Sorry if I gave you guys the impression that I will be paying $6000 to get my truck fixed. If they were to give me a bill for even 1/10th of that amount, they will have bought themselves a truck and by Thursday I will be driving a Ford or GMC. I think the service writer was a little frustrated because he probably has to make a call like this a dozen times a day.

As far as working on it myself. At this time that is not an option. I work 10 to 16 hour days in the field, and working on a truck when I get time off is the last thing I want to do. When I am working I can charge more per hour than what the dealer charges, so there is not much sense of me working on it. Also this is under warranty as far as I am concerned.

I usually do get a service manual when I buy a vehicle, but I knew I was not going to keep this one for long. It is a Mega cab, and I wanted it for a camping trip my wife and another couple are going on this summer. I want a long box, so this one will be traded for a long box after the trip. I don't need all that room in the back seat.

Oh, in this part of the country dealers who screw people around too bad may end up in the hospital before they end up in court.

jockybox

 

You are correct, all your repairs should be covered under your warranty. Go give them hell and good luck to ya.

 

OK, here goes... If I get flamed for this oh well. Dealerships are preying on all the guys who have went out and bought high dollar trucks with the diesel that really don't know a THING aobut them or REALLY have a use for them. I have several good friends who fall into this category. Biggest thing they have to pull is a golf cart trailer or a 4-wheeler trailer.
Warranty claims vary by manufacturer but most follow loosely along these lines; There is typically 5% deducted off the top of the bill that the manufacturer does NOT pay to the dealership filing the claim..(I think they call this keeping the dealership honest) Usually the dealership can ONLY replace the part that is failed, not parts that are worn, worn excessively, or fixing to break. (Thats a seperate warranty claim to get you back later and deductible if applicable) Sometimes the dealership is only allowed to charge exactly what they are paying the tech. working on the vehicle, sometimes this is a discounted rate set by the manufacturer. They are only allowed to charge TRG's, or what the manufacturer has decided that is enough time to change that part in perfect lab conditions with no Ranchhand bumper to lean over, coolant and fuel already removed, basically a bare engine sitting in a shop floor. This number is NEVER enough time to actually do the job, no matter how good the technician.
How the dealerships avoid this; they see your $40,000+ rig get towed in and figure you had the coin to buy, you will find the coin to repair, or file it on your insurance and be none the wiser to the whole ordeal. All the while blaming it on "you got bad fuel". Ask the dealership exactly WHAT chemical in the fuel makes it"BAD".. I can't tell you how much dirt/rust/water i've found in fuel systems and all we did was flush out the system and change the filters.. these engines run fully loaded at 1200rpm pulling 1500 hp, 24/7/365.
The fuel systems in these trucks are designed to not permit anything into the fuel system that can harm it if normal and proper maintenance is done,(except for something dumb like gasoline) If they drop the tank, you WILL find some small debris and a couple drops of water, still normal. You can do the same thing to a gas engine and you'll find the same stuff.
Some dealerships have found a "cash cow" and if allowed, they will exploit it to the fullest. Some dealerships have even been known to charge customers for repairs then after all is said and done, they file it under warranty to the manufacturer and get paid on both ends of the stick. The only thing that service departments have to sell is LABOR, the more they can get paid for it, the better it is for them.
That being said, there are some VERY reputable dealerships that will even try and cover some" self inflicted" failures and are very honest.... Those are the ones to not only get service from, but to make your vehicle purchase from, even if it means paying a few extra $$$$.
I know of one manufacturer that comes to mind that pays its dealerships FULL shop labor rates and does NOT question part replacement or time spent; Bennington Marine, they build pontoon boats.. After reading that in their brochure and confirming that with the dealership, I paid the extra $$$ over other brands that I was considering at the time. I have never regretted it.
Sorry for the ranting.. but the whole warranty game is just that at the dealership level sometimes. I have to deal with warranty work sometimes in the field I'm in, and it just baffles me why/how some auto dealerships will do this and sleep at night.

 

That sucks. Try Leduc.

 

I want to thank everyone for your comebacks.

To bring you up to date I went in, talked to the service manager and everything was settled to my satisfaction. He even dropped the $300 dollar charge they wanted to drop and clean the fuel tank. All I ended up paying for was $85 to replace the fuel filter.

I asked him if dropping the tank was part of what was to be done when changing injectors. He said it was. I then suggested that if it was part of repairing the injectors it should be covered under the warranty. He then backed up a little and said that their experience has shown that if the tank was not cleaned the problem returned prematurely. I then suggested that I would like to have a sample from my tank and I would approach the local dealer where I purchase my fuel. Well guess what -no sample was available.

I then explained to him that I have been in the service industry for over 40 years and I would never handle a problem like this in this manner. If there are so many problems with bad fuel in the area then the fuel dealers should be asked why. Like fix the source of the problem. It is not likely they are going to run out of work soon. Too many times people have problems with a store and never approaches them to give them a chance to correct the problem, they just quit dealing at that store.

This service manager is fairly new at this dealership and I explained to him that I have been a customer there for many years, and the main reason I come back is because of the service. The people who own this dealership own a number of them in different cities in Alberta, and they are not all Chrysler. I can honestly say I have always been treated as a valued customer.

Not for a moment do I think they will not try and get all the money out of me they can, but I usually have all my facts straight and all I as is to be treated fairly. If it costs more money for better service then tell me and let me make the decision. Although I know nothing about diesels, I overhauled my first motor, a V8 Ford flat-head, at the age of 12 so I do know a little about the mechanics of a vehicle. I just don't like working on them.

Anyway like I said, everything worked out good for me, and I bet there is a service writer who will get a little talking to about how to talk to customers. After all we do pay his wages. What too many in the service industry forget is it is the customer who make their pay check possible -no customer -no pay.

I still don't have a good handle on injectors. I would think the fuel filter would prevent anything harmful from getting to them. Why would all six of them fail at the same time? I seen the results of the pressure test so I don't doubt them. Is Cummings having problems with their injectors? Anyone have any links that may help?

Well my day turned out to be a good day, how about yours?

One again thanks everybody.

jockybox

 

cummins, not cummings! Correct that quick or you'll get strung up on here!! LOL But seriously, change your fuel filter often and use the best one you can get. It will save you money in the long run.

Andy