Hey all, I'm from the USA and I'm seeking help with what seems to me a very serious issue. I'd greatly appreciate any suggestions and thoughts on this matter. I own a 87k original mile 1993 z32 tt. TLDR: Took my Z in for 120k service and an AC leak. Shop pressure washed the engine bay without my consent. Now I have misfires, AC blowing fuses, aftermarket stereo glitching, and clock no longer works. Another local Z shop told me depending on how aggressive they were, this can get worse over time and may require a new wiring harness. What would you do? -- My usual mechanic who I trusted with all major work had retired and couldn't be reached, so I had to try a different shop for repairs. I first resorted to Nissan who said they had a master tech that knew the z32. They did my clutch/flywheel work, but then they quoted me over $4,000 to do the 120k service, so I had to choose another shop that claimed 20 years experience with z32s and had pictures of the other z32s they worked on, so I took my car there for a 120k service and to diagnose and fix an AC leak. At first everything seemed fine. He sent progress photos and had the car ready in 3 days. On April 11th, he told me it was finished and that the AC was blowing cold, but said he couldn’t find any leak after doing a vacuum test. That immediately concerned me because I had already needed to recharge it before due to a leak, and I didn't authorize a recharging. I picked the car up on April 13th. When I got there, I was told the AC had stopped working and had blown multiple fuses, so now the AC is completely inoperative. While I was there, they showed me how clean the engine bay was. They had painted the timing cover and polished parts like the water pipes and cam angle sensor. This caught me off guard because I had not cleaned the engine bay in over 10 years. I never authorized any cleaning or cosmetic work. Why would they do this for me? I figured they wanted to show off my car on their website. On the next drive, my aftermarket stereo started acting strange. It had delayed Bluetooth connection and made odd electronic beeping noises through the speakers. It quickly settled but this was a new problem and would happen randomly. Within about a week, the car started to misfire intermittently for a few seconds. Next drive, it got worse and lasted longer. On the third drive it was frequent enough that I pulled over and started checking things. I did a wiggle test on the coil pack and injector connectors with no change, but when I touched the PTU in front of the timing cover, the engine behavior immediately changed with movement. I drove it back to the shop right after my wiggle test as I was within a few miles on April 28th while it was actively misfiring. The owner wasn’t there, but the assistant mechanic and what looked like a helper came out. While I was showing them the issue, I asked how they cleaned the engine bay. They told me they used heavy degreaser and a pressure washer and described spraying everything, including underside of the hood hood. When I asked if they covered electronics, they said it wasn’t necessary. I called the owner afterward and told him my concerns that pressure washing the engine bay could be causing the misfire and AC electrical issues. He denied cleaning the top of the engine and said they only cleaned the lower or front areas around the timing belt. The next day he told me it was fixed, said he cleaned the PTU connections which were corroded, and that it no longer misfired after a test drive. He said I would need to replace the PTU and solder the wires to the wiring harness soon. As soon as I left the shop, it immediately started misfiring again and ran rough all the way home. When I checked the connectors myself, there was still visible corrosion, so they were not properly cleaned. It seems like the wiring was just moved enough to temporarily stop the issue. Now I’m dealing with intermittent misfire that reacts to wiring movement around the PTU, an AC system that blows fuses and doesn’t work, stereo glitches, clock doesn't work, and visible corrosion in the PTU connectors. I also spoke with another Z shop who told me that if they pressure washed it aggressively, water intrusion can lead to corrosion that gets worse over time and that I could end up needing a full wiring harness and that he doesn't recommend soldering new ptu wires too the wiring harness. Given all this and the timing right after their work, I’m seriously questioning whether they caused this damage and I'm very upset because I can't afford another major job. I had just spent $4 to 5,000 fixing the clutch flywheel, master cylinders, and the 120k, and I planned to put it up for sale after it was mechanically sound, but now it's broke down because this shop pressure washed my motor without my approval! The coil pack connections are brittle, the snaps are broken, and i'm afraid to remove them. I'm going to try to clean the PTU connections today. Would you consider the shop responsible for these kinds of electrical problems? What would you do next in this situation?
