Good Auto Shop

[Yedtarts]

Re: Good Auto Shop

I think we're all forgetting the most important question, people. What exactly does a "suffocating bird" sound like?

Maybe it's something like this?

[Haykakan]

Re: Good Auto Shop

I don't even bother to have the rotors checked or machined anymore. I just tell them to replace the rotors and pads whenever the pads are worn down to nothing Right now there is a huge round score mark on one of my front rotors but the pad is still good. It makes a scratchy sound when coming to a complete stop but I won't even bother with it until the pads are worn. I just turn the stereo full blast, doesn't bother me. I wish I had access to a garage and the time to fix mechanical problems like brakes so I know it is done right. Plus I would be able to get the high end products, put the labor money in my pocket and it would still be cheaper than the mechanic. That wouldn't be good for the economy tho . Right now I'm trying to figure out why my car failed on the NOx emissions... freaking Ontario drive clean program... going to cost me 450 bones to "try" to get the emissions down to "acceptable" levels and if it still fails it'll get a conditional pass which means I can drive it but can't sell it. I love the government!!

A bad sencor can cause this problem(do you have any chek engine lites on?) replacing the fuel filter and flushing with stp can't hurt either.

[MrHyeSev]

Re: Good Auto Shop

Maybe it's something like this?

Yup thats what it sounds like
very annoying

[KanadaHye]

Re: Good Auto Shop

A bad sencor can cause this problem(do you have any chek engine lites on?) replacing the fuel filter and flushing with stp can't hurt either.

I had the fuel filter and pump replaced recently... apparently the egr valve is what lowers the NOx levels and their "diagnosis" came up with a EGR fault. When I got the car back, the ABS and TCS traction control lights were lit up on the dash (which doesn't show up anywhere in their diagnosis) and they were never a problem before. I'm so glad they are legally allowed to tinker around with a perfectly good working vehicle while hooking up their fancy government mandated machinery to it and I get to pay for it all. All because little me is putting a tad bit too much NOx into the atmosphere. Oh well, who needs traction control anyways.

[Haykakan]

Re: Good Auto Shop

I had the fuel filter and pump replaced recently... apparently the egr valve is what lowers the NOx levels and their "diagnosis" came up with a EGR fault. When I got the car back, the ABS and TCS traction control lights were lit up on the dash (which doesn't show up anywhere in their diagnosis) and they were never a problem before. I'm so glad they are legally allowed to tinker around with a perfectly good working vehicle while hooking up their fancy government mandated machinery to it and I get to pay for it all. All because little me is putting a tad bit too much NOx into the atmosphere. Oh well, who needs traction control anyways.

You probably just need those reset, there is no way they actually went bad at the same time. As for cheking emmisions i am glad some states still do that because it gets real nasty in countries wo emmision standards.

[MrHyeSev]

Re: Good Auto Shop

My uncle owns an automotive shop in Los Angeles. I used to work there for quite some time and I can vouch for their work. I'm not just recommending them because it's owned by my uncle. I wouldn't do that to a fellow buddy.

Five Star Tires
7318 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
818-876-1033

It's on the corner of Sunset/Martel between La Brea and Fairfax.

My uncle's name is Mike. You can call ahead and talk to him, if you'd like. You can usually drop by anytime, without any worries. They're open 7 days a week. Just tell him or anybody else there that I told you to go. My name is Armen, if you didn't know, however they know who One-Way is. If they don't quite know who, tell them "the Armen that used to work here." They'll smile, and help you out accordingly.

Do you know more or less how much your uncle will charge for rotors ?

[One-Way]

Re: Good Auto Shop

It really depends on you car, but they shouldn't be too expensive. You can just give them a call and ask for a quote.

[Crimson Glow]

Re: Good Auto Shop

Go get new brakes and you will see lol.

I live and breath cars (I work on my own as much as time, tools and space allow), and I have no idea what he's trying to describe by saying "dying bird sound".

I don't even bother to have the rotors checked or machined anymore. I just tell them to replace the rotors and pads whenever the pads are worn down to nothing

Honestly, for what it costs to turn rotors these days (IF they're still usable/have enough tolerance left), you may as well just replace them. In fact, on most cars, you'll probably break even.

Right now there is a huge round score mark on one of my front rotors but the pad is still good. It makes a scratchy sound when coming to a complete stop but I won't even bother with it until the pads are worn.

You'll have to take a pic and show me what you mean, but if this is on your Alero, I can tell you right now that the '97 & up GM n-bodies are legendary for warping rotors.................over, and over, and over again.

A bad sencor can cause this problem(do you have any chek engine lites on?) replacing the fuel filter and flushing with stp can't hurt either.

The fuel filter/fuel system will have very little to do with not passing an emissions test. The worst that will do is give you poor gas mileage on account of not moving fuel as efficiently as possible. The biggest culprits in failed emissions tests are plugged catalytic converter(s), bad O2 sensor(s), or bad EGR. Less common are leaks in the charcoal canister, bad temp sensor(s), etc.

You probably just need those reset, there is no way they actually went bad at the same time.

He can have the codes cleared, but there has to be a reason they popped up to begin with, and that reason isn't going to go away merely by resetting them. BTW, again, if this is with his Alero, GMs are set up to disable the traction control system (TCS) whenever there's a problem/code triggered from the ABS, because this means it can't tell if one of the wheels is spinning out or not, which makes it impossible for the TCS system to work. Thus, whenever the "ABS" light is on, the "TCS off" light will come on, as well. They didn't both go bad at the same time. They're related. On the Buick Regals, the "ABS" light will even trigger a "Service Engine Soon" light.

Andre, have your speed sensors tested. 90% of the time, that's what triggers an "ABS" light. It's also very easy to test the EGR valve with a diagnostic computer program. Is the service engine soon light not on? It's too bad you weren't around here. I have tons of friends with laptops that could have plugged in and checked everything top to bottom on the car for nothing (and yet, MUCH more thoroughly than the average mechanic is capable of since they're specifically GM nerds that know all the tables, and what all the sensors are supposed to read). Hell, they could have even reflashed your PCM to give you a bit extra horsepower.

As for cheking emmisions i am glad some states still do that because it gets real nasty in countries wo emmision standards.

Yes, but the problem is they hire incompetent boobs to do the testing. They'll literally take anyone in IL, no experience with cars needed what so ever. They'll "train" you. I remember when they first changed the testing for the OBDI cars over to the dyno style test (with a probe in the exhaust pipe) about 10 or so years ago. There was a story in the paper a few days later that said they put a Cadillac through the wall because the moron testing it didn't realize it was RWD, and the BACK wheels have to go on the treadmill, not the fronts. They also overheated one of my cars while testing it this way. It was turbocharged, and turbos get EXTREMELY hot under the hood. Sitting still for 2 minutes at 60 mph does NOT do any favors for the under the hood temps. And ironically enough, they got rid of emissions testing for all OBDI cars ('95 and older) 2 years ago........just after they fucked up my car. They now only test OBDII cars in IL ('96 & up), and that test consists of nothing more than plugging a computer into the ALDL connector, and making sure no "service engine soon" codes are showing up, or stored in the cars computer. I just had to do it for one of my cars. The whole thing literally took 2 minutes, from the time I entered the facility, till the time I left their lot.

Do you know more or less how much your uncle will charge for rotors ?

It's not like there's a set cost for rotors at any shop. It varies greatly from car to car, even within the same make and model depending on several factors. He'll need to know the year, make and model of the car, the trim level (SE, LE, GT, etc), whether it has ABS or not, and possibly even engine size to determine if the car has heavy duty brakes, or not (if applicable). All these things will play a factor in how much the parts will cost, and how much labor is involved in getting to, and removing the rotors.

[KanadaHye]

Re: Good Auto Shop

You'll have to take a pic and show me what you mean, but if this is on your Alero, I can tell you right now that the '97 & up GM n-bodies are legendary for warping rotors.................over, and over, and over again.

Yeah, you guessed it... the front rotors seem to warp much faster than the pads wear down. Then again, I drive the Alero much harder than the average "oldsmobile" driver It's a 2002 and I have 130,000 miles on it. Who says American cars don't last I have no idea how to describe the sound but a suffocating bird wouldn't be my first description

The fuel filter/fuel system will have very little to do with not passing an emissions test. The worst that will do is give you poor gas mileage on account of not moving fuel as efficiently as possible. The biggest culprits in failed emissions tests are plugged catalytic converter(s), bad O2 sensor(s), or bad EGR. Less common are leaks in the charcoal canister, bad temp sensor(s), etc.

The emissions test was for the T/A. The catalytic converter was tested and no problems. I'll let them have fun trying to replace the EGR valve on that car .

He can have the codes cleared, but there has to be a reason they popped up to begin with, and that reason isn't going to go away merely by resetting them. BTW, again, if this is with his Alero, GMs are set up to disable the traction control system (TCS) whenever there's a problem/code triggered from the ABS, because this means it can't tell if one of the wheels is spinning out or not, which makes it impossible for the TCS system to work. Thus, whenever the "ABS" light is on, the "TCS off" light will come on, as well. They didn't both go bad at the same time. They're related. On the Buick Regals, the "ABS" light will even trigger a "Service Engine Soon" light.

Andre, have your speed sensors tested. 90% of the time, that's what triggers an "ABS" light. It's also very easy to test the EGR valve with a diagnostic computer program. Is the service engine soon light not on? It's too bad you weren't around here. I have tons of friends with laptops that could have plugged in and checked everything top to bottom on the car for nothing (and yet, MUCH more thoroughly than the average mechanic is capable of since they're specifically GM nerds that know all the tables, and what all the sensors are supposed to read). Hell, they could have even reflashed your PCM to give you a bit extra horsepower.

Again, this is for the T/A. No service engine light or anything.... I figured there would be a code triggered if the EGR was failing. I hooked up an ODB-II and there were no codes whatsoever. I think you're right about the speed sensors... the car is way more fun without traction control anyways But I kind of like the ABS system fully functional, so I'll have to tackle that after this stupid emissions issue.

As for the PCM, I have a hypertech power programmer which gives the extra kick... not like it needs it. I had to flash it back to stock before taking it into the shop and I didn't think it would but that little bit of extra horsepower makes a hell of a difference.

[Sip]

Re: Good Auto Shop

I once had a smog check guy actually tell me my engine's (4.3L V6) timing was off by like 28 degrees and that it was probably the harmonic balancer that needed several hundred to replace. In the meantime of course his machine had reported my car as a "gross poluter" to the DMV. What he said made no sense at all so I took it somewhere else (had to be a smog only station now that I was a gross poluter) and it passed in a matter of seconds.

Turns out this moron had hooked up the timing sensor to Cylinder #2 instead of #1. Fortunately he refunded my money immediately when I went back and showed him the pass certificate or else I don't know how I would have reacted.