been for rolling road but i feel like i've been made a mug?

[jamezz666]

Hello,

just been for my first ever rolling road session at Hi tech motorsport and left the car with them for 5 hours and come to drive it home and its worse than it was.

First off before they had it, to pull off wasn't easy but now its hard to even pull off at all without putting the revs to 2 thousand and then it bogs down and kangeroos. To be honest doesn't feel much faster after he said about the massive change.. Well anyway i had a problem of the car running on when it was switched off, i asked him about it and he told me the spindles have wear causing air to get through and that is the problem.
Supposedly 99% of the job was done as he stated. Well if i'm paying £175 shouldn't it be done and running right?? bearing in mind it has a performance cam and air filter.
I'm very angry as the car is so hard to pull off it makes me just want a new engine altogether.

I've never used a rolling road before so am i expecting this out come or have i been ripped off? what should i do?

Pictures of paper work below.








screen shot on pc

[deaddave72]

simple thing will be to take it back and complain politely, if you go back angry then you may get the cold shoulder. Get the owner to take it for a spin with you in the car, if he can feel what the challenge is when pulling away then you should get a free fix. I would just have a check under the bonnet though and make sure that there is nothing obvious amiss,such as a vacuum pipe thats been dislodged or not been refitted correctly. It may just be a simple mistake that can be quickly fixed. Sure they should have done a road test to make sure that the car was drive able, if you do take it back,ask if that was done and get that person to take it for a test drive again with you.

I know that you may be angry now and very annoyed, i would be, but having worked in a garage for over a decade, mistakes do happen and a polite customer will always get better treatment than the one that comes in ranting.

What engine does it have? Is the dizzy vacuum operated and also what cam does it have?

[sprintmini]

Is the performance cam timed in correctly?
could be the cam is to wild for the rest of the engine.
just my thoughts.

[composimmonite]

Have you changed the head to match the cam or have you just added a "performance" cam to an otherwise standard engine. I'm discounting different air filter as it sounds as if carb is knackered with worn spindles so that would need overhauling / replacing to get best results.

[Dez]

If he knew the carb spindles were worn, he should have stopped the moment he discovered it. To carry on was wasting his time and your money, you're never going to get an engine with such a problem to run right.

[skylinedave]

Sounds like a lack of communication and laying out realistically what is possible.

1] cam may be dialled in right but makes driving it a curse word - this may or may not be true . The cam might be out ot it may be but is not suited to everyday driving , if so this should be explained.

2] as Dez said , if the carb had problem other than changing jets he should inform as said.

3] did you discuss what you expected to get from the rolling road or did you not really discuss this ? I mention that because you could be just expected to want maxium power like most ill-advised people would , rather than drivability .


Getting wound up will not help. Its probably best to politely approach them pointing out the problems and how you take it from there , i.e repair carb , perhaps remove and check cam and ensure its dialled in correctly if its appropriate . If its a Pinto will most likely be better off with a torqey caravan cam .

[swampy76]

I used hi tech years ago , though st that time they were in Cradley Heath
He got my a series running really well, played around with Spring rates, jets and needles in the su carb

Couldn't fault the work

[slater]

I think half your problem is your leaving the car and coming back expecting it to be all done. In my experience that isn't really a good idea and not really how it works. I'd be there keeping an eye on what's happening and making sure you know whats being done and why and having your own input on what you want, if there is any issues it's simple to discuss them as they crop up. You do kind of have to remember the guy can't fix things like worn carbs or ott cams but I would expect some advice on what to do about it and if he's spotted they are worn before starting it's a little underhand to not advise you it might all need doing again once it's fixed. That said its still your responsibility to turn up with a car in good order.

We're just finishing off the installation of our own rolling road so once I've delt with a few customers il probably be better informed.

[jamezz666]

I never installed the camshaft, but around 6 months ago i removed the rocker cover and there was some codes on the back of the cam, which if i can remember correctly it was an old version of an fr32 camshaft by kent cams, just coded different to fr32.
All he seemed interested to do, was show me the power thats been upped on the paper and said if you get a new carb come back and i'll fit it and set it up on the rolling road.
I did ask via email when i first approached them, the chap said to just leave the car with them so i assumed i couldn't really hang around watching.
I understand that someone cannot fix worn parts, but am i wrong to say if things don't work properly the engine would never run correctly..

In my first email i asked for a price to have the car running correctly, still i have to pump the accelerator plenty while spinning the key to start it then tick over/ pull off is a no go and the scary part is turning the engine off as it runs on or starts back up as i feel like it's going to go bang.

I would love to drive the car back up there, but for a 45 minute drive i don't honestly think i could make it without wearing the clutch out because of the pull off.

I'm thinking of writing an email, should i make it a complaint? or ask of next course of action with an explanation to everything that has happened?

Thanks everyone for replying.

[jamesv]

Don't email, pick up the phone and do it the old fashioned way if you can't get there in person.

Email is impossible to read emotion into, so people will naturally look to the more negative side of things, and presume you're having a pop, even if you're not.

From this one side of events it does sound like there's a problem, but then have expectations been managed correctly?

Most dyno operators won't go near a car if there's a potential fault, it'd be like asking a plumber to fit a new shower when the other taps in the bathroom are leaking and flooding the bathroom, it's just asking to be blamed for a pre-existing problem.

Anyway, either way, hope it gets resolved.

[ChasR]

Jun 7, 2016 19:41:04 GMT Dez said:

If he knew the carb spindles were worn, he should have stopped the moment he discovered it. To carry on was wasting his time and your money, you're never going to get an engine with such a problem to run right.

What Dez said. However IME alot of garages feel that people won't go to the expense of changing things. IME they are right 80% of the time. I remember a friend took his car to a Porker specialist and was annoyed to find that his brakes were iffy due to Brembo plate lift. When I suggested to him to buy refurb items he said it was too much and 'not worth it' over better working brakes that did not squeal all of the time. You almost wonder if he expected miracles to happen here...

Jun 7, 2016 20:57:58 GMT slater said:

I think half your problem is your leaving the car and coming back expecting it to be all done. In my experience that isn't really a good idea and not really how it works. I'd be there keeping an eye on what's happening and making sure you know whats being done and why and having your own input on what you want, if there is any issues it's simple to discuss them as they crop up. You do kind of have to remember the guy can't fix things like worn carbs or ott cams but I would expect some advice on what to do about it and if he's spotted they are worn before starting it's a little underhand to not advise you it might all need doing again once it's fixed. That said its still your responsibility to turn up with a car in good order.

We're just finishing off the installation of our own rolling road so once I've delt with a few customers il probably be better informed.

I'd give 'em a call and let them know. But yes, with a carb and leaky spindles (although it may be a gasket) it will be almost impossible to tune. I have done it before, but it is a compromise to the setup even on a stock engine (keeping revs low is the main mission, tricky with an air leak!).

I would have been annoyed that I was not informed about the leaky carb however.

[jamezz666]

Ok guys well i have a bit of an update... a friend of mine knows someone who works on carbs and knows the webers like the back of his hand. So i toed the car to him and he asked if he could open the carb up and look.

Here is what he said> Your car should not of been touched with a rolling road as this carb is worn out. No parts have been changed in this carb (i told him and shown him the paper work showing two new jets) he said hang on a minute.. and a few minutes later he shows me the jets that was in my carb and then a set of new ones and i could see straight away for my self, i still had old ones as they looked beat up where the flat head of a screw driver would go and really dirty/marked ect. He also told me the accelerator pump jet is leaking fuel from the copper ring seals straight into both ventura's, the choke bearings are completely worn out (which i was told), theres excessive play in the throttle shaft.

So at this point i'm very angry and he gave me a little bit of good news and said a new carb would have that all cured and if i buy one he will set the carb up free of charge (without a rolling road). So i'm not going to bother going back to hi tech to complain ect as i know i'm not going to see any money back.


Well thanks for the advice guys, i think i will just leave them a bad review and call it a day.

[slater]

It's rare to put in brand new jets if you change them. You usually just swap them with ones you have and the old ones go back in the box to go on the next car that needs that size.

[jamezz666]

I wouldn't have a clue about most parts to a carb so i just assume what i was told was correct. well hopefully it will be sorted soon though