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AA wrote:

A lot of us here are Buick mechanics, in a sense. We may not have worked at the dealership, but we have the factory manuals and plenty of experience fixing our cars. But seriously, when you go to a dealership with a noisy supercharger, and they say the entire blower needs replaced, you start to wonder how much these guys really know. Sure they are good at fixing cars (Buicks) in general, but there is something to be said for all the write-ups we have here, and the 90,000+ posts focused on 95-99 Rivieras.

Ummm Hmmm... when you get to really know the mechanics you may learn that much of what they tell you is constrained by employers' rules. For instance most of the mechs I know, know that if you don't overdrive or thrash your supercharger, and you keep it lubed, most likely all you'll need to do is replace the factory coupler with one of those green rascals and you probably won't have to service it any more. For various reasons, when they are 'on the clock' they have to give you the company line, which is that the whole blower needs to be replaced with a remanufactured unit. Turning a ~35.00 DIY job into a $1,500 headache.

I find that getting to know the mechanics at the dealership has been a good thing. I also find that once they figure out you won't bust on 'em there is a whole lot they will can/tell you about maintaining the car that you actually may not find anywhere else. For instance today I'm posting some info about my fuel filler neck you might find *really* useful in the foreseeable future.

Albertj

Albertj