Hillsborough Mechanics

[Untamed]

Hi guys,

While in the process of listing my house for sale, the wife reflected on the problems of having a non-functioning vehicle in the driveway. Something about taking up driveway space during open houses and such. :roll:

I need to get my 88TA up and at least mobile ASAP so I need to find a mechanic who can diagnose my poor little TA's problem. Anyone know of a shop that has excellent rates for the poor, and has a tow truck to help me move the thing to local storage after the diagnosis?

Thanks.

[9secfirebird]

ill help you. im right in clinton, about 20 mins away.

AIM me blacktoprecs

[Ian]

I'll help out too, I'm right in H-boro too.

[Untamed]

Ian, you work at Harlingen right? Do they have any diagnostic equipment?

The electrical system in the car works fine, it just doesnt start. Â*If they have anything that hooks up to the ALDL, and it can work with just the eletrical on, then please find out how much the diagnostic is?

Also, do they have any tow trucks or tow dollies I can rent? If the car cant be fixed immediately, I'll need to tow it to Larken self storage on the north side of town, near the Days Inn off 206.

88TA with a 305 TBI.

Thanks!

[Ian]

I work at Belle mead garage, that dumb chrysler/jeep dealership right near the intersection of 206 and 601. We have a scan tool, but it only works with chrysler stuff, so its a no go there. And we don't have anything to tow a car with, sorry man. You might want to try and get Fasterthanyou to check your car out. he is right over in Montgomery and I'm pretty sure he has the right equipment to check out your car for you.

[9secfirebird]

you shouldnt need a scan tool to diagnose your issue.

[curt86iroc]

use the old paper clip trick and look up the code. works everytime! :D

[Gloveperson]

I work at Belle mead garage, that dumb chrysler/jeep dealership right near the intersection of 206 and 601. We have a scan tool, but it only works with chrysler stuff, so its a no go there. And we don't have anything to tow a car with, sorry man. You might want to try and get Fasterthanyou to check your car out. he is right over in Montgomery and I'm pretty sure he has the right equipment to check out your car for you.

You work there? My mother bought a 300c from you guys and I just had my Camaro there a couple weeks ago there to fix an alternator! You guys are right now the only guys I trust; should I :twisted: ?

I would try hapi auto parts, I think they have a generic scanner (that is the parts store next to bottle king in case you didnt know). I'm friends with a number of the employees and they are all good guys.

[Ian]

I work at Belle mead garage, that dumb chrysler/jeep dealership right near the intersection of 206 and 601. We have a scan tool, but it only works with chrysler stuff, so its a no go there. And we don't have anything to tow a car with, sorry man. You might want to try and get Fasterthanyou to check your car out. he is right over in Montgomery and I'm pretty sure he has the right equipment to check out your car for you.

You work there? My mother bought a 300c from you guys and I just had my Camaro there a couple weeks ago there to fix an alternator! You guys are right now the only guys I trust; should I :twisted: ?

I would try hapi auto parts, I think they have a generic scanner (that is the parts store next to bottle king in case you didnt know). I'm friends with a number of the employees and they are all good guys.

I remeber your car being in the shop. It's pretty nice. new LCA's, new Panhard, magnaflow catback. but anyway, yeah you can trust the mechanics there, they're all good at what they do and they do everything the right way.

[Untamed]

Thanks guys. I'm putting the car at Lackland storage on route 206 next to the Days Inn on the north side of town. The only place for miles that has available parking AND allows non functioning vehicles to stay there.

The problem I have is with towing the thing all over the place, paying for it each time. Fasterthanyou had a portable diagnostic machine, so setting up a time in the evening for an hour to run the codes works best for me right now.

On a side note, the comment about the paper clip - Auto Zone in Raritan has these free metal inserts for the A/B slots on the ALDL to check the codes. I have one, and could probably do that. However since I've never done it before, I'd rather have someone with a portable machine do it for me the first time, and maybe show me what the layout is for the ALDL. I have a list of codes and their meanings, just not the name/number of the 12 ports on the ALDL.

Thanks for the help guys. :)

[9secfirebird]

i still dont know why your looking for codes.

i might be in that area tonight, you can call me if you want 9085811221

[Untamed]

Cool, thanks Mike. The car wont be there until Friday unfortunately. Thats the earliest time I could get out of the office to conduct the towing to the storage area.

I'm looking for codes as a first pass at getting the info I need - what needs to be replaced. I don't expect the diagnostic stuff to show everything thats broken - certainly I expect a number of mechanical things to need replacing that the equipment may not be programmed to find. Right now my time is limited to one hour here and there, with the first hour being devoted to finding out as much about the engine, electrical and fuel systems as possible, for an eventual fix. After that, a more comprehensive crawl over the car will reveal more, but I won't have time for that for a few more weeks. Ideally, the issues that simply prevent the engine from running, are what I need first.

I welcome anyone willing to help since I'm a complete newbie at auto mechanics. Unfortunately I can't devote the time I need to devote, right now. After we settle this house selling crap (1-3 months) I'll then be able to jump into it more often.

Thanks for jumping in Mike. I appreciate it. :)

[misterjuice]

I have a ALDL scanner from AutoXray.......it's portable... but car not starting wouldn't usually set a code...does it even crank? are you getting fuel pressure? etc etc.

[Untamed]

According to the former owner (I haven't done more than sit in it and poke around in the engine bay) it cranks over but doesn't start. Could be fuel. Doesn't sound like the starter. Could be the injectors, fuel pump, fuel pump fuse, fuel lines, spark plugs, distrubutor.... etc, etc. Hopefully the diagnostic will point out at least a few problems than can be worked on.

*maybe I should move this to the Engine section of the board*

[foff667]

does the fuel pump prime when you turn the key on?

[misterjuice]

According to the former owner (I haven't done more than sit in it and poke around in the engine bay) it cranks over but doesn't start. Â*Could be fuel. Â*Doesn't sound like the starter. Â*Could be the injectors, fuel pump, fuel pump fuse, fuel lines, spark plugs, distrubutor.... etc, etc. Â*Hopefully the diagnostic will point out at least a few problems than can be worked on. Â*

*maybe I should move this to the Engine section of the board*

check to see if the fuel pump comes on
next check fuel pressure at the fuel rail
then check ignition