....and the hood is NOT touching the wires when it comes down, as in rubbing against it.

I just hate it when people think they know everything about cars and they don't....rrrr....any stories?

[Evil Queen]

The only story I have is when I bought my Saturn. My uncle (the "family mechanic") was pushing on my dent resistent doors saying "I'd never seen this before!" And when he looked under the hood?

"I've never seen this before!"
"I've never seen this before!"
"I've never seen this before!"

So when there was a problem with the car (starter is starting to go, I think. It doesn't like to start in cold weather) I told him he wasn't getting near it with a ten foot pole.

Then he said that the motor in my Suzuki Esteem (a CAR, mind you) wasn't a car engine but a motorcycle engine. Yeah, you can call him a moron. I did. A lot.

[protege]

I had a guy at the garage tell me my timing belt was going to fail. There was a slight clicking noise when the engine was running. To me, it wasn't a big deal...since the Mazda had been doing that since I bought it. Oh, and I'd already had the timing belt replaced the year before. Nope, it just *had* to be the belt--and yes, he did give me a hard time about that when the car broke down last year. He simply thought "look, here's another asshole in a suit...who doesn't know jack about cars..."

However, it *wasn't* the belt--the belt's *adjusting* mechanism failed...which threw the belt off the pulleys, causing the car to lose power (it was like the cylinders were shutting down one at a time :eek:) and eventually...stall. Took a good 2 hours waiting for the tow truck and hauling that heap to the garage, putting a nice big dent in the finances :cry:

I know quite a bit about cars...but I don't know *everything,* and nor do I claim to. There are simply too many makes, too many models, and too many engines. MGBs are another story :p They stayed pretty similar until '71. More emissions controls (per the '70 Clean Air Act), single Stromberg carbs, etc...none of which are on my car. Since I don't have to deal with that...I don't bother looking it up :)

[Spiffy McMoron]

Heh--one of the mechanics is now the laughing stock of the shop.

His truck had the same problem as your car, blas--the water pump went on him. His truck was a 1995 Ford F150 with a 351 in it. He was taking off the waterpump and was taking off the front engine cover to check the timing chain. But the cover wouldn't come off. He finally took a pry bar to it, snapping the cover in half! :eek: (For those that don't know, this was about 3/8 inch think steel cover)

Turns out he forgot to take the upper--and most obvious--bolts out before trying to pry off this cover. I don't know what he's going to do to his truck, but drive it isn't going to be an option.

[iviles]

Its a good thing that you got a cool brother and a really nice teacher to boot. I dont have a clue about most things with a car but Im lucky enough to have mechanic friends. They dont have the time to fix my car but at lest they look at it and tell me what I need to know so I dont get taken at the shops (been taken in the past). I even go as far as to drag a guy friend along they may not know how to even get the hood up but at lest it looks better then me alone. Hope it didnt dent the finaces to much good luck I'll be chanting to the car gods for you.

[lordlundar]

It wasted time for my brother and his friends and teacher to fix.

Well, if it's being done in shop class as well, it's not a total waste of time then. They gaet hands on learning and at the very least learn what NOT to do.:p

[friendofjimmyk]

I absolutely loved it when I was towing cars. First, everyone always assumed that because I was hauling your car away I knew what was wrong with it. No. I didn't even pretend to know what was wrong with the cars.

Before I left, they tried to train all the drivers into being roadside troubleshooters. It was their goal to make us educated enough to get the car moving again. I REFUSED to pay attention. I am not a mechanic and throwing me into an 8 hour training class is not going to be enough for me to feel confident enough to tinker around under someone's hood.

I would often be asked if I could get a car going again w/o a need to tow it. If I couldn't jumpstart it - it was getting towed.

In July of last year, I replaced my front brakes by myself for the first time. Now, brakes should last a couple years. Just recently, I had to take my car into the shop because the brake light was on. Turns out my rear brakes were leaking and needed to be fixed. Well, the mechanic said he went ahead and replaced the front brakes as well because they were "mediocre". I was upset...I JUST replaced them a little over six months ago. I told him so and he seemed surprised. Maybe I had messed them up. Regardless, I felt a bit taken advantage of.

[protege]

Damn...I thought it was just Sears and a certain (now-gone) local Volvo dealer that did things like that. That's *exactly* why I quit going to the Mazda dealer when I still had the old car. Of course the strut fiasco was another reason, but still. Apparently, those fools thought that internal combustion was magic :rolleyes:

[FuzzyKitten99]

That is why I stopped going to dealer shops whenever possible. I have a mechanic a couple blocks from me who IS honest and actually will tell you if you can get by on it or if it should be fixed or even if you can do it yourself to save money. That's right. If you can do it, he'll tell you. Most people appreciate the honesty and don't want to deal with it, they just have him do it. I basically have the opposite situation-a real mechanic who will want to make 100% sure the part he targeted will fix the problem or he advises to wait it out or start taking notes about the car's behavior at the time of malfunction.

I had a sensor going on my car that every so often, when it would stop working properly, the car would just kill. Didn't matter when or where, sideroad or freeway. I just lost all power and would have to coast to the side. Then it would not start again for a while. Could be 10 minutes could be 45. The problem was, is that every time I would get it on the diagnostics, it would be when the part was working fine. He brought up a few more issues, but none that would cause my kind of problem. So, I fixed the minor stuff that came up, but he said that he didn't want to just guess and do unnecessary work and possibly not fix it. So he said to wait until the problem happened more than once a week. So I waited, and waited. Finally, it was happening daily. So I brought it in, and he found the problem. The sensor would not show up on diagnostics if it was not malfunctioning. It was intermittent.

[Slytovhand]

Ummm - I had a problem many years ago with a Sigma (actually - a couple of problems).

I took it to a garage that was *recommended*, and they did what they did. I wasn't able to travel 5K's, and I wasn't able to get out of 2nd gear, and I had a lot of smoke and all coming from under the hood.. and couldn't get over 30KPH.

I managed to get it back to the garage... and guess who they tried to blame for it?? In the end, I think they got extra cash out of my father (his vehicle), but never went back there again (for some really strange reason!!)

Similar also with it not always starting. No-one could find any issue with it. One roadside mech suggested one thing, but couldn't be sure. My father wanted to spend a couple of hundred on a suggestion - I went with $30 on a hunch and did it myself with 1 part (and a screw)... fortunately - I was right :D


Blas - go kick whoever suggested that guy!!!

[Jester]

Just yesterday I took my niece Princess driving in her car. She couldn't go without me because she only has a permit, you see. I showed her a few things her mother had failed to, such as how to pop the hood. And, as we looked down into the engine bay, we had the following conversation...

JESTER: "You realize you know almost as much as I do about engines, right?"
PRINCESS: "I don't know ANYTHING about them!"
JESTER: "Right. As I was saying, you know almost as much as I do!" :lol:

Well, the mechanic said he went ahead and replaced the front brakes as well because they were "mediocre".

I always make it real clear to my mechanics to only fix what we have agreed on, and if they come upon another problem, to call me before acting on it. Because I am so insistent upon this, I have never had a mechanic "just go ahead" and do something without my authorization. Anal? Sure. I AM anal when it comes to my money.

[blas]

I'm glad you guys have some stories to tell as well. I just wish I'd learn to think more clearly in stressful situations. I was just so damn desperate I was willing to let a total stranger fix my car....at least he gave up when he couldn't fix it and didn't keep going and screw stuff up worse!

[protege]

I can't complain about the Toyota dealer where I go now. They're awesome. Of course it also helps that my father knows the service manager...and that he's bought 5 or 6 Saturns from them as well. (The dealer handles both Toyotas and Saturns.) So they have to keep me happy--otherwise, I'm sure Dad would tell them to "fuck off" when buying his next car. He doesn't take kindly to anyone who would screw over his family ;)

In fact, they actually squeezed me in one night after work. When I pulled into the driveway one night, I saw something silver sticking out of the tire. Turned out to be a half-inch screw :eek: meaning the tire could blow out :eek: Not wanting to tempt fate while driving to work the next morning, I called up the dealer...and they said to bring it down. Even though it was a bit busy (what was the deal with all the people wanting oil changes that night?), they took care of it. 10-15 minutes later, the screw was out and the tire plugged.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Had a rather strange problem with the first Freleigh-mobile when I was in college. One day I was driving to the public library for a journalism project when the windshield wipers just came on and couldn't be shut off. I didn't even bump the switch to turn them on.

This happened on and off for a few days, until I took it in to the local Nissan dealership.

I spent two to three hours in the waiting room, watching cheesy TV talk shows, eating stale popcorn and drinking lukewarm water, while the mechanics poked around.

Finally they told me there was a short in my wiper switch. They did not have the part specific for my car available, but had another part they thought could work. I told them to go ahead and try it.

An hour or so later, they came back and told me that part couldn't be used because it would render the horn inoperable. I told them to forget it and took my car back to wait until they got the correct part in.

Then just as magically as it started, the problem stopped. My windshield wipers no longer turned themselves on again, so as far as I was concerned there was no problem. It took them about 3 weeks to get the part in.

The icing on the cake: they tried to bill me for labor when all they ever did was take apart the steering column and diddle around with a couple things. I was willing to pay it but my parents gave them hell and they just dropped the charges. They said I didn't owe them anything because they didn't actually fix anything. :shrug:

[FuzzyKitten99]

The icing on the cake: they tried to bill me for labor when all they ever did was take apart the steering column and diddle around with a couple things. I was willing to pay it but my parents gave them hell and they just dropped the charges. They said I didn't owe them anything because they didn't actually fix anything. :shrug:

Now I side with the mechanics on this one. They did look at the car, thus it could be considered 'diagnostics'. They used their time and tools to work on the car, even though nothing was fixed, so you should have paid them for their trouble. They're a business, not a charity. Not saying you wouldn't have paid, as clearly you said you would, but your parents were in the wrong on this.

[Andara Bledin]

In July of last year, I replaced my front brakes by myself for the first time. Now, brakes should last a couple years. Just recently, I had to take my car into the shop because the brake light was on. Turns out my rear brakes were leaking and needed to be fixed. Well, the mechanic said he went ahead and replaced the front brakes as well because they were "mediocre". I was upset...I JUST replaced them a little over six months ago. I told him so and he seemed surprised. Maybe I had messed them up. Regardless, I felt a bit taken advantage of.

While an unnecessary replacement is quite likely (and pretty common, unfortunately), there is a possibility that the problem with your rear brakes caused excessive wear on your front breaks.

I actually had a problem with this because of Sears having less-than-stellar service practices (this was just before the sh** hit the media fan). They kept replacing the front pads, and charging me for the rotors that kept getting chewed up because they never checked the rear brakes which were massively out of alignment. I ended up stopped at another Sears near a friend's place because I wanted some new front tires and I had them check the brakes while they had it, and this shop was one of the honest ones, so they fixed the back brakes like the shop near my home should have done a year prior and I no longer had a problem with the front brakes chewing through pads and rotors.

Some basic rules when dealing with shops: If you go in for engine work and they tell you your motor mounts are bad and they need to be replaced immediately, they're probably trying to scam more money out of you. And if you get brake/tire work and they tell you your ball joint is bad and your wheel will fall off if you don't get it fixed, again, most likely a scam. While it is remotely possible that your wheel could fall off, the likelihood is exceedingly low.

^-.-^

[blas]

Well guys, they replaced the water pump today....what actually happened was a bearing went out and the pump went on its side...that probably explains why I was still able to drive it the mile or so to my parents' house.

But now my brother has me all paranoid that what happened may have caused worse damage to my car. I really don't need this right now. I just want it fixed. I do not have the money for anything else to be wrong and I don't have another week or longer to keep living like this......

Anyone out there that knows anything about water pumps? Did what happened to my car cause any worse damage, or should it be alright since all I did was take it an extra mile then ditch it?

[FuzzyKitten99]

Well guys, they replaced the water pump today....what actually happened was a bearing went out and the pump went on its side...that probably explains why I was still able to drive it the mile or so to my parents' house.

But now my brother has me all paranoid that what happened may have caused worse damage to my car. I really don't need this right now. I just want it fixed. I do not have the money for anything else to be wrong and I don't have another week or longer to keep living like this......

Anyone out there that knows anything about water pumps? Did what happened to my car cause any worse damage, or should it be alright since all I did was take it an extra mile then ditch it?

I suppose that depends on the state of the car during that mile... did your car start to overheat when the pump went out?

[blas]

I'm assuming so.......it started whining and shaking and when I parked it a bunch of water and antifreeze spooged out of underneath the car. But it still ran, and it didn't really put up a fight....I didn't ram the gas or anything, I only went about 15-20 mph that whole way home but I still had power steering and was able to make it home.

Edit: gahh how dumb am I......when my other cars overheated, they stalled...my car didn't stall...the engine kept running...

[FuzzyKitten99]

Ok, the overheating could really be an issue. I don't want to scare you, I am just giving the facts. Depending on how old your car is, you might have an issue with a gasket leak.

Our 92 Cadillac had the water pump go out a few years ago, and it overheated. DH drove it only a mile home, and even though it made it, that overheating damaged the intake gasket and aluminum block. It was very very small, and we got by with putting Bars Leaks treatment in it, but it only held up for 6 months. Basically, the heating and cooling and extreme temps of our area, made the problem worse, making the crack bigger as time went on. So we ended up replacing the engine (cheaper than trying to buy a new car) that following spring.

Now, since you said the antifreeze leaked, there is a chance that when that happened, it may have prevented the pressure build-up of the engine and you avoided the gasket/engine block damage. But there is no guarantee on this. So, you have a few options. Have it pressure-tested by a real mechanic or see if the shop teacher at your brother's school can do it. This is also no guarantee, if the damage is to the gasket or block is hairline, it may give a false negative. After pressure-testing, check your oil daily. Not the dipstick, but the cap. If there is ANY white, milky substance anywhere in there, then that means you have an internal leak.

That kind of leak is expensive to fix. If only the gasket needs to be replaced, you'll pay mostly for labor, but the part itself is relatively inexpensive. That part needs to have half the engine taken off to replace it. Something like this should be entrusted to professionals. The high school kids could do it, if the car is old enough and there aren't many computer parts to remove.

But if the block is cracked... you're pretty much up a creek.

[blas]

The car is a 98, so about 10 years old. They only replaced the water pump today and are unsure if anymore damage occured......for sure it fucked up the timing belt, which makes sense because the water pump is run by the timing belt and you should always replace the timing belt when your water pump goes out on cars like that.

[FuzzyKitten99]

The car is a 98, so about 10 years old. They only replaced the water pump today and are unsure if anymore damage occured......for sure it fucked up the timing belt, which makes sense because the water pump is run by the timing belt and you should always replace the timing belt when your water pump goes out on cars like that.

what make/model is the car again?

[blas]

Dodge Neon. It wouldn't surprise me if I were up a creek. With everything that's been going on lately, I get more bad news than good....the only good thing I heard about the car lately was that what my friend's brother did didn't do any damage and was fixable.

[FuzzyKitten99]

Dodge Neon. It wouldn't surprise me if I were up a creek. With everything that's been going on lately, I get more bad news than good....the only good thing I heard about the car lately was that what my friend's brother did didn't do any damage and was fixable.

Well, then rather than taking chances, you might just want to trade it in now, while you can get as much money for it as you can. May not be much, but more than waiting and ending up with a car that has a cracked block and worth more in parts than driveability. Unless you can afford to replace the engine. Sometimes that ends up being cheaper anyway. It was for us. We haven't had a problem since replacing it 2 years ago. A Neon engine will probably be cheaper and easier to find than a Cadillac twice it's age anyhow. Our engine alone was $800, because our car is the first year they put the Northstar V8 in the Sevilles, and given the car was almost 15 years old at the time we replaced it, finding a working engine was a bit hard. My mechanic (the one I mentioned earlier) grilled the sales guy on the phone for a half hour about the replacement engine, to make sure we weren't getting scammed.

Either way, you might want to start exercising your options for an automotive investment, be it repair or replace. Then again, you may have gotten lucky and no real damage was done.

[blas]

Dodge Neon engines are relatively inexpensive. I say that loosely though, because I'm pretty poor, but most people could afford it no problem. My boyfriend could probably put that in for me himself, since he does all his work himself. I know you're probably all saying "Well why didn't you do that in the first place?" but since he works all day, he didn't have the time to do the water pump or timing belt. I suppose once we figure out what is wrong, if I ask him, he might have a free day that he could do it. He's had to replace engines before, he's owned more cars in 10 years than most people own in their entire life.

I'm still paying off that piece of shit, so regardless, even if I'm up a creek, I still gotta pay for it. Might as well fix it to drive it.

[FuzzyKitten99]

Dodge Neon engines are relatively inexpensive. I say that loosely though, because I'm pretty poor, but most people could afford it no problem. My boyfriend could probably put that in for me himself, since he does all his work himself. I know you're probably all saying "Well why didn't you do that in the first place?" but since he works all day, he didn't have the time to do the water pump or timing belt. I suppose once we figure out what is wrong, if I ask him, he might have a free day that he could do it. He's had to replace engines before, he's owned more cars in 10 years than most people own in their entire life.

I'm still paying off that piece of shit, so regardless, even if I'm up a creek, I still gotta pay for it. Might as well fix it to drive it.


Sounds like a plan to me. If your BF can fix it or do the engine replacement, all the better. But you might want to call your loan company and tell them that there may be an issue with the engine, that it may be replaced, because that changes the mileage and the car's value. Although if your car is worth even a little more than what you owe, it might be an option to trade it, and just use the dealer-purchase price to pay off the current loan.

[blas]

For now all I'm gonna do is hope and pray and hope and pray and bargain and plead that my car is alright and will be back to me soon.

[protege]

Now, since you said the antifreeze leaked, there is a chance that when that happened, it may have prevented the pressure build-up of the engine and you avoided the gasket/engine block damage. But there is no guarantee on this. So, you have a few options. Have it pressure-tested by a real mechanic or see if the shop teacher at your brother's school can do it. This is also no guarantee, if the damage is to the gasket or block is hairline, it may give a false negative.

I was just going to say that ;) Overheating can do some serious damage--some of you might remember me talking about my Tempo overheating...and then blowing up its engine. On that car, the engine was reduced to scrap--it just wasn't worth fixing. Also, if the car has an aluminum cylinder head, these can warp from excess heat. You'd have to get a machine shop (or even the shop teacher) to check that out, and then skim it if necessary. Gasket sealer can help seal small areas, but is not a miracle cure.

If the cylinder head is fine, it could be a gasket has failed, or a hose let go. Head gaskets are a pain to fit...because you have to take the engine apart. Valve cover gaskets aren't too bad. However, the rubber type can be a bitch to fit correctly. Also check the radiator cap. These can fail as well, but are easy to replace.

I took out the MG's engine after it finally died in '93. By then, it was pretty well knackered. Because the parts situation years ago wasn't as good, it was "repaired," and put back into service for a few years. At the end, it was down on compression because of a cracked cylinder head, was constantly fouling spark plugs, and was seriously out of tune. But, rather than take the entire engine and transmission out...we split them up. Off came the iron cylinder head, the transmission + cross-member, and then a hoist came in to yank the engine. Contrast all of that now--the engine has been rebuilt, and looks like new! Runs like a champ too!

[Tanasi]

The water pump isn't run off the timing belt but the serpentine belt. The timing belt runs from the crank shaft to the cam-shaft(s) some cars have chains instead of belts. If a timing belt/chain breaks that's bad news.
If you're not too far from an oil change have your brother or dad change the oil and have them looks for water and coolent in the oil, there could also be a milky looking substance in the oil, if you see that then the either a head gasket has blown out or the block is cracked. A compression test may or may not tell you if the head is warped (depending upon the milage and condition). If you have low compression then it's possible the head is warped or the gasket is gone.
Water pumps going out is a common thing and generally other damage doesn't occur. It's been my experience after replacing a water pump, to also replace the termostat, upper and lower radiator hoses, and sending and return heater hoses. Hose is cheap and usually not hard to replace (depends upon the car.) Always replace the water pump gasket after removing it (gaskets are cheap) and the thermostat gasket.
Replacing a water pump usually isn't that big a deal. I usually spray the bolts with a penetrating oil the night before and give the oil time to do it's jobs. Water pump bolts are easy to break and hard to get the broken pieces out. I don't know why the guy wanted to take off the harmonic balancer, besides that usually takes a special tool.
I don't claim to know everything there is to know or anywhere close to it but I'm willing to try to answer questions on what I do know and if I don't know I will say so. Most of my experience comes from 30+ year old engines but they still basically work the same.

[MadMike]

That is why I stopped going to dealer shops whenever possible.

I had the opposite experience. Back when I still had my VW Fox, I used to take it to this small garage that did good work cheap. Unfortunately, it changed hands, and the new people didn't seem to have the slightest idea what they were doing.

I went in for a brake job once, and afterwards the brakes didn't want to work right. The parking brake wouldn't even grab completely, so I had to make sure I parked with it in gear so it wouldn't roll away.

They always "fixed" it for free, but it was getting to be a hassle finding time to go over there again and again, only to find that nothing had changed.

I finally gave up and took it to a VW dealer, figuring they'd know the vehicle better, and be more likely to fix it correctly. When they finished with it, they gave me some disturbing news -- the rear brakes were completely missing! I have no idea what the idiots at that other place were doing with it every time I brought it in.

I called in to complain, and they said they'd get back to me, but they never did. And every time I called after that, the manager was always "out." I eventually gave up, which I'm sure is what they wanted. Not surprisingly, the place went out of business. I guess they had a bad repuation, because when someone else bought it and reopened it, they put a sign out front that told everyone, "Those other guys are gone!"

[blas]

Good news guys. All they have to do now is put everything back together. I should have my car back tomorrow or Thursday.

[Kusanagi]

If you only drove it for a mile with the problem, you should be fine. The coolant under the car would have been normal, and those little Neon engines can take alot of punishment.

Since the pump was replaced I'd imagine you'd be fine. Still, get it inspected however.

Here's a list of things that I think EVERYONE should know how to do on a car, that will go a long way...

Everyone who owns a car should know how to:

Jumpstart
Check and top off the Oil
Check and top off the Coolant
Change the tire especially if the car has a spare

So many problems can be avoided just by these simple little things.

[blas]

CHECK! I has a very good dad and brother. They know one of these days I'm going to get out of this God forsaken hell hole, so they want me to be prepared to handle automotive stuff on my own when they are no longer a few miles away. I've always known how to jump start by owning two Tempos.

My car already blew a head gasket around 60,000 miles. Who needs CarFax when you know the girl who used to own your car? Her dad worked on a lot of cars and when I found out who she was and went to AE to find her, she told me everything about the car.

The unfortunate thing is, all the "1st generation" Neons were cursed with those damn headgaskets blowing. Anyone whose hasn't yet is lucky. My boyfriend said it's unlikely it will happen again, not impossible, but unlikely....... then when Dodge started making the "2nd generation" Neons, they made better headgaskets. Perhaps I should have bought a newer one with the 7 layer gaskets.

[Tanasi]

CHECK! I has a very good dad and brother. They know one of these days I'm going to get out of this God forsaken hell hole, so they want me to be prepared to handle automotive stuff on my own when they are no longer a few miles away. I've always known how to jump start by owning two Tempos.

My car already blew a head gasket around 60,000 miles. Who needs CarFax when you know the girl who used to own your car? Her dad worked on a lot of cars and when I found out who she was and went to AE to find her, she told me everything about the car.

The unfortunate thing is, all the "1st generation" Neons were cursed with those damn headgaskets blowing. Anyone whose hasn't yet is lucky. My boyfriend said it's unlikely it will happen again, not impossible, but unlikely....... then when Dodge started making the "2nd generation" Neons, they made better headgaskets. Perhaps I should have bought a newer one with the 7 layer gaskets.

Gasket technology has dramatically changed within the last several years. Back when I started almost all gaskets were made of cork, if you had a template and a sharp knife you could make your own. Nowdays reinforced gaskets are the way to go for modern applications. On older engines I won't use the latest and greatest because while gaskets were designed to stop leaks they were also designed to blow before more serious damage occurs. Sure the head gasket didn't blow but now you have a cracked block/head/piston.
Blas good luck with your car I have an aunt that has one of the 1st generation and other than paint (AFASIK) she hasn't had any problems with it. Regular maintenance is the key.