I am not the type of guy who will go the legal route.. and I am sure he will not return my money.. The unfortunate part is that he keeps asking for more parts which is costing me more and still don't have a running car. I want to tell him that damage done due to the job not done correctly should be his responsibility but I don't think he will agree and might walk away. Anyone have instructions on how to tighten head bolts? If he tightens the bolts further..can that fix it... If gasket is damaged you would think water would be in one cylinder where damage is but water is in multiple cylinders thus he might not have tightened it properly. I just need this done ASAP ..He doesn't seem to value my costs but puts great value on his time and money. When he replaced the starter, he didn't even check it in any way if it had a problem.. fuel rail pressure gauge, the title of this thread, I will be returning it as it was not needed even though I was told for sure it was needed.

Get hold of the BBB and maybe the Attorney General to send them a letter.

Sounds great for him. Not so great for you. What is his warranty for workmanship?

It is all back together and presented to you as a fixed vehicle. He should not be asking for more parts.

This is true, so tell him.

If he did walk away, this would be the only positive strategic move he has ever done for you related to this project.

Yes:

1. Remove anything in the way of removing the cam cover.
2. Remove cam cover.
3. Remove anything in the way of removing the head bolts.
4. Remove the head bolts.
5. Discard the head bolts.
6. Install brand new head bolts, and torque properly per factory instructions.
7. Install anything that was in the way of removing the head bolts.
8. Reinstall cam cover.
9. Install anything that was in the way of removing the cam cover.

The head bolts are "torque to yield" on your engine. They can only be installed once. After that, they never torque down properly again.

Also, they only need to be torqued once if they were installed properly. Even if you could re-use them, torqueing them down more/again/etc. is useless in all cases. It won't fix bad work, won't fix a new problem, and is unnecessary on a properly assembled engine. But you can't re-use them, so no point thinking about that.

No. Not permanently.

If it has been run with the head not torqued properly, the block, head, and head gasket are all likely damaged.

If it has been run low on coolant, the block, head, and head gasket are all likely damaged.

If it has coolant in the cylinders, the block, head, and head gasket are all likely damaged.

Best bet to get this done ASAP: Get an actual mechanic to install a good used engine from a reputable junkyard. An actual mechanic will check the basics of the used engine before installation to make sure they are not installing a bad engine. Better still would be to get a new engine installed, but this might be difficult to get unless you go to a dealership.

I concur wholeheartedly without remorse.

Doesn't surprise me one bit.

Assuming he was told to diagnose, this doesn't surprise me. If we was told to not diagnose, then this would be expected.

You should hang onto the old starter. You might need it before this is all done.

The title is "Fuel rail pressure sensor", and who knows if you need it or not. This mechanic doesn't seem to know, but maybe it is damaged through this mechanic'* shenanigans. Either way, this is not the cause of the current issues, and it is unlikely that it failed on its own at the same time as the other issues.

Editorial by CathedralCub: This mechanic is useless and will only cost you more money. I doubt that any amount of money toward this mechanic would get you a reliable engine, unless it was so much money that this mechanic took your car to a real mechanic just so he could get his hands on the money. If you are not willing or able to seek recourse of some sort, then the best thing you could do is walk away from this mechanic. I can't put too fine of a point on this: If you park this car instead of continuing with this mechanic, then go buy another car just like it, you will come out ahead of continuing with this mechanic. It appears likely to me that the mechanic does not know what he is doing, and you appear to prefer being his piñata full of money more than moving along to a real mechanic. I don't mean this to be harsh or put you down, but this is what is happening.

This mechanic has done the equivalent of pumping a bunch of air into the vein of a heart-attack patient during surgery, told the patient'* loved ones that they need to finish the surgery, told them that this is expected and normal, then gave them bad advice about how to perform the last steps and close him up. After the patient died, this doctor told the loved ones that this is expected and here are next steps to solve the heart attack problem.

Insanity.

This should have been an in-and out repair that might have taken three weeks after waiting for parts. I can't remember when you first brought this mechanic into the picture, but add four weeks to that, and imagine how life would be for you if you got your car back properly repaired at that time.

Anyways, we're still here, but we can't cause this mechanic to change his ways. If you want the car fixed, I suggest it is time to change direction.

The mechanic came to work on the car. I asked him if he is comfortable working on my vehicle as I don't want anything else broken. He said he was good to work on the car. He tried to tighten the head bolt and the bolt snapped off !!! Now he wants me to order a new head gasket set with all the head bolts and this is all my cost for the second time. Anyone know any hack to try and get the remaining bolt out..he brought an extractor but the bolt hole was too small for extractor to go through so it didn't work. He said that he will have to take the cylinder head off.

I'd suit the pants off that idiot.

Why? The coolant loss is nothing to worry about according to him, right? I am truly curious what changed to get this mechanic to do a house call to work on the car.

They don't do this if installed even remotely correctly.

Of course.

The hack I use goes like this:

1. I know what I am doing.
2. The bolt comes out.

I've seen many actual mechanics and amateurs use this hack successfully.

The bolt hole is the right size for the bolt. This is normal and common over 120 years of internal combustion engine heads. If this "mechanic" can't get the extractor to fit, then he'* brought the wrong extractor.

Seems about right for this "mechanic".

Shouldn't be a problem. He wants you to buy a new head gasket set and bolts, so he has to take the head off anyways . . . or does he think he can replace the head gasket without removing the head?

I'm curious: Did you see what I wrote in Post #53?

Yes I read your post.

He is expecting to have me pay for head gasket and bolts.

He seemed to use a lot of force to try and torque the bolt. It is the bolt on the back side middle are. All the other bolts were torqued I believe past the spec. Later he said the maybe where he had taken off the bolt, the head may be warped and there may be a gap underneath the head and block (this is speculation) . If he takes off a bolt(out of sequence) and the bolt on the left and right of it is torqued, can the head go up and warp. A---B---C That is if A and C are torqued and you remove bolt B , and the space between A and C bend upwards and cause some warping? He is going to have to remove the head to install head gasket. He didn't ask for this, but will he need to replace the bolts on camshaft sprockets and will he need timing chain tensioner ...he mentioned that he will need to remove timing chain but hasn't asked for these products. Do you have a picture of the bolt extractor that might work?

Thanks.

The ten bolts on top should only go to 22lbft+155 degrees. The four front bolts 26lbft + 0 degrees. To snap a bolts like these, it would probably require 100lbft+ of torque.

He is probably right about this. Not only does this leave it torqued unevenly. It is already torqued very far out of spec and likely has the threads in the block compromised.

If it was put together properly in the first place, then you might be able to get away with this. I've seen folks do this when they want to change from bolts to studs. If I were doing it, I would loosen them all, replace with studs, then tighten properly to the factory specification in the proper factory order. Yours, on the other hand, is probably already warped and the head bolt threads are probably ruined, so it will likely never bolt on properly again. He'* applied so much torque here, from what I can gather, that the block is probably warped as well. You'll need to take it to a machine shop to get it evaluated and/or corrected.

Seriously?

If he broke the head of the bolt off of the bolt, then removing the head will expose the rest of the bolt. At this point, the bolt should come out by hand, or might need a pair of pliers. If this doesn't work, your mechanic has no business trying to use an extractor. Put all the loose pieces in a bucket and take the bucket and car to a real mechanic.

If he broke it off so that only the threaded part remains in the block, then it would be unwise for me to recommend any particular extractor to this mechanic. Selecting and using an extractor is pretty straightforward and this mechanic can't figure it out already, so I don't want to be blamed for his ineptitude. That having been said, an extractor is an extractor:

The mechanic said that he did everything right and insisted I should have the head machined as that must be the problem and surely I pay for machining. I said that we should have it tested first. We took it together to the machine shop. The machinist tried the thinnest feeler and it didn't slide freely and in fact showed a fair bit of friction. He said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the head and asked if new bolts had been used. I was told by someone that the mechanic should use air compressor to clear the threads or a "tap" as well. There may be oil in the threading that is not allowing for proper torque. Should oil be put on the threads? If it doesn't work this time, should I use gasket sealer (liquid that goes into coolant) as I don't think he will be willing to put any more work into this and is there a good suggestion of a sealant.

Thanks.

I noticed that when he was trying to torque the bolt that broke, it seemed to have a "rubbery" appearance. He would tighten it and as soon as he released the pressure on the wrench it seemed to twist back as if there was some "elasticity" in the bolt..it was twisting when torqued then returning to neutral position. He did put a lot of oil on the threads..When torquing, if some oil seeps out and gets between surface and gasket, would this not cause the leak ? Should I request using less oil or is oil necessary at all.