When I got the manifold gasket replaced on the Blazer I was called with additional problems: motor mount is tilted, distributer cap and roter are missing and the fan blade is cracked in half. Okay, so I can easily see that the fan is missing a chunk on one of the blades but I am told by a few people that the Blazer wouldnt even start if both the dist cap and roter were missing. Ive also been told that the motor mount issue is a common fib some mechanics use to make some extra dough. Is any of this true? Am I being taken for a ride? Thanks! Note to self: take a mechanics class soon. I dislike not understanding how everything works!
As you were correctly told, the engine would not start or run if either of these two parts were missing. So–If you drove the vehicle to the mechanic’s shop, then the distributor cap and rotor must have been stolen while it was at his shop. If the Blazer got to the shop under its own power, then it does appear that this mechanic is a charlatan.
As to the motor mount, I recommend that you get a second opinion. If it is really bad, this is a potential safety issue.
Yikes, where do you find this winner? Motor mounts can and do go bad sometimes, but I wouldn’t listen to another word the man has to say after he told me my distributor cap and rotor are missing. Unless of course the car didnt start before the car went to the shop and the car had been ripped off. Do a search here on the site for a reputable mechanic if need be. If the car went in like this, where in the world are you living that people are stealing worthless parts like this? Sounds like someone has a beef with you possibly if the mechanic is legit.
I know of a garage in Boston that my son has been to that parked the cars on the street when they had no room, which was usually. Yes, people steal parts from them, especially if the hood is left unlatched. If you live there, or somewhere similar, this is a possibility.
As others have said, the engine would not have started without the rotor and/or the distributor cap.
As far as the motor mount goes, that could be a reason for the bent fan. A busted motor mount will cause the motor to rear up and smack the fan blades into the fan shroud sometimes bending a blade.
For what it’s worth, I broke the reverse motormount in an F150 twice. The first time I got stuck in a muddy driveway and I suppose about the time the shifter slammed my hand into the dash the mount broke. I drove it around 3000 more miles before noticing it when I changed the oil. I had a bent fan and broke fan shroud. Ford actually replaced it and fixed the fan and shroud under warranty since they had a recall on the mount. A year or so later, I was backing out of a store parking lot when a yellow jacket that had gotten up my pants leg let me have it. My foot jumped off the clutch and the fan shroud fell out the bottom of the truck. I sold it 5 years and 180,000 miles after that exactly like it was, still broken. A couple years a go, the 3rd owner of the truck asked me about the broke motor mount, and I told him it had been broken for almost 8 years now, nothing much to worry about. The forward direction mount is a different story though.
Skip
If you drove it down there or it was running before it went in it had both of them. If it was running and when you call him back ask this question,
?So just how do you get an engine to run without a distributor cap and rotor? Hold on while I record the answer.?
Record the answer on a tape.
Then send a tow truck to get it, don?t be surprised at a huge bill for the work he did, and get ready for small claim court. Then sue the guy in small claim court, you might not win but after a judge hears the tape and your mechanic, pay him for his time, I?m betting you?ll win.
If it wasn?t running then it?s possible that someone stole the distributor cap and rotor. I had a starter stolen from my motorcycle once, by car battery once, they tried the get the battery again, but I put a lock on the hood they could only open it enough to see the lock.
My opinions are subject to change with new facts.
THANKS VERY MUCH for all your answers!!
Some mechanics take the distributor cap off if you don’t pay. So do police impound lots.
Hello.If your motor mount was defective and you fan was damaged while you were driving you would of heard the fan contacting the shroud.If in the process of doing the manifold gasket the tech might have lifted the engine to gain access.If this happened the dist cap and rotor might have contacted the fire wall and the fan might have been forced into the shroud.
To extend the bloviation a bit farther, is it possible the shop told the OP that the engine was missing (as in misfiring) because the cap and rotor were worn? Just a thought.
Yes some pretty bad mojo. It is impossible for the motor mount breaking to allow the engine to ?rear up? and break the fan blade. If the engine moves it will move side to side within the cradle. If it were to move that much up/down it would leap out of your engine bay and gallop away down the street. Yes it will not run with a missing cap either. Get 20/20 looking at these guys.
Good luck
I bet you dollars to donuts that this is the real story.
I like that possibility better than someone stealing the cap and rotor. OP, how certain are you that you heard correctly? If you’re sure that’s what he told you, can you go into the shop and have the mechanic point the problems out to you?
Not knowing how the Blazer engine is arranged; here are a few ideas.
If he fan is mounted on the engine and the rad on the frame, then an engine that is bouncing about may hit the fan off the radiator shrowd. However if it has electric fans, only a loose fan or shrowd could account for fan blade to shrowd interference. And coudl result in a burned out motor, if it continues.
A weak, work or broken engine mount could account for the engine bouncing about.
as indicated, if you drive the vehicle in, then yo shoucl be able to drive it out.
I’ll assume a 2001 Blazer does have a cap & rotor, it coudl have completely distributerless ignition also. it’s quiet common these days. In which case it does not have cap & rotor, nor does it need them.
If it did use a distributor them and you did drive it in, do you want to continue to give business to a guy who cannot take care of his customers property.
Your comment about taking a automotive class so you will know about these things needs to be commented on. You can take alot of classes and blog day and night,you need to know that mastering this field takes extreme dedication and exceptional intelligence.
Now you’re thinking! Your best defense against dishonesty is educating yourself. There is no possible way the car would run if any one of the ignition components were missing (rotOr, distributor, etc.). Think about it like this, did you drive the car in to the shop? then you darn well better be able to drive the car out of the shop. If not, get an attorney through the District Attorney’s consumer rights/protection (Whatever they call it in your area) unit.
After working on government fleet cars and trucks for 25 years I think I am qualified to suggest that if you didn’t notice any peculiar vibration coming from the engine area, then your motor mounts and fan blades aren’t bad. And those two engine components are relatively easy to replace. The “Motor mount is tilted” ??? tell the shop that you are going to have the GM Factory Rep come in and evaluate this major failure of the frame and engine mount area. In older cars the fan blades would go out when one of the motor mounts broke, but currently and in mostly all cases the fan is somewhat disconnected from the engine so it wouldn’t spin fast enough and long enough or come close to contacting anything.
Man! it really squeezes my sachs when shops victimize consumers!