Finally got the charging system fixed but....

After having nothing but problems with the external voltage regulator on my skid steer, the shop I took it to put a new 70 amp Leece Neville alternator on(didn't need that much) and modified the wiring harness for it. It has 2 wires, one for ground and one for power. He was going to put a Delco on but would have had to make custom brackets etc. The alt. he put on just needed some washers for shims to line the pulley up. It seems to work good so I'm happy for that.

What I'm a little bothered by is how much I spent on the old set up only to have it replaced 3 month's later. I spent $120 for a rebuilt alt, about $50 for a regulator and then $100 for them to try and get it to work right after I tried half a dozen regulators. The guy did say machines like mine were notorious for reg. issues. When I took it in last week to get it fixed, I kind of jokingly said the guy could use it to clear his snow if he fixed it. Well, I went to pick it up today and noticed he did use it to clear the snow all around his and his neighbors shops. I'm guessing about an hour. Then he said he needs to make out some kind of a bill for me and I asked if I could get some credit for all the money I've already spent($270). He said $200 was the best he could do and gave me a deal on the new alt. He remarked it's only money. Ya my money! Should I be happy to have the problem finally fixed (hopefully) or do you think I should be have got a better deal considering I already paid $100 to have them fix the problem (plus the alt. and reg.) and he used my machine for an hour? I charge $75/hr to clear snow. This all took place between July 20 and now. I didn't get the old alt. back, not that I had any use for it, but paid $120 to have it rebuilt. Almost $500 later after tax, would you have been a little upset? Dave

Sounds like he gave you a break on the parts and some credit for previous work. I'm sure he lost his butt on this job.

And you did tell him to use the loader so forget about that.

Yes,

This is typical repair shop work now days,If we don"t know what is wrong we can replace parts till it works at the customers expense. lot"s of auto shop operate the same way.A guy near me paid 600.00 to get a heater core replaced in his pickup only to find out it leaked on the way home.

I didn't think he'd actually use the machine and had no idea if he's even ran one before. Even if it's said in jest, I don't think a repair shop should use a customers machine except to diagnose a problem or test a repair. What if something else would have broke? Would the customer be on the hook for that too? Dave

If something else would have broke I bet he would have fixed it. Ever here of a test drive?

And if it broke for him in a hour of use it most likly would have broke for you as well.

It gave him a chance to check out the charging system before you got it back.

Let it go DAVE.

How do you sleep at night thinking everyone is out to get you?

if you don't like what they done then figure it out yourself next time. nobody forced you to take it there. its always easy to blame somebody else and then want the fix for nothing. run into this all time in shop. you have your health don't you then quit complaining and count your blessings after all its just a piece of machinery. happy holidays

He doesn't sleep at night. He's on here, whining, 24/7.

You need to find a better mechanic I think.There is maybe something shorted out somewhere,or the alternator or something is defective.Something like that sounds like a wiring harness or a plug in to me.Maybe once it gets warmed up good it shorts out.Or maybe the regulator cant stand the vibration or something like that.It might be better to switch to an altenator with a built in regulator.It must be kind of old or weird to have a regulator type system.A AC/Delco alternator with a built in regulator like a lot of people put on tractors to replace a generator are not that expensive.Plus its not hard to fabricate brackets for an Alternator.I put Chevy motors in 2 Ford grain trucks and even used the Ford transmission on one of them.I had to fabricate a lot of stuff for that,and got one of them going in 3 days.
So,what you have done is fallen into a trap,because you didnt know how,or want to fix it yourself,you took it to somebody who knew about as much as you did about it,he charged you for swapping parts,some of which were probably good,and his parts either were bad or he never found the problem and it took from July until now to run down the battery again,and now you have done it again?
I wouldnt cry about him moving snow if you told him he could.

I don't think everyones out to get me. A bunch of people on here seem to be. LoL The guy I took it to is an expert in auto electrics. When I took it to him because I couldn't get a regulator to work properly, the first thing he said was that those machines were known for charging problems and it would be better to change the alternator. Then he said to bring the machine to him and he'd figure it out. The other guy working there claimed he just put a regulator on and it worked. I was charged $100 for that. I only put about 3 hours on the machine since then and discovered it's over charging. What exactly was fixed for the extra $100? I spent close to $500 for what could have been fixed for probably $300 or less. I don't know of anybody that likes spending more than they have to. There's a big difference if it breaks on him because he did something wrong. Dave

Who said I wanted it for nothing? When I paid $100 to have it fixed and it wasn't, where else should I take it? Shouldn't shops stand behind their work? $500 on a charging system for a 43 HP engine is just a little excessive if you ask me. Dave

As far as him using the machine to clear his packed snow, I pointed that out because I think it has value. That's why I said I charge $75/hr. He wouldn't have been able to even hire someone for an hour. Most skid steers charge a minimum of at least 2 hours and often more in the winter. Dave