1990 Honda Accord Distributor

JUJU

MEMBER
1990 HONDA ACCORD
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

I told my mechanic and the owner of the shop that I had a bad heater core hose that was leaking and that I wanted it replaced. They pressured my car even after I told them what was wrong. Two days later my care was running rough, stalling; was taken back to shop. It fiinally stopped cranking. I had already suspected water had gotten into some electrical parts but never did I dream that they would have to replace my distributor. They said they tried replacing only the module, etc. But they did not
get it to start. So, what happened was the water shorted out and burned up my dist. They replaced plug wires, spark plugs, too. All this cost me $417.00. This was not my fault especially since I told him what to replace. Is pressuring a car a standard procedure when you tell them you have a leak and it ran hot? I don't think I should have had to pay for this since I told him what was wrong. The distributor should have lasted the lifetime of the car. What do you all think?

2 Replies

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,937 POSTS

Hi there,

it is standard practice to pressure test a car even if the leaks is known, you also pressure test when repaired to check the system is sealed. As for the distributor, they are normally well sealed but certainly not always serviceable fort the live of the car. With out viewing the distributor I can't pass judgment. I would only hope the mechanic is honest.

Mark (mhpautos)

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Monday, May 26th, 2008 AT 1:00 AM

JUJU

MEMBER
2 POSTS

I appreciate your answering me. But, maybe I didn't make myself clear. A Honda expert is the one who told me that I probably would never have to replace the distributor unless it was damaged. Also, the mechanic drove my car to my work place knowing it was skipping and running rough. He should have known he got water in something; therefore the arcing in the dist. With the water shorted it out and burned up my dist. He admitted he got water everywhere under my hood. He should have known not to drive a car like that. Another mechanic substantiated that he damaged my dist. And he should be liable for fixing it at no charge. I have stopped payment on my check so he will not get that 417.00 from me. He said he didn't charge me labor but he didn't have to. He charged me in excess of 150.00 on parts to make up for it. So, he is only out about 267.00. As far as honesty, I think we all know the answer to that question. I have used him many times and he is usually a little high but I don't think I will ever trust him again. I work at a electric utility and we carry a lot of our trucks to him for tires, and tire repair. I don't have an influence on who we carry trucks to but the guys I work with they know what he did and they said they wouldn't pay either. I think he needs to cut his losses and go on.

Thanks for answering me.

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Friday, May 30th, 2008 AT 10:03 AM