gilley

The other day my 89 SE Maxima, started to run rough. Being extremely busy with family and work, I took it into the local mechanic down the street. He says:

tuneup to include plugs, wires, dist. cap. rotor, fuel filter, injection cleaning
$500
replace brake master cylinder: $400.
alignment and two new front tires (big GRRRR!) : $260.
rear brakes need work : $170
replace rack/pinion : $900

The total bill came to nearly $2,500. Bwahahahaa. The tuneup I can do pretty quick, the master cylinder is an absurd price, the rear brakes are high.

The tires **** me off, because another shop has aligned the car 3 times in about 18 months. The tires should not be doing what they are doing (inside 1/3 of the tire is mostly gone - comments? toe? camber?)... and I don't do tires, so...


But, let's talk r/p - $900? According to the mechanic, the unit is leaking a little and it is making 'popping' noises. Hell, the car is an 1989, and *I* make popping noises... Mechanic says I have a safety issue, I say I need a second opinion. Comments? I'm not about to put this much $$ into this ride, I'll go buy something else instead.

Is it a goner, or shall I attempt to save it?

nismobaron

I think a second opinion is definitely required - and change your mechanic as he's trying to rip you off big time!!!
My Max is a '93 & still has original dist cap, plug wires & rotor and is going just fine. I replaced my spark plugs a year ago as there was some hesitation when cold.
Cleaning the fuel injectors costs NZ$180 in New Zealand, so would expect to be in the US$110 - $140 price point. $400 for master cylinder also excessive...

You should take your car back to the guys who last did your wheel alignment - sounds like a camber pin or two needs replacing, which is common for a car of this age. They should have a digitial measuring system which would pick this up!

Check the steering rack yourself - look for leaks esp around the rack boots. Also check all connections and hose clamps for leakage. If you need to top up the power steering fluid, you have a problem. If you can see lots of air bubbles in the fluid reservoir, you have a problem. Don't understand what "popping" is!

As I said, find a new mechanic!!!

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

Go to sears,buy tools,do most of the work yourself,savelotsalotsalotsa money,be happy....

nismo3366

i have a power steering leek also...which i have been tolded is my steering rack...u dont need to replace it..just check your fluid once in a while...take that off your list.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

have some place check the bushings on the control arms, I suspect that one of the bushings is bad and the alignment place is ignoring it figuring that it's better to sell you tires than try to convince you to spend $400 (guestimate with labor) to replace the control arm.

gilley

No, I'm not German, thanks...

I've owned this car for about 2 years, within the first 3 months of ownership, the ps hose came apart. Fixed that, and I *think* that is what the mechanic is seeing is the residue from that mess (you can only clean the engine and bay so many times...).

Oh, forgot to mention the valve covers are leaking as well . This just started....

I'm glad to see that someone agrees with my decision to take it in for a 2nd opinion... even though it does make my wife angry (she wants me to get another 4-Runner ). lol

More later... this will become the fix my 89 saga....

ntjoe

I can get the injectors cleaned on the car here in Lexington at chain store for $100.00 and I have heard good things about them. Then you add cost of wires, plugs, cap, rotor, you might have $80 more dollars. So he's wanting $320 in labor?

Find a new mechanic, and show him this thread.

yelowd

Yeah, you need a new Mechanic. I just went to tires plus for a rotate and balance. I told them i have a clunk when turning. The diagnosed it as the right side ball joint and then quoted me $100 for the part and $150 for the labor. $#$#$@! is what I thought. So i called autozone, $25 for the lifetime warranty balljoint. I decided to do both sides and it took less than an hour with the tools i had on hand.

Master cylinder isn't that hard to replace. Just a few bolts and some pipe (plus it's easy to get to. Check out the price at an autozone or internetautomart guy and then check out a junkyard. Shouldn't be 400.

How many miles are on the car?

gilley

The car has 154K on it. The Master Cylinder has "been leaking" for 18 months . The brake fluid is not going down - we're talking about a slight wetness... on older cars, you know what this means....

The ball joints I've never done, but I am so $#%$%$#$E# tired of being ripped off on parts. I pay a mechanic for his repair expertise. If his part is better than the place down the street, explain to me why his is 4 times the cost and no lifetime warranty? Don't answer, it's rhetorical and we all know the truth. Example: replaced an alternator in 1 hour (less the drive time for 2 trips to the parts store - forgot to get the new alternator belt) that cost me $65. The mechanic wanted 350 for the job.

So, I'm going to get a second opinion on the r/p, just to be on the safe side. I'll also get them to tell me why the front end ate the two tires, and I'll fix everything else myself.... updates to follow...

yelowd

Yeah I wasted a few thousand on a liberal arts education. I should have gone to tech school and become a mechanic. Buy a shop and then get a horde of mechanics to work for me. They're like plumbers. $75 just to come out and look. %)#*%U@#$)(%U)*. History major. What was I thinking?

You may want to look at your ball joint, tie rods, control arms, springs if the inside of your tire is wearing earlier than the rest. That's definitely a suspension problem, not a tire problem.

gilley

I'm a software consultant - I understand the value of time. I'm okay if you want to charge me for what you know. But, don't charge me for value that isn't there.

Liberal Arts ---->>> mechanic shop - what's stopping you?

gilley

Well, I got my max into a shop that *knows* max's. First thing they do is put it up on the rack to check the steering - there is NOTHING wrong. They cannot make the popping noise at all no matter how hard they try. The only thing they see wrong is that the dust boots on the r/p are old, tired, and torn in a few places... nothing to replace the r/p over.

So, why the tire wear issue? Answer: camber is way out. For $40, he is installing a camber adjustment kit, all I need is an alignment after that. Ball joints, tie rods, everything look fine, nice and tight. His explanation of the camber issue is that the Maximas have always tended to have a little too much camber to begin with. As the car ages, the springs sag, introducing more camber. Apparently, it is a very common problem as Maximas age.

Running rough: ignition wires are toast. They have a spray that helps the wires arc if they are bad. So, minor tuneup ($250 including parts - a very reasonable price, and an oil change to boot), and my baby will be as good as new. Can't wait to get it back. I asked about cleaning the fuel injectors - he said only if the car did not improve remarkably after the tuneup. According to him, the Japanese fuel filters are so good, they almost never see plugged injectors of any kind on a Japanese car.

If anyone needs a Maxima worked on from a no BS shop, I heartily recommend OPM in Cumming, GA (45 minutes North of Atlanta). They only work on cars to pay for their racing addiction