I don't want this to get out of hand, but I feel now I must reply to Jim's comments.

I'll start by saying that the reason I brought it to them is because they have a reputation for being the best in the area, if not in the country. I have taken my Vette to them a number of times in the past and have had decent service which is why I chose to bring it back to them for a spring Tune-Up.


What did I "fail to do"?

Not entirely true. I drove the car in, all three times.

I didn't see the "indoor/insured/protected storage" part on my bill.

"got around to pick car up"? I live 45 minutes away. Your hours are less than ideal for someone that works 8-5 to be able to pick up a car. Especially when I live so far away. And if I'm paying for that storage, as you implied, then it should be a non-issue for you.

I never said you weren't standing behind your repairs. What I said is that you can't seem to find or even reproduce the problem that I am complaining about. After the 2nd visit, I was simply told that any hesitation as I explained is normal for this car.

Speaking for myself, if I have a negative impression of your customer service, then I am entilted to it. I'm hoping after this is all over with, I will have a positive impression. For the others reading this thread, they can take what they want from what I have told them, and now what you have told them. Others that have had great experiences with you are more than welcome to chime in, not to mention they could post their own thread about how great you are if they want to.

Yes, the car has about 103k on the odometer, but the engine only has about 10k on it.

Exactly. Hesitating. This is my complaint. It did not do this prior to the work you did.

I hope to pick it up tomorrow. If I can not, due to the fact that I am scheduled to be out of town Friday through Tuesday, I may have to get it next Wednesday or thereafter, again, due to the proximity of the shop to my home.

 

First,, I have been very respectful to you despite the fact that you chose to bring my Company name to a public forum in which there was a negative slant.
Second, Yes the indoor storage, fire suppression, heat, electricity,operating expenses are put of the bill. In the labor rate, which incidently is less than a Chevrolet Dealer, and you know as well as I do that if you brought your 79 Corvette, which they would look at as a 79 Chevy, would be parked outdoors. You are complaining about the cost to repair the car!
Third, we are talking about a very minor problem, that occurs before the car reaches "operating temperature".
All of this would be a non issue had you not chosen to disclose names while the posts were negative.
It is my responsibility to make certain that my company's reputation is protrayed fairly. I may be overreacting but I take these things very seriously, I just wish it did not have to be done publicly but you brought it there, so be it. Some guys would just call an attorney and make your life a living hell. I am not out to punish anyone that is why I am doing my best to clear this up with as much explanation as possible.
Jim Jordan

 

There is a secondary lockout lever that will not allow the secondaries to open until the choke is fully off. You can see the lever on the passenger side on the rear of the carb. This is to protect your engine from running with secondaries open while it is cold.

You can try it out, remove the air cleaner start your car and move the fast idle cam down (choke off), move the throttle linkage while watching the passenger side at the baseplate. You should see the fast idle cam come back on as you move the throttle. As the engine warms up, the lockout lever is moved farther away from the "pin".

 

Let me get this straight, the car has a hesitation when cold or warming up but is OK when at normal operating temps ?

I thinking we should sit back and and go "hmmmm" if the above statement is true

 

I sure would like to have Lars look at this carb as well as the distributor.
Lars says most carb problems START at the ignition/distributor
I wonder if the shop pulled the distributor and looked at it?
BTW...miles affecting a tuneup is relative on a car. I've owned cars with the odometer rolled over that still ran fine. If there were other factors in not being able to give a good tuneup (bad compression in cylinders, worn valve guides, etc.), then the customer should have been notified of the situation BEFORE the work was done. If the odometer is showing over 100,000 miles then first thing the mechanic should have done was check compression.

A car hesitating before or after warmup is NOT "the way it's supposed to be". As has been stated by others, there is a mechanism on the carb that prevents the secondaries from opening. But that prevents bog (too much air getting into engine), NOT hesitation. The accelerator pump prevents hesitation whether hot or cold.
I'm no Lars, so I can't pinpoint exactly what is wrong. But it sounds like SOMETHING is definitely not right.

Dep

 

Folks,
I think we are missing the point here. When we returned this car to the customer, he was very satisfied with it. He then sent an email, not a particularly positive one I may add, that it was hesitating. We instructed him to bring it back at his convenience. The car was inspected by a technician, one of the best I have ever had incidently. He found nothing wrong with the way it ran so we returned the vehicle. THERE WAS NO NOTICABLE PROBLEM WITH THE CAR!!! We do this stuff all day every day. I honestly believe that because the customer had been driving the car while it ran so rich he would not have known what the car should feel like. Regardless, we have stuck with trying to resolve the complaint but we cannot fix a problem that is not there at the time of diagnosis.
Jim Jordan

 

I don't see anything wrong with getting a second opinion.
Even the best of mechanics may miss something.

Dep

 

I could not agree more about second opinions. That is why when there is a problem in our shop the technicians talk to each other. We are also not above seeking outside advise in certain situations. Do you believe this problems warrants the negative attention it has gotten though. I would also think that we being a sponsor making this forum possible would get the benefit of doubt?
Jim Jordan

 

Jim,

Just to give you a heads up... since you appear to be checking this thread quite frequently now... I spoke to Justin around 4:30 today. I told him I plan to pick the car up around 1pm Thursday 6/2. As I mentioned in our phone conversation, I asked him to not start the car tomorrow, so that I can be the first one to start it for the day. He said he would arrange that.

Hopefully this will all be resolved upon pickup.

Thanks.

 

Actually, you are just a guilty taking this to a public forum. Never should have done that. Right now, I believe the customer. What you probably should have done is rectify his problem, or give him solutions to his problem, then I'm sure he would have posted something positive after the problem was fixed. Getting into a public debate with a customer is never good. See, even if you win, you lose. You may come out on top in the public discussions, but a very negative light has been cast.......

Basically what you are telling me is if I have a problem with your company, and I ask for help or assistance from this board, you will in return attack me and my credibility. That's not a good picture to paint. Don't forget who the customer is........and you know, he's always right!

 

I meant a NEUTRAL opinion and not an "in shop" opinion. Asking a mechanic in the same shop if a fellow mechanic goofed up is like asking a doctor in the same office if a fellow doctor goofed up.
Do I believe the problem warrants the amount of attention (of any kind)that it's received. Nope. But I would think you would realize that Corvette owners are a pretty finicky bunch. And I still think that a carb that was rebuilt should NOT show signs of hesitation. Did your mechanics look at the distributor at all?? Especially the mechanical advance weights to see if they are free and operating properly?

Dep

 

The whole point of this thread was that the customer gave the impression that we were overcharging him and not dealing with his problem. I do not have it in me to just let it go. We are in a highly reputation sensitive business and I intend to make sure that everyone who reads this know the customer was treated fairly.
Good night,
I am going to bed now!
Jim

 

Don't get your panties in a wad......

No where in his post did I see him sling mud at you. You are acting very defensive. Usually equates to guilt. Make him happy, and we will all be happy!!

 

To show that I am not out to unfairly report my experiences with this shop, I will give you an update now that I have picked up the car...

When I arrived, Jim Jordan was out of the building, so I went back to see the service manager, who's name is also Jim (S.). On my way back to the service department I saw my car outside with a sign on the driver's window that read "please push out, do not start". The service manager had put this sign on last night to make sure the engine would be cold when I came in today to pick it up.

I spoke with Jim S. for a few minutes and he again explained to me that these cars just bog until they are up to operating temperature. We conversed briefly about how it never did this before (as I explained above). He also told me that the carb was not rebuilt a 2nd time, they just made some more adjustments.

I got in the car with Jim S. and I pushed the accelerator to the floor once to set the choke. I turned the key and it fired right up. I put it in gear and drove down the driveway out of the lot. When I made the right turn out of the lot is were I expected it to bog, if it was going to bog. To my glee, it did not bog! I even really pushed it hard and it still did not bog. This was a huge improvement over its performance when I brought it in 2 weeks ago.

So while Jim S. did not say that they actually located and corrected the problem... whatever adjustments were made this time, appear to have corrected the issue.

So I am happy that they stood behind their work and did what they could to get the problem fixed.

One final test coming up... The car will be in my garage tonight and not run again until Wednesday at the earliest. I'm hoping that it will still continue to operate correctly at that point.

I will post my results.

Jim, thanks for making sure this was resolved. Also, perhaps you could reply to this thread with an explanation of just what adjustments were made this time around.

Finally, thanks to everyone that participated in this thread for offering their advice/opinion on what the cause/solution may be.

Gotta love Vette owners!!

Keep Waving!

 

I had my carb rebuilt by a friend. Claimed to be a mechanic. It backfired upon return. It didn`t do that before he fixed it. I was told I had an exhaust leak. I luckily didn`t pay much for his services. And he wasn`t about to stand behind his work. You gotta give Jim credit, he made it right. I had to take mine elsewhere. It now runs great & does not bog down when cold.

 

[QUOTE=adamw1979]I had my '79 into a shop a couple of months ago. Paid a boatload of money to have them tune-up the engine including rebuilding the carb.

It was running great when I brought it home. A day or two later, I noticed the performance slipping. It was running real rough at idle when I first started up in the morning.

So I learned that if I accelerate slowly, there would be no problem. This problem mostly goes away after it is warm.

It sounds like a choke problem, or something has come loose to me. That it ran ok for a couple of days may be related to different weather conditions?
The other thing I once had with a friend's car was the mechanical advance was sticking when cold but it ran fine hot - sure seemed like choke, but wasn't. If it runs good hot, there is probably nothing wrong with what the shop did because it tunes for hot. Proper cold running needs testing when cold.

 

adam: That's great news!!! I'm hoping the bog demons don't sneak in the garage tonight and tamper with it
Let us know what the results are tomorrow

vp69435/JIM: Whatever you did for Adam, thanks. It's great to see things turn out well. Hope you remain as a supporting sponsor.

Dep