I have a 98 Crown Victoria 4.6. Nothing fancy done to it. I have had it for over 5 years now. I had to do an engine swap. What a crazy mess this is. I got quotes, didn’t go with the highest or the lowest or the douche bag that seemed shady.

Anyway, the shop I picked said they can do it. No problem. Its been almost 4 months. This guy is like you should just sell it. I can find a motor in a descent price range. He went on about how he couldn’t find one. Im no car cynosure. If it needs something I’ll pay, no problem. But I had to do the leg work myself. So I took my own time to find a few. He said he went and seen them but didn’t like them or they weren’t worth the price. Fine… So then I found a motor company online with warranty and all the BS. So I told him about that. He was unsure about site unseen. Told him it was covered if you didn’t like it we could send it back and ill pay the damn 10% restocking fee.

Anyways, I got it ship, he got it in. But it won’t start. Now he is coming at me with some BS about how this was a preexisting problem and its not his fault. Told him that was BS because she cranked when I brought her to the shop. He can over ride the ignition and starter and it runs beautifully but im sure his a$$ is missing something or effed something up if you can’t start her with a key.

\Sooo… now my baby is sitting in a shop getting dusty. I found her a new heart and now I got this dude telling me she won’t start by key. What is the problem? He said he doesn’t know. How the eff do you not know what’s the deal? You’re the mechanic? He thinks it’s the ignition or starter but he doesn’t know how do fix that. WTF? And what should I do? Is gonna lose it soon… yall better help this guy out.

 

I am in no position to tell you what to do, that said, what if?

1. Maybe you can get some suggestions from folks here on the forum that have some previous knowledge about your model. There are some pretty sharp guys with knowledge pertaining to older vehicles (98 is really not that old).
2. Just what is he doing to do the overide trick?
3. He obviously needs some assistance or he would have corrected the problem by this time.
4. Consider taking some of the suggestions you receive here and just ask your mechanic if he checked them. That way you just might help him get your vehicle fixed and out of there.
5. For starters--- just from what you have stated so far, could there be a problem with the park-neutral switch , I"m fishing here because I have limited info.
6 We know the vehicle won't do anything when you try to start it out of those 2 positions.
Unless you have already paid him for the job, he's got some good reasons to get it fixed and out of there too.. What do you think?

 

Well I thought that was the reason why I posted here. But i guess you just put it in a more simple less angry way. Like I said, I don’t know jack about cars. I just pay whoever to do maintenance or fix whatever problem. No one is getting paid. I guess he honestly cant fix whatever it is. Im willing to pay, but you have to have it right or its a no-go. He is saying he doesn’t know anyone else to help him. I really hope this is not a ploy to keep me coming around the shop to check on the car. Im not bad on the eyes. But still, im angry as all get out. I don’t want to take anyone to court, but it may come to that. Im not paying for what is not fixed and im sure he is not going to release the car without payment. So irritating... I don't know anymore. I guess it would have been better just to junk her. But the motor, all the gaskets, and fluids that I paid for already are in...

 

There's strength in numbers, and I’m sure the members here will help if they can.

Problems like these are hard at times to diagnose without some ‘hands on’ time, and/or a clearer and more direct area to move into may depend on some simple tests which we don’t know were done, or their outcome since the info isn’t there. Sometimes it’s a help to know what he’s tried, tested, or witnessed as ‘good’ functions to take some of the guess work away. Kind of like, we know what it ‘isn’t causing a no start.

Was this a long block replacement, or a complete donor motor? Not that its a defining question, but depending on ability may raise questions on the amount of work done to the engine prior to being installed. I’m sure it’s not an issue since the car runs normal when assisted, but sometimes comes into play if the engine is from differing build years.

Other questions may be for instance, is this a PATS security system car?

We’re assuming that the engine cranks over normally with the key, but will not start?

Is there good fuel pressure when key cranked, and a spark present when tested/cranked?

And, when it won’t start with the key only, can a diagnostic scan tool connect with the cars PCM through the DLC? (Data Link Connector) If it can, he can review the system PIDS, and he will see what the cars PCM is reading, and some of the input/output values.

Like, any fuel injector ‘pulse’ (indicating fuel injector firing ‘on time’) for fuel delivery and a indicated cranking RPM speed ect. They can be checked manually as well. Is there just no spark? missing injector pulse, or both.

These questions may or may not be an issue with your starting concern, but some of the questions that come up for me in a diagnostic tree. Being it will start and run normally when jumped, hotwired or bypassed, if we knew exactly which wires he’s using may help if looked up in the cars wiring schematics, or, where/what he’s adding the circuit into in order to get it to run assisted may give a better direction should it be a simple circuit disconnected/damaged.

I wouldn’t give up, and seems he’s overlooking something (obviously) since the car ran on arrival, and now doesn’t. I’d think that you would only be responsible for the engine install cost, and if it needs to go to another shop for some finish work then you shouldn’t be held responsible for any diagnostic work/time that he’s done to date. If the no start cause is pinned to something the shop did, or didn’t do, then the cost for a fix should be on them.

Sometimes when repairing vehicles, you have the gun to close to the target and you can’t see what your shoot'n at

 

Can you arrange to try this?
If you and he can agree, since he can get it started and it runs OK, what are the possibilities of driving it to another shop with more capable service people and having the problem he can't solve correcred by someone with more experience. That way he has a problem off his back, you should have better service and your car back sooner and hopefully the correcting shop will be happy to aquire a new customer. Without actually getting into the vehicle itself, it is quite difficult to offer fixes thru third and fourth parties and this is not funny ,but a lot gets lost in the translation. How do you feel about this suggestion?