Billman250

[QUOTE=Intrepid175,Mar 6 2006, 01:52 AM]
I remember using an air hose that screwed into the spark plug hole and allowed you to put an air supply off an air compressor to the individual cylinders.

deano1stunna

Ok, so.. After speaking to one of the technicians at the service station the CEL was caused by 5 sensors all relating to misfires, which was why it was shaking. ( 10 points for redmx5 ) They said the valves aren't bent, but my clutch is completely out and i'm going to have to replace my clutch, flywheel, something about how my car was reverse detonating which is going to have to be repaired. He said my retainers were fine, and that my engine was fine as well I was just going to have to replace my clutch and sparkplugs, flywheel and a couple other clutch related parts. I was quoted 3280 for repairs and parts. Feedback ?

RED MX5

I want to hear what Billman has to say about this. I have never heard of reverse detonating, and the term doesn't even make sense to me, so I don't have any confidence in the diagnosis. Hopefully you just misunderstood something they said.

I can only guess that they got a misfire code on each cylinder and a general misfire code, and that they're replacing the plugs because they think that's what is causing the misfire. Since I can see no way for an over-rev to cause all four plugs to fail without other damage I have to believe that they're overlooking the real cause of the misfire(s). I hope it's just that I don't understand their logic.

Billman, what do you think about this?

xdavieexx

find a nice used tranny for like 1500-2000 instead.

Wisconsin S2k

uh, and what good will that do for his engine?

Wisconsin S2k

Likewise. I've never heard of only spark plugs being damaged on an overrev thus causing misfiring.....

riceburners2001

I hope its just spark plugs that is bad....
but did the tech even take the valve cover off and inspected the retainers???
look at the post by billman, cracked retainers are hard to spot!!
I donno why shop thinks the flashing CEL is gonna be fixed with just changing spark plugs?

RED MX5

Actually it's pretty easy to spot cracked retainers, IF you know what to look for. You look at the keepers and make sure they are flush with the top of the retainers. If one or more of them is recessed then the retainer is stretched or cracked. Basically you look at the position of the keepers to determine if the retainer has been stretched (cracking is the result of extreme stretching).

Given that the shop expects plugs to fix the misfire I am skeptical about their actually inspecting the retainers (but not being there I obviously can't know for sure). This is the kind of thing I prefer to do myself, because if I look at the retainers and see that they're OK I don't have to worry about someone else overlooking something. This is an EASY thing that almost anyone can do themselves. (However, with a flashing CEL there are more immediate problems to worry about.)

BTW Billman, those are GREAT pictures. Are they posted in the FAQ somewhere?

Billman250

Xviper would know, he may have saved them some where.

As far as what the tech said, I don't have enough time or patience to tear his ass up and explain it all through.

DEANO1STUNNA......this is the best advice you're going to get so read carefully:

YOU are not a mechanic, which is totally fine. You are not expected to know how to investigate this stuff. However, THEY are. If they mis-diagnose the car, do all the work, and it's still messed up, don't pay for it.

Let them do what they will. BEFORE you pay for it, ask that you can drive it first. If that's not ok, ask them to take you for a drive in your car.

jshimer23

3280 for a clutch job??? i'd go somewhere else unless you enjoy taking it up the rear!! I understand they have "other repairs" lumped in there but still, it sounds like they're telling you that the major repairs are the clutch parts.

I'd defineately get a second opinion about your motor and if you indeed need a new clutch/flywheel, for my money i'd buy the HTG clutch kit and have it installed at a local tranny shop (if you can't do it yourself). I paid a little under 1400 (parts and labor) to have my clutch/flywheel installed.