Car had trouble starting, then turned off at stop or low
Discussion
I didn't say I couldn't top off the oil myself. What happened was I had the issue of car losing power (even though engine revved),
and I took it into the shop to ask them about it to check, and on the spot he saw engine oil was low and he just topped it off for me without telling me how much it was going to cost etc. I walk to the counter to leave and they tell me 33 bucks LOL.
and I took it into the shop to ask them about it to check, and on the spot he saw engine oil was low and he just topped it off for me without telling me how much it was going to cost etc. I walk to the counter to leave and they tell me 33 bucks LOL.
Alright ladies and gentlemen, got the update just now on my phone from the shop.
Mind you everything is in a foreign language so that's part of the biggest problems dealing with mechanics here.
Even though I told them to just check and tell me what needs to be fixed and an estimate before doing anything, they didn't
listen. They had my car there for 2 days. Finally today I got a text message and they sent me a photo of the bill.
I translated it into english so this is what it apparently said:
$40 for parts
$105 for labor
total + taxes came out to $160 (currency here would translate to about 110 pounds).
They changed the rocker gasket (don't know what that is but I assume that is for the oil leak around the engine)
Plug wiring, spark plug (3), and locker gasket (again, don't know what that is but probably for the oil leak around the engine).
The spark plugs were only 5 bucks each (15 bucks total), plug wires were 15 and locker gasket was 10.
Labor seems to be bit high for what they had to do...but all in all, 160 bucks is fine with me if this solves the morning non-start issue
and I can drive this car for at least a little longer (1 year hopefully or equivalent to 6000 km which is all I drive per year).
I'll be picking it up tonight after work and drive it everyday to work starting tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.
Mind you everything is in a foreign language so that's part of the biggest problems dealing with mechanics here.
Even though I told them to just check and tell me what needs to be fixed and an estimate before doing anything, they didn't
listen. They had my car there for 2 days. Finally today I got a text message and they sent me a photo of the bill.
I translated it into english so this is what it apparently said:
$40 for parts
$105 for labor
total + taxes came out to $160 (currency here would translate to about 110 pounds).
They changed the rocker gasket (don't know what that is but I assume that is for the oil leak around the engine)
Plug wiring, spark plug (3), and locker gasket (again, don't know what that is but probably for the oil leak around the engine).
The spark plugs were only 5 bucks each (15 bucks total), plug wires were 15 and locker gasket was 10.
Labor seems to be bit high for what they had to do...but all in all, 160 bucks is fine with me if this solves the morning non-start issue
and I can drive this car for at least a little longer (1 year hopefully or equivalent to 6000 km which is all I drive per year).
I'll be picking it up tonight after work and drive it everyday to work starting tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.
yes, Korea. Here's a tip for anyone working overseas, unless you can speak the language fluently, don't invest or buy expensive cars.
It's a PITA to deal with mechanics.
update: thanks again to everyone for your feedback. It's always a learning experience gained. The good news so far seems to be the problem has been fixed. I picked up the car last night and it started up fine even though it was a damp day. It rained a lot over night and this morning I went to start the car to take it to work and it started up just fine. It's going to rain for the next 10 days here due to monsoon season so *knock on wood* car should hold up fine now that it's been fixed.
So my take from this would be to anyone else in the future having similar symptoms: if the car has problems starting up during wet/damp/rainy weather or even just the mornings because moisture is higher, and you get a long crank (the engine turns over, but doesn't start), but it has no problems starting during hot dry weather, then it looks like it's a plugs/plug wires issue. The key thing I got from a post in another page was that when secondary ignition system like spark plugs and wires start getting older/breaking down, they are very sensitive to moisture. This is a good tip to keep in mind, something I didn't know before but now I do. I knew I was onto something when my logic and reasoning (haha) told me something fishy was up why it wouldn't start in wet/damp weather but have no problems in hot/dry weather. Dead giveaway.
I'm sure this car has other pending issues and I don't expect to keep it much longer than another year. I've already got 18 months out of this car that I only paid 1 grand for (which breaks down to about $55 per month for a car, which is hella good deal. Most people probably averaging about 400-600 bucks a month on a car whether you own or lease one, buy it and trade it in for another one, it'll break down to about that much per month, not including insurance too).
Really, just being able talk about cars is a huge learning experience gained, and the whole point for non-mechanics like me is to make mistakes so I can learn. I also went ahead and ordered me a nice OBD2 scanner off amazon (Foxwell NT201)...think that would be a must have investment for anyone that has a car. Cheers
It's a PITA to deal with mechanics.
update: thanks again to everyone for your feedback. It's always a learning experience gained. The good news so far seems to be the problem has been fixed. I picked up the car last night and it started up fine even though it was a damp day. It rained a lot over night and this morning I went to start the car to take it to work and it started up just fine. It's going to rain for the next 10 days here due to monsoon season so *knock on wood* car should hold up fine now that it's been fixed.
So my take from this would be to anyone else in the future having similar symptoms: if the car has problems starting up during wet/damp/rainy weather or even just the mornings because moisture is higher, and you get a long crank (the engine turns over, but doesn't start), but it has no problems starting during hot dry weather, then it looks like it's a plugs/plug wires issue. The key thing I got from a post in another page was that when secondary ignition system like spark plugs and wires start getting older/breaking down, they are very sensitive to moisture. This is a good tip to keep in mind, something I didn't know before but now I do. I knew I was onto something when my logic and reasoning (haha) told me something fishy was up why it wouldn't start in wet/damp weather but have no problems in hot/dry weather. Dead giveaway.
I'm sure this car has other pending issues and I don't expect to keep it much longer than another year. I've already got 18 months out of this car that I only paid 1 grand for (which breaks down to about $55 per month for a car, which is hella good deal. Most people probably averaging about 400-600 bucks a month on a car whether you own or lease one, buy it and trade it in for another one, it'll break down to about that much per month, not including insurance too).
Really, just being able talk about cars is a huge learning experience gained, and the whole point for non-mechanics like me is to make mistakes so I can learn. I also went ahead and ordered me a nice OBD2 scanner off amazon (Foxwell NT201)...think that would be a must have investment for anyone that has a car. Cheers
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