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mechanic robbed me what can i do ?

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jem music

Junior Member
before we get too far off the new parts which he did not install...did he keep them or return them?
he didnt install them and he did not return them. they were in my car when he took it and they're gone so is it safe to say he stole them from my car? i don't wanna see the kid in jail I just want my money back for the money I already gave him and parts and tow fees I had to pay to get my car home after he dumped it in a bad area and told me where i could find it.

if anyone is interested in reading the text messages i will put it up so you can get a better idea of what went on.
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
So what if the guy says;

The parts were in the car when I dumped it where you picked it up.

While there might be some criminal actions here, unless the da would seriously consider filing charges, it’s meaningless. Given the situation as explained by you I suspect the da would be reluctant to file charges. For the immediate issues I see a civil action possible. I would report the guy to the appropriate state licensing agencies and/or the state’s attorney general. They may consider prosecuting him for the licensing and business issues.
 

jem music

Junior Member
So what if the guy says;

The parts were in the car when I dumped it where you picked it up.

While there might be some criminal actions here, unless the da would seriously consider filing charges, it’s meaningless. Given the situation as explained by you I suspect the da would be reluctant to file charges. For the immediate issues I see a civil action possible. I would report the guy to the appropriate state licensing agencies and/or the state’s attorney general. They may consider prosecuting him for the licensing and business issues.
well he wont say he left the parts in the car because that would mean he didnt install them like he was paid to do and thats the story hes going with that he did do the job.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I am curious - how do you know he didn't put in the parts? It wouldn't necessarily be obvious.
 

jem music

Junior Member
original text messages between me and the mechanic

ID:1
Name:+XXXXX
Phone Number:+MMMMMMMM
Contents:
2018-01-12 13:06:05 Received
Its dav the mechanic i lost my phone

2018-01-12 13:38:26 Received
Are we getting that car done today or what if not im scheduling work

2018-01-12 15:37:23 Sent
Not today D XX I blew my back out last night and been in bed on Meds. Give me a day or 2.i just saw this I was sleeping

2018-01-12 15:48:23 Sent
Can I reach you on this phone ?

2018-01-12 15:51:28 Sent
Also need an address so I can try and get a tow truck to see how many miles away you are

2018-01-12 15:52:09 Received
BBBB but i put off work for the few days counting on this anyway to grab some of the money so i can pay a few bills and ill get a tow truck set up for a few days from now

2018-01-12 15:56:20 Received
I got the tow truck handled but my adress is KKKKKKKKKKKKK

2018-01-12 15:58:31 Sent
Does this mean I don't have to pay for a tow truck ?

2018-01-12 16:01:28 Received
Im talking to my buddy now ill know more in a few minutes

2018-01-12 16:02:26 Sent
Ok looked it up it's about 8 miles away

2018-01-12 16:44:12 Sent
Can you get truck todAy

2018-01-12 16:45:32 Received
No not today cause he dont have the truck today

2018-01-12 16:58:29 Sent
Ok let me know when. Try for tomorrow

2018-01-12 16:58:54 Received
He suppose to call me soon

2018-01-12 16:59:04 Sent
Ok

2018-01-12 17:17:04 Received
Is it driveable at all if not i have a tow rope the guy with the tow truck isnt answering

2018-01-12 17:18:13 Sent
Not driveable

2018-01-12 17:20:54 Sent
Dead battery so no lights

2018-01-12 17:23:44 Received
I have battery top post or side post

2018-01-12 17:24:09 Sent
Top

2018-01-12 17:24:52 Sent
Let me see if I can find a tow

2018-01-12 17:25:44 Received
I got a good battery thats top post

2018-01-12 18:03:12 Sent
What do you have to pull it with

2018-01-12 18:04:19 Received
I have a toyota 4 runner

2018-01-12 18:04:32 Received
My buddy is willing to pull it

2018-01-12 18:09:05 Sent
Ok so come get it

2018-01-12 18:09:24 Sent
Bring battery

2018-01-12 18:09:49 Received
You got the deposit right

2018-01-12 18:12:49 Sent
Of course

2018-01-12 18:36:27 Received
Ok omw

2018-01-12 18:53:36 Received
Here

2018-01-12 18:54:45 Sent
Give me a sec

2018-01-12 18:55:21 Received
Ok

2018-01-12 21:13:32 Sent
Make it there ok

2018-01-12 21:14:10 Received
Yes sir

2018-01-12 21:18:27 Sent
??

2018-01-14 17:18:42 Sent
D give an update.. did you get the heads off yet? Call me PPPPPPPPPPPP

ID:1
Name:D Mechanic
Phone Number:+TTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Contents:
2017-12-25 17:37:26 Sent
Am almost ready to get the car done just need to buy the Parts. Will let you know when am ready. Also the car needs to be towed

2017-12-25 17:39:21 Received
I do not have a trailer at the moment

2017-12-25 17:40:14 Sent
We will figure that out when time comes

2017-12-25 17:40:37 Received
I sold mine a few weeks ago due to never using it

2017-12-25 19:29:33 Sent
Not in a rush but how long do you think it's gonna take you

2017-12-25 20:02:04 Received
Couple days

2017-12-28 19:40:49 Received
Sounds good no problem

2018-01-05 11:48:43 Sent
Just got the Parts in
Will be ready for you next week had to lend my son some money. Hit when am ready

2018-01-05 12:40:12 Received
Sounds good im ready

2018-01-10 18:32:25 Received
You have a date around when you wanna drop it off

2018-01-18 16:14:23 Sent
That's something that you should have checked before installing. Take the head of am gonna get it checked and we will go from there

2018-01-18 16:16:24 Received
as said earlier cracks aint always visible to the naked eye technically i should charge more for pulling it apart twice i did wat i was paid to do which was head gaskets thats all you said and i have messages to prove it

2018-01-18 17:02:33 Received
Ill be on the road tommorow its no big deal ill do some service calls

2018-01-18 17:02:33 Sent
Before the job we agreed half on start and balance when completed. I would like to get the head checked out and if its warped that something that you over looked being your doing the job. If there's a crack nobody's to blame and I'll get another head.

2018-01-18 17:02:53 Received
Just figured it woulda been easier to grab some money from you that im owed and stay home to work on your car

2018-01-18 17:05:01 Received
I did my job honestly i was paid for head gaskets so really the jobs completed im actually being nice pulling it back apart at no charge

2018-01-18 17:12:35 Sent
I don't think the job was done the correct way or we wouldn't be here. I think that head might be warped and should have been taken to a shop. That's why I wanna get it checked out.

2018-01-18 17:15:25 Sent
If you feel that you don't wanna finish the job let me know so I can go get it.

2018-01-18 17:17:54 Received
And thats perfectly fine i have no issue with it goin to a shop i want your vehicle done right all i asked for was some of the money im owed

2018-01-18 17:18:36 Received
Either way it goes im owed money man i did my part the vehicle is back together and running id like to keep you as a customer which is why im not charging anything more to pull it back apart im trying to be fair

2018-01-18 17:19:08 Received
The car runs and drives just misses

2018-01-18 17:21:52 Received
Which means i did my job correct

2018-01-18 17:22:25 Sent
I think there's coolant leaking back in. And would love to check it with my camera. ThAt would mean it's warped or craked.

2018-01-18 17:24:53 Received
Theres doubt its warped or cracked i did a compression test

2018-01-18 17:25:00 Received
I have a compression gauge

2018-01-18 17:27:00 Received
No doubt

2018-01-18 17:27:01 Sent
Do you remember what the numbers were on the cylinders

2018-01-18 17:27:12 Received
The head has to go to a shop

2018-01-18 17:27:24 Received
No doubt

2018-01-18 17:27:45 Received
That i dont we did it a few days ago ive had alot go on

2018-01-18 17:28:56 Received
But i can for sure tell you cylinder numbers in the morning once i get some money

2018-01-18 17:29:02 Sent
Did you scan the car

2018-01-18 17:31:08 Received
No scanning it is pointless i will if you want me to tho im old school i have gauges and equipment to tell me whats wrong ive been doin this a long long time

2018-01-18 17:31:11 Sent
And what codes are you getting

2018-01-18 17:32:38 Sent
A pro level scanner should be used

2018-01-18 17:32:42 Received
I said i didnt scan it i will tommorow if ya want me to

2018-01-18 17:33:37 Received
Thats smarter than a scannee the motor has low compression its a head

2018-01-18 17:34:17 Received


2018-01-18 17:34:19 Received
Im tellimg you what the issue is

2018-01-18 17:34:30 Received
I have a lost references

2018-01-18 17:34:40 Received
List

2018-01-18 17:40:21 Sent
So you don't think coolant is getting back in

2018-01-18 17:40:36 Received
All im asking is some of the money im owed to pay bills im mot charging anymore to do double the work like most shops would

2018-01-18 17:41:15 Received
No its a head im telling you

2018-01-18 17:42:22 Received
I gurantee itt

2018-01-18 18:03:13 Sent
Tell you what you bring me the head tomorrow and ill give you 200

2018-01-18 18:09:14 Received
Buddy i need the money in the am im coming to get it tonight if possible i 200 still isnt enough but im working with you

2018-01-18 18:10:22 Received
Look at all i did for you before two days for 100 bucks amd drove to M for ya im not out to do ya dirty

2018-01-18 18:14:09 Received
If its cool with you ima run and grab the money from you

2018-01-18 18:14:47 Sent
Not possible would have to be tomorrow

2018-01-18 18:15:24 Received
It has to be early in the mornin

2018-01-18 18:15:30 Received
I have bills due

2018-01-18 18:15:43 Received
If not im goin out and doin other work

2018-01-18 18:16:18 Sent
We all bills my brother

2018-01-18 18:17:10 Received
Around 9 am good ?

2018-01-18 18:17:24 Sent
I need that head so we can be done with this

2018-01-18 18:17:30 Received
Ill go pay my few bills and come home to pull the head off

2018-01-19 18:27:25 Sent
? This morning you said you were halfway done ? Whats going on man

2018-01-19 18:28:54 Received
Its coming apart im sorry man

2018-01-20 12:11:01 Sent
It's noon already I need those heads asap

2018-01-20 15:32:15 Sent
D you gotta let me know what's going on. This dodging me ain't gonna cut it man. My neighbor who's a cop told me if I didn't hear from you he'd step in. Don't wanna make trouble just communicate with me. I could have had the heads done today you screwed me man. You need to get back to me

2018-01-20 16:33:28 Received
Im working on it dude i can only do so much i did what you asked which was install head gaskets

2018-01-20 16:36:20 Sent
I just need to here from you bro. I just want to know what's going on. That's all you have to is just keep me informed

2018-01-20 16:38:40 Received
Ive been busy had a family deal today

2018-01-20 16:40:55 Received
Ive been busy had a family deal today

2018-01-20 16:42:07 Sent
Understandable just don't keep in the dark man. You have my car 8 days let's get this done

2018-01-24 15:58:31 Sent
Can you just drop it off back to me where you picked it up?

2018-01-24 16:33:29 Received
Im busy and havent been paid im doin no more work
 
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jem music

Junior Member
I am curious - how do you know he didn't put in the parts? It wouldn't necessarily be obvious.
pryer to him picking up the car i had taken off the right head cover and when he was gonna pick it up i installed it back but left all the bolts loose. when i got it back i checked the engine and the bolts were loose like i left them. if the job was done those bolts had to be torqed down . then i checked the valve cover gaskets and noticed the old ones still on there they were never changed. the reason i know this is because my water pump blew and sparyed coolant all over the engine before he got it. that same coolant is all over the old gaskets and if he did the job they should be shiney black and look new with nothing on it. i have pics
 

justalayman

Senior Member
What, exactly, did you contract with him to do?

I also noticed he said this,

2018-01-18 18:10:22 Received
Look at all i did for you before two days for 100 bucks amd drove to M for ya im not out to do ya dirty
Which you didn’t object to.

So how much was the contract actually for?
 

jem music

Junior Member
What, exactly, did you contract with him to do?

I also noticed he said this,



Which you didn’t object to.

So how much was the contract actually for?
"Look at all I did for you before two days for 100 bucks and drove to M for ya I'm not out to do ya dirty " <--- he had done work once before on my car he replaced the water pump and power steering pump and charged me 100 which is a very good price so I let him do the job. while doing the job he broke the fan pully trying to take off the fan clutch so I had to buy a new one. after he was done he said any problem call me I guaranty my work. a few hours later I noticed power steering fluid leaking. I checked under the hood and there's a clip that holds the fluid tank to the pump and the wrong clip was installed causing it to leak all the fluid out. I called him and told him then he says oh yeah the original clip broke
so I replaced it with another kind of clip because the auto part store doesn't carry that clip. so he told me to order the clip from Mercedes dealer and I will go pick it up for you just give me gas money and I did give him gas money. so he's just talking out his butt when he said that in the text messages because it was his own fault. the head gasket job was agreed at 900.00 450 deposit when he took the car and the other 450 when the job was finished but it didnt work out that way.
a few days later he asked for 250.00 more and I said no I will pay you when you're done but he said hed stop working if I didnt pay him so I gave him 180.00 cause I wanted my car done.


What, exactly, did you contract with him to do? <--- a head gasket job that consists of tearing the engine down removing both cylinder heads and replacing all the gaskets head gasket, intake gasket, exhaust gaskets, and valve gaskets. now any good mechanic in his right mind doing a big job like this would inspect the heads and check for any cracks damage or warpage to these heads and any smart mechanic would want to cover his own behind and have them checked in a machine shop and have them resurfaced. all the above procedures are part of this job. what he's saying is you paid me to put gaskets in and I did that. what he did was cut corners and just slapped on new gaskets like he said he did but didnt and put the engine back together. so if there was damage to the cylinder head the same problem is going to happen all over again as it did because the job was done poorly and not done correctly.
 
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justalayman

Senior Member
he had done work once before on my car he replaced the water pump and power steering pump and charged me 100 which is a very good price so
yet your argument as to why you knew he had not changed the gasket was there was coolant on it.


d. the reason i know this is because my water pump blew and sparyed coolant all over the engine before he got it. that same coolant is all over the old gaskets a
So how long ago was the water pump change? Has it run since then? Something just doesn’t sound right with your statements. And you do know that when you do a head gasket you will have spillage when disassembling the engine and one could spill when refilling.

And he did work before yet you didn’t know where he lived? Again, something doesn’t seem right.


few days later he asked for 250.00 more an
Hmmm. Something else doesn’t seem right. Oh ya, here is is,

cant keep working on your car if you don't give me 200. I tell him to look I just want my car done and am only giving you 180. he said fine
And through all of that you refused to answer this simple question I asked:

What, exactly, did you contract with him to do?
If you said; I need new head gaskets to me, I would replace the head gaskets. I wouldn’t have the heads checked for flatness. I wouldn’t have them zyglo’d. That should be done when changing head gaskets but hey, I’ve had a lot of people say; this is what I want done. They didn’t want me to diagnose the problem, just perform the work requested. If that is what you did, I wouldn’t pull a head back off for free. That wasn’t part of the quoted work.

Anyway, when it comes down to the base question;

I doubt you will get the cops or da to bother with this. The state may take a look at it.


If the guy took parts; sue him
If he charged for work that he didn’t do; sue him

Don’t forget as plaintiff you have to prove your case.
 

jem music

Junior Member
yet your argument as to why you knew he had not changed the gasket was there was coolant on it.
( thought i explained this )
when the water pump blew 2 months pryer its sprayed coolant all over the engine
a very noticeable white spray almost dried like paint everywhere even on the valve gaskets. that same spary is still on the gaskets if they were changed they would be black in color new condition. trust me I have pics they weren't changed.

So how long ago was the water pump change?
( about 2 months pryer)
Has it run since then?
Something just doesn’t sound right with your statements.
(what are you not getting?)
And you do know that when you do a head gasket you will have spillage when disassembling the engine and one could spill when refilling.
(the valve covers are nowhere near the coolant reservoir so why would coolant spill on them)
And he did work before yet you didn’t know where he lived? Again, something doesn’t seem right.
(when he did the water pump he came to my house and did the work there .since the other job was bigger he said he had to do it in his garage where he had all the tools to do it. he did give me an adress that i looked up after the fact and it was to an abandond house.)


Hmmm. Something else doesn’t seem right. Oh ya, here is is,



And through all of that you refused to answer this simple question I asked:
( i did answer your questions read carefully)


If you said; I need new head gaskets to me, I would replace the head gaskets. I wouldn’t have the heads checked for flatness. I wouldn’t have them zyglo’d. That should be done when changing head gaskets but hey, I’ve had a lot of people say; this is what I want done. They didn’t want me to diagnose the problem, just perform the work requested. If that is what you did, I wouldn’t pull a head back off for free. That wasn’t part of the quoted work.
( if you did a head gasket job without checking that head you would just be another one of these crappy wanna be mechanics who should be sued. and I didnt tell him to tear it down again that's something he said we would do WHY? cause he knew he screwed up.
Anyway, when it comes down to the base question;

I doubt you will get the cops or da to bother with this. The state may take a look at it.
(don't want the cops involved never said I did I asked for advice to see if I had a case to take him to small claims court.)

If the guy took parts; sue him
If he charged for work that he didn’t do; sue him

Don’t forget as plaintiff you have to prove your case.
(i have pics and video and the text messages that i hope they look at)
 

justalayman

Senior Member
the valve covers are nowhere near the coolant reservoir so why would coolant spill on them)
never seen what happens when you spill coolant on a spinning fan or an accessory drive belt? It simply can&#8217;t see coolant spilled months ago, if the car has been running, still being present. I get the point of your statement though and you may be looking at something that does prove your claim. I&#8217;m not looking at it so all I can do is look for possible alternate reasons for what you&#8217;re seeing because if there other possibilities, then your proof becomes more of a suggested possibility.

You should be able to determine if a head gasket was replaced by looking at the head to block mating point. If the head hasn&#8217;t been removed (taking into consideration this is a 16 year old car), there is more than accumulated dirt/oil/fluids often to the point of not being able to see the separation point. That separation point would be clearly discernible if the head has been removed. You can usually see the edge of the new gasket as well and it looks like a new gasket.

Along with that, (not knowing too many details about this engine), if it&#8217;s a V engine (v6-v8) it&#8217;s almost guaranteed you have to remove the intake manifold. That means new gaskets there (see above for signs it was replaced). Almost always either the exhaust manifold has to be removed or disconnected from the exhaust system. There are almost always tell tale signs of bolts being removed (and that applies to any bolts that needed to be removed).




And no, you still did not answer my question of: precisely, what work did you contract him to perform. As I explained, replace head gaskets because that is what the customer determined in needed is hugely different than; investigate coolant leak. Suspected head gasket. Investigate possibility of warped block/head and cracks.

The first is a quick: open it up, clean up mating surfaces, toss on head gaskets and bolt it together.

The latter is: as it is disassembled look for sources of coolant leakage. Check heads for warpage, inform customer of need of additional work required if warpage discovered; perform cursory investigation for cracks in head and/or block.

Now if you wanted the head and/or block checked for cracks, like with zyglo or Magnaflux (depending on the type of metal) that is an entirely different job. I would generally tell a customer if I found no other sources of leaks this Should be done to attempt to discover the source of the leaks but even if there are other sources of leaks discovered, it is still a good idea to do it, especially if the engine overheated.

What is a days work in the short end to several days at the other end makes a world of difference in my quote.



if you did a head gasket job without checking that head you would just be another one of these crappy wanna be mechanics who should be sued. and I didnt tell him to tear it down again that's something he said we would do WHY? cause he knew he screwed up.
not if the customer said: just replace the head gaskets

I&#8217;ve done work for people that wanted the work done because they diagnosed it and they determined it was what was needed. I&#8217;ve done work for people simply because that&#8217;s what they wanted done (generally prophylactic in nature). If a customer wanted me to warranty my dkagnosis, they won&#8217;t TELL me what they want done but explain the problem and let me diagnose the issue.

I don&#8217;t know how many times I&#8217;ve had people tell me to replace an alternator or a battery only to have them back telling me they still have whatever problem the has before (that they never told me to start with) and expect me to remove the now used part and put their original part back on. It&#8217;s like; hey dude, if you wanted me to fix your car you needed to ask me to do that. You asked me to replace a part and that&#8217;s what I did.

Even worse is when people wanted me to install carry in parts and when they were bad out of the box or went bad during the retailers warranty period expect me to change out their part for free because it was under warranty. Well, I always warranted my work but guess what; there&#8217;s nothing wrong with my work. The part is installed just fine. It&#8217;s your part that went bad and I don&#8217;t warranty your part. I&#8217;ll r and r the part, just like before, and it will cost the same now as it did then. If you wanted me to warranty the part (which includes the labor), then I install my part.

So, if you told the guy: replace the head gaskets, then that&#8217;s what you get. If you wanted the guy to fix your car, then you contract for that. There is a world of difference in the two jobs.

With all of that said;

If you can support your claim he didn&#8217;t actually do the work and he kept parts you brought then yes, sue the dude. You should be able to determine if the head gasket was actually replaced or not. Take lots and lots of pictures to support your statements.
 
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jem music

Junior Member
never seen what happens when you spill coolant on a spinning fan or an accessory drive belt? It simply can’t see coolant spilled months ago, if the car has been running, still being present. I get the point of your statement though and you may be looking at something that does prove your claim. I’m not looking at it so all I can do is look for possible alternate reasons for what you’re seeing because if there other possibilities, then your proof becomes more of a suggested possibility.

You should be able to determine if a head gasket was replaced by looking at the head to block mating point. If the head hasn’t been removed (taking into consideration this is a 16 year old car), there is more than accumulated dirt/oil/fluids often to the point of not being able to see the separation point. That separation point would be clearly discernible if the head has been removed. You can usually see the edge of the new gasket as well and it looks like a new gasket.

Along with that, (not knowing too many details about this engine), if it’s a V engine (v6-v8) it’s almost guaranteed you have to remove the intake manifold. That means new gaskets there (see above for signs it was replaced). Almost always either the exhaust manifold has to be removed or disconnected from the exhaust system. There are almost always tell tale signs of bolts being removed (and that applies to any bolts that needed to be removed).




And no, you still did not answer my question of: precisely, what work did you contract him to perform. As I explained, replace head gaskets because that is what the customer determined in needed is hugely different than; investigate coolant leak. Suspected head gasket. Investigate possibility of warped block/head and cracks.

The first is a quick: open it up, clean up mating surfaces, toss on head gaskets and bolt it together.

The latter is: as it is disassembled look for sources of coolant leakage. Check heads for warpage, inform customer of need of additional work required if warpage discovered; perform cursory investigation for cracks in head and/or block.

Now if you wanted the head and/or block checked for cracks, like with zyglo or Magnaflux (depending on the type of metal) that is an entirely different job. I would generally tell a customer if I found no other sources of leaks this Should be done to attempt to discover the source of the leaks but even if there are other sources of leaks discovered, it is still a good idea to do it, especially if the engine overheated.

What is a days work on the short end of several days at the other end makes a world of difference in my quote?



not if the customer said: just replace the head gaskets

I’ve done work for people that wanted the work done because they diagnosed it and they determined it was what was needed. I’ve done work for people simply because that’s what they wanted to be done (generally prophylactic in nature). If a customer wanted me to warranty my diagnosis, they won’t TELL me what they want to be done but explain the problem and let me diagnose the issue.

I don’t know how many times I’ve had people tell me to replace an alternator or a battery only to have them back telling me they still have whatever problem the has before (that they never told me to start with) and expect me to remove the now used part and put their original part back on. It’s like; hey dude, if you wanted me to fix your car you needed to ask me to do that. You asked me to replace a part and that’s what I did.

Even worse is when people wanted me to install carry in parts and when they were bad out of the box or went bad during the retailer's warranty period expect me to change out their part for free because it was under warranty. Well, I always warranted my work but guess what; there’s nothing wrong with my work. The part is installed just fine. It’s your part that went bad and I don’t warranty your part. I’ll r and r the part, just like before, and it will cost the same now as it did then. If you wanted me to warranty the part (which includes the labor), then I install my part.

So, if you told the guy: replace the head gaskets, then that’s what you get. If you wanted the guy to fix your car, then you contract for that. There is a world of difference in the two jobs.

With all of that said;

If you can support your claim he didn’t actually do the work and he kept parts you brought then yes, sue the dude. You should be able to determine if the head gasket was actually replaced or not. Take lots and lots of pictures to support your statements.
ok, let me try and explain this again .. if am a mechanic and you asked me to do a head gasket job for you here's whats part of this job. remove the heads clean the block surface also inspect it make sure everything looks ok. then I would inspect the cylinder heads and I would use a straight edge and a feeler gauge to check for any gaps between the straight edge and the surface. now I have spoken to 3 mechanics and they all said that any time you remove a cylinder it should always be resurfaced. now this clown who did my car didnt check jack sh! all he did was slap the gaskets on and that is an incomplete job. has a mechanic he should know this I should have to tell him how to do the job lol. am not a mechanic and even I know that the heads had to be machined. I knew the head gaskets were blown because I stuck a camera in the wells and seen the coolant in the cylinders that's why it wouldn't start. send me your email and ill send you pics and then you tell me if a head job was done. am 51 years old and am not gonna make things up. I liked the kid and don't know why he did me so dirty. I ordered all new parts 10 pcs in total all new gaskets for this job. the kid just didnt does the job why I don't know. this is a 13-hour job and he kept my car for 12 days. didnt even have the courtesy of being there to give me the car in person. he dumped it under a tree in a bad area with the door open. then he tells me the car is drivable when indeed it was not. the tensioner pulley was broken the coil packs where just hanging and vacuum lines were unplugged. that was done intentionally. I had to pay another 75 bucks to get it home now is that a nice thing to do?
if the job was done right we wouldn't be here talking about this. him saying well I just changed the gaskets like you asked well now that's plain stupid. am sure he thought that I was expecting him to pay to take them to the machine shop and that wasn't the case. hes the mechanic and should have recommended those heads get checked out just to be safe and I would have agreed and paid for that. when you take your car to get an oil change the guy doing the job is also doing a visual and if he sees something wrong he's gonna let you know and even show you cause that's what good mechanics do . and yes I have video and pictures and they don't lie.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Whoa, slow down there champ. If there was water/coolant IN the cylinders, it's entirely possible that your engine was already hydrolocked, which could cause MUCH more damage, to the point of destroying the engine.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
Ok, let me try and explain this again .. if am a mechanic and you asked me to do a head gasket job for you here's whats part of this job.
You’re still wrong. There is nothing that legally defines “head gasket job”. You can state all day long what you believe it should include but unless what you believe should be included is specified, it didn’t include anything the mechanic doesn’t specifically agree to. In its most basic statement (which is apparently what we’re dealing with, it means changing the head gaskets. Everything else is extra.

Your three mechanics are wrong in my opmion . Unless there is a need to resurface the head there is no reason to do it. In fact since it reduces the volume of the chamber it should not be done unless needed. While I personally check for flat, unless it is needing to be machined, there are many adequate methods of cleaning the mating surface. Depending on how much of the surface is removed when they are machined, in V block engines, you may also have to kill the intake manifold also. When milling the heads it moves the intake manifold mating surface closer to the block. Because of the v of the block, this makes the area where the manifold sets narrower and as such, can make is such the intake manifold wil not fit properly or seal properly.


While you may not be a mechanic, I have worked as an ASE certified and state licensed mechanic. I did my first engine tear down before I was a teenager (chev small block (283)) it had a hole in a piston.

But you are talking about legal issues here and;

A contract is (in the most basic terms) where two (or more parties) agree to perform as agreed between the parties. That means “a head gasket job” is whatever is agreed upon by the parties. You do not get to impose obligations he has not agreed to because you believe that is what should be included.




Btw; you seemed to ignore checking the block deck for flat. Especially with an aluminum block you should check at the threaded head bolt holes. You can lift the area around the bolt. That would require machining of the block deck.


So where you are; sue the guy and make your case. He’ll get to make his. Judge decides who wins.
 

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