Shoddy work from local big box store mechanic

[Mr. Burns]

My wife's ford focus needed a new starter. It's too cold out and too tight of a fit for me to replace it with the weather we just had( cold snap).

Anywho, car gets fixed, new starter installed.

Get a call from wife this evening, car died on way home from work.

She says it stalled out at a light, then went to start it back up and shudders violently. She shuts it down.

I get there, and check the obvious (t-belt) whatever else. I try to start it and the starter just spins.

Check ignition coil packs, they're fine.

Follow new starter cable to negative battery lead, and find this.

Could a poor connection and lack of continuity cause this?
Easy fix if it is, but holy cut corner from the mechanic...

[TobyB]

The mechanic called in sick, but sent his 3- year- old to cover for him.

t

[LJ851]

The mechanic called in sick, but sent his blind 3- year- old to cover for him.

t

fixed.

[Mr. Burns]

Would this cause a the issues I mentioned above? Or this is just basic sloppiness....

[kid325e]

Damn, he didn't even hit it with a LITTLE bit of electrical tape. Just assumed she would never pop the hood. Fuck.

No wonder people dread bringing their car into a shop to get fixed. How did you choose this shop to do the work? Let us know what happens next! I don't even know if i'd want them to work on it again.

[volvolover]

Would this cause a the issues I mentioned above? Or this is just basic sloppiness....

On the Ford focus, YES!
I had an 03 which idied horribly and all the guages died, right before the car itself refused to run. This was all a few months AFTER I personally replaced the alternator.

I pulled off the highway (barely) and went to look at the battery, and there was corrision all over the terminals. I tried cleaning them off, but the battery was too far gone.

Got back the next day with a new battery, installed it and the car ran like there was never an issue. Right up to the point I sold it to the new owner.


With this car, for some reason the battery needs to be in good shape or else it won't run. Unlike old beasts like in the old days.

I had an old C10 pickup, all I'd do is get a boost from my tractor and she'd get me all the way into town with lights, heater and radio (with no battery!).

[Jb325is]

Wow what a piece of shit. I would take the car directly to said mechanic, pop the hood while standing right next to him and see what he has to say. Most people that do shit work like this have ridiculous excuses or refuse to take responsibility for sucking at life so badly

[flyboyx]

The mechanic called in sick, but sent his blind, retarded, quadriplegic, 3- year- old daughter with turrets syndrome to cover for him.

BALLSACK LICKER!!!!!

t

refixed!

[Nick_S]

Pull the cover for the coil pack. They are very notorious for having the pigtail harness split there and will cause similar issues. The starter spinning and not engaging is puzzling though.

[ELVA164]

The starter spinning and not engaging sounds like either a bad solenoid not allowing the gear to pop out or just a crappy install that improperly aligned the head of the starter to the flywheel.

[blunttech]

If that is indeed a "big box" chain Id be sending that pic to the home office. Ive seen some hack work but that is crazy

[Thizzelle]

Wow what a piece of shit. I would take the car directly to said mechanic, pop the hood while standing right next to him and see what he has to say. Most people that do shit work like this have ridiculous excuses or refuse to take responsibility for sucking at life so badly

and record it

[Poorboyz]

and record it

And post it here.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[Mr. Burns]

I'm not recording anything and going full out R3V troll machine...

I'm contacting the garage tomorrow and will alert them of their performance.

I'm going to give them te change to fix the issue before anything.

It's just a car, there are much worse issues in the world, I'm not going to make this one into a headache.

[Gregs///M]

Not sure why needing a new start requires a new cable also???

The starter is one of the most electrically demanding circuits in the car. If the connection is dirty, unsecure, or poor, it will affect starting.