brxndxn

I recently bought a 97' Camaro Z28 6speed from an owner who just bought a 2002 SS. The Z28 was modified with the following:

CSI water pump (what's the point?)
K/N cold air intake assembly
Borla exhaust
Eibach springs
17" Eagle Alloy rims

When I sent GM an email asking a few general questions about my Camaro, they sent me an email that said I should get my car repaired for an optional recall on the air pump. So, during my spring break, I sent it in to *** Chevrolet of Bradenton, FL. I also told them to fix my driver's side window motor (the window was being slow).

They called and told me that my air filter was gone. Yup.. just gone. They told me that my throttle body should be cleaned out and I took my K/N assembly home and cleaned it out. They also replaced the gasket in the throttle body. This cost me $420 for the window and the throttle body cleaning.

I also looked around everywhere for the K/N RF-1015 replacement air filter which was not carried by any store. So, I ordered one that will be here in about 10 days.

When I got the car back on the Saturday before I had to leave, screws were missing in the door and two hoses weren't connected to my throttle body. Since I could not stay in Bradenton any longer (had to go back to school), I fixed the door myself with some screws that I got from Home Depot. I also put metal bands around the hoses and connected them to the throttle body. (about 3 hours of work total)

I also had to ghetto-rig an el-cheapo air filter to the end of my K/N assembly. (DUCT TAPE RULES)

During the 170 mile drive back to Gainesville, the water pump shorted out in the last 10 miles and my car temp went HOT. So, I got towed to the Gainesville Chevvy dealer.

I spent about 3 hours working with the mechanic today. They actually let me work right with them on my car. It was nice to learn about it. It wasn't nice to learn that I'd have to pay another $400 to get everything fixed with the wiring.

I also saw that *** Chevrolet jacked my car up wrong and cracked both front fenders. They tried to jack it right where there's a plastic piece that says "DO NOT JACK HERE" on it. Great. Now, I'm waiting on a call back from the general service manager at *** Chevrolet.

This whole thing has been one big mess since I decided to get repaired at the dealer.

BTW, the door window motor works strong, but it clicks when it goes up and down. I have a feeling it won't last long.

Luckily, I can prove that *** Chevrolet jacked my car in the wrong place because my friend and I washed the car just 3 days before. I even took a picture or two of the sides and the new damage is visible from the sides.

I wonder if *** could have anything to do with my water pump shorting out. It certainly seems like they screwed everything else up that they touched.

This sucks. I don't have the money for this.

Anyway, for the month or so that I had the car before the dealer, it was fun as hell to drive. Borla is neato.

bad96firechikin

My advise: learn how to turn your own wrenches and don't trust a shop to do anything. I've seen too many screw ups. It's too tough to know who knows what they're doing, or who does quality work when you're dealing with your car.

brxndxn

Well, the mechanic I worked with today told me that he actively drag races. He also was able to answer all the questions that I asked him. I think I trust him a lot more over the Chevvy dealership in Bradenton. Plus, his work is very 'pretty'. He routed all the wires nicely and made things look like they were supposed to be there.

Oh well.. after I sink all this money into the car, it should run nice for a while.

NineSevenWS6

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I bought mine last summer, had the rear end f-up, good thing I bought the extended warranty. I wasnt all that keen on leaving/having it at the dealer, but everything went well. They called me and asked me to come in and see the damage, while I was there they explained a lot. I now have a little trust with this particular service department. My mom has also had work there done with great results. Think I found a keeper.

Good luck with all the troubles.. Definatly not a fun way to start ownership. Just remeber that it will all be worth it when shes out and right.

JordonMusser

for sure learn to do that stuff yourself. IE, rewiring a water pump takes an hour. window motor, my GF(http://www.fastblackcar.com/me/heathercar.jpg) did hers(both) in abotu 2.5 hours.

Gasket behind TB, about 20min

Just FYI.. mechanics are not cheap

TimboTA

They cracked your fenders??? I've jacked under the black plastic blocks before, behind the front control arms, without a problem (I know it says "Do not jack here" ... a good jack will distribute the force evenly, besides, we're prolly talking about a different spot).

Maybe those monkeys let the fat guy lean over the fenders when working on the throttle body?!

Search around on this site and you'll get a ton of good information and you'll be able to do the work yourself. If you've got the cash, get the CD from Whiteracing.com that has a lot of diagrams to explain the parts relationship on the vehicle. Shoebox (our resident power-window guru) sometimes posts pics from it - I've ordered it and it's well worth the $ I spent. If this is your first foray into working on vehicles (and it sure sounds that way), seeing it in "print" before digging in will ease the tension somewhat. Don't be afraid to ask questions on here...even the most experienced people have questions to ask.

Most dealers don't know squat. That clicking noise you're getting could be a misaligned or mal-tightened motor. If you're feeling brave, go to this site:
http://home.swbell.net/shoebox/windowmotor.html
It will give you information so you can check for yourself.

Welcome to the club!

atljar

SHOWOFF!

BY the way, the CSI water pump takes the strain of drining the pump off the cam, and makes it an electrical pump instead. Its worth a fair amount of hp

96speed

I knew nothing about cars before I bought my f-body. After a $1k repair bill from the dealer I learned how to work on my car (However, I still don't know anything about it ). With a manual and a little help from your friends at Cz28 you should be able to tackle most of your repairs without needing an inclined background in mechanical stuff.

Woulda thought a hotshot like you could get a weenie TB gasket on in about 12min tops. What's the deal!?

95 Z/28 LT1

For the record, those plastic blocks ARE for jacking/picking up the car with.

The "Do Not Jack Here" is for people to not jack up around the pinch weld, which is anywhere to the outside of the blocks.

For the fenders to be broken like that, they must have put the arms of the lift under the bottom of the fenders, which will break them every time. I know, because one of mine was broken when I bought my car, and a body shop told me how it happens.

If I were you I would make them replace both fenders and I would be raising hell with the service manager.
Good luck getting them to own up to breaking them. You will probably have to get the regional manager involved to get anywhere. Good luck.

scottslt1z28

as everyone said earlier......my addvice is to figure out how to do stuff yourself. I HATE THE CHEVY DEALERSHIPS AROUND HERE. I dont like dealerships to begin with. They have screwed with me too many times. I will never go back there unless im buying another car. And even then i doubt i will go to the ones here. Goodluck to making them own up to there mistake too. (I have also had this problem, they didnt own up..........we'll they havnt yet, im in the process of dealing with them on something).........and as someone else said -- buy one of the manuals for the 97 camar (2 books).........you can buy them off ebay and if you cant get them there you might be able to buy them from www.chevy-parts-for-less.com they might have them. Oh and if you need stock parts, buy them from chevy-parts-for-less.com too. they have the best prices. and anything you need help with, we will help . .........................good luck man, sorry to hear about your misfortune.

Scott

BUBBA

I have NEVER taken my cars to a dealer or even a reputable mechanic where they didn't screw something up, lose something, forget to put a screw in, reinstall a hose/wire,etc.

Always check your vehicle as soon as you get it back, so that your complaint is timely.JMHO

Bastardcat

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes brxndxn!

I greatly distrust the Chevy dealerships around here and try to do everything myself. I feel much more satisfaction when I screw something up myself versus paying someone else to do the same damage--or worse. Plus the dealerships around here seem to charge 10% more than the list price which is usually twice as high as the part should retail for.

Hope you get your ride up and running smoothly again soon.

Anderson

I may be wrong, but the 2 hoses missing from the TB, could be the TB bypass mod.

As for an electric WP, if you already ahve one in there, then keep it.

93Z286Speed

Jason Cromer has awsome prices on stock stuff... i got my opti and wp for around 390 to 400 something like that.. where as the chevy dealer here wanted 619 for the opti alone

Fred94Camaro

I'll never bring my car back to a dealership either. I took my car into Maroone Chevy down in Fort Luaderdale becuase my antilock brake light was on. They told me it was only going on becuase my battery was bad. But I thought something else was wrong so In told them to check everything out and I'll pay the charge. Came back nothing wrong. About 6,000 miles later the rearend is completly screwed. Needs a new rear axle, breaks, rotors the works luckly my warrenty lasts for one more month. Moral of the story dont trust dealerships