Girding from a battle with Dodge (long post)

[testraub]

Okay. lets start simple and stupid. On 6/2/07, After fueling the truck, and while driving up & back from Baltimore, the truck just DIED on the beltway. Started right up again with a CEL. Finally got home and 1st replaced the fuel filter (bad fuel?). Same problem ongoing, take to dealer (Tysons Dodge/Jeep Vienna, VA) and to them "Fuel Pressure Senser". Okay, same day "It's ready". Pick up the next AM, CEL still on. Ask service... "oh we ordered the part" WTF? Ready or ordered part? A week goes by... Part in, replaced, no test drive... "It's good to go!" Drive it home no problem. Next day on starting, CEL and rough running. WTF? New code P0601 (I think) Rail pressure sensor or FCA (per the manual) Call them and state "order the dang FCA so in stock _IF_ needed" Okay, they order part. Get into stock. Bring truck in for testing @ 27285 on the Ode. Call from Dealer, "Ready!" Pick up 7:00 AM the next day, drive a little down the road, stop at light. Look at paperwork... Check in 27285 check out 27289, look at ode 27286 Take picture. Refuse to take truck back to these idiots. All this time they are saying truck is Okay to drive. Now to the problem. Take truck to differant dealer. (should never have left, but they sold to another company. ) CP3 and injector #2 may be bad (DRBIII info). New CP3 on order. Well today I got the VERY BAD news. Bad fuel or Water in fuel (no light) and the WHOLE fuel system needs to be replaced ($10,000 +) to keep truck under warranty. This I feel should have been checked by the first dealership, but they state " You told us what it needed". I'm not a diesel tech, nor a DC tech. Bad fuel happens, but for over 3 weeks I rode with possible bad fuel per their Tech. DC problem, or should I pay? Nothing here had anything to do with mods. The WIF light NEVER came on, and the system is rusted beyond salvage.



Tom

 

[JVolpe]

Sounds like you need a lawyer. Hate to put it that way, but that is what I would do at this point. Get one that specializes in warranty/auto cases. Probably will get ugly before it gets better. Make sure and write all details down as close to actual chronilogical order. All details you can think of.



A lawyer may cost you some up front that you don't recover, but just accepting 10k bill without a fight seems wrong.

 

[Bob4x4]

Not what you want to hear,but contaminated fuel is not a warranty issue. D/C's stand is that you put the contaminated fuel in it . I have gotten insurance to cover that type of repair (not my truck)when you can not pin it to a specific fuel dealer.



Bob

 

[CMNS PWR]

Tom, where have you been buying fuel?

If possible, bring it to Ourisman here in Chantilly. They have a diesel tech that is top notch.

 

[lmills]

Tom, where have you been buying fuel?

If possible, bring it to Ourisman here in Chantilly. They have a diesel tech that is top notch.

that's where it is

 

[testraub]

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition! The praise for Dwayne at Ourisman and the insurance company! They have already authorized the repairs AND the parts have been ordered. The Ammo for Tysons Dodge/Jeep for being such JERKS as to not run any tests, and letting me keep driving the vehicle. The truck _may_ be back to me as early as Friday. Good thing too, another weekend of "Oh, I can do this or that to the truck", just to remember it's in the shop.



As for where I buy fuel, they sell quite a bit, but I'm going to recommend they get their tank checked.

 

[swexlin]

Great news Tom, I was about to suggest (as I did over on MDTDC) that you make an insurance claim.



Scott

 

[testraub]

Hmmmm MDTDC I think I owe them some money :-laf I will get caught up at Fall Brawl. It's like, what $1. 00 a year :-laf



Tom

 

[JApol]

Thats AWESOME Tom, good to hear that you are going to get your truck up and running in a couple of days.



Sounds like Orisman dodge still has customer service.

 

[CMNS PWR]

I need to stop in and see the truck Tom. I am only 4 miles from Ourisman. Dwayne did a few things on my white 03 and I would highly recommend him to anyone.

 

[JArbini]

so Lloyd Haak Chestertown CJD Chestertown, MD isn't the only lying, incompetent dealer in the whole pathetic Chrysler dealer network??????? i've come to despise my truck so much i'm seriously thinking about getting rid of it. i don't care how great the cummins engine is i'll NEVER buy another dodge again and absolutely nothing from this dealership. this couldn't have been more of a frustrating, disappointing experience.

 

[jelag]

When a tanker drops fuel, its common for the driver to put a paste on the end of the stick when he drops it in the tank... . the paste will turn colors when it contacts water and he knows there's water in the tank before he drops the fuel...

Most of todays tanks are double wall tanks and are made of fiberglass... . little or no chance of water to get in or for them to rust out... .

What I have seen is a very heavy rain that floods the lot and the tank fills are not sitting high enough and standing water can enter a tank if the cap is not a tight fit.....

Also remember that todays tanks have tight fitting lids to keep vapor from escaping into the air..... the only vents to most tanks are usually on the back wall of the building with a rain hood on them... . and are usually 10 to 12 ft off the ground... .

If you have rust past the filter housing from water getting by the filter you either have a filter that is not seated correctly or a filter that doesn't meet OE standards. . the filter is to stop he water, and when the water level gets high enough in the housing the light comes on... . if your not seeing the light the water is getting by... . something is wrong... .

JArbini - remember that the factory has taken away the principle of how a system works and most techs don't have a clue how one system on a vehicle works... I can tell you that after owning 5 Fords and the cost of up keeping the Ford electronics on the 7. 3 powerstroke that the cummins is a great change... . Todays tech's rely on electronics and phone advice instead of understanding how a system works... and than how to fix it when it fails...

My favorite truck would be a Ford Chassis and cab, Cummins power, Fulller transmission and Chevrolet interior... . My cost per mile to repair my dodges so far is about 60% cheaper than the fords..... In 4 dodge trucks with 750K miles total clock time I've had 1 back to the dealer, under warranty... . this doesn't mean we haven't had issues but all have been things we can deal with...

But I'm off subject so I'll stop and get off the soap box...

 

[Cattletrkr]

For about 2. 5 years I have been getting my fuel delivered by the same guy. It's nice peace of mind knowing I won't have to run around trying to figure out who to chase if I get a bunch of bad fuel.

I know it makes a mess, but I think we all need to start draining our fuel filter canisters a lot more often than we do. I think I've maybe drained mine half a dozen times other than filter changes in the nearly 177K I've owned this truck. I run 20-30% biodiesel so I'm only polluting 70%, right??

 

[JArbini]

<My favorite truck would be a Ford Chassis and cab, Cummins power, Fulller transmission and Chevrolet interior. >



jim, i was talking to some buddies recently about the perfect truck & our only difference would be the allison trans otherwise you're dead on.



my POS is going back to the dealer tomorrow for the 6th time for no overdrive & to fight about warrantying the body rot above the rear wheel well they've so far refused and oh yeah, at just over 40k my muffler & tailpipe rotted away. i'm tired of fighting with these idiots. i've never, NEVER had so many issues with a vehicle especially seeing i don't use it for work & i baby it. i'm just really disappointed & pretty well ****** off. thanks for letting me vent.

joe

 

[CDonaldson]

I get a fuel receipt EVEY time I get fuel, write the mileage down on it and enter the purchace in my log book. Besides all the other stuff that the dealership can read from your ECM/whatever, they also can read your trip meter EVERY time you set it, and they can print this off in list form. This info from your truck, coupled with your receipts/log is the EXACT evidence YOU need to make a claim against the fuel supplier if you get back a bad fuel test.



If I went to a dealership with the kind of problems you have had, the first thing I would do is take a fuel sample right in front of them and have the fuel tested by a laboratory. I carry a couple test kits that I got from Genos and that lab DOES do fuel tests. I use their services with every fluid change, be it engine, trans, transfer case, diffs, even as far as power steering changes and brake fluids. Give me perfect information, and good information to support how I care for my truck. I check my filter/cannister once a week, I have YET to drain off water. I change the filter religiously an also have a 2-micron setup.



My dealership is one of the more useless ones like the one you have been dealing with, the only difference is when I walk through the door THEY KNOW they better get it right the first time or I am all over them and phoning and writing DC. Couple of those kind of visits an DC was also all over them. In fact, DC made it a point to answer me both in writing and via the phone, and told me what corrections my dealership was making after their investigation. Lat time I was there to get something from the parts department I noticed a new service writer, the guys in parts told me that the dealership sent two mechanics to DC's tech school and another one was going to be going soon. I guess even with my limited diesel knowledge I still had it over their guys. When I told DC what my problems were, I was right on in how they should have been repaired and the techs at my dealership had NO clue. I cited that the bazillion page repair manual TOLD them the proper troubleshooting and repair procedure, and that they did not follow it, if they even bothered to look at it. An informed owner is a real danger to a dealership, never ask a question that you don't already know the answer, or at least have taken the time to look it up in the repair manual. Take a copy of the procedures with you and they have no other choice that to look at the stuff and just maybe also fix it. They should also have some idea about what the codes mean and further be able to reference the troubleshooting to solve the underlying reason your truck threw the code. If all this is not taking place, be all over DC to get their people on the right track.



If all else fails, get a lawyer. They really don't want or like to have a customer go to this extent, they really would rather fix your truck and send you happily down the road. Always go to the owner of the dealership and complain, many times they don't really know about these type of problems and if they like making money they will get to the bottom of things real fast.





Glad to hear you are being taken care of properly by the second dealership, they need to give some lessons to the first one.



CD