Big Trucks

Sonny

It is very hard to make any diagnosis when (1) you are not told what types of equipment the truck has (2) exactly what all the symptoms are (3)the correct terminology is not being used (for ex., I believe he means fan switch temp sensor (which would measure temp of air at radiator) and fan relay (instead of fan controller)etc. If this truck is computer-controlled, as most vehicles nowadays are, he will need a good DMM (digital multimeter) to measure resistances and voltages at various points in the system, even if he does tell me exactly what all the symptoms are and when they occur. All the gentleman has relayed to us thus far is what that dinkey shop owner BS'ed to him (pure nonsense). Furthermore, if you are indeed a mechanic, you should know that it is rather hard to diagnose or correct a problem unless you have the actual vehicle there to work on (and even then the solution is sometimes hard to come by). There ARE a few good mechanics out there, but it has been my lifetime experience that they are few and far between. They're either (1) incompetent and can't correct the problem or (2) very competent, but thinking they have the ignorant customer over a barrel, charge him for some major repair when a simple cheap one would have sufficed (eg: replacing a head gasket when merely replacing a stuck-closed thermostat would have corrected the problem; I personally know of a case like this). As to the students: as the old saying goes "you can lead a horse to water, but you sure can't MAKE him drink!!"

Zeus

I didn't mean to start a war. lol Seriously, I have truly enjoyed all the responses. Maybe I can help one of you, in some small way, one day. Heres the rest of the story: I took my truck to the Western Star Dealer about 75 miles up the road yesterday and it took the mechanic about two minutes to spot the problem, 15 or 20 minutes to fix it and then by the time the service manager got around to road testing it (not sure why that was needed, please comment) I wound up paying for an hour and a half which cost me with some terminal connectors, shop supplies, (didn't see any though) and sales tax it cost me $113.00 which I didn't mind paying to get the problem fixed. Matter of fact, I shoved a five spot in the mechanics pocket for a drink. I explained the problem to the mechanic, he picked up his computer meter (sorry if the terminology is improper) walked out to the truck, unscrewed the cap on a receptical, plugged meter in, got no reading, unplugged it, looked up in to receptical, said "Problem with terminal" took out a couple of screws, dropped panel down and saw about five wires pinched in two, put in wire splicers, checked reading, everything fine, watched temp gage start going up, cab getting toasty warm and reported to service manager. The local big truck shop (to my knowledge and belief)didn't try a meter until he had finished the musical chairs with parts replacing, then said I would have to take it to a dealer cause he can't get a reading on his meter. I called him today and told him that I was extremely uncomfortable with how I had been treated and charged and that my wife was urging me to go to small claims court if he wasn't willing to do something to relieve some of the loss. He thought a minute, then said that if I bring it back he will take the new box back out, put my old one back in and also put my old temp sending unit back in and refund the cost of those two parts which will be roughly a hundred and fifty of my $500.00 bux back. Whatayathink I should do? Again, Many Thanks fellers, Sonny

I think thats some pretty darn good advice. By the time I stop what I'm doing, got my truck out of the barn, drive to the parts changer shop, wait there a couple of hours for them to get ready to swap parts, get my seats greasy again, sand in my floor again, waste more fuel, time and whatever else might happen to retrieve $150.00 probably wouldn't be worth the dadburned trouble, plus letting others in my area know wouldn,t be as effective as if I just pass the word as it stands now. I don't want to keep harping on this but, at the same time, would love to hear what others think they would do if in my shoes. I don't want to unnecessiarily hurt the guy but he has taken up a lot of my time and cost me well over five hundred dollars. Thanks for the response Tim. Sonny

Hurt the guy!!! He didn't give a damn about hurting you!! The only way we can put guys like this out of business and keep them from hurting people is to report them to the local Better Business Bureau, the State's Consumer Affairs and/or attorney general, and most of all, tell every trucker you meet about your lousy experience with him! As I stated in my original post: he's a "parts hanger". Furthermore, I wouldn't let him touch my vehicle again; you may get your $150 back, but he'll probably purposely disconnect something else, cut some line, etc in order to wreak revenge on you. My last piece of advice (which another gentleman above also gave you): in all these newer vehicles that are computer-controlled, the first thing you want to do is look for something electrical: loose connections, corroded or loose grounds, frayed wires that have become so by being in contact either with a sharp corner, a moving part, or heat. But be extremely careful about getting around the "brain" (the engine control unit, read "computer") make sure you touch something metal around you in order to discharge any static electricity present in your body (static electricity will zap your computer). Oddly enough, you will usually find (as you did in this case) that your problem is a minor one and will just entail tightening or cleaning a wire connection or replacing a fuse or small section of wiring. Also, as JD790 suggests, get a good wiring diagram of your truck so you'll know where to look. I'm glad that a competent and honest technician got to your truck the second time. If you find one like that, stick with him! because they're hard to find. Good luck.

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