Acceptable work? Decat fitting

jamesycc · Aug 30, 2017

Feel for you buddy. This is the reason I do most of this stuff myself. Me and a mate fitted a decat in 20mins..

I fitted a centre section by myself on my drive on my back within an hour having never done it before and was 10 times better than what they've done.

Put it down to experience and don't be afraid to have a go yourself. It's saves money, builds your confidence with all things cars and you'll care alot more than some monkey with a spanner.

I do have a garage I now use who are run by car people, evos and Scoobys parked in the car park for the more difficult jobs.

Put it down to life experience now.

imprezaworks · Aug 30, 2017

Looked great before

Not that it helps lol

James H · Aug 30, 2017

Phase1sr said:
I was mate, I'm sure there's bits missing and I take it that there's a penny washer fitted to the end on the bolt because the manifold flange is rusting away.

Yeh there's a big round washer on there so should hold. I saw you can get flange repair things so if they're worth trying, I might do that.

jamesycc said:
Feel for you buddy

Think I'll be doing the next one myself. Normally willing to give all these things a go but a bit short for time at the moment so thought this would be easier.

imprezaworks said:
Looked great before

Not that it helps lol

Haha, true story

Louis · Aug 30, 2017

There is no need for any sealant on the manifold-decat if the donut is in good condition. You can tighten them down enough with the little springs to solve that. They havn't welded your decat to the centre section have they??? Get them to put your cat back on, and then when they struggle as there's no olive joint ask for your money back and them to sort it out.

James H · Aug 30, 2017

Got the car back home now and it's still obviously wonky and sticking out but doesn't seem to bounce over bumps anymore which is nice. Will call the garage tomorrow to try and get a refund but I'm not holding out too much hope. I'm not very good at complaining and getting money back!

Clio_fool · Aug 30, 2017

Make sure you give them a suitable review on some local Facebook groups. That's shoddy work and main dealer pricing! Makes me appreciate my local garage even more now as he fitted my cat for a measly £50.

botfch · Aug 30, 2017

Have they cut the olive joint end off your exhaust?

If they have you won't be able to refit the cat without having it sleeved.

imprezaworks · Aug 30, 2017

Mention a review on Facebook of said garage.

hipwell · Aug 30, 2017

I thought it looked more like they've welded an olive joint onto the end of the sleeved milltek decat and that's why they are still using a normal clamp

James H · Aug 30, 2017

Archtronics said:
Have they cut the olive joint end off your exhaust?

If they have you won't be able to refit the cat without having it sleeved.

According to the kid there, the decat is just over the top of the joint. If I undo the bracket and scrape out the white crap it should be easy to remove. Will take the car for a proper drive tomorrow to test it out. Not sure if I should take decat out ASAP or not, considering what I paid to have it in [emoji23]

botfch · Aug 30, 2017

James H said:
According to the kid there, the decat is just over the top of the joint. If I undo the bracket and scrape out the white crap it should be easy to remove. Will take the car for a proper drive tomorrow to test it out. Not sure if I should take decat out ASAP or not, considering what I paid to have it in

Ah if that's the case should be ok.

bloke · Aug 30, 2017

James H said:
I'm not very good at complaining and getting money back!

speak to your bank first then, explain the situation to them and see what they say.

Akay · Aug 31, 2017

Jesus, that is horrendous. 182 Decat/Cat swaps are really a DIY job, use high temp black silicone (sensor safe stuff) as it remains flexible unlike the putty crap.

Louis · Aug 31, 2017

How have the managed to fit the decat over the top of the olive????

Mr Plums · Aug 31, 2017

Louis' said:
How have the managed to fit the decat over the top of the olive????

ADS_V6 · Aug 31, 2017

Any s**t off the garage.Just give your local trading standards a call if the garage aren't playing ball. That is some shoddy workmanship going by the pic's, I personally would want my money back and go somewhere else

James H · Aug 31, 2017

Just spoke to trading standards first. They recommend getting a second opinion from a reputable garage, if they think it's bad to put it in writing and go back to the original garage asking for a refund. I guess kwikfit, ats etc are the reputable ones in this case?

leedsboy · Aug 31, 2017

f**k me, don't take it to Kwikfit or anywhere like that, 99% of them won't have a clue, get it to a proper, local, reputable exhaust place.

James H · Aug 31, 2017

leeds2592 said:
f**k me, don't take it to Kwikfit or anywhere like that, 99% of them won't have a clue, get it to a proper, local, reputable exhaust place.

I know I know, I would never go to them normally but I just imagined a bigger corporate place would be better this time. I'll try a smaller garage then first!

James H · Aug 31, 2017

Went for a second opinion at an exhaust place and they agree the works crap and should take less than an hour. I need to go back tomorrow to speak to the boss to get it in writing. The worst part is one of the guys guessed the garage, which is mental considering the amount of places around here.

Been to see @optical (thanks again!) this evening and going to look at fitting his old yozza decat over the weekend.

imprezaworks · Aug 31, 2017

Winner. Word travels quick when not so great garages are concerned

Clio_fool · Sep 1, 2017

Yep that's bad when another garage can guess who did the work. You definitely need to pursue them for a full refund now then.

Niall · Sep 1, 2017

This is why I stick to specialists, do stuff myself, or with a knowledgeable mate. Local garages are just professional bodgers and corner cutters.

npt · Sep 1, 2017

Why didn't you ask if there was anyone on here local to you to help you out, might of avoided all this hassle mate

James H · Sep 3, 2017

npt said:
Why didn't you ask if there was anyone on here local to you to help you out, might of avoided all this hassle mate

True, although ideally there wouldn't have been a problem at all.

So went to fit the yozza decat today but the garage have welded the milltek decat to centre section. Thought it was the white paste stuff but we filed it a bit and it was shiny. Just put it all back together and made it sit better in the mounts and stuff. If they've welded it then they didn't leave it in a reversible state and I really hope I won't need a new centre section when it comes to MOT time. Pissed it down all afternoon too just to make things better.

Clio_fool · Sep 3, 2017

Oh FFS! Don't ask them to fit a new door, you'll never get in the car again. You really need to name and shame them as much as possible after you've claimed your money back.

Louis · Sep 3, 2017

Louis' said:
They havn't welded your decat to the centre section have they???

Called it. Shocking work by the garage.

James H · Sep 3, 2017

Trying to see the positives for now, at least it won't fall off

Louis · Sep 3, 2017

James H said:
Trying to see the positives for now, at least it won't fall off

Do they do mots?
Go to them for an MOT and let them struggle with the emissions! Really gutted as when you take your car to a garage the last thing you expect is for it to come back in worse condition. Especially when you're paying for the work to be done. Take the good with the bad I guess, least it will be fairly easy to rectify as you could grind off the olive and get it all sleeved.

STEVE.M · Sep 3, 2017

[QUOTE="James H, post: 11467171, member: 83531"

STEVE.M · Sep 3, 2017

The work is on a par with how CS is functioning tonight.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-C...067011?hash=item238b9b5043:g:PXoAAOSwr~lYtLU3
Needed these before noticing the customer supplied pipe work from a different system.

davo172 · Sep 3, 2017

Louis' said:
Really gutted as when you take your car to a garage the last thing you expect is for it to come back in worse condition. Especially when you're paying for the work to be done.

Clioturbo got away with just that for years while everyone who didn't know any better bummed Andy saying what a genius he
was ! 😂

MRBILLYUK · Sep 3, 2017

James H said:
True, although ideally there wouldn't have been a problem at all.

So went to fit the yozza decat today but the garage have welded the milltek decat to centre section. Thought it was the white paste stuff but we filed it a bit and it was shiny. Just put it all back together and made it sit better in the mounts and stuff. If they've welded it then they didn't leave it in a reversible state and I really hope I won't need a new centre section when it comes to MOT time. Pissed it down all afternoon too just to make things better.

You'll need to get it sorted so you can refit a Cat cos it's highly unlikely it'll pass an MOT with the Decat .

Niall · Sep 4, 2017

Dreadful work that. Hate these garages that do stuff without consulting the client, especially something as permanent as welding. How these people make a living from it being so unprofessional I'll never know.

R3k1355 · Sep 4, 2017

So despite this joint having a clamp and paste all over it, they've actually welded the two pipes together?

MRBILLYUK · Sep 4, 2017

R3k1355 said:
So despite this joint having a clamp and paste all over it, they've actually welded the two pipes together?
My thoughts exactly .

R3k1355 said:
So despite this joint having a clamp and paste all over it, they've actually welded the two pipes together?

James H · Sep 4, 2017

R3k1355 said:
So despite this joint having a clamp and paste all over it, they've actually welded the two pipes together?

View attachment 1333456

Yup. Just a little spot weld over the gaps it looks like. They've cut grooves into the decat to allow it to compress when clamped too. Diagram below.

Gandi69 · Sep 4, 2017

honestly it makes you wonder how some places stay in business when they cant even fit an exhaust properly instead just slapping wob over the joint and then having the gall to charge you £120 for work that should take 30 mins tops. Would you want these blokes doing engine work or your brakes?
Time to kick off about it

R3k1355 · Sep 4, 2017

Terrible work and s**t customer service in equal amounts.

If the part don't fit then just phone the customer back and tell them the part won't fit.
Don't carry on, make a s**t attempt to fit it anyway and then end up with an exhaust looking like this.

James H · Sep 4, 2017

Those pics make me feel slightly ill.

Called the garage, he's at another funeral today apparently! Ridiculous.

Acceptable work? Decat fitting

I Park Like a C**t

I Park Like a C**t

I Park Like a C**t

I Park Like a C**t

Absolute wetter.

Absolute wetter.

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