Sticker shock from mechanic

[clay1g]

My 87 coupe was hesitating at 4000 rpms so I took it in to a mechanic to see what the problem was. I thought it was possibly the air flow meter based on people's opinions here on the board. The mechanic said instead it was the fact that the distributor cap was on backwards (?). Which caused arching. Which might have fried the DME. This afternoon the mechanic is going to take a good DME and install it to see if that indeed is fried. Mechanic said after replacing, distributor cap, coil, and plug wires, it was still hesitating. So next thing was to test the DME. Cost to replace coil, cap,wires and labor including diagnosis, was $750. Guy said today cost of rebuilt DME is around $1300.
Neesless to say, I'm not a happy camper.
Does any of this sound right? I'm new to 911 ownership so this is all new to me.

P.S. I just read on the board about someone beingpissed about spending $250 for something or other.
I got a good laugh out of that one.

[Jim T]

Assuming factory parts, wires should be around $250, coil around $100, distributor cap maybe $15-$20. Certainly under $400 for the parts.

$350 sounds steep for the "diagnosis," esp. considering he didn't seem to correctly diagnose anything.

$1300 for an ECU is outrageous. Call Programa in Florida, you can get a warrantied, rebuilt one for around $950 less than that. (Although I would not suspect the DME based on your symptoms).

From what you've been charged and quoted, what has been done and what you have been told, I personally wouldn't be too comfortable with that mechanic.

[john walker's workshop]

sounds like you got screwed so far. isn't there another "good" shop that you could try.

[Neilk]

Clay,

When you get your car, ask for you original parts back, esp. the plug wires. You can then test the wires following Warren's (early_S_man) instructions to see what the Ohm readings are.

[gregk1]

Sounds like a $750 guessing game, Find a guy that can figure it out with out throwing a bunch of parts at it on your nickel. My renter went thru the same thing on a Camaro $1700 guessing game and still no cure, He took it home and put a carb on it and ran great.Sold the TBI at the garage sale for $25 and whent and had Pizza

[MBAtarga]

Clay,

Sorry to hear of the problems. Not sure who you've got the car with now. I'd give Performance Imports a call. They're at I-285 and Ptree Indl Blvd. 770 457 5550.

[schulr]

Hey Jack, agree with the previous post, call someone else and get their opinion. You might try Jack Lewis at 770-849-0302. I would question the need to pay for the new parts since they did not fix the problem. What kind of miles do you have and what part of town did you take the car, we can then probably figure out who attempted the repairs?

Bob

[jester911]

Sorry to hear about your car. I don't think much of a mechanic that throws parts at a car. What shop are you at? If he has replaced all those parts and it isn't the problem then I would tell him to put back the originals and give you back your car. Then take it to a mechanic that can diagnose the problem.
There is a difference between a mechanic and a parts changer.
Let me know if I can help in anyway.

[dhoward]

Originally posted by clay1g
The mechanic said instead it was the fact that the distributor cap was on backwards (?). Which caused arching.

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
If that were the case, why did he replace the cap and not the rotor too? Arcing in the cap doesn't hurt the wires, so what's the problem with the coil? It mabe a porsche, but ignition is ignition. I would tell him to jam it, the same way I told some nitwit who wanted to replace my wifes rotors because there was rust in the vents...

[Superman]

Enough small talk, John. Get to the point.

[ChrisBennet]

It sounds like you have a "parts changer" not a mechanic. You can probably see from this experience that a good Porsche mechanic could charge twice as much and still be cheaper in the long run. It doesn't sound like your mechanic is necessarily a crook, just not competent in this area (German fuel injection).
-Chris

[Kurt B]

Distributor "fried" the DME? Whoa...I really have doubts about this because 've had my dist cap on everywhich way including half on. A lot of things have happened, but it has not fried my bloody DME.

[caliber60]

You got screwed. I was ripped of $200 by the first mechanic. My 87 911 was parked for 5 years. The mechanic turned the ignition three times and toll me sticking piston rings, need to rebuild the engine and clutch for $6,000+$2,000=$8,000

I brought the car to the second mechanic. The distributor cap and one fuel injector were replaced with other general tune-up items. The car runs like champ. I paid $950 for the service. It's worth it. At least the problem was fixed. When some POS mechanic sees Porsche, he only sees $$$, not the problem.

Caliber

[clay1g]

I just heard from the mechanic and it's not the DME. (Thank god) They're going to place it on the dyno next week and see how that looks. They don't think it's fuel related because this problem happens consistently at 4000 rpms under load.
The mechanic is Ryland's in Marietta and they have been pretty good to me in terms of explaining everything. Unfortunately, these symptoms my car has exhibited can be caused by a whole bunch of things.

dhoward: I forgot to mention that they also replaced the rotor in addition to coil, cap and plug wires.

[Wayne 962]

Sounds like you are just throwing good money after bad. If someone is not a Porsche expert, then they will 'learn' on your dime, which sounds like this may be happening. Get the car, and don't let them do any more work on it. Dispute the bill with them. Did they have you approve the parts purchases and prices beforehand?

I don't like hack mechanics. Because of this website and 101 Projects, they don't like me either... More Power to the DIYer!

-Wayne

[dtw]

I seem to trot this out every few months..

Have they looked at the throttle position indicator in the air flow sensor? Mine was fried at the fouth position and required a new air flow unit ($300). I had similar symptoms as you. My wrench said it would normally be quite difficult to diagnose if you didn't know where to look.

[Mike the mechanic]

Can you go into more detail about the symptoms? Does the engine seem to hit a rev limiter at 4000 rpk or does it just slightly hesitate as it passes 4000? What about at 4500? What about at 4000 with no load? Were the sparkplugs inspected? I am just curious if the entire engine hesitates or does one cylinder maybe cut off, causing the car to run on 5 cylinders? I had a similar problem and it was 2 injectors intermittently stop working at certain load conditions.

[Dan Owens]

Clay1G,

I would run don't walk away from this mechanic. Don't let him do anything else to the car. Dispute the bill and the parts and ask for your old parts back. Don't do the dyno. If you've already paid by credit card put a hold on the charge until you get good answers. Just changing out parts without any improvement isn't the answer. The parts can be tested prior to replacing to verify if they're good, bad or marginal. Lastly, re-read the posts here, you have two well versed, well respected mechanics in Wayne and John Walker telling you this is not good work. Places like this help give repair shops a bad name or at best make people not trust mechanics. Good mechanics are worth the dollars even when it's really expensive, cause they fix the problem not just guess or go shopping with YOUR money.

Dan O

84 Targa 3.2

PS what were the original symptoms, hesitation at 4000 RPM's? Have you checked the age on your O2 sensor

[clay1g]

Mike,
The hesitation starts at 4000 rpms and lately was actually bucking, like it was missing or something. But it would still accelerate and pull to redline. This only happened under load. It would easily go to redline in neutral. It never died or anything like that.

Wayne,
The guy working on my car is a certified Porsche mechanic.

dtw,
They checked the air flow meter and ruled it out as a cause of the problem.

[jester911]

I have used Ryland a couple of times. He has treated me fairly and I think he is a good mechanic. I understand that this problem could be several different things.
I have to say though that he should be able to narrow down this problem before doing all of this work.
I think the way it is you are pretty much writing him a blank check. I am sure he won't mind. He has two racecars that he could sink that money into
I would seriously consider taking it to another wrench for a second opinion.
Hope it works out for you.
good luck