Mechanic suggestions

[tj7695]

I'm new here, owned my 88 YJ for almost 2 years, and have yet to find a reliable mechanic. I'm in North Haledon and have bounced around a number of shops, can't say I've been thrilled with any. The last straw was after having the carburetor rebuilt, I've had to take it back numerous times, everytime it's something other than the work they did. I've got a really good mechanic that works on my 96 Cherokee, but the guys in the shop are young enough they don't know heads or tails when it comes to carburetors. I'm kind reaching my wits end with it, the idle is inconsistent, coughing and sputtering at idle, and the best wrinkle is it'll just stall at points for no reason. I suggested to the guy that did the work that maybe the idle tubes might be clogged, but he swears they're clear. Everytime I pick it up he tells me its running great, but the next day it's running like garbage again. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated to save me from this ongoing frustration!

[crapbag]

hey,
welcome to the club!
i hear your pain, its definitely hard to find a good mechanic now a days. I'm not sure if you had the mechanic rebuild the carb or if he just ordered a rebuilt one but my experience has been this: Rebuilding old carbs usually hasn't worked well for me because rebuild kits usually just consist of new gaskets, seals, floats, and other small parts. But sometimes there are issues that these kits don't address. I tried rebuilding a carb and it still didn't run right, i finally ordered a rebuilt Carter 2 barrel from one of those online places like www.nationalcarburetors.com and it worked great. These places specialize in rebuilding carbs and have the proper tools and equipment to properly recondition the carb housings and to do any machine work that might need to be done such as reeming out the holes for the butterfly valve shafts and using a new shaft or bushings. If this isn't done properly there can be air leaks and carbs don't like vacuum leaks. Chances are, if your mechanic rebuilt your carb, he just slapped in new gaskets/seals and called it a day. In my opinion, rebuilding a carb is an art and most mechanics just don't know how or don't have the proper resources to do it. My opinion is to buy a rebuilt or new carb and don't try to mess with rebuilding the old one. I think my rebuilt carb was like $200 and possibly cheaper with the core.

And of course, theres always the question of whether the problem is related to something else?

hope that helped alittle.

[posbronco]

I'd have to agree with the guy above, even though he is a jack-ass most of the time;-) Carb's are a black science of their own. Dialing the carb in after you get it on always pisses me off too, even though it is pretty easy (too rich, too lean).

Either way, to step past the carb issue, I'm also gonna say that you should try and do some of this stuff yourself. As much as it might suck or seem daunting, you are already getting the experience of crappy guys working on your stuff. At least you know what you did to it, and once you learn it, you'll always know it and won't have to pay for that work again. Trust me, the more you know and can fix on your older vehicles, the better off you will be. I hate trusting people to work on my junk anymore...