Uncovering The Work Of Those Before You...

[Puls]

So, today I was putting some nice new NGK wires and NGK copper spark plugs into my Camry, and the job went smoothly enough for the first 3 plugs , apart from the crappy old boots on 2 of the old wires coming off on the plug, which meant I had to grab my 11" needle-nosed pliers and dig for them and swear at them for a little while. It turns out that I wasn't the first person to have this problem though....

On cylinder 3, the wire came off easily enough with the boot attached. W00t, says I. But, when I went to get the plug out, I couldn't get the socket on it...wtf. Turns out the plug is totally buried in a pile of old crumbly rubber that my pliers couldn't remove. So, I had to grind the rubber apart with my socket until I could get it on the plug (I hate it when plugs are buried deep down in their own holes). Plug turns out to be very seized and when I get it out, its a NipponDenso The first 3 plugs had been NGK BKR6EP plugs that only appeared a few years old. This one, though, was clearly a factory plug, and had never been removed...it was extremely seized. MY guess is that some lame mechanic lost the boot on the plug, and instead of taking the time to remove it (like I did) he just left it in there and threw the wire back on :censor: Luckily I got it all out without dropping any rubber into the engine. To my knowledge, NipponDenso hasn't existed for a long time. It turned into Denso and went under Toyota's wing.

No wonder it never ran as well as it could've...one cylinder had a fouled plug with 106k miles on it Now it runs like brand new :D

So, what kinds of shoddy workmanship have you guys found on your used cars?

[cfc1]

Usually after the kids have volunteered to wash it.. and i have been stupid enough to let them

[alanbradley]

The 2CV - most of it... :(

Someone has done a bit of bodywork to it in the past but they've made such a poor job that its making life so much harder for me now.

It seems that for many years the bonnet hinge has been held on by silicone and panel filler

A

[Boro Sera]

I was once helping to fit a new speedo cable on an old ford escort.

Took the clocks out and there was a sticker behind the mileometer that read 'Oh No....not again! '

Genuine mileage?? me thinks not

[MarkMcQ]

I did a rebuild on a Mk3 Supra, engine, bodywork and interior, and the whole car seems to have been put together with silicon. Half of the engine components were using silicon to either replace or seal gaskets, the rear lights had silicon on them, parts of the dash were held on with it and some of the interior trim.

I can't believe people would go to those lengths rather than just buy the clip or gasket that it needs.

[StacytheBloke]

a guy who comes into my office was telling me he bought an xr2i to turn into a track day car. When he came to swap the wheels he put a bar on and the moment he turned it the wheel nut fell off!

whoever had had the car before him had sheared a stud and decided to just superglue a nut on to cover the hole!!!

scary to say the least

[Karma Supra]

A couple of years back when I took my Toyota to my local toyota dealership to change my clutch slave cylinder (only reason was I had put my back out, I don;t like strangers working on my cars).

I got it back to fidn that the clutchs slave was held on by one bolt, the other one has been sheered and not replaced....

Many fog light intstallation on JDM cars have been VERY shodilly done.

The best though was my Ford Probe. Vile though the car was anyway... it had half its airboxmissing, and holes punched through the old and very dirty filter panel, and zip ties to the box

[Puls]

Hahahaha....

All you had to say was 'Ford Probe'.

They have a reputation here as being well-beaten and shoddily repaired by the typical Probe owner as well. Usually some kid with a heavy foot and backwards hat.

[Karma Supra]

Well I put most of its wrongs right when I had to change the engine...... it did 10k easy miles hen came down with some wierd undiagnosable eletrical problem, so I just junked it on eBay

[Twincam.GTi]

Puls, with regard to your incident of one sparkplug being left for a long time, it has been known for ages (Allegedly :P ) that with Ford Dealers in Britain when they get a Ford Ka (a tiny economy car) in for service that the number 4 plug is never changed, due to fact it always 'seizes' in and "it's not worth bother to get it out"."Car won't be our problem when it's out of garantee etc, etc,".

A friend of mine who runs a local garage (who gets in many older Fords, Vauxhalls and Rovers), says the amount of Seized in no 4plugs on older Ford Ka's is shocking, so much so in a couple of cases the head had to come off ...try explaining that one to a customer who only expected to have a simple sparkplug change. If only the Main Ford dealer would've taken a little bit more time and trouble at the first service, when cars was newer... ;)

Karma Supra, I hope the person you sold Probe to never reads this thread .

I think Ford would have been better calling 'Probe' the Capri Mk4, it may have sold better. ;)