Soutthpaw

The other thing you want to do when looking at salvage vehicles is have someone drive it on a straight road and then drive behind them, get your sight line directly on the rear wheel and if you can see the front wheel then the frame is bent or some serious suspension damage issues. I see these kind of vehicles on the road all the time.

Feeling like a Sucker Yet? did you drain the oil and remove and open the oil filter to see what that all looks like??? not to make you feel bad but I got my 97 OB that went into a ditch for $500. got it to run briefly yesterday, still need to get some parts though... DJ

[The way you separate the ball joint from rthe lower arm is by striking the end of the control arm sharply with a heavy (metal) mallet in the area surrounding the ball joint tapered in. Believe it or not, this will SQUEEZE the ball joint out of the control arm (bu virtue of the taper on the ball joint pin). Don't be afraid to smack that baby. By the way, this technique was shown to me by an old school mechanic at the shop where fellow lister xrturbo now works. I had removed the entire knuckle complete with lower control arm and brought it to his shop. The guy laughed at me and told me he would separate it with one blow of the hammer. Sure enough, he did so and told me never to be so silly again! I have had success with this technique several times since then (although it usually takes me 3 or 4 shots). Yep that is one of those old school trade secrets... I use it all the time... I think its time he got a good compressor and impact wrench... "there is no replacement for have the right tools for the job!"

Remember these guys work at autozone for near minimum wage because they are not smart enought to actually be able to fix the vehicles else they would be working in a shop for a whole lot more money!!! I tell all my customers that just because a DTC says something is bad, it does not mean it is bad. there are multiple causes that will trigger DTC's... Without going through the complete diagnostic flow chart for that code you are often just wasting money replacing good parts with good parts Code will often reset after a series of "good" starts after the code is triggered. so if you drive the vehicle 3 times for example and the code does not reoccur then the light resets (code will be stored in memory though). DJ

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Hand+Tools%2C+General+Purpose&pid=00945571000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Adjustable+Wrenches&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

Go to sears and get http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&pid=00943160000&cat=Hand+Tools,+General+Purpose&subcat=Punches,+Chisels+%26+Pry+Bars&vertical=TOOL&ihtoken=1 Pin Punches have a raised center with a flat surface around them to keep the punch centered on the roll pin as you drive it in. There is no replacement for having the right tool for the job! As you are in Colorado Springs too, you can get them cheaper at Harbor Freight tools too if you only use them occasionally. Located at Circle and Fountain in Bypass Plaza PS I am an ASE Master Auto Tech and work from home evenings and weekends if you ever need work done, I charge $40/hr Thanks DJ djwdeaf@aim.com

if you give me the year make and model and exactly what labor they charged yoyu for i can give you the industry standard time for those services for comparison

I am an ASE Master Auto Tech here is the good ol USA. From my understanding a National govenment certification is required to be a technician in Canada. In the USA it is only optional and is not a government certification but an industry based certification If you find out who to contact, they probably have a complaint department and will have a proceedure to follow up on it. Maybe someone in Canada can give you more info, here is a couple websites I found that may help http://www.red-seal.ca/Site/index_e.htm http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/inoca-bc.nsf/en/ca01509e.html