Sad tale and mechanics that haven't a clue

[Robyn]

Recently a fellow who works for one of the rock companies I buy from asked me about his 6.5

To make a long story short it was described to me and it was a no codes diplayed issue of stalling with ability to restart and then in time another stall. (96 truck) **Classic PMD failure**

He has taken the truck to a shop and was told it needed a pump and $2300 to fix it.

I explained to him that it was most likely the PMD and that a quick test with a known good one would isolate the issue and then a cable extension along with a fresh PMD and cooler would be the plan.

He happily trots back to the shop with the news and gets told that he is full of BS and that whoever told him such nonsense was also full of BS.

Now here is what the Tech told him

"The pump on the 6.5 is matched to the PMD and you can't change the PMD by itself and if you do you will BLOW the computer. The pump must be changed to fix the problem"

The fellow related this crap to me yesterday, I was so pissed that these guys were shafting folks this way that I called the shop myself and spoke rather tersely with the tech working on the truck.

Gave him a 20 minute lashing about screwing people as well as being a dumb a$$

He tried to come back telling me about his credentials and such from several diesel schools.
He then counters with, "the pump has to be bad" Hmm why I asked, no DTC's?? Whats a DTC he replies??? OMG :eek:

I asked him, are you going to do a TDC learn procedure after you replace the IP.
He then asked me what I was talking about. "Learn what"

Such a sad situation that after all the years that the 6.5 has been out there that mechanics in big shops are still in the dark on how to fix them.

Be careful if you take your rig to a shop.

Best

Robyn

[hatzie55]

Robyn
I've never taken my GMC to someone else for service. I do all my own vehicle service period.

My 2005 VW TDI was still under warranty till July 30th. I was told by a VW tech that I couldn't change my own fuel filter because the injection quantity needed to be reset on my PD TDI engine. The PD TDI doesn't have this adjustment. I was also told by this same mech that the special synthetic engine oil that VW uses for the PD unit injectors wasn't really needed either. $4000+ for new injectors and $??? for a new cam... No thanks.

My dad's Dodge Caravan uses Chrysler's special tranny fluid and calls for it on the dipstick... His mechanic put Dexron in it after a filter change. I had to flush it out and install a fresh filter to make it happy again... The weird harsh shifts went back to normal over 500 miles.

My kid sister had Iffy lube not re-install the plug in her oil pan after an oil change. Caught it as soon as the OIL light didn't go out in the parking lot but had to keep the keys to force the idiot kid to push it back into the shop and not drive it with no oil.

Clueless... Be careful out there.

[simon]

plenty sad stories out there,thats wy they call them stealers.

i took my doughters grand am to dealer to get injectors tested,cause i dont have a tester.
i work on diesels.
i had done some trouble shooting ,cause of a O2 sensor code,I replaced it twice with no results.[rough idle and stalling when cold + poor milage ] I had checked everything else i could think of.
anyway i told the sevice manager what had expired and wanted a injector coil test.
when i picked up the car,there was a $300.- bill for finding and correcting a 02 sensor code and installing new sensor. No amount of talking could change his stupid mind. pay up or you dont get the car back. I treatened to cut his sory balls off,what resulted in having him call the cops, only thing that came out of it was the option to take the sucker to court.

well i just paid and called it another lesson ,to not ever go to a stealer again in my life.
to buy new,used,or get it [FIXED] I rather park it on the back forty.

[Gearstix]

plenty sad stories out there,thats wy they call them stealers.

i took my doughters grand am to dealer to get injectors tested,cause i dont have a tester.
i work on diesels.
i had done some trouble shooting ,cause of a O2 sensor code,I replaced it twice with no results.[rough idle and stalling when cold + poor milage ] I had checked everything else i could think of.
anyway i told the sevice manager what had expired and wanted a injector coil test.
when i picked up the car,there was a $300.- bill for finding and correcting a 02 sensor code and installing new sensor. No amount of talking could change his stupid mind. pay up or you dont get the car back. I treatened to cut his sory balls off,what resulted in having him call the cops, only thing that came out of it was the option to take the sucker to court.

well i just paid and called it another lesson ,to not ever go to a stealer again in my life.
to buy new,used,or get it [FIXED] I rather park it on the back forty.
Haha do you live in Fort McMurray, sounds Like A.M.P. (alberta motor products)... we brought our sunfire back ... dad paid for a undercoating and the guy at the shop was using stuff from canadian tire in an aerosol, and no light under the car while he was spraying. missed 30 something places under the car, dad gave em a second chance, and still was 5-10 places missed. dad was pissed. so he and I met with the owner of AMP and told him we wanted our money back blah blah, there was only 1000kms on the car.
Then he sent in a woman to try to talk us out of it..
Later on we were talking to a salesman which we know, and is my uncles friend. He said that the body shop thought we wanted the bottom of the door undercoated up to the impact strip on the door...:mad:

sorry its not diesel related.. but I hate that dealer.

Dads also fixed alot of butchered jobs from Canadian Tire, Shamrock Auto, ... he even fixed his buddys expedition on the parkinglot @ northstar ford, we were gunna get arrested and everything.. exciting day.

[chambie]

It is a shame Robyn. And it's not just the mechanics, it's the shop foremans too !! At least thats the case here in town. Soon after i got my truck, it did all the PMD symptoms. I looked on the internet to find help and thats how i ended up here. After reading for a week or so, i took the truck into the shop to talk to the service dept. When i told them what i thought was wrong with it, they looked at me like i had antlers growing out of my head. Then they started to get really pissed that i was telling them something they never heard of. I made an appointment to drop the truck off for diagnostic test. 3 days later they call and tell me the trucks ready. I go to pick it up, look at the shop foreman, he smiles with that i told ya so smile, and say's " The Pump and such are fine, it was the PCM " Truck runs great !! I pay the man feeling like i just wasted 500.00 on parts i didn't need and hit the road. About 150 yds. out of the dealership the truck stalls. In the next mile, it stalls 4 more times. They test drove the truck !!! Anyway, after about 3 weeks of fighting and bitching, they finally replaced the pump, under warranty. What a disaster. I didn't have any plans of being a diesel mechanic, but i'm glad i found this forum.
Thanks to all who help here,
Lindsay

[simon]

Haha do you live in Fort McMurray, sounds Like A.M.P. (alberta motor products)... we brought our sunfire back ... dad paid for a undercoating and the guy at the shop was using stuff from canadian tire in an aerosol, and no light under the car while he was spraying. missed 30 something places under the car, dad gave em a second chance, and still was 5-10 places missed. dad was pissed. so he and I met with the owner of AMP and told him we wanted our money back blah blah, there was only 1000kms on the car.
Then he sent in a woman to try to talk us out of it..
Later on we were talking to a salesman which we know, and is my uncles friend. He said that the body shop thought we wanted the bottom of the door undercoated up to the impact strip on the door...:mad:

sorry its not diesel related.. but I hate that dealer.

Dads also fixed alot of butchered jobs from Canadian Tire, Shamrock Auto, ... he even fixed his buddys expedition on the parkinglot @ northstar ford, we were gunna get arrested and everything.. exciting day.NO in Peace River.stealers are the same everywhere, problem is that 95% of the people are totally ignorant of what makes a engine tick.so the stealers glue in to that and milk them dry.
Checking codes and changing 02 sensor [that was not even requested on my vehicle] would take 1/2 hr if one was lazy. they charged me 2 hrs at 110 hr + 80 for the sensor.
It still makes me boil thinking about it.

Here is another one,diff stealer. bout 12 yrs ago I blew the A tranny on my truck ,close to a dealer, they happen to have a deal on these trannys going on,4yrs 80.000 clicks waranty 1400 bucks. Well i blew that tranny 5 times in less than 2000 km.after 5th time they would not fix it nomore,told me i did not know how to drive.i had tranny shop rebuild it,cost other 1700, i'm still driving it today.

IMO Stealers should be shot,hung and pissed on and i dont care in what order.

[convert2diesel]

Simon:

Don't know about Alberta, but here in Ontario, any service center MUST contact client before doing anything other then that stated on the original work order. If they do it, then they are responsible for the costs. They are allowed to remove the parts as long as they are able to return the car to it's original condition...ie. if it drove in it must drive out etc.

Read your original workorder. You may have a civil case here. The only way these guys learn is if they get their eyes scratched out a few times in court.

Check with your local CAA. They have an ombudsman that deals with this kind of crap. Even a call to your local newspaper is worth it. Perceived reputation is everything, especially at the local level. If we just ignore this kind of stuff, they will just keep doing it.

Bill

[simon]

Simon:

Don't know about Alberta, but here in Ontario, any service center MUST contact client before doing anything other then that stated on the original work order. If they do it, then they are responsible for the costs. They are allowed to remove the parts as long as they are able to return the car to it's original condition...ie. if it drove in it must drive out etc.

Read your original workorder. You may have a civil case here. The only way these guys learn is if they get their eyes scratched out a few times in court.

Check with your local CAA. They have an ombudsman that deals with this kind of crap. Even a call to your local newspaper is worth it. Perceived reputation is everything, especially at the local level. If we just ignore this kind of stuff, they will just keep doing it.

Billthanks for your concern Bill, but i have learned over the years that going after people or businesses that are'nt honest in their dealings with their fellowbeings have usually the same filty type of lyers [ read lawyers] as themselves to assist them when a case ends up in court. the financial and emotional cost is often more than it is worth.
besides that, one person stirring he pot is not making any ripples ,to them it is just one unhappy customer. only one that cares is the one being ripped. first by the stealer,second by the lawyer. so piss on hem all, and learn to fix your own stuff.

the ripping off continues just the same.There is a sucker born every day.

[sturgeon-phish]

I have an uncommon dealer / service center story. The two and only times I took the truck in for service, I was listened to (sort of) and treated good.
Wiper motor solder connections - Typical wiper story. Took in TSB and told them what and wrong, gave me a new board.
IP replacement under warrenty - ~80K all symptoms, codes etc. Gave the shop manager TSB, print outs of codes and causes, and a copy of the warrenty. Shop replaced IP. Spoke with tech working on truck about thepump mounted PMD and the tech removed the PMD off the pump installed an extension harness I provided and continued with the IP replacement with the PMD zip tied out of the way so I could mount it later.

Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while and I've been VERY lucky with my truck. The tech did forget to replace a vac line but that was small potatoes compaired to your stories!
Jim

[Beedee]

I'm lucky, I'm a mechanic by trade so do all of my own work. But I will admit that after spending the day in the trenches, sometimes I don't want to do my own.
Several years ago, I bought my wife a ford Aerostar minivan, not my first choice, but it fit what we needed at the time. Van is still on warrenty so into the stealer for some fixes. Now right from day one there were lots of little things always going wrong, I would make up a list and when there were enough to take it to the stealer, in it went. I was working nights at the time, so had to get up early to pick up my wife after she dropped the van off, plan was it would be done and I could drop her off on my way to work.
Later that afternoon, they phoned and read the list of things back to me that I had given them, when asked if they had them all repaired, they replied no, they had just found everything and that they would need another day to repair. When asked about the list that I had given them, they replied that they never use the customers list.................
But the best one was they needed to replace the ignition switch (common problem with a Ferd) and they couldn't cut a new key to fit both the ignition and the door (if you know how to use the key codes and the punch tool it is a very simple process) when I offered to come behind the counter an give a class in how to use the key punch tool, they got very offended, I had two of the bigger salesmen escort me out to the parking lot so that my loud voice would not upset the other customers.
Best thing I ever did was trade that POS off on my chevy
I have never had to take the beast into the local chevy dealer, but the parts department have been great to work with.
My Father has bought his cars from the same dealer for the last 20 years, and the main reason is that they treat him so well, they have repaired things that were past warrenty wnd never charged him for it. Everytime that he has something go wrong, he gets it fixed then calls me and asks my advice, and it is the same as what they have done most of the time.
So there are some good ones out there, just few and far between.

[Robyn]

Well

I talked to the fellow today and he has his truck back and it runs great he says. His wallet is $2300 thinner now.
The truck was showing zero codes and just quit every so often.
Hmmmm sounds all to familiar. PMD

He brought the old pump over and gave it to me as a present.
Well I will find it a home. I have a good used PMD that will make it all better.

Too bad the mechanic would not listen. He could have screwed on a cooler, a fresh DTech and an extension cord and been done with it for little $$$ and time and made some easy bucks and been good to his customer

Best

Robyn