TO Sell or Not to Sell

Discussion in 'General Maverick/Comet' started by pong4117, Nov 22, 2006.

  1. pong4117

    pong4117 Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2006
    Messages:
    89
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Oregon
    Vehicle:
    73 Mav 4 Door
    Well I got a 73 4 door Mav...it ran fine last month, but lately it wont start it just grinds and makes a humming noise....It needs a new Carb kit, it might be that the fuel isnt getting to the engine or some thing. Also the brake lights wont work, i have tried every thing to get them to work. This is my first car, and i dont have a dad to help me with these things. I dont want to sell it, but i dont know how to fix the thing, plus i just bought some nices subs for it. So you guys got any options?
     
  2. eddie1975

    eddie1975 Windsor Specialist

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2006
    Messages:
    3,226
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    Vehicle:
    sold
    prolly need a starter, make sure it didnt eat the teeth off of the flexplate.

    If your fuel pump isnt working right you wont get fuel but other wise unless your empty on gas , gas should be getting there

    Did you try to replace your brake light switch? Its up underneath the dash on the brake pedal in the bracket



    some one say food:)



    eddie:D
     
  3. stmanser

    stmanser Looking for a Maverick

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Messages:
    2,818
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Location:
    Davenport, Iowa
    i would keep it.. there are several options for you.

    1. take it to a repair shop and have them do an estimate to see whats wrong. they will do a detailed list of what the car needs and what the cost would be to fix it.

    i dont recommend doing the following, but sometimes when times are tough people need to do some low things

    you take the list of stuff the repair shop said is bad, and you go to checker autoparts, autozone, pepboys, where ever and buy the parts yourself. you will have a lot of money. then buy a repair manual for the maverick, about 59.99 from autokrafters, i have the set, and its good and detailed. then fix the car yourself. get some buddies, someone always knows someone that knows how to work on cars.

    good luck
     
  4. eddie1975

    eddie1975 Windsor Specialist

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2006
    Messages:
    3,226
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    Vehicle:
    sold


    i dont see anything wrong with that, if i know i can save money i am goin to do it.
     
  5. Jamie Miles

    Jamie Miles the road warrior

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2005
    Messages:
    12,098
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    383
    Location:
    Lawrenceville, GA
    Vehicle:
    13 Mavericks
    Why don't you recommend it? That's the ONLY thing I would recommend. Learn how to do it yourself, and you don't have to pay someone to do it. These cars are very easy to work on. If you are the least bit mechanically inclined, you should be able to figgure out how to do about anything by just takeing it apart and putting it back together.
     
  6. eddie1975

    eddie1975 Windsor Specialist

    Joined:
    Apr 12, 2006
    Messages:
    3,226
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    Vehicle:
    sold
    yeah just tinker with it , you will be able to figure it out...little trial and error


    if you have questions, you know where we are:yup:
     
  7. Fordmaster169

    Fordmaster169 Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2006
    Messages:
    913
    Likes Received:
    34
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    Coos Bay, Oregon
    Vehicle:
    1969 1/2 MavPro Street Project, 1972 F-100 stepside 4X4, 2015 F150 4X4, 2ea 2001 Ranger 4X4 extended cab step sides
    I am just saying this as someone who feeds his family by fixing other peoples cars, so dont take this the wrong way.
    Think about what you just said.......... Say he brings the car to me to do an estamate, I spend an hour looking at his car to determin what is wrong with it. I spend another 1/2 an hour looking for the best deal I can find on parts and looking up the labor cost. Now I give the quote to the service manager and he gives it to you. Then you say well I guess I will get it fixed somewhere else or do it myself. You say thanks for telling me what is wrong with the car and walk out the door with the estamate and I get to loose 1 1/2 hours out of my life that I could have been working on some paying coustomers car. Just isnt right!!!!!!!!!!!!! No matter how you look at it. Just like someone that brings his own parts to have me install. I always ask them where they work. If it is a resteraunt(SP) I ask them if I bring in my own steak if he or she would cook it for me, Same thing. Why do we always have to lower our prices to make a coustomer happy, Guys this is how we survive, this is what we do. Cut us some slack.
    Thanks, just venting after a long hard day behind a wrench.
    Don
     
  8. Tom Laskowski

    Tom Laskowski Member

    Joined:
    Mar 10, 2002
    Messages:
    917
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area,California
    Vehicle:
    (3) 71's,two V-8's and one 200 cid
    Don,


    With all due respect if you spent 1 hour and a half of your time inspecting a car and giving a estimate to your manager to give to the customer, and you did not get paid, well you better look for a new job!
     
  9. Fordmaster169

    Fordmaster169 Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2006
    Messages:
    913
    Likes Received:
    34
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    Coos Bay, Oregon
    Vehicle:
    1969 1/2 MavPro Street Project, 1972 F-100 stepside 4X4, 2015 F150 4X4, 2ea 2001 Ranger 4X4 extended cab step sides
    Thats the thing, The company I work for gives free estamets. I get an hourly wage and a percent of sales as my pay. So as I said I spend an hour and 1/2 doing nothing and loose from me not working on another car.
    And I do OK, I am on track for about 50K this year.
     
  10. stmanser

    stmanser Looking for a Maverick

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Messages:
    2,818
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Location:
    Davenport, Iowa

    did you read my initial post .. i made a disclaimer.. i put the disclaimer in there because, yes, it is wrong to do it. but at the same time... with some mechanics, and dont take this personally, they are scam artists and say stuff is broke whenin fact there is nothing wrong.

    what i said was that sometimes with the way money is, and the OVER PRICED costs for having a mechanic fix some things, it is necessary to do "bend the rules" and get your car working again./

    this kid sounds like he needs a break and needs his one and only car running.

    it was not a suggestion to all people to go get estimates so that they know what to fix, it was only a means to get an emergency fix done quickly.
     
  11. newtoford

    newtoford Member

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2006
    Messages:
    5,475
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    157
    Location:
    New Castle Delaware
    Vehicle:
    '76 Maverick, '76 Comet, 78 Monte Carlo, '85 Cutlass Supreme, '86 Regal Limited, '87 Grand Prix
    a maverick along with most older cars are extreamly simple to work on, at least compared to new cars. stock replacement mechanical parts are usually dirt cheap too. even the Hi-po stuff is cheaper than it would be on a mondern car. The down side to all this is after 20, 30, 40 years of regular daily use it isnt in the best condition and will need some work so you have to be ready. Nothing personal against any of the professional mechanics reading this, but for me one of the postive things for me about driving older cars is that i dont have to rely on or pay for a mechanic every time something doesnt work. due to a few @$$ holes out there you guys do get a bad rep for being scamers. Back to your specific problems, change the switch and probably the bulbs too, if your smart enough to get that sound system in brake lights shouldnt be a problem. your a little vague with the first part so im not sure we'll be able to provide you with the best advice. If I were you I'd definatly keep it unless you have enough money to go out and buy something new under warranty. cars break, new or old, so be ready. good luck with whatever you do
     
  12. Fordmaster169

    Fordmaster169 Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2006
    Messages:
    913
    Likes Received:
    34
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Garage:
    1
    Location:
    Coos Bay, Oregon
    Vehicle:
    1969 1/2 MavPro Street Project, 1972 F-100 stepside 4X4, 2015 F150 4X4, 2ea 2001 Ranger 4X4 extended cab step sides
    I understand what you are saying. And I would like to say not once in my career have I replaced a part that did not need replaced or fixed anything that did not need to be fixed (unless I was instructed to buy the owner of the car) One instance was today. A guy brings his car in to get the brakes checked, an alignment and 2 new front tires. I check the brakes and shake down the front end for loose parts. The front brakes were about 50% and the rotors were above machining/discard thikness but did not have enugh left to turn them (about .012 left). The rear brakes were down to about 20 % (1/16 of an inch) and the rotors did not have enugh left to turn. It had a bad left inner tie rod end. I give the estamate for the rear brakes, rotores, inner tie rod end and the alignment. The service manager calls the guy and he wants to know how much it would be for the front also. So I price the front brakes and rotors and the guy says to change all of the brakes. Many times I cringe at the thought of giving a coustomer a estamate because it is very costly. On the same car the labor guide called for 7.1 hours to change an inner tie rod end. I could not believe it, I guess it is one of the ones that the book thinks you have to remove the rack to change. I tell the service mamager that is way to high and told him that I was going to cut that down to 1.5 hours and all worked out fine. I have some say in what the coustomer gets charged if it in that situation and is just outragious. But I have to abide by the rules of the people I work for. I think that he would have much better luck if he was up front with the mechanic he is dealing with. Just tell him that he has very limited knowledge of his car and how to work on it and he just needs to know what is wrong with it. Not go in under the guise of getting his car fixed and then just leave, be honest with who he is talking to. Hell if I had a guy come in my shop and tell me up front that he needed help finding out what was wrong with his car I would probably go to his house and help him out ( have done it before). It kinda hit a soft spot because I get that kind of stuff all the time. The worst thing is someone comming in finding out what is wrong and then go to the parts store and buying the parts, bringing them back, and expecting to get the same labor done for the same price. The place I work charges $10 extra an hour if you bring your own parts due to the fact of loosing to markup on the parts. But that is the way it goes and those decissions are made much higher up than the store I work at.
    I guess what I was trying to say is kinda look on the other side of the fence before you do something like that. Thats all. Everyone is going to try to get the best deal they can on what they are spending money on, its the nature of the beast. But we gotta eat too.
    We Cool????????
    Don
     
  13. Jerryfow2

    Jerryfow2 Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2006
    Messages:
    378
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    73
    Location:
    Milltown IN
    Vehicle:
    1972 Grabber/1972 Sprint/1976 Stallion
    Pong 4117,
    Here are a few ways to check on the issues you are having.
    1. Check for corrosion in the cables on the battery as well as the one on the starter. Excessive corrorsion in the cables can cause the same problem you are having. If they are ok, Remove the starter from the car. Be careful not to ground out the cable when removing it from the starter. (Sparks are a bad thing). Once the starter is off the car take it one of the Auto parts stores that check them for free. If bad replace if not ask parts guy about a starter solinoid. Unless the motor is totally lock up one of the three issues above is most likely the problem.
    Fuel getting to the motor. Pump the gas several times with the breather off. Smell for gas in the carb. If you don't smell very much gas then it could be the fuel pump. A simple way to check the pump is to remove the line going to the carb. Add an extra length of hose and place it in a empty 20oz bottle. Have some one else crank the motor over and watch the gas entering into the bottle. If it can't fill that bottle pretty quickly then I would replace the fuel pump. If it fills fine then you will need to check into a kit for the carb.
    Brake lights. Change the switch first. Its easy and cheap. If you put in a stero then check your fuse box for blown fuses and lastly bulbs.
    Pong 4117 I am not a mechanic and will never claim to be one. These are things I have done in the past to check issues I have had. Aside from a little High School shop class (over 20 years ago) I have no training. Take my advise if I can figure out how to perform these little checks then so can you. Hit e-bay for a chilton manuel. You can get them pretty cheap and they can help guide you through a lot of problems you will face in your Mavericking life. I hope some of this helps!!
    Thanks
    JerryFow2
     
  14. stmanser

    stmanser Looking for a Maverick

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Messages:
    2,818
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Location:
    Davenport, Iowa
    yeah no problems.. i was just saying how it has been in the past. there arent many honest mechanics out there, and unless you know the person, you never know what or who you are going to get..
     
  15. stmanser

    stmanser Looking for a Maverick

    Joined:
    Jan 4, 2005
    Messages:
    2,818
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    112
    Location:
    Davenport, Iowa
    ok.. is this when trying to crank the engine over? or when the engine is running.. does it sounds like the starter is whirring, as in spinning but not engaging the flywheel.



    if the fuel isnt getting to the carb, this would be the fuel pump not working. the fuel pump (if mechanical, which i am fairly sure it is) is located on the drivers side of the block right in front of the oil filter (assuming this is a 302)

    the first thing i would do is make sure you have the correct bulbs in the brake lights. i had this problem when i was in kentucky when i was trying to get it driveable. if you have the wrong bulb, they will blow as soon as you hit the brakes, some bulbs are not strong enough to handle the voltage from the brakes, etc.. get all new bulbs, and then replace the fuse. if the fuse is a 10amp, get a 15 amp to see if this helps. i am fairly sure that i put a 20 amp in mine when i was popping bulbs and i havent taken it out and it works fine. also, there could be a ground. i replaced and ran all new wires from the wire harness under the drivers side rocker panel all the way back, and again, since i did all this i havent had a problem. i would take a day to take all the wires out going to the back and just check them over for breaks or rust, etc..


    we all have to start somewhere. i am sure you will get it fixed, and doing the work yourself will give you the confidence of knowing you can fix anything. soon you will be rebuilding your engine and mod'n out the car.


    good luck
     

Share This Page