Automotive Help

Turns out it was the rear, now I gotta try to find a shop that's not gonna screw me! On top of that my horn keeps honking by itself so I had to stick some folded paper in the steering wheel to keep it from sticking
 
I would think you would pay somewhere round $350-$400. But is it leaking terribly bad? how often do you have to put oil in it. If its something like 2 quarts a month or something....then I wouldnt rush out and get it done. Just make sure you check your oil frequently!!

If your fancy little fix for your horn stops working.....just pull the fuse out

HRD
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Its a small leak, every morning I see a puddle a little smaller than the size of a cd on the ground, I've gotten 3 quotes so far; $550, $690 and $700 :/
 
pro-tip NDK...find a spanish speaking friend and ask around at some llanterias (mexican tire shops) for a good mechanic. they run in circles and have a few good guys in any city running on nothing but integrity and word of mouth that will gratefully do the work very well at a fraction of that cost.

as for me...tomorrow i embark on a grand journey. i have to replace the clutch on an '88 ford bronco XLT, because i want to take it to washington with me in a couple weeks. i did it once back in high school, but that was when my pops was around to help me out/tell me what to do.

wish me luck!
 
pro-tip NDK...find a spanish speaking friend and ask around at some llanterias (mexican tire shops) for a good mechanic. they run in circles and have a few good guys in any city running on nothing but integrity and word of mouth that will gratefully do the work very well at a fraction of that cost.

as for me...tomorrow i embark on a grand journey. i have to replace the clutch on an '88 ford bronco XLT, because i want to take it to washington with me in a couple weeks. i did it once back in high school, but that was when my pops was around to help me out/tell me what to do.

wish me luck!

Not much different, but there are a few things that lots of people like to fuck up!!

#1 a FORD transmission DOES NOT TAKE GEAR OIL for lubricant. It takes atf/dextron III tranny fluid. You wont blow up the tranny if you put gear oil in it or anything, but over time the gear oil foams up and losses its viscosity and it will become hard to shift

#2 88 is right around the time that ford went from a mechanical (cable system) to a hydraulic system. If its hydraulic, those things can be a complete bitch to bleed properly. I have a few tricks that work really well if you have trouble. A) open bleeder screw slightly enough to let it drip every 30 seconds or so. open the cap to the master and fill it up, let it bleed overnight (or at least that amount of time) but try to make sure there is always fluid in the master! B) Unbolt the master from the firewall, just below the master is a diamond shaped piece that also bolts to the firewall. Unbolt both pieces and lay them directly forward, resting on the tire wells. Then its just like bleeding a brake system EXCEPT have someone get in the truck and pump the pedal (dont lose me here with all this pumping) like 10 to 15 times then hold it down, crack bleeder open, do it again, then do it again, repeat this step until there is pressure built up in the pedal.

The bleeding process is the hardest part. The rest of it is just turning a bunch of bolts. Put loc-tite (red) on your flywheel bolts (if you decide to take it off, if you do, have it machined at your local machine shop). OH YEAH.....if it is a hydraulic system there will a clutch hose that might give you trouble. The hose that runs into the tranny can be hard to get off. you will see a nylon bushing...that needs to pushed down (there is a special tool for it that I have, but you can get away with gently prying with a screwdriver.) DO NOT try to pull, bend, insert into rectum or anything like that cause you WILL break it!!

And if you have a mechanical clutch system, then the 20 minutes I spent typing all this shit was pointless. If you have any questions youre always welcome to call me, dont be shy, youre good! If the wife answers just tell her its lobo....she knows who you are!!

@NDK thats a pretty serious leak. That should prolly get fixed pretty quick. However the prices are a little outrageous. The only way I can see that much money is if you had a manual tranny and they were gonna replace your clutch in there as well. Is it a stick or automatic? Lobo had a somewhat ok idea. The mexicans and asians all compete really hard with each other. Some places just whore themselves out just to keep doors open. If you look in the penny saver, a lot of times you will ads for clutch replacments for like a couple hundred bucks. Thats usually on rear whell drive cars/trucks (which you have) and it should be MAX $30 or $40 more to replace the rear main seal. But if you got an automatic theres no reason why it should be that high. thats easy shit. Shit if you lived a hellava lot closer, Id come fix it for you

HRD
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Would a malfunctioning speed sensor affect transmission performance?

Most definetly. Some speed sensors are located inside the tranny, some are on axles blah blah. Newer trannys rely on the speed sensor to know when its supposed to shift. If the tranny cant pick up that signal FROM the speed sensor, its not gonna shift correctly

HRD
 
That makes sense. I took it to a shop and replaced the crank seal, then they told me my speed sensor was leaking and should be replaced so I gave them the OK to do it. I never had any probs with it until now....I still see trans fluid on the ground and sometimes my speed gauge will randomly drop to 0 and when it does it feels like I only have 1 gear. I took it back once already and its still having the same problems. Blah
 
Thats definetly not right. Either they got a defective speed sensor (which is not that un-common in the parts world)Or they messed something up. Its DEFINETLY on them to fix it. Specially if you didnt have that problem before. They are COMPLETLEY obligated to make it right or give you your money back.

Think about it like this. You paid someone to perform a service (in this case for you its non-sexual), they performed said service and didnt live up to what they said they were gonna do. You still have leaks (granted which may or may not be the same sensor) But now you developed a new problem that could ultimatly cause more issues.

If I were you, Id take my car there tomorrow morning, drop it off and tell them, dont call me till you fix it. And when I come to pick it up, I wont be paying for anything!!

If they give you ANY shit what so ever, you tell them that the Bureau of Automotive Repair will be notified and they will handle the situation for you.

The Bureau of Automotive Repair is like the better business bureau for the automotive world. This is ALL these guys do is regulate this kind of thing. They are a government controled agency that literally has the power to walk into ANY shop and completly shut it down. They can fine the shop tons of money and is really bad for them. check em out here http://www.autorepair.ca.gov/. I suggest calling them to get a ball rolling if needed. They dont wait no 4 to 6 weeks type shit, they jump on it right away!!

But give the shop at least one more chance to fix thier mistake. Id be interested in knowing what they are telling you as far as why they cant fix it. and why do they insist on giving it back to you still fucked up!!
 
HRD- lately when my car is about to shift from either 3rd or 4th it kind of jerks a little. Really don't know how else to describe it.. It only does it every now and then though. Should I have it checked or something? It's starting to annoy me, lol and I know nothing about transmissions.

Please help.
 
Trannys are a weakness of mine. Theres only very few things you can do to a tranny to maintain it. Its actually a very simple contraption but can be tough to diagnos.

If I were you Id at least check the fluid level to make sure its ok. You must have the car on a flat surface, with the engine RUNNING. Pull the dipstick out and see if you need fluid.

Another thing to look for is to see if your fluid is dirty. Tranny fluid DOES NOT LUBRICATE, it cleans and pressureizes.When you pull out the dipstick, wipe whats on the stick on the back of your hand. If it looks more of a dirty brown (as opposed to a nice red color) then its dirty. and needs to be changed. Trans missions have a filter inside when you drop the tranny pan down. over many miles that filter needs to be changed.

Honestly that may or may not fix the problem. Trannys are very tricky and there are several sensors that run the thing. If it only happens once in a while, Id say its nothing to worry bout right now. But its not gonna get better on its own. So the longer you wait the more damage you can do to your tranny.

HRD
 
That makes sense. I took it to a shop and replaced the crank seal, then they told me my speed sensor was leaking and should be replaced so I gave them the OK to do it. I never had any probs with it until now....I still see trans fluid on the ground and sometimes my speed gauge will randomly drop to 0 and when it does it feels like I only have 1 gear. I took it back once already and its still having the same problems. Blah

I really curious to know what happened with your hot rod. You get it fixed? You better have grown a pair of balls and stood up and handled business like I told your punk kilik ass to!!

HRD
 
Well since they already tried to fix it twice I don't even want to deal with them. The speed sensor problem has only happened a couple random times and I know they're gonna say "well we cleaned it up a little, seems to be working fine now" so I don't know maaan...i was just talking with Krayzie about how we don't trust our cars down to socal
 
well so long as the leaks stopped that you paid someone to fix is taken care of. If it happens more then you need to get ahold of the Bureau of Automotive Repair. The longer you wait tho, the harder it will be to get it fixed!!

HRD
 
HRD: Here is the left and right sides..

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From what I've read online it seems people think it's easier to just remove the entire front bumper.
 
oh wow....its part of the fuckin fender. Ill take a look more into this when I get home from work. Im super slammed atm!! I wont leave you hanging tho, bare with me and Ill back to ya later tonight!!

HRD
 
All right, heres what im interested in. Were you serious that the dealer only wants $100 to change it out? Cuz if so that says a lot about how difficult it is. Lemme run it down for you

All automotive shops run off an hourly rate. They average from state to state, region to region etc. But you can expect (in California at least) to pay anywhere from $100 to $150 an hour AVERAGE at the DEALER getting ur car fixed.

So lets do 4th grade math now. If dealership said that itd be $100 to change out your light, then I would expect that its ROUGHLY about an hours worth of labor to change it. Which leads ME to believe that changing your headlight cant be THAT difficult to where you need to take your bumper off.

I have quite a few friends at the GM dealerships. I can talk to one of them and see if they can do a few things for me

A: Gimmie a price to change just the headlight buld on a 2004 cadi CTS.
B: Gimmie some kind of diagram on how the headlight comes apart!!

Unfortunalty I didnt think about that till I was on my home from work already. Im usually super busy at work, so I will try my best to get ahold of one of them to help me out, and Ill relay the info to you.

If you wanna do me a favor. You can call me at work and remind me, cause I usually forget about that stuff. If you want, I aint pressurin ya, I promise to keep the purdy mouth jokes to a minimum. 619-281-1400 just ask for Dave.

HRD
 
Yeah, I was serious but it's not exactly 100, it's 85 bucks. I just rounded, lol. If I'm up I will give you a call to remind you. Thanks!
 
Al right, so I remembered to call someone.

I called the cadillac dealer, they said that its TRUE, you gotta take the bumper off, then taken apart the head lamp assembly!! If I were you, Id let the dealer do it. That way, if they fuck it up, theyll fix it right!!

I thought when you posted them pics and told me you had to take the bumper off, I thought it was the biggest bunch of bullshit Ive ever heard. But damn....that sucks!! Just for a fuckin bulb!!

I also took a better look at that internet "do it yourself" thing. And it looks like the jist of it. But they were doing a HID conversion. So what YOU have to do is not as elaborate as what they were doing!! Just take your time, and write shit down if you have to....I do all the time!!

HRD
 
Al right, so I remembered to call someone.

I called the cadillac dealer, they said that its TRUE, you gotta take the bumper off, then taken apart the head lamp assembly!! If I were you, Id let the dealer do it. That way, if they fuck it up, theyll fix it right!!

I thought when you posted them pics and told me you had to take the bumper off, I thought it was the biggest bunch of bullshit Ive ever heard. But damn....that sucks!! Just for a fuckin bulb!!

I also took a better look at that internet "do it yourself" thing. And it looks like the jist of it. But they were doing a HID conversion. So what YOU have to do is not as elaborate as what they were doing!! Just take your time, and write shit down if you have to....I do all the time!!

HRD

lolol. Cadillac knows how to make their money apparently. I'm SURE they could've made it easier to change a damn bulb. But thanks for looking into it for me. I appreciate it!
 
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