Just driving along on Wednesday, up the Fraser Canyon and *bingo*..a weird shudder in the steering and when I stopped to check..pop pop pop out the tailpipe. A misfire. Made some calls to the shop that would normally wrench on the 1999 Ford, V10 and by my description says.."coil and or plug". "Drive it till it starts making bad sounds...don't want to melt the plug" And so, stopped between Cache Creek and Kamloops, no cel service, 3 hours for it all to get worked out and towed to Kal Tire in Kamloops, arriving as they shut down for the day. Of course.Overnight in the yard and first thing at 7:30 at the desk..we discuss the whole thing. I related what I had been told it was..coil/plug. And they made notes, as they had done when I arrived the night before. The mechanic does his magic with the Scanner and says it's the fuel pump. Pressure is down. Drops tank, new pump arrives at 4pm, he installs..does a run-up and pronounces job well done. I bet you know where this is going.....I drove out...turned around the block and drove right back in. Back out comes the Scanner..hhmm...hhmm...and lo and behold, he see's it WAS a coil..on #1. It hadn't shown up on the initial scan but was shown in memory. They had ordered the parts in, in case I wanted a full tune-up..to the tune of $1,500..which I had declined, thanks very much. So..they had a coil at hand. Then we had a chat..the counter guy and I. Ohhh...I neglected to tell you all of it...while messing around getting the coil replaced, the Asst Manager had been hanging around, trying to help..walking away with part of the air-cleaner unit. That would be the part that he then put down under a rolling door..and closed on it...the part that shows is now obsolete in Fords catalogue.They dropped $200.00 from the $900 bill. Now they have to scrounge up the air breather part...and no, I'm not done yet.I'm curious tho...any of you had a similar go-round? Replace part, only to find not the right one..having first told them what you wanted done.Gary Haupt

Sounds like fun Gary -- Can't advise, but I'd be thinking my truck would be running pretty good when I left there, and for not another check or CC ...

Hi Gary,Sounds like a typical boondoggle. I'm sorry this has happened to you. $1500 seems quite a high price for a tune up. The truck dealership in Regina wants about $650.00

Scanner will only find electrical/electronic malfunctions not fuel pressure problems. A scanner cannot read fuel pressure. A fuel pressure gauge does that. This guy was only shotgunning parts at it. Or maybe he didn't replace anything at all. Did he give you the old part?...I would refuse to pay for the pump! If you paid by credit card dispute it. Pay for 1 hour of diagnostic, the coil and say goodbye.B.O.

Why would you take a Ford engine to a Tire shop??? Lots of Ford dealer's in Kamloops.

I think everyone has at least one of those stories with so much unneeded work being pawned on the people these days…Stopped at a garage in south Fort Myers where I told them it was electrical miss and it was on the driver’s side and had to be one of the back cylinders because at night I could hear it arc and not see it spark from under the hood…Their first diagnosis was the coil… I agreed to replace it but it just didn’t act like a coil…Well it wasn’t the coil, and after more hours of waiting and diagnosing they decided it wasn’t electrical at all but it was low fuel pressure and needed a fuel pump… they started to drop the tank but it was closing time so it would be the next day before it would be finished…Next day they changed the pump and test drove the truck, then they test drove the truck again, and again a test drive with the manager who upon returning gave me a thumbs up and saying it was running much better… I demanded a test run with me present where they accelerated so easily I thought we were going to be rear-ended… so I insisted to drive it where immediately on heavy acceleration it also still missed heavily… back in the shop for more diagnosing… I wasn’t allowed in the garage but while no one was there and it was running and I could hear the occasional miss, I found a piece of wire laying around and by grounding one end and holding the other near the boot of the back plug it would snap snap snap… I showed it to them and said there is the problem just as I reported when I came in… they scratched their heads in amazement, and ordered plug wires for it…While waiting I said to switch 2 wires to confirm it was the wire… they did but the electrical leak was still on the same cylinder… I still had to explain why it was the plug… of course that meant another call and wait to the part store because garages no longer have any inventory…Result was a bill for $604.+ change bill to replace a bad spark plug… and no they would not return the keys or surrender the vehicle… they agreed to accept a check that I told them would have a stop payment on it immediately…Final result was a negotiated settlement where I would pay for the coil and fuel-pump at their inflated prices…neither of them were needed or the problem but both were original equipment with near 200,000 miles on them and I didn’t want the old one reinstalled, or for them to touch the vehicle again (it is possible and I admit they were near their life’s end)… I would not pay the diagnosing fee or the labor for any unneeded work performed, but I would pay their ridiculous inflated fee for the spark plug and it removal and replacement…And there would be a maximum of ten days to mail the refund… I am gald he agreed because courts usually rule if they did the work they get paid for it…

Repair completed....wrong repair. | Good Sam Community

garyhaupt
Explorer
May 17, 2014
Why did you have to remind me of that crushed part...damn....but, on the bright side, the part is on it's way to Terrace.

To those that aren't familiar with northern anywhere...shops that fix things can be few and far between. And often they sell bits of everything and maybe have a laundromat in the mix. It's hard to make a 'go' of it. I can't imagine having a DP go off the rails up here. Diesel repairs shops are fahh fahh away.

Kal Tire has a warranty...on the wall..customer has to be satisfied. I am now satisfied. Not thrilled happy, but satisfied. And they have shops across most of Canada and in BC and Alberta, where I live and travel lots...they have shops everywhere. You know that warranty that one might get at a particular shop? The one that says we'll fix it for you, and make it right..? But then you have to take it to that shop? Kal Tire honours their work at all their shops.

And yes..no test drive was taken and should have been. Mind you...had it, and not just me driving it out..might have resulted in more shot-gunning of parts. And if I had been 100%, absolutely sure that it was a mis-fire, not the pump, I would have been in front of the mechanic and stood my ground. Even taken it elsewhere. But..hind-sight is a wonder thing.

As was noted..a new fuel pump, filter, coil for $550. That works, boys.

Gary Haupt
westend
Explorer
May 17, 2014
pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

What I would fault the shop for is not taking the vehicle for a test drive. That apparently showed that the problem was still existent. Gary got a great price on a new fuel pump, and the shop stood behind their work and "made it right".
A bit faulty on crushing the filter canister, too. Kind of indicates either a disorganized employee, a disorganised shop (lack of bench space), or both.
pianotuna
Nomad III
May 17, 2014
Hi,

What I would fault the shop for is not taking the vehicle for a test drive. That apparently showed that the problem was still existent. Gary got a great price on a new fuel pump, and the shop stood behind their work and "made it right".
westend
Explorer
May 17, 2014
Heavy Metal Doctor wrote:
Happy Prospector wrote:
Yep, Taking a truck to a tire shop for engine work! It appears that you may have been educated beyond your intelligence.

I was kinda thinking along the same lines -- I never take a vehicle for any diagnosis and repair to a shop that has "tire" or "lube" in their name....you go tehre for tires or and oil change (I don't even trust them to do that right - or at least not to use good parts / oil)

Stories like these make think that the general driving public has little idea what really goes on behind the bay doors of most shops, no matter if it's lawnmower repair, heavy equipment, or anything in between.

Lube and tire places, while they may advertise all sorts of other service / repair, are notorious for being the stepping stone shop for a "learning" technician. Most good tech's move on to shops where they can make more money. Sure, they will have one tech who really does know what he's doing, but when the workload is high, you show up and get the oil-change monkey trying to diagnose a missfire.....

I rarely use the services of a shop since I can do 99% of my own work and the rest is deep diagnostics requiring the really expensive tools. I don't need that often enough to spend the money for more than basic code reader and pressure tester.
This is one area of RV'n that makes me cringe -- a problem on the road and ending up getting hosed due to not knowing if the shop is good or not.
The shop is in Kamloops, BC not Baltimore, MD. There are a whole lot of differences between upper BC and anything stateside. Besides, Gary says he's used this shop in the past and has his own ideas about the quality of their work (maybe not this last time ;)).

Glad to hear the situation is being worked out for ya', Gary. Sometimes we need a comedy of errors to keep us moving at the right speed.
Heavy_Metal_Doc
Explorer
May 17, 2014
Happy Prospector wrote:
Yep, Taking a truck to a tire shop for engine work! It appears that you may have been educated beyond your intelligence.

I was kinda thinking along the same lines -- I never take a vehicle for any diagnosis and repair to a shop that has "tire" or "lube" in their name....you go tehre for tires or and oil change (I don't even trust them to do that right - or at least not to use good parts / oil)

Stories like these make think that the general driving public has little idea what really goes on behind the bay doors of most shops, no matter if it's lawnmower repair, heavy equipment, or anything in between.

Lube and tire places, while they may advertise all sorts of other service / repair, are notorious for being the stepping stone shop for a "learning" technician. Most good tech's move on to shops where they can make more money. Sure, they will have one tech who really does know what he's doing, but when the workload is high, you show up and get the oil-change monkey trying to diagnose a missfire.....

I rarely use the services of a shop since I can do 99% of my own work and the rest is deep diagnostics requiring the really expensive tools. I don't need that often enough to spend the money for more than basic code reader and pressure tester.
This is one area of RV'n that makes me cringe -- a problem on the road and ending up getting hosed due to not knowing if the shop is good or not.
ExxWhy
Explorer
May 17, 2014
$550 for a fuel pump and a coil doesn't sound too bad to me. If it was the original pump, it was probably not long for this world anyway. Happy camping!
garyhaupt
Explorer
May 17, 2014
pianotuna wrote:
Hi Gary,

I'm glad the problems are all resolved. Now you can get back to our main occupation! Boondocking and Urbandocking!

You are sooo right, Don. In 3 months...one campsite did I pay for and that was in Brookings, Oregon.

Gary Haupt
GaryKH
Explorer
May 16, 2014
Gary, Glad you got this resolved! Sorry to hear of your 'issues' though :( I had a similar thing happen last week. We were driving down the freeway & my Roadtrek (96 Dodge) misfired & shuttered, losing power. We were in the middle of nowhere, so i kept on driving, though at a reduced speed & definite lack of power. When i finally made it to an exit, i pulled out & phoned my regular mechanic. What followed was great! He asked a few questions, got me to turn the ignition key on & off 3 times & then watch for the blinking code on my dash. It then told him the engine was misfiring. We discussed this & during the discussion, i remembered the fuel situation. I had about an eighth of a tank of gas left. We both thought maybe dirt in the gas was to blame. I made it to a gas station, filled up & drove back to his shop, about 40 miles. I drove fine! He did diagnostics on it, took it for a test drive & said that was the issue, no charge!! It's worked good ever since. This is just one good reason to have a good regular mechanic, they do treat you right!!
pianotuna
Nomad III
May 16, 2014
Hi Gary,

I'm glad the problems are all resolved. Now you can get back to our main occupation! Boondocking and Urbandocking!
garyhaupt
Explorer
May 16, 2014
A final report back...after a week of phone discussions with Kal Tire. They dropped an additional 150 off the cost of the repair. That was to bring the fuel pump cost to their cost, no profit counter charge. That amounts to 350 off the $900 bill and no labour charge for the later diagnosis and coil install (30 minutes).

As I stated to the three different company reps..I am not in a position to say 'never again Kal Tire' because up here in the north, decent shops are few and far between.

Gary Haupt

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