How long does it take to repair a head gasket?
You don’t repair a head gasket, you replace it.Once I had a rally car - a bit of a ratty old junker if the truth be told - that had a 2.3 litre overhead cam engine. It was a bit like this, only this one is way nicer:Anyway I was heading off to do a rally on some Friday night. On the Thursday, the day before, I took it out for a blast around the lanes to shake down any last-minute faults, and blew the head gasket. It was too late to do anything about it that night, so next morning, I got up at the crack of dawn, stripped the engine down to the point of having the head off (it was OHC, so that involved also removing the cambox, timing belts, etc. plus the exhaust manifold, inlet manifold and carburettors) By then it was almost 9am, so I drove to the nearest big town - 25 miles away - to get a replacement head gasket set. 25 miles back, and by 10am had the head all cleaned and ready to be reassembled. Engine back together and running by 12pm, I then had to drive it 250 miles to where the rally started. It all went smoothly and I made it with plenty of time to spare.So the answer to your question, for me, on that occasion, for this car, was about 6 hours, including an hour to fetch the parts. Sometimes what you need, apart from the basic skills, which in my case don’t amount to all that much, is a great big incentive!As I recall, the rally ended in disaster, but that’s another story.
Did the shop do something wrong with my Volvo repairs?
Car had no symptoms at all then today, my 2002 Volvo S60 showed a warning message "overvoltage stop safely". A Volvo forum said alternator. A franchise/chain shop said alternator was 11/13 so ok but battery was dead. I asked if alternator could be the problem. They said no. They installed a new battery @ $154.00 I got back on the highway , drove 20 miles then got new message "El.powersystem service required" then next "Battery voltage low" . I went back to the shop, they replaced my alternator @ $414.00. I asked if they test drove it, they said no. I drove a mile and a loud noise (from pulley) happened and car slowed then died. It restarted fine, I went back to shop; the tensioner pulley was wobbly as heck, they want to replace it. Question is, do you think there was a possibly a problem with the alternator install that caused the pulley to become warped? I know nothing about cars. Additional info is car has 118,000 miles on it and had orig alternator. Help! and Thank you!!!
Everyone's warning me against buying a 2006 Volvo S40 2.4i- 53 000kms. why does volvo have a bad reputation?
volvo has a great reputation for safety, and having well built cars, unfortunately it has become too well known for expensive engine and transmission problems, one reason is because all parts are made in another country, and have to be shipped over here, this adds greatly to the cost on both big and small items, then you have a volvo owner, who finds an oil leak, no problem, except the five dollar part, takes 1,200 dollars in labor to install. then there is the transmission issue, often times new transmissions did not work right, so you rebuild it , using expensive imported parts, and five or ten thousand miles later, it has more major issues, so long story short, you have your tranny, or your engine rebilt 3 or 4 or 5 times, all with the same or similar problem, at what point, do you realize, that you can buy a nice, long running toyota or a nissan or a subaru, take a nice vacation, and still have money left over, than trying to keep your volvo on the road, and if that is not enough for you, not all mechanics can work on them, so add this to the mix, you almost always need a volvo dealer, which does not help the price of repairs, and even if you find a shop, that does have a volvo mechanic, ALL VOLVO PARTS, COME THROUGH THE DEALER ANYWAY. would you rather spend 20 grand on a nice subaru, take a 10 grand vacation, and still have 10 grand? or buy a turbo charged volvo that runs great, when it wants too, but is known for break downs, and parts are only available from an expensive dealer?? your choice,, what would you do?
Is the volvo 240 a good first car for my teenage son?
The old Volvo 240 is a great car. It is also a great car for a teenager. The car has a 4 cylinder engine and is not that hard on gas at all. I bought one as a gas saver to drive to work in place of my diesel truck back when the gas prices first began to spike and the car did just fine on fuel. Parts for the car are easy to come by as well. You can do a Yahoo search for Volvo 240 parts and come up with countless web sites. IPD and voluparts just to name a few. There is no need to take a Volvo 240 to a Volvo mechanic either. They have been around for so long that any shop can do the work on them. Even the most novice of do it yourselfers can do some repairs on the 240 with the repair manual available at any auto zone. Besides all of this they are a very dependable and safe car. This is very evident when looking at Volvo 240's for sale on e-bay and other places with mileages in excess of 2 and 3 hundred thousand miles. Furthermore, the old square Volvo 240 is a very classy looking car( I wish they still made them). If the car is priced right I think you would do well by buying it. Good luck and happy motoring.
Do import shops charge more than general repair shops?
my friend has an 89 mercedes. She takes it to an import specialist because her dad tells her too. But it seems like they charge her higher than usual amounts. For example, she had an alternator bearing replaced and they charged her $350. I told her to take it to a general repair shop because it would be cheaper, but I honestly don't know if this is true or not. Is it?
Why is my Volvo 850 overheating?
My 1996 Volvo 850's thermostat is showing the car is overheating. The gauge goes from halfway to 3/4 of the way. I don't know if it is related but recently if i stop at a red light or idle and then start to drive the exhaust is smokey. Also, last night i went on a leisurely drive home from my girlfriend's house which is usually a very easy 10 minute drive on my car. I had to put it into neutral and coast home because the thermostat was getting so high. What's wrong with my car and what do i need to get fixed exactly
As a mechanic, what is the most common thing you see car owners doing wrong?
That's a fun question! Also irritating, because the subject really makes my blood boil sometimes. The most common thing that I see a car owner doing wrong is self-prescribing repairs.What do I mean by self-prescribing? I mean when a car owner brings their vehicle to a repair shop and says “I need a new battery for my car”, or whatever part, but then describes something entirely different. Let's use the car battery as an example.On a regular basis I have the following conversation with customers:Customer: I need a new battery for my car.Me: Sounds good. What makes you think you need a new battery?Customer: It wouldn't start today.Me: *red flag* Can you describe what it was doing?Customer: Uh, yeah. I put the key in, I turned it, the engine sounded like it was trying to start, but it wouldn't.Me: You don't need a battery, there is something else going on.Customer: No, I need a battery, it wouldn't start.*5 Minutes of arguing later*Me: Okay, we’ll put a battery in it, but it's not going to fix the problem.*customer feels like they won**30 minutes later*Me: New battery is installed. That'll be $150. Thanks. Here's a phone number to a tow company so you can get your car towed out of my shop.Customer: What?! I thought you fixed it.Me: No… I put a battery in it, and now it's stuck in my garage. And you owe me $150.Customers: I'm not paying you!Me: Then I guess your car belongs to me now.This might seem trivial, but this happens EVERY DAY. People think that they know more about performing automotive repairs or diagnostics than me, yet need and want me to fix their cars. Here's the thing: don't argue with me, listen to what I'm saying. If you don't like it, please feel free to get a second opinion. I’m not going to waste my time and money, or the time of my employees, throwing parts at a vehicle that you tell me to. And if I do, you're going to pay for it, no matter the outcome.Phew. Thanks for listening!This is crazy, everyone! 4,000+ upvotes! Thank you all for the support!
What legal recourse do I have?The seat belt on my Volvo S60 malfunctioned, and Volvo won't fix it...?
I would say, probably not going to be very successful on any legal action. You could try writing to Volvo corporate and pleading your case, but honestly once your warranty has expired, your pretty much out of luck. I am sure it happened through no fault of your own, and they are just using the lack of maintenance at Volvo as an excuse, but that is just how things are with warranties. (In other words, even if you did do all your repairs at Volvo, they would have just found a different excuse to use). If there was a recall, they would have just repaired it while it was in the shop, as they are legally required to do. Plus they get paid by corporate Volvo to do the recall repair, so there would be no reason for them not to mention it or do it. When purchasing your next vehicle, take the cost of out of warranty repairs into consideration before you decide on a vehicle. note to Kelly at bottom: Pre tensioners are a pyrotechnic device. They actually cost about 500 dollars and the rest of her cost is labor. They cannot even sell them to you unless you are a certified to work with them. They are very similar to the device used in airbags. Check out the price on an airbag replacement.
What's a cheap but good auto repair shop in San Francisco for Volvos?
Cheap Volvo auto repair in San Francisco? Volvo's are generally expensive to repair and San Fransisco has one of the highest labor rates for auto repair in the country, so this is a tough one. Although most shops can perform brake work on your Volvo, I suggest going to a Volvo specialist. Ask that they use Volvo parts, and if they don't they should be confident that the brake parts will perform well on your Volvo. I've replaced many brake parts on Volvos because a shop installed aftermarket parts, only to have them cause all kinds of issues like squeaks, clunking and grinding.If everything goes well, you may find a shop that you can rely on, especially if you run into issues later on, which is very important!Here are a couple Volvo shops in SF:http://repairpal.com/exclusively...http://repairpal.com/volvo-centr...