Fredsvt Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 For background, I work at an independent shop, doing many 7.3 fleet trucks. Anyway, today a customer, who I'd rate a D, has her son's '06 Focus towed in. Her husband, and her son, already have tinkered with it. The car has 21k on it and appears abused. He already bought a new battery to drive it for a day or so, leaving the dead original in the trunk, with the battery hold down, and covering. The car doesn't charge, has a large 3 amp draw when key is off. The father can't figure out how to put the stock stereo back in, as his kid has chopped up the dash, cut the dash harness and ran amp power by cutting the + cabling under the dash to the inside fuse box. He want us to "return the car to stock" so the dealer will warranty whatever has failed in the charging/electrial system. I see it has NO coolant visible in the degas bottle, there's no feeling of coolant in the upper hose as well. The oil is chunky black and 2 quarts low. They say they use "synthetic" and it doesn't need changing for 50,000 miles. Oh, sure. My boss refused to touch it other than to let him know it doesn't charge and there's a draw. Sorry if anyone here in NJ gets this car. I really hope that the powers that be do the right thing. DENY. Do you guys see many like this at the dealership level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Bruene Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Do you guys see many like this at the dealership level? No, I've never seen a 6.0 come in with a headgasket leak... along with a massive intercooler, air intake and exhaust mods... but no tuner ofcourse... and both the clear distance and clear warm-up pids reading zero because the customer "claims" to disconnect his batteries every night so his truck doesn't get stolen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 I can't speak for other shops, but we are starting to see a few. Our area is still a bit of a "fronteer" where most men will stand up and face the consequences of their actions... But our town is growing and we are seeing more "citified" folk in the process.... Not to dump on those more urban, there is something about the way things are done in more populated areas that has people cover their asses or try to shift blame.... Some of this crap even seems to be gaining social acceptance.... I came from a time and place where all you really had was your integrity... lose that, and it was ever so hard to gain it back.... My God... I was born 100 years too late.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony302600 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Fred, that pisses me off. I'm not going to go into it anymore then that. If they are doing this with a car, what else in their lives are they doing to this extent. People need to realize, if they tell the truth, their car will more then likely get fixed twice as fast. Theres plenty of times ive seen techs bash their heads against the wall, then realize its something that the customer did, then the customer goes... oh ya..i forgot to tell you guys about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Sorry if anyone here in NJ gets this car. Well I hope you are nowhere near Morristown! But then, what do I care? I work on trucks, just finished up a 6.4L fuel pump and now I will be rolling in a 2006 F550 service truck for headgaskets... that ought to keep me busy for a couple of days. I love the neglected trucks or the ones with "special needs." Yesterday I repaired a 450 dump with 11,000 miles that barely ran. Fuel pressure dropped to 5 PSI before I got out of the parking lot. Inlet restriction about an inch. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITS NOT UNDER WARRANTY!" 2.5 labor and $89 for the filters and he went on his way with the advice that he service his fuel filters every 10,000 miles if he is going to continue hauling dirt. Looked at me like I robbed him! (Why do those filters cost so much?) The last time this type of situation happened it involved five bad injectors. Gave the guy the estimate for cleaning the fuel system and a set of injectors. "Nope, just change the filters and clean the tank." He went to another dealer - He later returned to us and OASIS gave him away. What a scumbag! I hope Ford questioned that repair and declined the claim. We get the third degree if we change two! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredsvt Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 The car was brought to the dealer where they bought it yesterday evening. I'm guessing the father put the dead oem battery back in and assembled the tray, etc. The wife stopped by (our mailperson) and said that they are replacing the alternator, under warranty, but will NOT go into the draw on the battery without a minimum diag time which isn't covered. Due to the nightmare under the dash. Can't wait till they find the 2 gauge battery wire for the amp system that they tucked away under the carpet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony302600 Posted October 18, 2007 Share Posted October 18, 2007 Damn Keith, See now thats were we get screwed. I had 2 injectors that were soo fricken bad (letting exhaust gases into bank 1 ), i had to get the request to tell me to replace the other 2. So 4 injectors on bank 1. EVERY engineer tells us we have to replace all 4 if even one lets exhaust gases in. This is a excellent company that brings trucks... they get 4. End of story. Asshole customer. U get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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