So last night I was driving in the Pao, still gleeful from finally getting it back after over a year out of service due to hitting that deer, when I drove over some railroad tracks, felt a horrible jolt, then stopped moving. Getting out, things looked like what you see above: a wheel in very much the wrong place. What the hell happened?
Rolling underneath, I saw that the control arm that the mechanic replaced – a mechanic that specializes in JDM cars, I should note – seems to have come off, somehow. This shouldn’t happen. David thinks perhaps a locking ring was forgotten, or something like that. I’m just happy I was going so slow when it happened, because if that control arm decided to stop, you know, controlling while I was on a highway or even going, say, 40 mph or so in traffic, things could have gone way, way worse.
I do like how the lights formed those stripes in that picture up there, though. I don’t like how the oil pan seems to have cracked when it smacked the ground as the control arm fell off, though.
I have to say my confidence in this mechanic is severely eroded. First I found an old, cracked hose on the brand-new radiator that was causing a coolant leak, and now my wheel pretty much fell off. I’m gonna have to have a stern conversation here today, and I am not a fan of those. Oy.
Ya picked a fine time to leave me, Loose Wheel!
I had the same issue regarding my mechanic. First they messed a cracked spring in an inspection- it was resting on the control arm rather than the mount. It didn’t affect stability since it’s a double wishbone, but the weird noises prompted me to check. The last stream was after replacing said spring, they didn’t tighten my tie rod leading to some potentially accident-causing stability issues on the highway. And yet they specialized in German cars!
Ouch that’s a big deal!! Definitely lucky it happened when going slow. holycrapholycrap
Jeesus, that looked like you suddenly got a Honda E turning circle on a Pike car for free! 🙂
My Figaro has a horrible turning radius. Yes even worse than my big old Citroën CX (also transverse engine front wheel drive nose heavy), so I guess it’s the same with the Pao?
Glad you were able to stop and didn’t get hurt. As much as you love that silly car, I kind of feel bad for you.
Closing in on 5 years here with the Figaro, without anything ever going wrong, besides me scraping the rear right fender on some walls a couple of times.. Even just the right spec oil filter for it for 2$ and new brake pads for it for 6$. Love japanese cars with cheap service parts!
Pao-MIA (Mechanical Ineptitude Allowed)
You are never forgotten.
With something that egregious I would not give them a second chance. Make them fix it and never use them again. I do most of my own work on my cars but years ago was in a hurry to get a car safetied as my wife wanted to drive it to meet a cousin in Michigan. Garage that had done a few jobs for me in the past replaced the rear calipers and did the safety. My wife called me at work saying that as she had driven the car home (about 10 blocks), the brake pedal had gone to the floor and that there were two lines of fluid on the street leading to our driveway. Got home and checked it and found both bleeder screws on the rear calipers were not even finger tight. Rear of master cylinder was empty. Called them up (Friday evening) and told them the car had to be fixed by noon Saturday. They argued (not normally open on Saturday) but eventually agreed. I watched them do the work, double checked it and tested the brakes before driving home. Never used them again.
That you apparently cleared the tracks doesn’t change the fact that crossing them caused a failure which stopped your car cold, a slightly different set of circumstances and it seems you could have been stopped on the tracks. I would definitely include that bit of information in your discussion with the shop. Did any trains pass through while you were waiting to be towed? It seems to me that this could have been a very different post in that situation.