timing belt

[jimeb]

I stopped a couple times now, once right after he fixed it, thought I had antifreeze smell , it was just a touch low.Stoped last week, smelled antifreeze, lower this time.He pretty much just shruded me off.I will tell him Monday theres a problem.He did the work for $1700+, cash, no receipt, saved a couple hundred dollars.Screwed myself on that apparently.Throw a couple hundred for towing, $100. for the GM lot to lie about price of fix, a easy $2000. I,m out.I do have pictures tho.

[avguy]

I'm sorry it turned out this way for you, and it's too bad you didn't take the advice I gave you when your timing belt broke. This is the reason no one should ever pay a shop around 2K to have that valve/head job done. There's too much chance of something else major going wrong, just like this head gasket failure you have now. As a DIY, this repair makes all the sense in the world because the parts are not that much. But for those who don't DIY, I always believe installing a rebuilt engine with a warranty is by far the best choice.

IDK what to suggest now. As TR said above, the shop should stand behind the work, but it sounds like that's not going to happen for you. It was almost certainly a bad repair job, but from what you said, this guy is bailing. I hope he cleans up his act and comes through for you without wanting to charge another huge amount of $$.

[06T200]

Ouch. Sorry you only got 2k miles on that job. I'd guess someone cut some corners, never a good idea unfortunately.

[jimeb]

Thanks guys, need to figure out what to do next.

[slayerized6]

Ouch. Sorry you only got 2k miles on that job. I'd guess someone cut some corners, never a good idea unfortunately.

You said the oil was very thing, which leads me to believe that coolant has entered the crank case through either a bad head gasket or cracked block. Look under the oil cap to see if their is excess moisture. You might even want to drain the oil.

However, your best bet is to go back to the shop that did the work and see what they can do for you. Did you get paperwork from them after the work? Do they have a warranty period? It sucks to say, but if you have to pay out of pocket again for this mess, you're better off selling the car. A 2005 Aveo with 140k miles is worth less than $2000.

[jimeb]

No paper work..I will look under the oil cap.Thanks.

[05Aveo]

here is what i think. He got the wrong head on it. He got a one oil port for a two oil port block. The fluid interchanged and well you got a heck of a mess. But could be wrong and he didnt tighten the head bolts correctly and it blew the gasket. You have to torque it in sequence and then when you finished it has to be dial torqued to a specific degree. Ask him what degrees he had to torgue it too and if he doesnt know then you have him telling you a lie.