Repair completed....wrong repair.

[garyhaupt]

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

[garyhaupt]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

$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]

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]

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]

Hi Gary,

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

[garyhaupt]

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

[garyhaupt]

rickeoni wrote:
I work on the other side of the fence a "stealership". I take great pride in running an ethical repair shop. I pay a fair wage, send my people to all the training I can. I also charge a door rate that reflects this, but most of all I stress honesty with my staff in every transaction they do. I know that the automotive industry has a legacy of dishonesty and there are still places that fuel this myth. In my store we stand behind our repair work and if something like this happens we will make it right. Sometimes there is more than one issue with a vehicle and things need to repaired fully in order for a proper fix. I am not saying that this is what happened in the OPs situation, just wanted to put in my $0.02 worth that all repair shops shouldn't be painted with the same tainted brush.

And I support this. I have dealt with Kal Tire for years on both tires and mechanical. I posted the note out of anger and frustration. I was also seeking some in-sight as to how others have dealt with a similar problem. I have now sent off my E letter and will post how this unfolds. And in truth, I don't really know what I will say when they ask..'how to make me happy?' I have something in mind, but..we'll see.

Thanks for posting your comments, too.


Gary Haupt

[rickeoni]

Bigdog wrote:
Has anyone noticed that they call them technicians now and not mechanics? Today they only know how to read codes and throw parts at the problem. In the old days,they actually knew how to work on a vehicle. Today they have all those high priced parts that really don't seem to make anything run better,but really run the bill up. Does it really cost the chinese more to make a spark plug today than it cost an American company when I was a kid?

That is what they are these days, with all the training involved and the $20, 000 in tools they have to invest in. If it was easy we would all fix our own cars. Vehicles break down, it is a fact of life, slagging technicians is not going to stop that.

[dodge_guy]

Bigdog wrote:
Has anyone noticed that they call them technicians now and not mechanics? Today they only know how to read codes and throw parts at the problem. In the old days,they actually knew how to work on a vehicle. Today they have all those high priced parts that really don't seem to make anything run better,but really run the bill up. Does it really cost the chinese more to make a spark plug today than it cost an American company when I was a kid?

When you can diagnose a driveability problem in 5 minutes with just a code reader let me know. Unless it is a common failure to a particular product line, you cannot just throw a part at it!

[Happy_Prospecto]

Yep, Taking a truck to a tire shop for engine work! It appears that you may have been educated beyond your intelligence.