John's Car Care Center

[redacted] 's daughters car was towed to our shop from another shop for a second opinion on a no start condition, not a rough idle conditionThe date of that tow was 1/23/at approximately 4:We were called and asked to perform a diagnosis It was explained at that time that it had been driven to his house one night by his daughter that had recently bought the car from a private partyIn the morning the car would not startIt was pushed into a garage where the throttle body was propped open with a stick in an attempted to dry out the assumed fouled spark plugsWhen the car later still would not start [redacted] went and got spark plugs and a intake gasket set which is required to replace themAfter they were replaced it started and ran but he was unable to get the car to exceed eight to ten miles an hourWhen he got back to the house it died and was unable to get it restartedIt was towed from his house to a shop in New York Mills On 1/25/at approximately 5:as per our schedule we pushed the vehicle in for diagnosesIt was found that the timing chains had jumped which was the reason the car would not start [redacted] and his daughter were notified of the possible cost of around dollars if a cylinder head would need to be replaced along with the timing chain component kitAt that time they decided they did not want to do the work and would send someone to pick it upThere car sat in our lot for over two weeks waiting to be picked upAfter that, [redacted] and his daughter came down to discuss doing the work againAt that time it was requested that a leak down test be performed to try and decided if the cylinder head could be savedAccording to that test we believed that it was very likely that it could be and the cost would be dramatically lessAround dollars lessThe car was once again pushed into the shop on 2/12/at approximately 2:to have the timing chains replacedAfter the timing chain component kit was installed the car started and ran but did not run the way it shouldTwo cylinders were not firingA dead missIt was found that the ignition coils were not putting out enough power to function the spark plugsAfter the ignition coils were replaced it ran on all cylinders but still did not run correctlyWhile determining the cause of this the starter went outKeep in mind that this starter has been used to try to get this car to start both at Steve's house, the shop that it was at previously, and my shopThe starter going out was not anything that our shop did incorrectlyWe continued to search for the problem of why the car ran roughWe found the rear catalytic converter was almost completely plugged Which was the reason [redacted] was unable to get the car to go over eight to ten miles per hour at his houseThe converter failed more than likely to to the miss fire on the two cylinders that the ignition coils were replaced They were called and notified at that time that we would need a starter and catalytic converter to continue with his vehicleThe cost of the extra work at this time was discussedIt was decided that they would come pick up the vehicle and be finished by [redacted] due to costIt was explained that his daughter was a single mother and was having financial problemsSo I suggested calling social services or rural minnesota CEP to help out with the costIn the end I ended up calling and tried to get the information that was needed to get the extra helpAfter discussing this with [redacted] and telling him that she would have to call in and see if she could get help they decided that they had enough money to continueAfter the converter and starter were installed in the car it started and ran like it shouldIt was left idling in the shop for fifteen to twenty minutes when the car died and would not turn over againAfter the car sat for three to four hours it could be turned over and started but after the car ran for about fifteen minutes the idle would start to slow and die [redacted] was then called and told that the car would start and run but then would die due to the motor seizing upOn 2/28/ [redacted] came down to the shop to discuss what was going on I expressed my understanding that it was unfortunate that the engine was no good after all the work was done but there was no way to know that until it was running He was told that the car had to be payed for before he could take itHe said he understood and left Ten minutes later the cops showed up at the shopThey told me that [redacted] and his daughter had informed them that they had dropped the vehicle off for a diagnoses and when they came back they had over a three thousand dollar bill and had not been contactedThey told the police that they should not have to pay for any work performed that the did not approve After I explained everything to the police they suggested the car be moved to a different locationI originally was not going to do this but a snow storm came and with limited space in our lot I moved it to a local impound lot like I was toldEventually [redacted] had come down and paid for the approved work and let me know that they would be taking me to court in search of their money backIn short we were asked to diagnose a no start issue and were successfulThe internal motor problems that were also present were impossible to find without getting the engine running All work was approved by them

*** ***'s daughters car was towed to our shop from another shop for a second opinion on a no start condition, not a rough idle conditionThe date of that tow was 1/23/at approximately 4:We were called and asked to perform a diagnosis. It was explained at that time that it had been
driven to his house one night by his daughter that had recently bought the car from a private partyIn the morning the car would not startIt was pushed into a garage where the throttle body was propped open with a stick in an attempted to dry out the assumed fouled spark plugsWhen the car later still would not start *** went and got spark plugs and a intake gasket set which is required to replace themAfter they were replaced it started and ran but he was unable to get the car to exceed eight to ten miles an hourWhen he got back to the house it died and was unable to get it restartedIt was towed from his house to a shop in New York Mills. On 1/25/at approximately 5:as per our schedule we pushed the vehicle in for diagnosesIt was found that the timing chains had jumped which was the reason the car would not start*** and his daughter were notified of the possible cost of around dollars if a cylinder head would need to be replaced along with the timing chain component kitAt that time they decided they did not want to do the work and would send someone to pick it upThere car sat in our lot for over two weeks waiting to be picked upAfter that, *** and his daughter came down to discuss doing the work againAt that time it was requested that a leak down test be performed to try and decided if the cylinder head could be savedAccording to that test we believed that it was very likely that it could be and the cost would be dramatically lessAround dollars lessThe car was once again pushed into the shop on 2/12/at approximately 2:to have the timing chains replacedAfter the timing chain component kit was installed the car started and ran but did not run the way it shouldTwo cylinders were not firingA dead missIt was found that the ignition coils were not putting out enough power to function the spark plugsAfter the ignition coils were replaced it ran on all cylinders but still did not run correctlyWhile determining the cause of this the starter went outKeep in mind that this starter has been used to try to get this car to start both at Steve's house, the shop that it was at previously, and my shopThe starter going out was not anything that our shop did incorrectlyWe continued to search for the problem of why the car ran roughWe found the rear catalytic converter was almost completely plugged. Which was the reason *** was unable to get the car to go over eight to ten miles per hour at his houseThe converter failed more than likely to to the miss fire on the two cylinders that the ignition coils were replaced. They were called and notified at that time that we would need a starter and catalytic converter to continue with his vehicleThe cost of the extra work at this time was discussedIt was decided that they would come pick up the vehicle and be finished by *** due to costIt was explained that his daughter was a single mother and was having financial problemsSo I suggested calling social services or rural minnesota CEP to help out with the costIn the end I ended up calling and tried to get the information that was needed to get the extra helpAfter discussing this with *** and telling him that she would have to call in and see if she could get help they decided that they had enough money to continueAfter the converter and starter were installed in the car it started and ran like it shouldIt was left idling in the shop for fifteen to twenty minutes when the car died and would not turn over againAfter the car sat for three to four hours it could be turned over and started but after the car ran for about fifteen minutes the idle would start to slow and die*** was then called and told that the car would start and run but then would die due to the motor seizing upOn 2/28/*** came down to the shop to discuss what was going on. I expressed my understanding that it was unfortunate that the engine was no good after all the work was done but there was no way to know that until it was running. He was told that the car had to be payed for before he could take itHe said he understood and left. Ten minutes later the cops showed up at the shopThey told me that *** and his daughter had informed them that they had dropped the vehicle off for a diagnoses and when they came back they had over a three thousand dollar bill and had not been contactedThey told the police that they should not have to pay for any work performed that the did not approve. After I explained everything to the police they suggested the car be moved to a different locationI originally was not going to do this but a snow storm came and with limited space in our lot I moved it to a local impound lot like I was toldEventually *** had come down and paid for the approved work and let me know that they would be taking me to court in search of their money backIn short we were asked to diagnose a no start issue and were successfulThe internal motor problems that were also present were impossible to find without getting the engine running. All work was approved by them