Gigolo

hello all..

yesterday i noticed that one lug nut,-the one that protrudes out more than the others- (on my right front tire) ,i can turn it either left or right..it doesnt get "tight"...does that mean its stripped or the lug is broken or the stud itself needs to be replaced.fixed??im guessing its not broken because the nut itself is still on there but it can spin either left or right...

thanx all

AyFeltaTL

most definitely stripped, you would be able to pull the lugnut out if you broke your stud

Gigolo

thanx 4 reply..

is that fixable or just leave it alone?
i got 2 new tires a month or so ago..im guessing he probably messed it up and didnt say anything cause i cant imagine how he would have gotten the old tire off if it was like this..
oh yeah, if it matter,i didnt mention it before but i can spin it with my fingers..dont even need a tool..

pitbullLOVER

fix that a.s.a.p., you dont want only 3 lugs holding on the rim, might not have an issue but its the if you do that will suck.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

get that taken care of ASAP !!!

Gigolo

well good news (for me hehe)..as mentioned above turned out to be simply a stripped nut...went to get a oil change today and had them check it out....all good now

yay!!

thanx mates!!

p.s...other day i went to get a estimate at tire kingdom and the guy looked at me with his full on serious face and tells me "well its 65 a hr for labor and that looks bad...the parts are cheap but its gonna take awhile"....
i really need to find a honest mechanic...come to think of it my last car my last mechanic really ripped me off bad...after doing all this reading around on parts i need for my current car i saw that a harmonic balancer isnt something that can be fixed in 2 minutes like he amazingly "did" on my last car....that dude totally jacked me...

pitbullLOVER

good to hear you fixed the nut & stud issue and even better that it was cheap.

as for the mechanics, yah man, ive been stressing how bad the vehical repair world is for a while now. when i started driving in 1995 i didnt know anything about cars or fixing them but after getting ripped off way to many times i started to do most work myself and let me tell you i recommend it. ive saved thousands and i know what was done and not done. so now i try to help others with what ive learnt. and here is some good brain food,..

you got to understand what your up against, these little and even a lot of big shops are open for 1 reason, they are a business that needs to make money, your money. they are in need of your business and not just once, you NEED to be a repeat customer.

(1st) lots of times the first expireance is good but thats to build your trust, then they will misdiagnose so that you come back, and even mess around with other things so that they will have problems in a month or two from you leaving the shop. this aint being paranoid either there is so many facts to back this.

(2nd) they usually double the cost of parts, or around 80% so that $100 part cost them $45 - $55, and dont let them bitch that it costs them to bring the part in cause they will still charge you for the shipping fee, and the labour, starts at $65 (for a garbage mechanic) all the way to $110 for the dealers mechanics (that are usually fresh out of mechanic school, but at least they were at school) and thats if they actually do the work. ITS FREE TO DO IT YOURSELF!!!

(3rd) even if they know fuck all they usually know more than the people bringing them their cars otherwise the people wouldnt take their cars in. so they can tell people anything and because they are supposed to be a credible shop with knowlagable mechanics people dont argue.

now, im not saying all mechanics are bad but the potential is very high for them to do wrong, even if they arnt trying to rip you off , if they dont know how to fix cars and do more harm than goo that can sometimes be worse than a scamer.

Gigolo

yeah man...i just read elsewhere that most parts stores will run the "machine" computer in your car if the check engine light comes on..thats a good way to know ahead of time whats up with ur car before ur mechanic tells u 20 other things ...

research is king

there should be some laws to govern over this trade...amazing how they can get away with ripping so many people off...i bet if that was the case it wouldnt happen that much,they wouldnt want to take the risk to get caught of lying and fined etc...

i do supposse i should start with trying to change my oil one of these days..i watched the dude do it carefully the other day
i dont have a lift though.lol

thanx again dood

pitbullLOVER

its such a massive industry so its hard to regulate properly and their are some laws but as ive found out first hand there arnt many to really protect the consumers unless you got them on video fuckin you over its a he said she said thing which is why i recommend people do more themselves, thats how you get the mechanics back, when their shop is empty and they foreclose, hahaha.

and again, doing work is so easy.
as for the oil change, you dont need ramps unless its lowered, i did my oil and filter outside in my dirt driveway with no ramp or jacks and today did 3l's of tranny fluid with no ramps or jacks, its a tight fit but its easy to reach the drains, lol...

that being said if you need ramps do what i used to till i got ramps, just get a 2x6 board, cut 2 pieces at 2 feet and 2 pieces at 1 foot, screw a 1 footer on the 2 footer with one edge lined up, repeat and you now have a set of hood ramps that get you 3 and 1/2 inches more room.

as for the oil change, i gots the 3.0b but i think they are the same size bolt,

change your oil while the engine is cold but run your car for about 1 min r 2, this will get oil into the bearings but the oil wont burn your hand., you can drive it up on to your new hood ramps in this time., 2 oil pans work better but 1 will do, i recommend doing the filter first cause they can sometimes be tight. if you dont have a filter wrench, clean the filter off with a windex rag then dry with diff. rag, get gloves , garden gloves, work gloves, mechanics gloves, any leather glove, you can usually but them at walmart for $5 - $10, now use all your power to twist the filter counter clockwise, you might need both hands , just one, depends on how you crawled under the car and how tight the filter is but i have faith you can get it off. some oil will come out, put pan under, if no pan boxes with a bunch of plastic bags will work, cut boxes to fit under car and line with bags, you now have a hood pan now for the drain plug, its either a 15mm or a 17mm, cant ever remember till im under the car but its one of thems. again counter clockwise and out comes the 4+ liters of bad oil into the pan / hood pan,
let the oil drain out for about 10 mins to get it all,
now, fill the new oil filter a little over half way with oil, dip finger in oil and apply some to the rubber seal on the filter and tighten that biotch down clockwise hand tight...= snug but loose enough to get off next time, lol.,
clean off the drain plug and install clockwise tight but dont reaf it on.
clean off oil.
pop hood, take off the oil cap, fill with 4 liters of oil, if you dont have a funnel you can use a cut 2 liter pepsi bottle but MAKE SURE TO CLEAN ALL THE PEPSI OUT!! install oil cap and start up car to circulate oil for 30 seconds, DONT REV., shut off and use the oil dip stick to fine tune it full and you have just saved $$$ and will feel so good. and you now have ramps, a pan and a funnel, lol.

if any questions ask away, good luck mate, keep us posted.