FXMaster

1990 944 S2. 108,000 miles. Car is mint mint. Nightmare starts in fall of 1999. Car needs to have the original factory rubber clutch replaced after many years of great service. My car runs like a freaking new car mind you. So I have never had it for any major service, just tune up, oil, and belt retensioning and water pump once. Anyway, I go to (shop shall remain unamed for now) to get the clutch fixed. Since that day I will tell you what I have replaced. Clutch, throw out bearing, needle bearing, master cylinder, slave cylinder, torque tube (twice) tranny (taken down four times now for the infamous tube shake), Had my entire front suspension put in new without my authorization. I dropped the car off to check on the original problem of my torque tube tremble. These a holes said my front suspension had to be replaced because the control arms were shot?!? Huh? Basically I have a car with about $9,000 in new parts and these guys don't have any idea how to put it together to factory spec. I don't care what anyone says. They really don't have a clue. Why do you think we have so many people on this forum with the same freakin problem when changing the clutch or the torque tube or tranny. It can't be coicidence. Torque tube tremble at 2,00 to 3,500 RPM. Tom Pultz is currently going through this bull. I went through this. These mechanics are definatley missing something when they are doing these jobs. Man it is making me go insane how I can pay someone in good faith 1,600 dollars to install a new clutch and they can't have the decency to do it right!!!! One year old water pump not installed correctly!!!! WTF, **** all these ******* rapers. We have got to do something about this. They have to be held responsible. I'm going to the dealer from now on but I don't even have any faith in them. I think we are the only group of car enthusiasts who get raped like this. It's a damn shame because if they did things the right way we would all trust them with more work. My car and many other guys cars here are absolutley pristine and clean examples of Porsches. We care for our cars more than any other type of Porshce owner. Don't beleive me we head on over to other forums and check it out. We are fanatic about our cars. Anyway, buying the best parts and accessories means nothing if the person doing the work screws you over. I'm done for the summer now because some ******* ***** took my money and said "**** this guy, he'll be back" I would not put it past them to do stuff on purpose just to get you back in the shop. I mean c'mon, these cars are pretty bullet proof when it comes to engineering. Who is ****ig these cars up??? Hmmmmm I wonder??? MAN MY HEAD HURTS NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FXMaster

What I'm basically saying is I had no problems until I started having work done by these shops. Then mysteriously stuff started to pop up. Torque tube tremble??? I mean give me a break, that is not a factory default. That is faulty workmanship damnit!!!!

IceShark

After a recent brush with the possibility of replacing the clutch (new master, slave and little blue hose solved the no shift problem problem) I'm saving all the clutch info I find in a file for future use. What the heck is this torque tube tremble "common" problem?

One of my pet theories on why mechanics screw repairs up so frequently is many/most get paid based on the book labor time. So they blaze through the job like a madman and the opportunity to screw something up sky rockets. Especially with our cars that Porsche engineers seemed to have designed with the objective of planting as many land mines as they could.

FXMaster

Yeah, we get treated like crap. 911 is all they care about. The torque tube tremble is the vibration felt at about 2,00 to 3,500 rpm after one of these schmucks has botched your clutch replacement job. They bill you for 8 to 9 hours when it took them only 4. I've seen this first hand and was freakin shocked. They they went to go on the 911's.

keith

4 hours on a clutch replacement is a pretty ****ing amazing mechanic.

FXMaster

4 hours to drop the tranny and replace the torque tube....This is after they had already changed the clutch and I got the frekin vibration. Yeah, they are amazing. They are like freakin magician's that make money poof into thin air..

keith

at the risk of being obvious...

- you may want to ask around about other mechanics.

Or I could move to Connecticut and work there...

FXMaster

Been to the four main ones here. Don't really have any other options except the dealer and that I think will be no better. Not a 911 owner. Keith please move here, pretty please...

FXMaster

Oh, forgot to mention that the mechanic that did my water pump refuses to return my calls. I know that if I go down there I will be arrested!!!

Kool

I am glad that I don't have the mechanics that you guys do. I have never had a problem with my tech. He always fixes the car right the first time.

I wouldn't recommend a dealership becuase it has been my experience that the people that work there are new to fixing cars and are using the dealership to pay for their certification.

Ask me how I know.

I am feel your pain FXMaster. Stick with it undoubtedly somebody will fix it right.

I would have refused to pay for the front suspension redo. Especially if you didn't authorize it.

Peter K.

I had my engine rebuilt by KRYNOCK in richmond va about a year and a half ago. What a nightmare. Took the bum 4 months to finish a 40 hpur job, he was a **** head about it everytime I went to check ont he car,he didnt replace 4 lifeterswhich rattle to this day, he didn't replace the cam chain tensioner, which he KNEW had to be replaced and did replce after the engine was rebuilt....for a full charge, no discount. When I got he car out of the shop the steering wheel was mounted sideways, the exhaust rattled like hell, the front swaybar had only one bolt holfdign it in, there were countless hoses and fittings loose, never even saw a wrench i bet, loose radiator hoses, powersteering hoses, you name it. ****er. He did a **** job rebuilding the engine, hell it ran like a VW bug for the first two months, he tolfdme it needed to break in...LOL...I take it back, he does something and it runs a LITTLE better until i get to the corner a block away from his shop after pickignup the car and it HESITATES..stumbles then catches..well this went on for 7 months, he looked at it once and said " I didn't do it, not my fault not my problem", *******...so i took the car to a few other shops who couldnt figure out the problem until i took it to Import Autohause in Richmond, a GREAT bunch of guys!!! They had the car fixed and runnign perfect in three hours. Turns out Glenn Krynock had put the distributor on wrong, the rotor had cut the car in HALF!!! wasnt making correct contact thus the misfire and miss....whata moron.
Well that is my experiance, and after just about 7000 US I will never have to see that looser non mechanic again!!!!

Unless i decide to sue his ***..which my lawer assures me I still have plenty of time to do!!

STAY AWAY FROM KRYNOCK IF YOU VALUE YOUR PORSCHE!!!

TaboII

First of all, Keith it sounds like you are a Mech, if you are then I can only assume by the fact that you are on Rennlist that you care about the work you do to these cars and that speaks in your favor. However, the fact remains true. I have been ripped off and screwed over by so many Mech’s sense I purchased my car I have given up entirely on them and am learning to fix repair and do all my own work. Three times to get a timing belt right. Common, its either stupidity or they are trying to ream all of us simply because of a brand name. And I went to recommended Mechs that every one of them botched the job up and still charged me a premium. I am about to get my money back from one of them whether they like it or not. The district attorneys office will see to that. Seriously Fxmaster is right. The Mechs see us coming and there eyes go to dollar signs. I have helped out with a friend to R&R 1 complete timing belt and water pump change. We did it right the first time and we even had three broken bolts to deal with. My car was in the shop to be unnamed at this time for two months and they still botched up the job. Then I took it to another mech and he botched up the job to the point where the balance shaft was out 180 degrees and the auto tensioner was only sitting in there finger tight on the bolts!!! I am sorry FXMaster I feel your pain. The best thing to do is report the botched up jobs to the District attorneys office and make a formal complaint. If you can prove that the jobs was botched up and they will not repair it with out costing you money small claims court is the best place to go.

I am getting pissed off now so I am going to stop typing before I say something out of line

Later
<img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

billybones

I am a moron, but what is torque tube tremble? Before I replaced my clutch I had a nasty vibration at the RPM's you mentioned. I put in a spring centered clutch knowing that the vibrations and noise would be greater. I still get a bit of vibration at these rpm's in the handle. I unfortunatley have never driven a car that had a good rubber center clutch. From what I have read this was one of the reasons for a rubber centered clutch. I just assumed this was a normal feeling for the upgrade? am I wrong?

IceShark

Tabo, I think you mean State Attorney General, not District Attorney. Usually the Attorney General's office deals with consumer problems like this - the District Attorney does criminal prosecutions. Though on second thought some of these mechanics should have criminal charges brought up. <img src="graemlins/cussing.gif" border="0" alt="[grrrrrrr]" />

kelsean

Its kindofa catch 22 for someone like FX -dealer is prolly more expensive than non-dealer, however, you really want to deal with the one with the most experience working with 944s. This isnt always your dealer either! As to what was said above, they probably do spend most of their time working on 911s, partly because many 944 owners dont want/care to pay the dealer to do the work (in favor of doing it ourselves). There are alot of 944 owners out there whose cars rarely if ever see their local dealers. And it makes sense- alot of us 944 guys are diy-types (hopefully not ndi-types who never do it!) or go elsewhere to the 944 Pro working out of his garage. This probably depends somewhat on where you live, but i've experienced this with a certain local dealer before in another town. They just didnt get many 944s in there and it was known.
I've had the good fortune of knowing a truly honest and very competant mechanic working out of his home who absolutely made owning a 944 as worry-free as it can get. Now, when i take trips back to Memphis i try to plan around anything i might need done. Its been said before that knowing a 'good' mechanic is the key to the owning these cars. Either that or figuring out how to be more like Danno, if thats possible!!