Autotech Hume

[Sonuku]

So!

Went down to Autotech on Wednesday to get a Power FC + Boost Controller installed, and get it run on the dyno.

Due to certain family situations, Ed was unable to get it done by 5:30 that night, but said he would get it done. So I got a lift down to Hume after work, and waited around till about 6pm.

I'm not going to go into details about his situation, but basically he sacrificed family time to help me out, so I could get home that night. (I live in Hall, and the 6 hour walk home wasn't a nice prospect)

So we're sitting in the car, doing the dyno tune... Notice that the clutch is acting odd. Slipping a little then regripping... After a bit of tuning, we up the boost to 12psi, and the engine starts detonating.

Turns out the spark plugs installed by Fast and Furious were gapped at 1.1.... fail.

So we re-gap to 0.8, and give it another try.

Engine ramps up, then *sniff sniff* clutch melts.

By this time, its 8pm.

Long story short. Ed drives me to his house, gives me the keys to his car, and I'm now driving around a tiny red Alpha Romeo until Friday/Monday when the new clutch gets put in.

I have nothing but good things to say about what happened that night. I semi expected the clutch to give, and well, Ed is a bloody champ.

Extreamly, uh, comforted that my car is in good hands.

If you ever get the chance to meet ed at Autotune, you'll know what I'm talking about. A really nice guy. Very knowledgeable about everything he does.

Looking forward to getting my GTS-T back!

-Alistair

Edited August 21, 2008 by Sonuku

[Gus-]

i did work experiance ad integra back in year 10 and he let me do some laps in the fozzy....pretty sure it was awesome, first gear + second gear around the servo, the boost made me feel like i was in fast and furious hitting naws haha wooooo.

same ed yeah???

[a20089]

Good to hear of some customer service.

[CeJay]

I have to give the thumbs up to autotech as well

[race_snooze]

good to hear, your at hall why didnt you try trojan

[GTRKat]

I followed Ed from Integra across to Autotech and I would never trust anyone else anywhere near as much with my baby.

I'm familiar with his current situation and experienced some delays with my turbos getting fitted for similar reasons. Ed then organised for us to borrow Peter's Hilux for a few days to help us out as it was killing us being reduced to one car.

I have absolutely nothing but good words and praise for Ed the man is f*cking awesome! As mentioned very knowledgeable and always makes time to answer my questons and go through everything with me thoroughly no matter how blonde I am being!

[Sonuku]

good to hear, your at hall why didnt you try trojan

I work out at Fyshwick, so its less trouble to get to Hume then back to work in the morning D:

The Alpha is a beast! It fkn sounds 30x better than it looks/runs, haha.

[tridentt150v]

I'd like to start by saying is that I've always got very friendly helpful service at ACT garages. I'm not going to talk specifics or name businesses but friendliness is good, but it would be nice if these businesses were a bit more professional or organised.

1.I travel to get to Canberra, so when I book my car in for 0830, I expect 0830. I hate having to get up at 0500, travel to the garage, then they all shuffle cars around and organise morning tea then do rego checks etc before your car is touched at 1000, this means I could have left at 0800 and still made it, so why [when I've booked in weeks in advance] ask me to come early then stall me. I also pay cash for every job ever done, so I am a good customer.

2. The garage guys get in and out of your car with dirty boots and overalls [i now use seat covers and rubber mats to stop the oil etc].

3. When I book in for a tune, I don't expect the datalogit cable to have been leant to a mate and can't get hold of him excuse, so they use the hand controller [they did a good job, just not an excellent job]. This may be OK for a local, but I can't just pop back in any old time and get my tune checked.

Having said that, they know what they are doing, and are good tuners etc. I'm just trying to supply constructive feedback.

[GTRKat]

I'd like to start by saying is that I've always got very friendly helpful service at ACT garages. I'm not going to talk specifics or name businesses but friendliness is good, but it would be nice if these businesses were a bit more professional or organised.

Well since this is a thread about Autotech one can only assume....

1.I travel to get to Canberra, so when I book my car in for 0830, I expect 0830. I hate having to get up at 0500, travel to the garage, then they all shuffle cars around and organise morning tea then do rego checks etc before your car is touched at 1000, this means I could have left at 0800 and still made it, so why [when I've booked in weeks in advance] ask me to come early then stall me. I also pay cash for every job ever done, so I am a good customer.

I don't like getting up at 5 to drop my car off either (I start work early) so just drop it off the day before. What else would one be expected to pay with??

2. The garage guys get in and out of your car with dirty boots and overalls [i now use seat covers and rubber mats to stop the oil etc].

Do you expect them to get changed or something?? I use seat covers for this exact reason.

3. When I book in for a tune, I don't expect the datalogit cable to have been leant to a mate and can't get hold of him excuse, so they use the hand controller [they did a good job, just not an excellent job]. This may be OK for a local, but I can't just pop back in any old time and get my tune checked.

Having said that, they know what they are doing, and are good tuners etc. I'm just trying to supply constructive feedback.

Admittedly that would piss me off but lets face it we've all been booked into places and sometimes stuff that doesn't go right, that kind of thing happens everywhere. Fact is though we live in Canberra and we don't have a whole lot of choice or variety when it comes to people that know what they are doing. Sometimes even wth the cable a tune is not 100% and you have to go back, it's not their fault you don't live locally.

[Sonuku]

Looks like I'll be getting my car back Monday.

None too worried tho.

Prettysure I put a spanner in the works, and threw their workload off balance for the week.

--

Re: Mechanics being dirty etc... Um, thats kind of a given. Don't expect everywhere to be a Mercedes dealer I guess Kat makes good points too.

Constructive critisism is always good tho, I tend to just bag on shit I don't like. Most of the time, if you go to a tuner with good staff, who are good people, there is a relative amount of respect for you and your belongings (with practicality put in place, people make mistakes)

Edited August 22, 2008 by Sonuku

[Michele]

I expect them to put the el cheapo plastic covers over the seats before they sit on them and a paper mat on the floor. Me providing something to stop them from putting grease on my seats would be like taking my own sheets to the doctors. Common courtesy and a professional service... not too much to expect for the hourly rate that is being charged.

[R32_Matt]

^^^^^

when I was at holden thats exactly what was done for every car.

[Sonuku]

210rwkw stock turbo/injectors/fuel pump

very pleased!

button clutch is a bit lol at the moment, i jerk around on it, haha. I'll get used to it.

[GTRKat]

Nice one! I was making around the same on 9psi before I made any changes.... At this stage just don't do what I did and up the boost to a full bar... Stocky turbos didn't like it

[r33skylinegtst]

I've taken my car to Ed for a few years now, couldn't recommend him highly enough. Worked back on a saturday once when he was at Integra to replace my clutch even after i'd said it wasn't that urgent. Also offered me his car for the day when he needed to change the date i had my car booked in for a service so i could still get to work and back.

Bloody good customer service!

Edited September 6, 2008 by r33skylinegtst

[RB ONEVIA]

yeah ed is great, the only one i trust to do a good job, apart from myself but still not 100% lol. im collecting parts atm for a decent build that ed will put together for me

[zoomzoom]

ahh the little alfa spent the last few nights at my house. it really is the local call girl, isnt it. i think the 80's styling looks ridiculous, but i can see what the italian charm is

i recommend autotech too. you do need some patience with them though, they often have many jobs to work on so yours wont be done quickly, but i would rather it done properly, especially when dealing with a market of cars like the skyline. when it comes to working on things like the ATTESSA system you want people who have heard of it before working on it. most ordinary workshops arent suited for that. every other automotive place ive been to takes one look at my car and says "what, the volvo?".....not a good start

[Data-Cain]

Yer I like Ed.

I'm a little miffed about the work I just had done with them though.

I spent a lot of money over the last two weeks on a bunch of small shit and almost came out with a cooked motor, due to a couple silly mistakes which I didn't notice straight away.

I'm a pretty easy going guy and as I said I like Ed, so I mentioned it but didn't drill him about it.

Although I am going to get him to check a couple things for me because of it.

Edited September 17, 2008 by Data-Cain

[Sonuku]

I spent a lot of money over the last two weeks on a bunch of small shit and almost came out with a cooked motor, due to a couple silly mistakes which I didn't notice straight away

pffff, you totally went home and split that hose yourself

[CeJay]

Anyone have an idea who's better at working on the attessa system? Autotech or Trojan, Looks like mines finally decided to have a fit, throwing up codes 13 and 18.