Help this kid prioritize his mechanical issues.

[BrokenBone]

Besides my car having cooling issues(leaky coolant) I desided to start working on some of the suspension problems that I knew came with the vehicle when I bought it for $400, the bad cv joints and tires. Got both new cv axles and 2 tires with a free alignment for $360 and I had him balance old 2 tires. My gf pointed out to me recently that my car wobbles a lot, I noticed it wobbled when I break at high speeds or when the car has alot of velocity and I start to break or when I break hard. I mentioned to The mechanic to keep an eye out for problems and this is the list he gave:

Shocks/struts - $300
Clean and adjust rear rotors/breaks - $30
He said I need new "stabilizer or stabilizers" - 69.95
He said I need new front rotors - $70 for both
And upper ball joints - $160

All prices are installed, anyways which of those things are most important I'm on a tight budget after spending $360 on those new tires and cv axles I got maybe another $300 to blow and I still need windshield wipers and I wanted to do my spark plugs, wires, rotor, and distributor cap as well as a new air filter. And I wanted to do a transmission flush since the guy did not use new fluid when changing cv axles. Please help I am only 18 with little knowledge and I don't want to be played by my mechanic.

[RAZR]

Besides my car having cooling issues(leaky coolant) I desided to start working on some of the suspension problems that I knew came with the vehicle when I bought it for $400, the bad cv joints and tires. Got both new cv axles and 2 tires with a free alignment for $360 and I had him balance old 2 tires. My gf pointed out to me recently that my car wobbles a lot, I noticed it wobbled when I break at high speeds or when the car has alot of velocity and I start to break or when I break hard. I mentioned to The mechanic to keep an eye out for problems and this is the list he gave:

Shocks/struts - $300
Clean and adjust rear rotors/breaks - $30
He said I need new "stabilizer or stabilizers" - 69.95
He said I need new front rotors - $70 for both
And upper ball joints - $160

All prices are installed, anyways which of those things are most important I'm on a tight budget after spending $360 on those new tires and cv axles I got maybe another $300 to blow and I still need windshield wipers and I wanted to do my spark plugs, wires, rotor, and distributor cap as well as a new air filter. And I wanted to do a transmission flush since the guy did not use new fluid when changing cv axles. Please help I am only 18 with little knowledge and I don't want to be played by my mechanic.


IMO I would do the upper ball joints if they are in fact bad. but how bad are your rotors? do u kno how many miles are on them? or how thin they are?

[lostforawhile]

Besides my car having cooling issues(leaky coolant) I desided to start working on some of the suspension problems that I knew came with the vehicle when I bought it for $400, the bad cv joints and tires. Got both new cv axles and 2 tires with a free alignment for $360 and I had him balance old 2 tires. My gf pointed out to me recently that my car wobbles a lot, I noticed it wobbled when I break at high speeds or when the car has alot of velocity and I start to break or when I break hard. I mentioned to The mechanic to keep an eye out for problems and this is the list he gave:

Shocks/struts - $300
Clean and adjust rear rotors/breaks - $30
He said I need new "stabilizer or stabilizers" - 69.95
He said I need new front rotors - $70 for both
And upper ball joints - $160

All prices are installed, anyways which of those things are most important I'm on a tight budget after spending $360 on those new tires and cv axles I got maybe another $300 to blow and I still need windshield wipers and I wanted to do my spark plugs, wires, rotor, and distributor cap as well as a new air filter. And I wanted to do a transmission flush since the guy did not use new fluid when changing cv axles. Please help I am only 18 with little knowledge and I don't want to be played by my mechanic.
you can do the rear brakes yourself, there is nothing to do brakes, clean the brakes? WTF is that? what does he mean by stabilizers? if he means the radius rods, he shouldn't have done the alignment if they were worn out, you can get the bushings and do those yourself, also for 7 0 bucks you can get good brembo rotors for the front and also do them yourself, there are manuals that can be downloaded on the three geez wiki site, and there is tons of info on this site. You don't need a mechanic for an old car, you need to read the manuals and learn to do it yourself, you are always going to get anally raped by mechanics with old cars, especially if the mechanic knows you don't know anything

[BrokenBone]

IMO I would do the upper ball joints if they are in fact bad. but how bad are your rotors? do u kno how many miles are on them? or how thin they are?

Came back from autozone I noticed the diagram lableing each part from a suspension, lol I just found out what ball joints are! My ball joints are really useless because one of them u can pull off!!! He said they never been change.

Rotors idk they might be all rusty, the car sat for a year until 3 months ago

And idk if he actually did the alignment, ima go back tomorrow and get the driver cv axle installed tomorrow that I already paid for. I guess he ordered the wrong axle twice and I needed my car back so he Put everything back together for me real quick so I can go to work. My steering wheel is still not straight and I'ma make him fix it.

Thanks for the quick responses, I'm going to have to wake up at 730 to drop my car off tomorrow and have that axle installed, I'm also going to pay for those ball joints now I know what they are.

Edit: I just googled radious rod and I guess they are made to prevent wheel hop when accelerating(and driving over a bump), my car always does that when accelerating

[Oldblueaccord]

Sounds like he's on the right track. Any looseness in the suspension is going to show up when you brake hard. Warped rotors you can get away with for a while aslong as they are not damaged in anyway.

If the rear upper ball joints have never been replaced there bad about failing. They last about 2 years usually before play shows up.

Ill give you the DYI suspension check:

Standard front end check:

1: jack up one side of the car until one tire is off the ground. The other side tire must be on the ground. I use the jacking point under the doors.

2: grab the tire in the air at the 3 and 9 o clock postion and shake/rock back and forth. slow at first. You might need someone to help look underneath. This checks tie-rods,steering rack etc. start kinda slow and work your way up a little harder. Your looking for loosness at the joints. Use common sense of course the steering wheel will move or the other tire may move if you shake the shit outta it.

3: Grab the tire 12 and 6 o clock. Rock back and fourth.This checks the wheel bearing and ball joints(upper and lower) and upper links(bushings). There should be no play in the wheel bearings.

4: this check might show ball joints/upper link a little better. Use a pry bar under the tire at the 6 o clock pos. pry up look for slop ,looseness while prying. The upper link ball joint and bushings near the body are what your looking at.


This is your basic "front end check" any good mechanic should know. It works for all makes and models of cars.

wp

[BrokenBone]

Hi every one I got every thing fixed exept the shocks.

I went to autozone to get a coolant temp sensor and I think they might have given me the wrong part. I have an lxi and there is a lot of confusion on the web which sensor it is... I seem to have the replacement part for the right sensor with the yellow connector, is that the right part?

[DBMaster]

It would be interesting to know how he replaced the "upper ball joints." They are part of the control arm assemblies and even going with cheap aftermarket parts I don't see how both could be replaced for only $160.

[BrokenBone]

It would be interesting to know how he replaced the "upper ball joints." They are part of the control arm assemblies and even going with cheap aftermarket parts I don't see how both could be replaced for only $160.

Front page of the penny saver my friend :D, he did replace both control arm assemblies with the ball joints I was pretty pleased with the results.

And the sensor was the right part, easy swap, fresh coolant, I'm proud of my 3gee:)

[Dr_Snooz]

You can check the struts yourself. Jack up the car and look at where the shock plunger leaves the strut housing. If you see oily wetness there, they are leaking. That's the point at which I start budgeting to replace them. You don't really need to replace them until the car continues bouncing after hitting a bump though.

I'd take a pass on whatever it is he's planning for the rear brakes. They never really wear out and they are self-adjusting.

I'm not really sure what you mean by "stabilizer," but that could be your stabilizer bar end links. A visual check of those is really easy. You don't even need to jack up the car. If the rubber is cracked, replace them. Unless the car is really pitching in corners though, you can safely let that one go for awhile.

Rotors are relatively easy to remove. Take them down to a Pep Boys with a service garage and ask them to turn them. The first thing the service rep will do is measure them. If they are too thin, the rep will tell you to replace them and refuse to turn them. If they are still thick enough, Pep Boys will turn them for about $15 ea. Put them back on the car and you will have saved yourself $40. From your description of the problem (brake wobble at high speed), however, turning or replacing the rotors will only help for a short while. My latest hypothesis is that this is caused by worn out rotor guide pins and guide pin bushings. It will probably continue to be a problem until you replace the calipers and guide pins.

Upper ball joints wear out pretty quickly on these cars. You will know they are going out when the car starts to wander on the road. It will also be difficult to keep it going in a straight line. I would do those first.

[BrokenBone]

You can check the struts yourself. Jack up the car and look at where the shock plunger leaves the strut housing. If you see oily wetness there, they are leaking. That's the point at which I start budgeting to replace them. You don't really need to replace them until the car continues bouncing after hitting a bump though.

I'd take a pass on whatever it is he's planning for the rear brakes. They never really wear out and they are self-adjusting.

I'm not really sure what you mean by "stabilizer," but that could be your stabilizer bar end links. A visual check of those is really easy. You don't even need to jack up the car. If the rubber is cracked, replace them. Unless the car is really pitching in corners though, you can safely let that one go for awhile.

Rotors are relatively easy to remove. Take them down to a Pep Boys with a service garage and ask them to turn them. The first thing the service rep will do is measure them. If they are too thin, the rep will tell you to replace them and refuse to turn them. If they are still thick enough, Pep Boys will turn them for about $15 ea. Put them back on the car and you will have saved yourself $40. From your description of the problem (brake wobble at high speed), however, turning or replacing the rotors will only help for a short while. My latest hypothesis is that this is caused by worn out rotor guide pins and guide pin bushings. It will probably continue to be a problem until you replace the calipers and guide pins.

Upper ball joints wear out pretty quickly on these cars. You will know they are going out when the car starts to wander on the road. It will also be difficult to keep it going in a straight line. I would do those first.

Ive been having issues with the right side of the suspension. The right side was the only side that wobbled when breaking before the repairs. After the repairs the right side is the only side that squeaks when breaking. No wobble though. Also when I go over pot holes I get a clicking noise similar to clicking In noisy cv joints. Is this the sound of bad shocks? The thing is it is only on the right side

[Legend_master]

I'm gonna assume that the stabilizers are actually the sway bar stabilizer end links?

[w261w261]

.... you are always going to get anally raped by mechanics with old cars, especially if the mechanic knows you don't know anything

If he knows you do know something, do you think he would use lithium grease instead of cheap grease for the violating?

[Dr_Snooz]

Ive been having issues with the right side of the suspension. The right side was the only side that wobbled when breaking before the repairs. After the repairs the right side is the only side that squeaks when breaking. No wobble though. Also when I go over pot holes I get a clicking noise similar to clicking In noisy cv joints. Is this the sound of bad shocks? The thing is it is only on the right side

My first guess is sway bar end links, but that's only a guess. You need to get under the car and look at all the bushings and ball joints in the front end. Basically, if the rubber is cracked, replace it. If it's oozing goo, replace it. If it slops around when you pull on it, replace it first. You already know what the mechanic is suggesting, so if you get under there, you'll probably see what he is talking about. If you don't see what he's talking about, find a different mechanic. (We have a Honda dealership here that likes to recommend very expensive repairs that are not needed).