Who uses the dealer?

[CGauthier]

I for one have never dealt with Dodge, or any dealer for that matter to do work on my vehicles. Since i got this rig i figgured what the hay, give this a try. Well, the 4x4 engaged light wasn't coming on, and the wait to start light neither. The "technician" worked on it for an hour and they phone me back to tell me the "technician" is stumped lol and asked if i wanted them to go ahead any longer cause they were charging me for the time ($69. 99 for the first hour and $89. 99 every hour after that), so at this point i spent $70 and got absolutely nothing-so i said one more hour... to make a long story short, I spent $268 for a new switch ($73 part) on tha trans for tha 4x4 light and the diagnosis that the pcm module was the problem for my wait to start light which would cost over $400, i declined that. The guy said usually they have problems diagnosed within the first hour but they didn't have the shop manuals lol, so because they don't have that old of shop manuals i lose $90 ?? Lmao, i think ive had enough of using tha dealer as the mechanic... also they wanted $260 to change the driveline fluids, which i thought was crazy too considering that wasn't even synthetic..... anyone elses thoughts?





Carl

 

[dpuckett]

ANother reason to do your own work. As you will see in your perusals here, the dealer isnt always the best deal. Esp if you have an older vehicle- they seem to not care for some reason. Some people have had real good service from their dealer; others similar to yours at best.



I doubt your WTS light is the PCM- mine doesnt work, and I have no PCM (bout the ONLY advantage of the nonIC trucks). Most likely a bad connection or sensor. I just turn the radio off, and listen for the click on and the wind up of the heaters, then the click off of the relay. ALso watch the volt gauge; it pulls some juice to run those things.



Daniel

 

[sparks57]

I do all my own work after my experience with Salmon River Motors in Salmon Idaho.



They ripped me off and hung me out to dry. They outright lied to me, and charged me for work they never did.



I still wanna strangle that a$$hole service manager.

 

[bgilbert]

Carl, get yourself some service manuals and a tool set if you dont have already. I'll use the dealer for parts thats it. I've been gouged before by the dealer. You was gouged on the 4WD indicator switch, located on top of the transfer case, I bought one from dealer for my 89, should be same switch they're all 205's. I think I paid about $15, I have the old switch in the new package if anyone wants the part # to check prices. Simple fix.



On your WTS light, does it come on when you start the truck, as the rest of the lights in the message center come on for a split second doing a self check? If yes, the bulb is good. If no, check the bulb. If yes, then your looking at a few different causes of no WTS light. Bill

 

[CGauthier]

Dam, I'd hate to be a woman or someone who knows nothing thinking the dealer knows best, which im sure there's alot of ppl like that out there. I think you're right about the WTS light Daniel, i played around with the bulb b4 checkin 2 see if any were burned out, tha wts wasn't but when i put it back together it worked intermittently for awhile. I usually watch the voltmeter like you say, but im in love wit my truck rite now and want everything perfect



CB-Parker--I feel ya man, i could see that happening, this visit to the dealer i was expecting it to be a rip off so i wasn't too mad; it was more like an experiment to me. You must know your truck inside out already

 

[CGauthier]

Originally posted by bgilbert

Carl, get yourself some service manuals and a tool set if you dont have already. I'll use the dealer for parts thats it. I've been gouged before by the dealer. You was gouged on the 4WD indicator switch, located on top of the transfer case, I bought one from dealer for my 89, should be same switch they're all 205's. I think I paid about $15, I have the old switch in the new package if anyone wants the part # to check prices. Simple fix.



On your WTS light, does it come on when you start the truck, as the rest of the lights in the message center come on for a split second doing a self check? If yes, the bulb is good. If no, check the bulb. If yes, then your looking at a few different causes of no WTS light. Bill

I ordered the service manual(i think thats all i need?),and it takes 4-6 weeks cause supposedly they print them as they need them. No, the wts light doesn't come on in the self check; i checked the bulb once, the bulb wasnt burned out, then it kinda worked for awhile then stopped again :s



P. S. on the bill it says the part # is 04210979, Switch Tr/ 21-100-0



Thanx,

Carl

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

"..... I'd hate to be a woman or ... " uh ohhhh. . I think we need a 12 step intervention here guys..... and he's a NoObe too... not good... .



PB.

 

[OTRPU]

Have to admit it, I use the dealers. Trouble is I never break down where I want to. Driving OTR when it breaks. . . I figure the dealers are the fastest fix. They usually have the more common problem parts on the shelf and those I've had to deal with usually take into consideration that the less downtime I have the better off I am. Course when they take this into consideration I usually don't get any kind of discount on anything. Just happy to get my ass back on the road ASAP. The service has only been so so I'd say. Had one mechanic swear up and down he'd checked all fluids and sent me on my way. Wasn't 10 miles and I was heating up. I called on my cell and ask the service manager what was up, he went and checked with his wrench, came back and told me the guy said he hadn't checked the coolant level. Told him I'd rather they didn't lie and if he hadn't I'd be more than happy to check these things out myself. Could have burnt up an engine cause of this fool.



Cheers,

Steve J.

 

[1stgen4evr]

Dealers

Like OTRPU I use the dealer when I am on the road. And that is a lot of the time. I have had a water pump and a belt tensioner installed by 'dealer' mechanics in the last year. My opinion on using the dealer is that only if you have no other option, go to the dealer. Cost on the service I had done was double what it was around home for the same work. Parts prices roughly double as well. But when you are stuck in a place 500 or 2000 miles from home, you will want to get going. And I have so far been able to do that in a timely manner.



Now diagnosing some weird problem is another story. Few of these guys have any extensive experience with these trucks. So they go out and fumble around pulliing fuses, wiggling wires, guessing and reading what manuals they have, all the while time is pileing up. They try a few new parts that don't solve the problem and the owner has a bill that looks like open heart surgery on the wallet. And the truck isn't fixed. NO one is happy.



So if you are lucky, you know about TDR. You get some basic tools and with the info from these guys, you find and solve the malfunction. Well maybe not solve, like the throttle position sensor. A piece of crap that isn't good enough to serve as the volumn control on a cheap radio much less control the OD function on a diesel truck. So you look at the ways others have worked around the problem.



Don't ever go to a dealer till you know what is wrong so you can tell them what to work on. And be sure that they don't work on any 'checking stuff'. These guys are in business ( and a tough competitive business) to sell vehicles. They claim to want your maintainence business so as to have you back later to buy another new vehicle. A very few dealers around the country actually aproach maintainence as any thing but a required burden for them. The dealers I have used don't even seem to know about TDR. I am not and won't be in the market for a new truck but if I was, I would only buy from a dealer who was a TDR member.



Tell everyone you meet about TDR. Get the membership sheet from the home page and explain to folks what TDR is. It is the only way I have found to address the maintainence issues of the Dodge Cummins. With a million trucks produced and 20k TDR membership, there are a lot of guys who don't know about the group.



Find a Cummins dealer. Get your engine serial number and date of manufacture and buy all engine parts from Cummins. They will be less expensive.



1stgen4evr

James

 

[MFalkinham]

James,



You had a great post with a lot of wise suggestions, and I especially agree with you about using the TDR and pre-troubleshooting before taking your truck to any dealer for service. However, I have to take issue with one item. You said... ...



"These guys are in business ( and a tough competitive business) to sell vehicles. They claim to want your maintainence business so as to have you back later to buy another new vehicle. A very few dealers around the country actually aproach maintainence as any thing but a required burden for them. "



While it's true that dealers usually make a nice profit when selling new/used vehicles, I believe their biggest profit center IS the Service Department. Selling a car to a customer usually happens every few years, but that same vehicle requires ongoing service year-round. When they can bill out each mechanic at $60-$80 per hour, plus mark up all the parts they sell, this adds up to enormous amounts of money for them. I don't believe they make out quite as well doing warranty work, but as you described in your post, out-of-warranty work adds up very fast. This is especially true if their customers are people with little mechanical knowledge who just scribble out a check to get their vehicle fixed with no questions asked.



I'm not saying in any way that dealer Service Departments are dishonest, but by their very design they seem to be a huge profit generator for that dealership.



- Mike

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

When I bought my 01 with 24,000 miles on it it felt sloppy in the steering compared to my 93 with 180,000 miles and every part in the front end was original. I went to my normal dealer to have them look at it figuring the trac bar was shot. They gave me the run around and said, it's a big truck thats how they handle but you could use an alignment. Well it's like a foot and a half longer than the old truck and doesn't have training wheels and I'm not going to be happy if this is how it's gonna handle. $80 later I leave the shop and the truck still wanders all over. I go back to where I bought the truck (a Ford Dealer) and they send it to their Chrysler dealer they own about 50 miles away, (they picked up the truck) I get a call from them it needs ball joints, track bar and a tie rod end, during the process of taking it apart they found a brake pad that was falling apart so I got new front pads for free too. One dealer says it's normal the other does big dollar warranty work, they both would've got paid for it why the difference? Definantely had to do with where the truck was purchased I would guess. Some service managers are just more worthless than some of their mechanics. A good dealer service department is truely hard to find. I have found that around here a dealer with an experienced diesel mechanic is near impossible to find.

 

[SGibson]

In 98 when Dodge brought out the Dakota R/T my wife bought one, The dealer started sending us coupons for $69 oil&lube and other equally high coupons for all Dodge trucks exc. ctd's. The dealer acted like he was selling a Viper when she bought it, wouldn't budge much off sticker, acted arrogant, but she wanted it so we bought it. The truck had a few problems under warrenty and it was always a big wait to get it fixed, coupons kept coming in. So when one of the rims had to be replaced @ $497 for the part, I decided to take them up on the all Dodge trucks oil&lube for $69 exc. ctd coupon, made an appt. and drove my 900 over there, they said it wouldn't fit in service bay, I told them everything can be changed & lubed right in the lot, pointed out all the zerks, and made them eat it, they did, were ******, and never sent us a coupon again. So I guess I "used" the dealer.

 

[LV-CTD]

When you join TDR you should get a copy of the TDR Travel Companion. It has members all across the continent, and a few in Europe, that are available to assist if you have a problem. That's worth far more than what it costs to join if you have a problem on the road! I'd keep that and a service manual in the truck at all times when traveling.

When I was just out of high school and struggling to make ends meet, still doing that actually, I had a '70 Dodge Challenger and slid into a curb during a heavy rain and messed up my left front suspension. I took it to the Dodge dealer for an estimate and about choked on it, $360 in late '70's dollars. I didn't have the money so limped it home, got my Chilton's manual and read up on what needed to be done, went to a junk yard ,pulled the parts I needed out of wrecked one for $35, had to buy a brand new pitman arm for $40, rented an acetelene torch for one mangled strut rod nut for $10, changed it all out in the apt parking lot, had the front end alligned for $15 and was done with it a for grand total of $100! Necessity is the mother of invention they say. Since then I've done most of my repair work myself.

Tom

 

[1stgen4evr]

However, I have to take issue with one item.

Thanks for noticing Mike. I agree with the other points you made and should say that I can't totally justify my comments. I try to stick to detail that I am sure about but I drifted on that one. Note that I did leave some room for quality dealers. I have had some good experience with a few. I would fill more space than allowed if I tried to explain why I feel as I do.



Love my Cummins, Love my truck. Enjoy the heck out of TDR.



1stgen4evr

James

 

[Forrest Nearing]

unless you have a good tech that you trust, dealers are the WORST place to take a vehicle... finding a good mechanic can be tough... so tough that it drives many people to learn how to do all the work on their own vehicles!! (including yours truly)



Forrest

 

[DJW]

Since 1955 I've been thoughful of Dealers. Our farm manager had a 1954 Chrysler less than a year old low mileage, it was not running well so he had the local Chrysler dealer send a man to collect it. Later he recieved a phone call to say the distributor needed changing, car returned but still not running well. Called the dealer again, this time they said the carburator needed replacing. Back to the dealer again, this time the farm manager told them, not to bring it back unless running right, later he recieved a phone call for him to come to the service department to view the engine. When we arrived there on entering the service dept I noticed a battery of testing equipment covered with a thick layer of dust, the head had been removed and some of the valves looked like tulips I said nothing but thought it disgraceful, any so called mechanic could have diagnosed the fault just by listing to the exhaust. At one time the service deptment was run at a loss, today it's a money maker. At San Rafael in N. Calif. in 1991 the Ford shop rate was $81 per hour. Motto, buy a service manual for your model and join TDR some of the best value for your money you'll buy, also ask, many people will try and help. Reading the TDR mag. plus the threads, it's a wonder some enerprising Cummins mechanic have not opened his or her's own shop, even if he went custom, i. e. leave a loner vehicle and drove or towed the vehicle needing service to his own shop. Every, one person business I know, plus at one time my own, have made a very satisfactory living, beats lining someone else's pockets. With your own skills plus tools and low overhead you can make. It's the American Way! Scrum Down.

 

[Forrest Nearing]

well, we in the DFW area are blessed to have Andy Redmond... he does top notch work at competative prices, and he does house calls!



still too expensive for my blood sometimes, but only because I'm flat-ass broke most of the time!



Forrest

 

[dusthomps]

I use the dealer for some things that I either can't solve, that I'm at a loss on where to start, or I need the truck back on the road within a day. There is a Dodge dealer in Red Wing, MN that I have no problem taking my truck too. I've known one of the mechanics dad for about three years now. Beside that, it's good work and doesn't seem to cost a fortune. They always call to get approval on doing a specific task and if the outcome is still not right, you don't get charged. Best example for that is before I joined TDR the OD in my 92 wasn't working right. They spent some time putting in a new TPS and speed sensor. Problem wasn't fixed so that put all the old stuff back in the truck when they could have hung me with the cost of those two sensors.





Dustin

 

[MMiller]

Its easy for me to do my own work, but my truck doesn't have to run every day(I have a company vehicle), I am a mechanic(there's nothing on my 93 that I can't do with proper book), and I can't afford to pay somebody else to fix my truck. Especailly sense its usually my fault the truck is broke.



I WILL NEVER take my truck to the dealer to have the cummins part worked on NEVER. I have never found a dealer with a good diesel tech. I will take it to cummins and have them work one it if I can't get to it. If the injection pump needs help, then I will take it to a good injection pump shop. 5 years ago George's diesel in Des Moines R&I the pump, rebuilt it, put in differnet gov springs, tested it on the pump bench, and tweaked it for $486. This was after I had it to the Dodge dealer and he couldn't find the problem, AFTER I told them to pull the pump and send it too Geoge's Diesel! The pump is about the only thing I would't mess with, just because I don't have the tooling to time the pump well.

Heck I even put a new Ring and Pinion in my truck this winter.



Michael

 

[Hunter4x4]

Shouldn't be saying this, but I work for DCX and for the most part the only thing I go to a dealer for is warranty work and factory-only available parts. Period!!



There's been one or two exceptions over the years, but I plain just don't trust 'em - been screwed more than once buy them! Seems that for every good one you have about 20 lemons! That, plus the fact that they charge so darned much for their parts.



You have to remember that these guys (dealers) are independent business, each one is really only truly loyal to their own interests. They'll put it to DCX as fast as they'll put it to a customer!!



Final thought - I suppose if I was on the road I'd lean towards a dealer, but only as a last resort!