Before you go off on the mechanic, at least tell us what the problem is you're trying to solve. Hydraulic lash adjusters are nearly impossible to test out of the engine and they don't fail very often so most people don't replace them. If some are bad you don't need an entire engine rebuild; you need a simple repair.
If you "know how to work on vehicles pretty good", that would get you by 20 or 30 years ago but mechanics today have to be scientists and engineers. I worked for a very nice Chrysler dealer for ten years, then taught Engine Repair for another nine years, yet that doesn't qualify me to work on the newer stuff. There's just too much changing technology and too many ways I could cause more trouble than I fix.
Saturday, June 30th, 2012 AT 5:10 PM