Funny how car maintenance works

[tgoeujon]

just curious but what happened to warranty? 50,000 should be covered for anything other than regular servicing. pcv shouldnt be regular servicing and unless they were changing gears and bearing on your transfer case, which also should be warranty you just got f@#$ed by the shop. im a licensed mechanic and a really big transfer case only holds four litres of oil and takes at most 1 hour to service.
what kind of vehicle was it?

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by tgoeujon

just curious but what happened to warranty? 50,000 should be covered for anything other than regular servicing. pcv shouldnt be regular servicing and unless they were changing gears and bearing on your transfer case, which also should be warranty you just got f@#$ed by the shop. im a licensed mechanic and a really big transfer case only holds four litres of oil and takes at most 1 hour to service.
what kind of vehicle was it?

No one I know does mechanic work or knows much about it unfortunately. I did ask if any of it was covered under my warranty (my 5 years is up July 2009) but they told me no. My jeep is a 2004 liberty.

[tgoeujon]

if warranty isnt covering anything you might want to think about changing shops. what is the hourly rate there out of curiousity?

[tgoeujon]

i dont like to argue but the coolant flush is important even at low kms. especially on chevys, the pink coolant causes electrolysis really quickly and can cost alot of money in repairs if not flushed fairly often.

[Reefhawk1]

Originally Posted by tgoeujon

i dont like to argue but the coolant flush is important even at low kms. especially on chevys, the pink coolant causes electrolysis really quickly and can cost alot of money in repairs if not flushed fairly often.

True about pink coolant since it is more acidic compared to green coolant. Pink coolant is usually extended life coolant and in my opinion a pain in the ass.

I see this stuff come in most new heavy truck engines and it is pricey when you need to replace it. I will give the customer the option to change over to regular coolant when replacement is required.

[dsaundry]

Ya, I thought it was the knock sensor so I wasn't to worried about that thought I would mention it though.
If I had to guess, I would say lower end, as it is slower than engine speed, I thought of a rod but it doesn't make sense, as it is not consistant enough. If it was a rod going under load then it would do it pretty much every time you loaded it up, not only once in a blue moon, oh and if you floor it when it is knocking it goes away (forgot to mention that) I have been avoiding the pulling the heads part as I am thinking that way myself, but it is a lot for a car we are getting rid of and isn't worth anything .

Steve

One other quick thought about the "noise" is a harmonic balancer starting to fail..common on some "fords" More so on sc t-birds though. Still think its in a rod or bearing ..Sounds like a good summer project..

[Lance]

It is always a good idea to ask for the replaced parts, etc. before the work is done. This way they know they may be caught-in-the-act of replacing perfectly good parts. I, for one, have never trusted dealerships. The mark-up on new cars is not as good as it used to be, so they gouge you in other ways, such as for warranty service. I come from a smallish town that only has two dealerships. Any warranty work has to be taken to another city by ferry. (PITA!). My wife has an '06 Mitsubishi Eclipse, and they are the only dealership I have ever dealt with that allows us to have warranty service done by any licensed mechanic of our choice. The only stipulations are that approved oil, filters, etc. are used. This works out to large savings as our mechanic of choice charges about 25% less than most; no ferries; and I know I'm not getting ripped-off as our mechanic is a most trustworthy fellow.

[Skimmerking]

Originally Posted by fishoholic

Minor tune up and spark plugs- $249.99
Transfer case SVC- $519.99
Transmission service- $183.51
PCV valve- $96.00
MISC (environ fee & shop fees)- $34.00
Tax- $61.00

On the last page it's broken down as:

Labor $732.96!!!!!! (boy am I in the wrong field)
Parts $453.01
MISC $34.00
Tax $61.00
Total $1280.97 *YUCK!*

ok the plug thing is all that is said there its taken out the plugs and putting in new ones , they dont install the new wires either that is extra I will bet my tank and a years pay on that one.. a transmission service Im sorry you have 50k on your vehicle you dont need them to flush out your tranny

[PoonTang]

Minor tune up at MOST would be air/fuel filters and a set of plugs. Everything else is computerized and unadjustable. 1 hour at most if they did it all. I think you got hosed on that 1 too at $250.

[dsaundry]

Ok I will put my 2 bucks in.
I own an automotive repair shop and yes some of the prices you got seem high, some are not. The transfer case service does seem quite high and without a detailed report on what they do when they service the transfer case and differential fluids next time I would check around. As for the fluid types, full synthetics are quite expensive compared to regular oils, As for some of the advise about what to get done, your manual is a pretty good guide in most cases, however you can go to any warranty approved shop and get the services done there, The average dealership here is about $120.00 per hour and the average shop is about $90.00 per hour, so you save some there. As for the coolant flush I agree to go green, the north american manufacturers seem to have a problem developing gaskets that stand up to the degredation of the long-life coolant. Green is better and there are animal friendly versions out now as well. Tune-ups are a word of the past, there is only scheduled maintenance now. Spark plugs from a lot of manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers are rated at well over 120,000km, but on higher milage cars I wouldnt put a long-life plug in. A regular v-groove actually works better. A bad oxygen senseor will screw up a motor real quick{sorry asmodeus} I have seen that firsthand, but the pcv price seems high too. Depends on what motor you have as far as labour goes, some spark plugs a real pain to get at and pull. Jeeps included. Try doing plugs in a newer Ford with a Triton motor in under 2 hours. Bottom line is if you feel you got hosed find another shop, ask around. There are a lot of good honest shops out there as well.
Ok just to stir the pot even more, A coolant flush would definately be recommended at 50k It deteriorates too quickly,not to flush the coolant can screw up a heater core. Pcv valves are important! 75/140 is about $20 perlitre. Mark up on parts is not where shops make their money, to the heavy duty mechanic. Try paying out insurance for your buildings, payroll tax's, Insurance for the techs, benefits, etc etc etc, and I hate to say this but you are all lucky the dealerships and private shops arent charging $200.00 plus per hour...By the way..its coming, The "Mechanic" has taken a bad rap for a lot of years, not all deserved, now that vehicles are changing to computerized modular systems you need to study a lot just to work on them, let alone the equipment to work on them. Nobody seems to have a problem giving a lawyer $200-500 dollars an hour, but look out if the shop charges you $200-500 to do your brakes. As for my qualifications I am inter-provincially licenced, a master tech and I get a lot of vehicles towed to my shop that a lot of back yard wannabe techs try to fix themselves. I go to courses every year just to keep up to date on the advances[good+bad] that are coming out. So do I think I am worth less per hour than any lawyer...or anybody else..Nope.