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Careless Mechanic Mistakes!


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Today I replaced the starter in my friends 98 Eldorado. The solenoid was bad. The intake bolts were loose when I took them off.

When I pulled the intake I was shocked to see that a prior mechanic scratched the block mating surface using steel scrapers on aluminum. This is an example of bad mechanic's practice and should never be done. The FSM clearly states not to scratch gasket mating surfaces when cleaning them

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By the way, changing the starter is not a bad job at all, the hardest thing is cleaning the gasket surfaces. I find brake clean on a rag to be effective at cleaning the gasket surfaces. I used plastic scrapers and a vacuum. Always plug the intake ports with rags to prevent anything from falling in.

Having the correct tools of course helps, ie fuel line disconnect tool, inch pound torque wrench to retorque the intake to 89 inch lbs.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Those surfaces clean up with brake cleaner - why some cretin would scrape them is beyond me...

You might want to use a skim coat of RTV sealer on the gasket surface that contacts the heads.

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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Thanks Kevin, that is what I did, a light coat of O2 safe RTV. The photo is kind to the scratches, in person they are shocking

There are a lot of lousy mechanics out there

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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It is not like they had the concrete gaskets. Those were aweful

I just snap the new gaskets onto the intake and put it together. Never had a problem yet.

GM FAN FOREVER

Nice, clean, luxury= fine automobile

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Its the first time I had a hard time removing the intake with all of the bolts loose, it was glued down with black RTV. It was stuck down so badly that the intake seals self destructed because the rubber seals pulled off and the two seals were unusable at that point.

It is so lucky I had an old set of intake seals on my bench that I used.

There are not a lot of good mechanics out there, its scary.

"I used to be slow, but now I am half-fast"

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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The amount of hacks that do hall work and create more problems than what they started with. Of they just flat out ruin good reusable parts.

It's a shame and those mechanics should have all tools removed from their possession.

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I agree 100%.

The other day my mother in law told me to look at her car it was making noise. She has a 2011 Lincoln and had the oil changed the previous day at the dealer.

They left 3 of the 4 bolts off, and the plastic access cover loose and it was dragging on the ground.

This wasn't Jiffy Lube this was the dealer that was unable to change the oil successfully.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Wow. That must have been a high school kid that is related to someone high up in the dealership that did the oil change. Doesn't seem like anything a experienced mechanic would do.

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Wow. That must have been a high school kid that is related to someone high up in the dealership that did the oil change. Doesn't seem like anything a experienced mechanic would do.

I agree, there are good mechanics out there that would never do this, but young mechanics like this should be double checked and trained. This type of stuff happens more often than it should and it gives the industry a bad name.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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Was the issue brought to the attention of the service manager? If the moron just left the shield hanging, I wonder what else he didn't do properly?

Kevin
'93 Fleetwood Brougham
'05 Deville
'04 Deville
2013 Silverado Z71

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Knowing my mother in law, she left an impression on them especially when I ripped the dealers so called top flight creme da la creme top shelf mechanics that cant even change the oil. I also said, imagine if it was a challenging job...

Here is a good one, my son came by last night and his headlight was out. He told me it was intermittant. He said he took it to the gas station garage and he looked and said it would be $250, my sons mouth dropped and he drove out. I looked at it an noticed the connector was melted, loose and corroded. I cleaned and tightened the connector and bulb connection, plugged it in and bam it worked...it took all of 5 minutes and as soon as I saw the problem it was obvious what the problem was.. $250 my arse....theives

There is a football field full of room for good honest mechanics in this industry without having to gouge people.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have had 2 instances where friends have taken thier vehicles to a so called "quick oil change" place. One instance they stripped the inner threads on the drain plug spud on the pan so bad I had to replace the pan, the other one the drain plug hex head was so damaged, over tightened, and had been rounded off, I had to file flats on it to get a vise grip to break it loose, and replace it.....

It's like the transmission place telling me that it would be $3,500 to fix my Seville tranny , then finding this place and a related post, and replacing the shift selenoids myself and saving said $3,500 !

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The other day my son stopped by and I noticed his headlight was out. It was raining and I was concerned for his safety. He told me it was intermittant and he went to his mechanic and they looked and quoted him $250 to fix it.

I lifted the hood and noticed that the connector was melted and cracked in my hands and corroded. I removed the connectors from the damaged plastic connector, tightened them, sprayed some connector cleaner put the connectors on the bulb and it worked. $250 saved in 5 minutes. Thieves

Next he told me he had a hard time starting in the morning when it was raining out, his mechanic quoted him $400 for a tuneup. Looking around while I was doing the bulb I noticed his battery terminals were badly corroded with heavy white aacid. I cleaned them up, wet starting problems stopped. $400 saved in 10 min. Thieves.

Pre-1995 - DTC codes OBD1  >>

1996 and newer - DTC codes OBD2 >> https://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/gm/obd_codes.htm

How to check for codes Caddyinfo How To Technical Archive >> http://www.caddyinfo.com/wordpress/cadillac-how-to-faq/

Cadillac History & Specifications Year by Year  http://www.motorera.com/cadillac/index.htm

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  • 2 weeks later...

After I stopped taking my ETC to the dealer for regular and routine maintenance, it took me two years to clean up all the small stuff. The surge tank hose connector was broken off in CA and I found and fixed that (an old thread here somewhere). I showed the surge tank to my East coast tech and his pals and they all had ways to break the surge tank. I wasn't with them much longer...

I'm going through the first stages of that now with my CTS-V. I've found a solid family business and know of a couple of other good guys around locally. They're not hard to find if you know what to look for.

CTS-V_LateralGs_6-2018_tiny.jpg
-- Click Here for CaddyInfo page on "How To" Read Your OBD Codes
-- Click Here for my personal page to download my OBD code list as an Excel file, plus other Cadillac data
-- See my CaddyInfo car blogs: 2011 CTS-V, 1997 ETC
Yes, I was Jims_97_ETC before I changed cars.

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