[AT] OT modern computer controlls (please delete now if you don't like the topic)

[Cecil Bearden]

I took my TS110 New Holland to the New Holland dealer.  The engine had 
swallowed a valve, but I first thought the drive plate behind the 
flywheel had shattered.  $3200 later they called and told me I had a 
valve dropped through the piston.  I told them to bolt it back together 
and I would pick it up.  $4000 bill as it was $800 more to bolt on the 
manifolds and hood.  They lost my hood bracket ( $175)  and bolts ( hood 
only had 1 bolt holding it).   Broke the fuel inlet pipe in the fuel 
tank so I have to bleed the system every time I sit longer than 1 hour.  
Broke the sediment bowl ($48 glass bowl), and broke the windshield ( 
$1100, they replaced it, but left glass in every crevice in the cab). I 
may have posted this before, but I will not pay a dealer to learn how to 
work on my equipment.

I had a good mechanic for a while to work on my vehicles.  Last time he 
charged me $850 to replace a A/C compressor to stop a "click"when 
running, and it was the flywheel plate broken.  Some thing he should 
have caught when he changed engines for me 4 months earlier.  I would 
have been stranded if I had continued to drive it.  I cannot walk more 
than 50 ft at a time, so being stranded with a vehicle is not a good 
situation.  This guy was a disabled veteran appeared to do good work at 
first, and talked a very good game.  He just kept hiring additional 
mechanics and getting bigger.  I spent over $4000 with him on my 2000 
F-150 4wd.  The most expensive pickup I have ever owned.  I now work on 
my own vehicles again, if it takes 2 days to do a 2 hour job, so be it!  
When I retired I noticed that mechanic work took much longer.  It's 
because I now take the extra time to repair or replace instead of fixing 
it to get  going again.

Cecil in OKla


On 3/25/2017 6:23 PM, David Bruce wrote:
> Yes that is a big issue. Mine is just a bit older than me and has been
> established here for years. The good thing is he will be replaced by his
> son (who is also quite good) once he retires. Not the cheapest but I
> know if he works on something I can trust him. At one point he even came
> to my home to deal with a balky car - finally found the problem
> (farmer's favorite) and since then the car has done well - 2001 Malibu
> that now has nearly 200K miles. He took care of my mom's car, takes care
> of my brother's and several family members. That is something I did not
> have until I returned here some years ago.
>
> I have been screwed over in the past with other mechanics - and yes
> those at a dealer's operation so I understand your plight.
>
> Not exactly tractor related but in some ways it is.  I think the same
> goes for tractor mechanics (who are often the same people here).
>
> David
>
> NW NC
>
>
> On 3/25/2017 6:54 PM, charlie hill wrote:
>> David,  I'm glad you have a good one.  Thinking back on my message
>> it sounds like I'm indicting all mechanics and I am certainly not.  I just
>> can't find many, if any, decent ones here.  There is a local franchise
>> dealer
>> for mid to high end cars who claims to have the most certified techs of
>> any shop in the state.  4 times the number the factory requires him to have.
>> A few years back I took a new car in for warranty work because the
>> condensation
>> in the A/C duct was backing up and running out in the floor when the car
>> rounded
>> curves.  The inside of this less than one year old car smelled like dirty
>> socks.
>> After 3 tries this best in the state shop had their service manager come out
>> and
>> explain to me that he had found a tech bulletin and had installed "a delay
>> relay"
>> to make my heater-A/C fan run after the car is shut off to dry out the duct.
>>
>> What he had actually done is take an old relay box from some GM car that had
>> a
>> relay that ran the radiator cooling fan after shut down.  He had screwed it
>> to the fender
>> well and stuck the wires into  the A/C housing under the hood.  It wasn't
>> hooked to anything.
>> I drove the car straddle a ditch, crawled under it and found that the drain
>> nipple had somehow
>> become inverted block the condensation from draining.  That is what I
>> suspected when I took it
>> to them but it was under warranty and a friends car, not mine.  Both of the
>> owners of this dealership
>> are personal friends of mine!
>>
>> Oh they also "instructed" me that the condensation I complained about inside
>> the instrument panel
>> was "Not Condensation"...... It was "Moisture".
>>
>> That was in the late 90's.  The service there is no better today despite
>> their claims.
>>
>> Most of the independent shops here price your work based on what parts they
>> need for their race car
>> that week.
>>
>> Charlie
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