Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) I think I'm in hot water!

[WDaniels]

A few weeks ago I posted a problem on this forum for a friend of mine who was having a problem with his 97 3500 fiver. And after a decent amount of time and responses I told him(my friend) what the concenses should be. He then took it to the cummins dealer here and not the stealers to get it fixed properly. That was 2 weeks ago. I saw him today in the parking lot of Home Depot and he told me that they charged him $1,689. 00 to fix it. After the paramedics revived me, he told me that they charged him 11 hours(at 99. 00 per)for trouble shooting and only changed SOME of the injectors(don't know how many). We didn't get to talk much after that cause he had to go but I think he is a little P. O. ed at me. So to make a short story longer, any of you guys who work at the big rig shops, is this acceptable? I kinda think 11 hours of trouble shooting a 5. 9 is excessive. What do you think?

WD

 

[rjones]

Originally posted by WDaniels

A few weeks ago I posted a problem on this forum for a friend of mine who was having a problem with his 97 3500 fiver. And after a decent amount of time and responses I told him(my friend) what the concenses should be. He then took it to the cummins dealer here and not the stealers to get it fixed properly. That was 2 weeks ago. I saw him today in the parking lot of Home Depot and he told me that they charged him $1,689. 00 to fix it. After the paramedics revived me, he told me that they charged him 11 hours(at 99. 00 per)for trouble shooting and only changed SOME of the injectors(don't know how many). We didn't get to talk much after that cause he had to go but I think he is a little P. O. ed at me. So to make a short story longer, any of you guys who work at the big rig shops, is this acceptable? I kinda think 11 hours of trouble shooting a 5. 9 is excessive. What do you think?

WD

I agree its stupid to pay that kind of money... . they stretch as much out as they can..... they prob had it figured out in an hour... . my 2 cents worth... ... Rick

 

[MDW]

You try to help and what does it get you



Just know that your intentions were good and we still love you

 

[bighammer]

If HE were a TDR member he would've known better AND you wouldn't have been caught in the middle.



But really people like him are really an important part of our society. I'm sure mechanics have kids, house & car payments (his may have a really nice boat) and need to meet their obligations.



It also helps the rest of us realize why we like to do a little homework, spend some free time getting dirty, skinning our knucles and cussing, just to keep our trucks (and cars) out of "the shop" situation. It also helps those who make tools and sell parts, etc. It goes on and on... .



Just remind him, and thank him (for me) for being an important part of that cycle.

 

[drees1]

I'll relate to the way I ran the CAT truck shop that I managed. If the problem is present when it is in the shop and the problem can be repeated during diagnosis, and does not require test driving every time something is looked at then proceed as follows.



The service tech is instructed to follow the diagnostic procedure in the manual or his intuition, which ever is quicker. The procedures are predefined in terms of the time it takes to do each task. If the tech writes a good service report then it all falls into place. I then compared the time actual vs. time by the book. Unless there is justification for more time (such as removing customer installed equipment that is in the way) then the customer pays the lesser of the 2.



Any shop that cannot give an accurate description of the work performed and the parts used is not reputable and suspect to ripping you off. Many customers do not understand what it takes to solve a seeming simple problem, and others accept anything.



You should have a good enough description of the problem and repair procedure on your invoice such that any other shop could read it and understand what was done.



If injectors were replaced then you need to know which ones. You have warranty on those parts and a subsequent problem may or may not be covered depending.