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Ask Edmunds.com's Online Service Advisor
bonnie_rick
Member Posts: 115
in General
your opportunity to ask Edmunds.com's Online
Service Advisor, Neil Chirico, those questions
about his feature articles.
Please see Neil's articles at:
Dino Juice: What You Get When You Squeeze a
Million Years of Dinosaurs Together!
Maintenance Madness II: Dealer vs. Manufacturer
Maintenance Schedules
Maintenance Madness
Ford's 3.8-Liter V-6 Head Gasket Problem -
Straight Talk
Getting Some Lemon-Aid From Your Lemon Maker
Neil, why don't you introduce yourself to our
community?
Bonnie Rick
Conferences Manager, Edmunds.com Town Hall
Service Advisor, Neil Chirico, those questions
about his feature articles.
Please see Neil's articles at:
Dino Juice: What You Get When You Squeeze a
Million Years of Dinosaurs Together!
Maintenance Madness II: Dealer vs. Manufacturer
Maintenance Schedules
Maintenance Madness
Ford's 3.8-Liter V-6 Head Gasket Problem -
Straight Talk
Getting Some Lemon-Aid From Your Lemon Maker
Neil, why don't you introduce yourself to our
community?
Bonnie Rick
Conferences Manager, Edmunds.com Town Hall
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Comments
Your articles that Bonnie linked directly address several of our topics here, so I'm sure you will be well received and quite busy.
Nice to have you here!
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
You have a tough job.....I don't think many people would volunteer to be the one standing between the technician and the customer.
Welcome aboard.
Your host, Bruce
Here is a situation that I hope you can shed some light on. For the last year, my 95 Ford Contour has had A/C problems. Specifically, when travelling a lower speeds around town, the A/C shuts off. I runs fine on the highway. My mechanic checked out the problem, and found a leak and a bad relay. This helped somewhat, but a few weeks after this repair the A/C began to act up again. My mechanic could not figure out what the problem was, so he refunded me sixty dollars and told me to take the car to Ford. On his advice I took the car to the local Ford dealership. It took them four days to decide I needed an complete A/C system, with the exception of the evaporator and condensor. They said I had leaks at the front seal on the compressor, the manifold line, and the drier. They could complete the repairs for 1700. Well, I smelled a rat, so I picked up the car and paid my sixty three dollar diagnostic charge. My mechanic suggested that I take my car to another shop that specialized in A/C repairs. The same day I brought the car to the shop, they informed me that I had a bad clutch assembly and a leaking high pressure hose. They replaced all of those parts for 500, and the A/C has been fine ever since. Oddly enough, they said that no leaks were found where Ford said they were. I called the Ford dealer to ask for a refund, but they said no. Eventually they told me that they did not do "partial" repairs and they would only replace an entire system on a car with 102,000 miles. I say B/S. If Ford or any extended warranty company was footing the bill I feel certain that they would have made a partial repair. What say you? Thanks for you advice, Wes.
My final decision is to let it go. After a few phone calls I felt that sixty three dollars is not worth my time and effort to reclaim. My biggest aggrevation with the diagnosis is not that the service advisor and tech recommended replacing most of the A/C system. I am annoyed that I was not given a choice. I told the service advisor that for some reason the clutch stopped coming on after ten to twenty minutes in traffic. The guy who finally fixed and properly diagnosed my car said that tapping on the clutch after it cut out brought it back on immediately. This led him to believe the clutch was bad, and he was correct. The Ford dealer did not give me a choice. They told me to repair the whole system, take it or leave it. The honest thing would have been : Mr. Customer, after inspecting your system, we feel that the clutch is bad and you have a leak in the high pressure line. However, based on our experience, we recommend that you replace the entire system. This is the only way that we can gauruntee your complete satisfaction. Had I been treated with a little respect and honesty, I would have gladly payed the sixty three bucks and never have asked for the money back. Because two other mechanics disagreed with Ford, I doubt the Ford tech was being honest. I used to work for this dealership two years ago, and the complaint levels are through the roof. I used this dealer because I knew all the SA's and most of the techs. Anyway, my A/C works fine for now and I am very happy with the service I received from AAA auto a/c in Harvey, LA. Later, Wes.
Thanks.
Neil G. Chirico
My sister has a 1996 mazda 626 that she purchased new in 96, after 4 years and 83,000 miles the transmission has just blown, the mechanic tells her that this is a common occurence in the mazda 626. Does she have any recourse? This sounds like a faulty part problem to me. I do not believe that transmissions should be dying after 4 years. I would expect this from a 10 to 20 year old car.
If so, what Brand and where can I get it??
I have a similar problem as dfclbc with my 99 Acura TL radio. The lower end FM reception and AM reception are terrible in this supposedly upscale Bose system. This vehicle also has the rear window antenna.
The only car radio I compare this one to is my '89 Accord which had no special radio whatsoever, but had an external antenna. The reception in that radio was FAR better than what I have now.
I have talked to the dealer every time I've been there, and every time they tell me it is "within specs" - I too have wondered if an external antenna would correct this. Do you know if this is possible? Should I press the service manager to get a factory rep involved? I have not asked him if he has had other complaints, but I have seen some posts around here with complaints similar to mine.
If an external antenna is possible and would solve the problem, I'd sure be willing to go that route, even if I had to pay for it (I think!).
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I need to go back next month. This time I will talk to the service manager on the phone first about this and see if he will pursue this.
There are a number of car audio specialists around here, I'll keep your suggestions in mind. Yes, it sure seemed to me that the antenna is the most likely culprit.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Kristina/co host Our Turn
I currently own a 2000 Chevy Impala LS, purchased new around 6 months ago. The car right up until now has been flawless. However, during the last routine maintenance inspection, the dealer tech detected abnormal vibration coming from the A/C Compressor unit whenever the vehicle's engine (3800 Series II V-6)returns to a 'Full' idle after a normal stop. The A/C system still churns out lots of 'cold' air normally into the cockpit, but the noise/sudden vibration persists.
In the end, the service guy decided to order a brand new replacement A/C Compressor unit from GM (Under warranty) to avoid taking any further chances with the system. The part is scheduled to arrive sometime next week and which point the installation will take place.
My questions are.....is this "vibration" a sign that the compressor is just about to self-destroy? Does this apparent 'Vibration' warrant the replacement of the Compressor? Are they overlooking other areas that could be causing the problem? Is this an isolated case of a bad defective part? Are new GM A/C units prone to breakdown this early?
My car has only 7,700 miles on the clock. I was expecting to replace the A/C Compressor in about 5 to 7 years time not within the first 6 months of ownership. Nevertheless I am pretty much satisfied with the car and the level of dealer service.
I would appreciate a second opinion...
Thanks!
Hulagirl
Thanks
I went and got me 4 quarts of ATF fluid for my Toyota Camry. Removed the plug at the bottom of the transaxel and let all the old fluid drain out. Put back in 3 quarts of new ATF fluid and checked dipstick. It said there was too much.
Started filling empty containers with old fluid. Could only fill up 2 containers and a small fraction of other. Had to drain off some fluid to get back to normal level.
Seeing how about 60 percent of the fluid was replaced, should I be overly concerned for another 15-20K miles? This is first change ever...55K miles now.
My thoughts are that if the two have fully mixed(driven car 200 miles), then another draining and refill would assure a potential of, say 84% fluid refurbishment. That's not too bad for a sealed system I would think. If you were a person with little $ resources, then could you live with this condition? Wouldn't this enhance the tranny life by the same 84%?
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/engaged/edmund.cgi?a=r&c=Maintenance&t=15
see post 297 and beyond...