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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

OT Car repair

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Walt Davies

05-18-2007 10:05:06




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A neighbor of mine came over last weekend with her Volvo. Sometimes the battery will go dead over night but not always. So I checked it out and found nothing except the usual 100 milliamp pull on the battery from the clock and some other small stuff in the same circuit.
So she took it to the local dealer and they tested it and determined that this 100 milliamp draw was the reason her battery went dead over night. The battery is 75 months one and not to old and it tested good.
I looked at the bill and this is what it said.
Tested battery 12.1 volts (Low)
Ran engine to charge it up then tested an it was 13.43 volts.
Car has Old alternator with worn armature ( your guess is as good as mine is)
Cost $108 for labor, 91.99 for an NPN battery.
Car still had same old battery in it, so I called the guy up and asked him what the extra charge was for. He came up with this. "Well we had two Volvo 240s in and they both had the same problem we put a battery in the other one an your friend was charged for it instead." I gave him 2 days to return the $91.99 or I was going to the state and turn him in for fraud. He was doing some back peddling on that one.
To fix the car they removed the fuse on the radio and car lock and interior lights.
Now I'm wondering what they actually charged the $108 labor for. Anyway I told her to call me the next time the car battery is dead so I can go over an see what is dragging it down it seems to be intermittent.
Walt PS We have lousy laws here in Oregon governing mechanics, they can pretty much get away with anything when ripping off Old ladies who come in.

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georgeyMN

09-15-2007 20:21:43




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
Hello, my dad had an exp. with a chrys dealer under warranty they installed new drivers door weatherstrip 4 times, supposedly! never fixed problem, next try "not under warranty anymoe"

WHERLEY MOTORS, INTERNATIONAL FALLS IS A BAD OUTFIT



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Walt Davies

05-19-2007 11:41:52




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
Thanks for all the great stories I will keep after this and let you all know what comes of it.
Walt



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dan hill

05-19-2007 05:27:42




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
My wife had an 85 chevy that was slow cranking on Monday mornings.She worked a 5 day week at a college.She went to visit her family for 3 days, on day 4 the chevy wouldnt crank so her brother put in a new battery.Back home it slow cranked after setting 2 days.I was busy getting hay in so she left the car at a garage near the college.She came home with a new alternator.Car did the same thing on the week end.I couldnt check the battery with my hydrometer as it was sealed.The new alternator was charging ok.I pulled the battery cable and got a spark.I had removed the under hood light bulb.Next suspect was the trunk light.Opened the trunk lid and touched the bulb, it was hotter the a fire cracker.It had been on full time and pulled a half amp.A new socket cost 8.00.New cars would be harder to track down.Dont forget the glove box light.Stop light swiches are suspect.Radio on off switch is suspect,Ive found a few that didnt switch off.Friend had a new exhaust system put on his Ranger pickup.Went to the same garage for an inspection sticker.They told him his exhaust system was bad.He had their bill in the truck and showed it to them.I had warned him that The shop had a bad rep but he went there any way .

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John S-B

05-18-2007 17:47:53




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
If they did not replace the battery or fix the reason it goes dead, WTH are they charging labor?! I would insist they refund the labor charge as well or be sued. Did they give the lady an estimated before starting the "work" also? I believe it's required in Ohio.



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the tractor vet

05-18-2007 16:17:39




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
There is alot of this going on and these people don't only pray on women but men that don't know much about cars. way back i was a parts manager for a large Chrysler plymouth dealer and i caught the service manager cheating Chrysler with fruadulant work as he was blinking Chrysler out of repair work on new cars that was never done and it even could have involved me as he was getting parts from me and my employees and chargen them out on the W/O then taken the new parts and throwen them in the trash can . So to cover my donkey i did and complet inventory of my department made sure that my duckys were in order and quit and when i went out the door over half the rest of the place left three mounths later that dealership closed the door. years back a local Dodge dealer tryed taken my grand father on a car he bought and was have problems with it and he asked me to look at it as not only being a parts manager i was a certifed Chrysler Plymouth tech . after looking at the repair invoice then looken at the car everything that they said they did was not done and no new parts were found , I went to the owner with the invoice and we had words along with the littel talk i have with my local service rep about them and the money was returned and they lost there dealership. we do not need theifs like this turn the SOB in to the state and let them make license plates.

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Jimmy King

05-18-2007 20:41:06




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to the tractor vet, 05-18-2007 16:17:39  
Is this a thing with Chrysler dealers, my Uncle had bought a new Chrysler from a dealer. After a few months he got a letter from Chrysler asking if the new paint job on his hood under waranty met his approvel, He wrote back and said if they painted my hood I slept through the whole thing. Not long after that he was relieved of his dealership. Another guy I know worked for a Chrysler dealership and this same thing was going on so he went in and gave 2 weeks notice they ask why and he told them. They told him forget the 2 weeks that was his last day. They must have straightened up their act because they are still in business and he went back later.

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shannon from ohio

05-18-2007 17:21:58




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to the tractor vet, 05-18-2007 16:17:39  
Maybe the negative diodes in the alternator are shorted????



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RayP(MI)

05-18-2007 19:47:52




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to shannon from ohio, 05-18-2007 17:21:58  
Had a Ford Bronco II with a similar problem. Battery would go down intermittantly, especially when wife was at work. Finally traced it down to the voltage regulator in the alternator. Had had the alternator rebuilt just before that. Rebuilder was a local shop, and had gotten a bad batch of regulators. What would happen was that when the door was opened, courtesy light would cause a voltage drop in the system, and the regulator would switch on discharging the battery through the field coil of the alternator. This was only intermittantly, and guess how hard that was to diagnose! Especially when the regulator was replaced twice with new defective units!

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KEB

05-18-2007 14:34:08




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
Hat the same problem with my daughter's Toyota, sometimes the battery would be dead for no apparent reason. The ignition lock has a button that's supposed to be depressed to take the key out, turns out the lock was worn enough the key would come out in the accessory position without pushing the release. Tipoff was that the radio didn't always turn off when she took the key out.

Fix was procedural, just make sure that the ignition is in fact turned all the way to the 'off' position before taking the key out. Hasn't had a problem since.

Keith

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Howard H.

05-18-2007 13:56:00




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  

I'd say embarrass the "mechanic" all you can. They deserve it!

I have a '94 Ford F250 that occasionally did that - and I know the battery is good. Not sure if it's superstition or something I couldn't detect, but ever since I started taking the key out of the ignition instead of just switching it off (thereby forcing the switch to be perfectly turned off), I've never had any more problem...

Howard

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Walt Davies

05-18-2007 15:31:40




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Howard H., 05-18-2007 13:56:00  
That sounds like the warning system for the key spray some WD-40 in the lock on the door jam there is a switch in there that hangs up. I have to do that about once a year on my Ranger.
Walt



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Jim K

05-18-2007 13:10:40




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
Does it have an air compressor in it for the suspension? The one on my Buick used to come on when the car was sitting and not running.



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john in nebraska

05-18-2007 13:08:05




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
Keep after this service manager, make the owner aware of what he is up to in the shop, call the better business burueau, this lady was virtually stolen from, I work on cars and the auto repair business doesn't need people like this.



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Walt Davies

05-18-2007 13:30:47




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to john in nebraska, 05-18-2007 13:08:05  
We may just do that it makes me mad when people who don't understand car are working on them and making money mostly by cheating old ladies.

It just ain't right you know.
Walt



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Mike M

05-18-2007 10:21:04




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 10:05:06  
Don't know what year or model it was ? they had one here at work and there is a connector up front for the cooling fans (I think ? )and it fills up with water and corrodes. They had alot of trouble with this is what our Volvo dealer told us.



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update

05-18-2007 10:40:51




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Mike M, 05-18-2007 10:21:04  
I just looked it up and it was a 1997 Volvo model 850 our work had trouble with.



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Walt Davies

05-18-2007 12:01:41




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to update, 05-18-2007 10:40:51  
Thank but this is a mid 80s 240.
Walt I suggested that she trade it in and let someone else have the problem. giggle.



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Otto Mechanic

05-18-2007 17:38:49




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 Re: OT Car repair in reply to Walt Davies, 05-18-2007 12:01:41  
Walt 100 MA is too high, most manufactures want less than 50, most cars that I,ve tested are only around15-30. If that battery is getting old it will have a hard time with that. Also the higher parasitic loss will shortin the life of a battery. Even though this may not be the fault any time I find something ouy of spec I sort it out first before moving on. The trick with customers is that you have to keep them informed of what you are doing and why. Sometimes you can have multiple faults, intermittants etc. Causes less misunderstandings.

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