Installed heater and windshield wipers and now no guages...

What now?

The guy at the shop said he couldn't find my 1983 windshield wiper
switch, so he put a different on one there which for some reason
requires an additional switch on the dash. Now I have no fuel, oil
pressure, and temperature guages working...

They tried to find out what was wrong with it all day yesterday and
gave up.

Since I had a lot of work done on the car, he let me pay him $500 now,
and $350 later. You can bet the electrical bill will come out of what
I owe him.

I noticed my cigarette lighter was unplugged and so I plugged that in
myself.

Any ideas?

Couldn't find the wiper switch?? What kind of shop are you visiting?

Will high hourly rates are no guarranty of a good tech, low hourly rates
pretty much guarranty that someone is an idiot...

Happy New Year, anyway.

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> What now?
>
> The guy at the shop said he couldn't find my 1983 windshield wiper
> switch, so he put a different on one there which for some reason
> requires an additional switch on the dash. Now I have no fuel, oil
> pressure, and temperature guages working...
>
> They tried to find out what was wrong with it all day yesterday and
> gave up.
>
> Since I had a lot of work done on the car, he let me pay him $500 now,
> and $350 later. You can bet the electrical bill will come out of what
> I owe him.
>
> I noticed my cigarette lighter was unplugged and so I plugged that in
> myself.
>
> Any ideas?
>

Should have asked me first. I have at least one 1983 wiper switch laying
around, probably two.

Anyway, your car now sounds like an electrical nightmare. As Joe said, I'd
demand that he put the car back to it's previous state and have someone
knowledgeable fix it. It isn't that difficult to replace (or find) a wiper
switch, and I believe the switches were common through '86. The turn signal
switch was specific to 1983, though, and includes the horn (whose bright
idea was this? Push in on the turn signal switch to blow the horn. Why?)

JS

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> What now?
>
> The guy at the shop said he couldn't find my 1983 windshield wiper
> switch, so he put a different on one there which for some reason
> requires an additional switch on the dash. Now I have no fuel, oil
> pressure, and temperature guages working...
>
> They tried to find out what was wrong with it all day yesterday and
> gave up.
>
> Since I had a lot of work done on the car, he let me pay him $500 now,
> and $350 later. You can bet the electrical bill will come out of what
> I owe him.
>
> I noticed my cigarette lighter was unplugged and so I plugged that in
> myself.
>
> Any ideas?
>

Joe wrote:
> wrote in news:1104533007.133951.10750
> @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:
>
> > What now?
> >
> > The guy at the shop said he couldn't find my 1983 windshield wiper
> > switch, so he put a different on one there which for some reason
> > requires an additional switch on the dash. Now I have no fuel, oil
> > pressure, and temperature guages working...
> >
> > They tried to find out what was wrong with it all day yesterday and
> > gave up.
> >
> > Since I had a lot of work done on the car, he let me pay him $500
> now,
> > and $350 later. You can bet the electrical bill will come out of
> what
> > I owe him.
> >
> > I noticed my cigarette lighter was unplugged and so I plugged that
> in
> > myself.
> >
> > Any ideas?
>
> Lemme get this right - the guy screws up your car and _you're_ paying

> _him_?
>
> Since you asked, here's an idea: Tell the guy to put everything back
> the way it was and get all your money back. Then take the car to a
> reputable shop with mechanics who know what they're doing.
>
> Joe

They did a lot of things on the car: brake booster, fuel pump, heater
core, and the windshield washer switch.

The way I've got him is this: I only paid him $500 for the $850 job,
and will deduct what it costs when I take it to an electric specialist.
voice from the past

>
> For your sake, I hope the electrical specialist doesn't charge you
> more than $350. BTW, who's got the car now? I hope you do...
>
> Joe
> Calypso Green '93 5.0 LX AOD hatch with a few goodies
> Black '03 Dakota 5.9 R/T CC

I've got the car, and am thinking it might be a good idea to let this
guy undo what he did, since he knows which wires he cut. The whiper
switch looked much more complicated and hard to get at, and then I
wished I'd used a flashlight: it was only two screws and a plug...

I'm going to ask him tomorrow to put the wires back, even if he has to
bipass the wires he cut close to the plugs. I'll put the switch on
from the junk yard.

voice from the past