Help!: Good mechanic in San Jose?
 

I'm visiting in San Jose, CA, and my SVX is making a knocking noise from the front of the engine while idling. I called my mechanic, and he thinks it could be that the oil pump is going since the noise seems to stop or lessen when I give it gas. Does anyone know of a reliable mechanic in this area?

Hi Brian,

Do not take your car to Stevens Creek Subaru (in Santa Clara). Their prices are high and they do not do good work. If you think you can make it 30 miles to Santa Cruz, head down to Subaru Santa Cruz. 831-420-1500 Mark, Bruce and Ben will treat you well.

Matt

Thanks, Matt, but I've already had to take action. My car completely broke down last night. There was a ping, and the engine shut off. Luckily I was close enough to coast to friend's driveway. I had it towed to an independent garage called Towsend's Automotive. It's on Coleman, near the airport. I'm there now, waiting for the diagnosis.

I just got the (partial diagnosis). It's really bad. The crank shaft is broken. There may be broken rods and other damage. It will be Monday before they can take a more in depth look, and the job probably won't be finished until the end of the week. So I'm stranded in San Jose till then. I don't even want to think about the cost.

That's the first I've ever heard of a crankshaft breaking on an SVX.

bad deal, brian. :(

I'd be a bit skeptical and get a second opinion.

And I'll second that skepticism. "Ping" and the engine stops strikes me as too meek for a major failure of internal engine parts. I'd think you'd get one hell of a shudder and death rattle if the crank or rods went.

(Surely they ruled-out a broken timing belt...)

dcb

Absolutely - not enough money in timing belt changing business, whole engine replacement is much more lucrative.

You guys may be right, but I'm in a real bind here. I already had AAA tow it to that garage. They generally only tow once per break down. Of course paying for a tow may be worth it. Townsend Automotive said the repair could cost as much as $2500 or maybe even more! (And I've just quit my job!) It may not even be done by Friday. Actually, since Monday's a holiday, they won't get around to starting it till Tuesday. Just for pulling the oil pan, checking the crankshaft, and replacing the seal, they've estimated the price at about $400. (That's planned for Tuesday.) If they find that there are broken rods, they'll have to take the head off and pull the engine. They said it is a too time-consuming job to charge an hourly labor rate.

The friend who I was staying with has a friend whose father or uncle is a mechanic at a Subaru dealership. Maybe that's worth checking out. My friend is now out of the county for weeks, so I don't know where I'll be staying, maybe I can stay with one of his friends. Even my access to the Internet is limited. I've rented a car and driven to visit friends in southern California for Labor Day weekend since nothing is being done to my SVX. I really wish I had a better option than leaving it where it is or towing it all the way to Santa Cruz, where I really don't know anyone.

My last car's death was due to the fact that it had thrown a rod. That made a similarly patterned sound, but much, much louder. I was able to drive that Sunbird for a couple of days after it was diagnosed before it's engine went. That was a very loud clatter and was acompanied with a big puff of smoke out the exhaust.

They did not even mention the timing belt. That occurred to me when it firt happened. I opened the hood, and did not see a broken belt haging there. Maybe the break could have been obscured from view. Since I was already thinking 'oil-pump', and it there wasn't much light, I didn't explore that as thoroughly as I could on my own.

Timing belt is hidden behind plastic belt covers, you can't see it until you take the covers off.

Stuck timing belt tensioner can make a lot of noise too. And it can make timing belt jump teeth and engine will quit...

Are there any error codes in the ECU by any chance?

Sorry, but I don't know what the ECU is or how to read the error codes. The only error codes I know about are for the A/C. Is the ECU the car's internal computer? If so, then I'm assuming it's something I ca't read. I don't have access to the car now anyways. It's at the mechanic's, which is closed for the holiday weekend.

Brian, do what you can on Tuesday to call Santa Cruz Subaru! They are fair and may have a solution to your tow question. Even if it is a major repair you can trust that dealership to do good work and what is required.

That's 2 votes for Santa Cruz! I'll call, but in the meantime my costs are mounting. First there was paying $130 for the rental car, and I'll probably have to extend the rental, especially if I go to Santa Cruz. Then, my rental was towed from the visitor lot at my friend's condo in southern CA, and I had to pay $245 to bail it out!

My buddy's friend's father works as a "master" Subaru mechanic at Stevens Creek Subaru. I just called this friend's friend and he called his dad, who is willing to take a look at my car and (ostensibly) work on it at his son's place (Bike shop garage!). He even said his dad was working on an SVX just recently. ("Isn't that the one with the funny windows?") His dad said he never heard of a crank shaft going on an SVX.

If you get desparate for a tow let me know, I have a truck and a flatbed trailer, if you can get it for less than $250 elsewhere then I couldn't be of an advantage to you since I'm in Napa 1.5 hours north, but if you can't get it for less (I don't know what AAA charges for something like that) then I am availible tuesday night ONLY.

Good luck,
Karl

Now my problem is that I need a place for Andrej, the Subaru mechanic, to work on my car. His son's bikeshop doesn't have the room. (Andrej really likes SVX's and knows them well!) He had me contact a friend who may be willing to rent out a space in his garage. That friend, Robert, knows the owner of Townsend Automotive (where my SVX is now), and told me to tell the owner to give him a call. Robert gave Towsend a good recommendation, and used to work for them. I don't know what's going to come of all this!

Hey Brian,

If you need a tow somewhere let me know and you can use my AAA card. Good luck with everything!

Matt

Now I don't need a tow; Townsend is working on it. In addition to not having space, Andrej really didn't have time since he's preparing to go on vacation. Robert talked to the owner of Townsend and his reccommendation increased my trust in them. He told Townsend that it may be cheaper to just replace my short block, but when Townsend ran an estimate w/dealer parts, it came up to be way too expensive, almost $5000! The prices I found on SubaruParts.com were only a couple hundred cheaper, and of corse that doesn't affect the labor costs. If it does need a new short block, my only chance may be to find one from a parts car. They finally pulled the oil pan yesterday, and all they found was that the crank shaft was seized and that there were some small pieces of metal in the pan. Today they will explore further. It's looking prety bleak. :(

So someone did rule-out a broken timing belt. Maybe that knocking from the front was a rod preparing to clock-out. Bummer. I'd definitely be on the lookout for a parts car. Good luck.

dcb

It does need a new short block. I've called all the junk yards in the local phone book, but I found some better prices in Washington. So far the best prospect is a reply to my post on this site's Wanted/For Sale board, an engine Rufus is selling.

What broke? How many miles on your car?

dcb

My car has 90 - 91 k mi. The crank shaft/engine is seized and they found pieces of metal in the filter coming into the oil pan from the oil pump. They say that is indicative of an internal engine problem, and that it would be cheaper to get a new short block. (W/their labor prices, I don'y doubt that last part.) I really don't know what the cause of the failure is. If it's not the oil pump, maybe a previous owner ran the car W/o oil or somehow damaged/weakened the engine. The car is up on a lift w/ the oil pan removed. They showed my the filter w/little metal pieces in it.

If you get a new block and want to get rid of the old one let me know, and a second opinion still dosn't hurt, it's not uncommon for a shop to stretch the truth for a more lucrative (for them) repair. They know you are from out of state and may expect you to be more vunerable than someone who is local, if they are honest they should allow a second opinion. It's not hard to put metal flakes in an oil filter.

Yes, that has occurred to me. The problem is that my search for a second opinion has led me in a circle. I had a Subaru dealership mechanic who was willing to do the work as a favor, but he had no where to do it and ran out of time. Next I was given the number of his mechanic friend who has SVX experience, and as soon as I mentioned the garage where my car was, that friend immediately directed me back to the place where I already was. The car doesn't run, so I can't drive it elsewhere. I don't know anyone else in this area that can help. This place's labor alone is estimated at $2800! I really am stuck.

do this
 

IF the crank is broken you can do this to check
Have someone in the car and try to start it, while
they are doing that have the hood open and carefully
watch the Large Center main crank Pulley and see what
it does.
If it just moves a little and the car wont start and makes
a thud, yeah......chances are its the crank
(it happened to me on a Cougar v8 once)
You can also try to move the crank pulley with your hands
up and down while the cars IS OFF and if you feel any play
in it, its probably broken
It will also throw off all the belts many times when it breaks
Are your accessory belts still in tact ?

I ended up buying an engine from a junk yard in southern CA (near San Bernardino). I rented a pick up to go get it. I drove down Tuesday evening and stayed at my friend's. The truck was towed from her lot, even though I had a parking permit this time! (They said it was an old permit, and I had to pay $200 to bail it out! The yard had claimed the engine had only 45,606 miles, and they said that they still had the original car. The car had been in an accident, impacted in the left front. They said the left pulley was broken and the front cover (cylinder head?) was damaged. Well, when I got there, the engine looked like it had a lot more miles. He claimed the rust on various parts was from the acid splash from when the battery ruptured. I was suspicious, and I asked to see the car. When the owner asked about the "black SVX", the one employee ssid they didn't ahve it. I'd already talked the price down before I decided to drive down there (way too easily), so he would not let me talk him down any more. I hauled it back to San Jose last night. Today, the mechanic told me it definitely has a lot more miles than 45k. Now they have to strup it down to the short block and determine if it's any good. It could still be junk; then I'd have to rent the truck again and drive it all the way back to get a refund! If everything works out, it will still take them at least until the end of the day on Monday to finish the repairs.

If anyone subscribes to a VIN info service, could you please run the VIN that's supposed to be from the car that engine is from?

JF1CX353XNH101624

I've got the VIN report mileage, and the engine actually has 160,030 miles! The number they gave me (45,606) was from 1994, whereas the last entry was from 2002.

The mechanic says that despite this, the short block's piston shafts are in good shape, although they'll have to use 2 pistons from my old engine.

Man, isn't it abut time your luck turned?

Did they ever give you a satisfactory explanation of what failed inside your engine? Show you broken parts?

dcb

No. As far as I can figure, tearing the engine apart just for an in depth diagnosis must be too labor intensive and therefore too expensive. Since they'll have to tear it apart to replace the short block, it's likely that they'll find what broke in the process. So far, it seems like the only thing they did to my car was remove the oil pan, then eventually reattach it so they could move the car and free up the bay. They've done some stuff to the new engine, but I'm not sure if they've gotten it stripped down to short block yet.

I got a high recommendation of them from another customer this week. I've practically been a tenant at their office and have met a lot of the regulars in addition to meeting the owners' family. They sure seem like good people. Larry Sr., the owner, said he'll even call the junk yard that lied to me (and him) about the mileage. I doubt he'll have any luck in getting me a partial refund, but it's a nice gesture. Still, I've got admit that I don't like those high estimates they've given me, or the fact that they haven't given me a reason for what happened, or that it seems like they're delegating very little of their mechanics' time to work on my car.

These issues comprise a recurring theme around here. Hope they get you on the road soon.

dcb

They say they'll finish by tomorrow (Tuesday) at the latest! On Friday the owner said he and one of his mechanics were coming in on Saturday to work on it. From hanging around here for so long, I know they've been short handed because their main mechanic's been away to Mexico since his father died (about the same time my car came in.)

O.K. Here we are at noon on Thursday, 3 weeks after my car broke down. The garage is still finishing up the work, but it's supposed to be done today. 2 days ago they asked for a $1500 deposit. Yesterday I asked if I could get a discount if I pay cash, so they knocked $238.57 of the price, and I paid them the remaining $1900, bringing the total price (minus what I paid for the short block) to $3600. This includes a new oil pump, gaskets, plugs, fluids, etc. They offered to pay for my extra day of car rental. Today, they discovered that it needs a new OIL PRESSURE ASCENDING UNIT (sensor) and a new alternator. (Where did that come from?!?) They siad the alternator wasn't charging the battery.

The shop owner tried calling the junkyard yesterday to see if I could get some money back. The junkyard man would hear nothing of it. I called him myself later, and he hung up on me.

Hey all, I got the old engine today (thanks Brian) and just got home 9:00PM so I won't get to see what I have for a day or two, but the guys at the shop seemed nice and level headed, probably from Texas. I'm 6'+ and felt short next to him:eek:

Mine died at ~160k miles (too much sludge, internals stopped moving). A new one is $10 from Kragen or couple of bucks more + shipping for a genuine one from subaruparts.com.

I made it back to Denver last night. I got a ticket in Utah en route. The SVX performed great!:) (Maybe they are good mechanics, even if they are thieves. :rolleyes: )

Yeah, the guys at the shop SEEM pretty reasonable levelheaded, and nice. And, yep, they're really big guys. Larry Jr. used to be a pro football player, so no wonder you felt small next to him and his dad. I have nowhere near your height, so I felt positively tiny next to them. Larry Sr. is from Georgia. I think all the mechanics are from Mexico.

The total for the additional parts added after I completed the original payment was like, $293! I asked for a discount for paying by cash, and Larry Sr. dropped it to $250. (That's still a little more than the discount he gave me for paying w/cash the previous day. I had noticed that his bill had included a new air filter and thermostat. I got a new T-stat just after X-mas and a new air filter at the end of May. When I arrived back at the garage, I casually asked Larry Sr. how often an air filter should be changed. He said about 1/year (as expected), so I told him when mine was changed. He looked at it, and said it looks fine. Then 1 or 2 minutes later, Jesus, the mechanic working on my car, put in a new one. I was about to say something, when Larry said, Oh, look he's putting in a new one, in a tone that said I didn't need to be concerned about not having a new one. But that wasn't even my point! I was trying to challenge parts of the bill in a polite way w/o accusing him of being a liar or swindler. Thwarted, I instead asked Jesus to save the old one for me to use later.

I sure didn't believe from the start that the alternator had just so happened to go bad at that time. It was just ludicrous. I made an oblique comment about how unbelievable that is, but they didn't bite. They already gave me the explanation of how it supposedly wasn't charging the battery. Then after that was all settled, they told me the A/C was out of Freon. I just had it charged in July! Sure, there must be a slow, undetectable, tiny leak, because the previous charge was only in March, but the A/C was working perfectly fine when I brought the car in 3 weeks ago! I even told him that. Enough time hadn't passed for it to all leak out, especially when it wasn't even being used. He would have charged it if I didn't tell him not to. And when I told him it took R-12, he said they'd do a conversion. When I told him I didn't want that because R-134 is a less efficient coolant, he calmly claimed that it wasn't.

After the car was finished, I asked Jesus himself in Spanish for the old alternator and T-stat. He said the old alternator was sent back for a core return (which I do believe) and that he already threw away the T-stat. When I had concluded business, and got in my car to leave, I tried the A/C. Not only did hot air come out, but when I hit the "AUTO" button w/the temp set at 65, the hot air did not blast out at high, as it had at previous time when I was out of freon. Also, I couldn't detect the change in engine sound that accompanies the activation of the compressor! It worked fine before! And in August I had the A/C tensioner and belt replaced. I didn't even mention it. It was already 3:00 PM, and I needed to get on the road and out of California! It was hot and I was irritated. If I mentioned anything, at the very least it would take more time. And it would probably take a lot of money and a lot of time. My conclusion is that they either damaged it by accident or left something unconnected to reel me in or lazily did not transfer over a newer part from my old engine.

Disregarding the price of the used engine and the alternator/oil sensor, here's what I was charged:

$85 just to "diagnosis" the problem, which apparently was just an attempt to start it and maybe a look under the hood. ( But they rescinded that charge, since I had them do more.)

$254 to open oil pan, look at the small part of the crankshaft visible from that opening, look at the filter going into the pan, and reseal the pan. (Don't know if they used a gasket or silicon or what.

$2,585 labor to install short block, which is said to include: "Grind valves, clean & transfer cylinder head, fuel & electrical assemblies, engine mounts, manifolds, valve covers, oil pan & pump, timing cover, water pump, clutch assembly & flywheel. Adjust fuel mixtures, idle speed, timing & valves where applicable."

$276.18 labor to disassemble engine to short block.
$261.25 Complete gasket set.
$169.8 New oil pump
$12.72 T-stat
$12.5 oil
$11.5 oil filter
$7.34 water pump gasket
$9.44 O/P Air filter
INCL 6 O/P platinum plug.

That last one, I'm guessing is for spark plugs. But if so, I can't believe they wouldn't charge me for those too.

I heard something rolling around in the trunk lid. When I stopped at Yosemite and opened the access panel, I found a socket from a wrench! What were they doing back there?

Brian,

Did they put a new timing belt and accessory belts for you?

The oil pump replacement was a good idea. At least it is a relatively minor expense on the overall bill.

The engine seal kit does cost upwards of $200, and most of the gaskets (intake, manifold, rocker cover) have to be replaced,
so it's another reasonable expense.

Do not blame them much for the A/C failure. The compressor had to be moved a lot in order to free space for the engine removal.
The automotive A/C systems are crappy by design - they are inherently leaky. The seals between pipes and compressor, pipes and condensor are just o-rings, any side pressure or twisting on the pipes/hoses can compress the o-rings and cause them to leak. It's a pot luck, I would be totally prepared that the A/C will need recharging after any repair that involves moving A/C hoses.

Actually the factory service manual calls for A/C evacuation before engine removal and recharge after that.

So my guess is that you simply need a fresh charge of R-12.

The wrench in the trunk might be there because they disconnected fuel pump before disconnecting fuel lines - the factory procedure to release fuel pressure is to disconnect fuel pump and run engine until it stalls. Access to fuel pump is from the trunk, it's under the mat in front of spare tire well.
Oops they could not run the old engine... Maybe they just kept the parts there...

So far it looks like they did a reasonable job except
1. Timing belt
2. Did not forewarn you about possible A/C freon loss. Actually a professional shop should have taken steps to avoid accidental freon loss (i.e. evacuate it before and charge back after repairs).

Most of the guys in the shop didn't speak much english...

Napa,

Are you going to tell us what is wrong with the Brian's old engine?