wgripp

iTrader: (1)

I took my '91 GTA to the dealer today to have a new power antenna installed. Now my power trunk hatch won't close (the guy had to get in the trunk to do something.... long story) and my front passenger side wheel (the one they removed to work on the antenna) squeaks when I'm braking.

They said they'd fix the hatch tomorrow for me, but waiting is gonna be a pain in my ***. Any ideas as to how they ****** up my car? How can I reverse the damage?

I can't wait to find what else they ****** up.

Ugh... time to get the grime the mechs left out of my car.

Difflock

My 'Bird doesn't have a power hatch, but I've heard that slamming the hatch closed can break the plastic bits in the mechanism; you're supposed to close the hatch gently and the mech pulls it shut I believe.
Check that the lug nuts are tightened enough, other than that the squeak will be down to brake pads. The dealers shouldn't have had to touch the rotor or pads, so it may just be cruel coincidence...

Cheers,
Mark.

Angelis83LT

dealers do some odd things sometimes. I brough my car in for a wiper motor a while back. And when i got it back, the radiator had less coolant in it, and 2 of my belts had a razor cut in them. Not to mention My air cleaner was a mess.. And greasy finger prints all over the outside of the car..

My experience is to not take it to dealers that often.. Sometimes you will go in with one thing and come out with something else not right. not all are like that though.. just enough to make me not trust any of them.

wgripp

iTrader: (1)

the mechanic completely disconnected all of the wiring harnesses behind the passenger side glove box. do any of the wires for the rear hatch run through there? I figure maybe he forgot to reconnect a wire. The mech did a great job of doing a clean install on the antenna.

my rear hatch was also very weird (before the dealer broke it). after you hit the release button, you need to open it immediately, or the motor will close it on you. he was struggling getting it open, and it looks like he was pulling very hard. maybe he broke it that way. I'm hoping it is only a wiring problem. How can i verify what kind of problem it is?

Also, the car feels a little sluggish to me. But, it's only my second day of driving it and its probably only in my head. The only way I can think of him slowing it down was forgetting to connect something back up to the computer. if he did that, I should get a check engine light. but, I dont see one.

TTOP350

iTrader: (8)

you need new rear hatch struts ..
when you hit the button the struts help push the hatch open ..

Angelis83LT

that is true. The struts i have on my 84z28 are strong eough to push the hath up in a blink... I remember the first time i opened it after i got it i hit myself in the chin because i was not expecting it to launch itself upwards... I was used to the weak ones where you would have to pull the thing up and the struts would be just strong enough to keep it up

wgripp

iTrader: (1)

I realized I need the new hatch struts =(

Unfortunately, the trunk latch is already FUBARed. The mechanic spent a couple hours troubleshooting the problem, and concluded it was a little black box in the mechanisim. (The name of it escapes me right now.... not a relay) I ordered the part from GM.

The mech also took a ride with me, and said the brake squeaking was just glaze that needed to be worn off (even though the brakes aren't brand new. Is this BS?) and that my slight loss in power is due to the fact that the computer needs to relearn driving habits or.

ARRR

Unfortunately, I'm leaving for Fort Dix tomorrow. So this stuff will need to wait 10 days to get fixed.

Thanks again,
Bill

Angelis83LT

seems a little bit like some BS to me... I don't think i have ever heard the one about the brakes squeaking because of glaze and that the glaze just needs to burn off.. reall funny how the things could get glazed in a few hours or a day anyhow sitting in a shop... the computer learning driving habits... something sounds fishy there too since i am pretty sure all the cars are programed to just work a certain way and not "learn" anything the driver does.. at least not in our cars.. I could be wrong on that though but then that opens up a whole new set of questions of if a car can "learn" then why do we have to constantly tweak them to get the most power... If you have had any tweaking of the computer for addons and such.. they may have flashed the thing and reprogramed it stock again.

85z28guy

Actually they probably pulled the drums (if they are drums) to check the brakes. This happens a lot and sometimes they even do it when cars come in for oil changes. If there was a little bit of a rust problem on the outer edge, the drum will squeak. His glaze thing makes no sense what so ever if they weren't new, unless you (or him) braked damn hard and glazed them over. And what he meant by "learning" may be the fact that he could have disconnected the battery when installing the power antena, but I doubt it would last long enough for you to drive hime, and then back.

wgripp

iTrader: (1)

Yes, the computer was unplugged during the antenna install. So.... how do I stop that minor little squeak? do I just ignore it?

And regarding the bit of a sluggish feeling... I watched him and dont think he did anything to the engine that could have fubared it up.... anything I can do to fix it?

darrells3rdgen

my first thought on the brakes is that the mech may have touched the rotors with his nasty oily hands.

plus I have had funny things happen to , that I think they did to get my friends mom back to spend more cash.

first was all she had them do was an oil and filter change and a total inspection, she would have them do it every 3,000 miles.
when she went to pickup the car she saw a greesy rag hanging out from under the hood, so she poped the hood to remove the ragg and found they also had left a few tools and her car was a mess. she refused to pay and was threatening to call the police and press charges if they didnt fix her car.

by the way her car was a 2001 monty carlo dale earnheart edition with the full nascar decals . with only 42k miles on it. she won the car from a local beer drawing giveaway.

Firebat

iTrader: (7)

sometimes if you dont shut the hatch with enough force the hatch may pull down anyway. I had this happen before. Try pushing down with a screwdriver where contact would be made. If you're lucky the hatch may pull back up.

They had no reason to be in your trunk. The antenna is on your front fender. Power antenna just hooks up to the power antenna wire on your radio harness. One wire, thats it.

Spray some brake cleaner on your brakes. Maybe a little spec of gravel or something got on them. If that doesn't help, then your brake pads might be shot and you might need new ones.

onebinky

iTrader: (1)

If the brakes were applied hard in a panic stop, it could glaze the pads from the excessive heat. Can cause squealing or brake fade until the glaze is worn off. Probably just got some oil or grease on the rotor from dropping the fender well. Do you see an overheating mark on the rotor? If so, time to pull them apart and find out if the pads are contaminated.

"computer learning driving habits" is called adaptive strategy. The computer has the ability to compensate for wear and tear within a certain range. This is stored in the computer's memory. Once power is disconnected to the ECM, this strategy is lost and the computer must relearn it. This is most obvious on older vehicles or higher mileage ones.

Think about what you are saying for a minute. The mechanic is either on book time, which is where he gets paid by the job, or hourly. If he is book time, he is getting paid for the job he performs, in this case a power antenna diag and replacement. Why would he remove the ECM from the car, remove the MEMCAL from the ECM, reflash the MEMCAL, and then reinstall it all for free? For something that has absolutely nothing to do with a power antenna?

Ignorance is not an excuse to accuse others of being misleading. If you aren't sure if something is true, do some research people.

That is pretty far fetched. I can see the greasy prints, because everyone makes mistakes. Why would he drain out some of your antifreeze and cut your belts with a razorblade to change a wiper motor? You sure that wasn't just a very sharp eye after someone touched your pride and joy? That couldn't have been there a month prior? If he was trying to run a scam, wouldn't it make more sense to go after the guy with the late model corvette who wouldn't think twice about dropping $2000 on a repair? Or go after the new car under warranty where he would have no complaints from the customer at all? Why would he go after the guy with the older car who likely will just take the car home and fix it himself?

xlwhellraiser

iTrader: (1)

Work on your own car, and if you have to take it in, do it privately in a small shop. Dealers really screw up stuff.

For the squeek just replace your shocks.

You probably have either worn out, or non-heavy duty shocks in the back. Get the right shocks in there, and the squeak will dissapear.

Firebat

iTrader: (7)

the squeek is from the front, but good suggestion, should be done anyway