Had A 2009 Ford Explorer In The Shop Today

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Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Hi Vikas,
What is in it for me? Actually a few things first of all i want to see how clean we can get this motor if in fact it is not to late second if that engine finally goes we get the rebuild third he is related to someone i do a lot of business with. And fourth the most important if i can help someone i do it, money is not everything as i found out a three years ago!
Why did the customer bring it to me? because he was told we do nice work and are honest.
age/gender/ethnicity of the owner? If that matter to you i guess He is in his fifties regular nice person. He also volunteers a lot of time to help the handicapped and people that are helpless and homeless.. Do something nice for people because it feels good to be able to help it really does!


The way things are these days,there needs to be more people like yourself,who stop and help people out,just because you can.
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Transmissions are lubed for life on those, not the engines. I had a neighbor of mine own an a late model explorer and the claimed the dealer told him the engine does not even have a dipstick and no need to check it. You did say this person was topping off the oil though. Fortunately, this neighbor of mine had under 5,000 mile at the point I showed him the engine dipstick.
 
I know a guy who changes the oil in his Dodge PU every 2-3 years with synthetic, and dives about 20-30K miles between changes. His has racked up 300,000 Miles on it so far with no problems. Maybe Ford engines are sludge prone.
 
even if you change the oil and clean up the engine, it will die

as soon as the sludge is gone from the rings the compression will disappear or the bearings will be so loose they spin in the block

pull the motor and start over again
 
Originally Posted By: DragRace
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Hi Vikas,
What is in it for me? Actually a few things first of all i want to see how clean we can get this motor if in fact it is not to late second if that engine finally goes we get the rebuild third he is related to someone i do a lot of business with. And fourth the most important if i can help someone i do it, money is not everything as i found out a three years ago!
Why did the customer bring it to me? because he was told we do nice work and are honest.
age/gender/ethnicity of the owner? If that matter to you i guess He is in his fifties regular nice person. He also volunteers a lot of time to help the handicapped and people that are helpless and homeless.. Do something nice for people because it feels good to be able to help it really does!


The way things are these days,there needs to be more people like yourself,who stop and help people out,just because you can.
thumbsup2.gif



I thought the same thing.
 
There is alot of Dumb people out there, My Girlfriend caretakes a 150 acre ranch for some French people in Colorado, The ranch owner has been there for 2 months driving around his Willis Truck with a Small block Chevy motor in it, Real nice truck,, well its been leaking oil a little and Dripping oil in the garage, But he never check the oil,, Never,, i get a call yesterday,, guess who blew there motor ? NO OIL in it.
 
If the truck was in my shop I would of at-least tried to do something also. I would of made it all to clear to the owner that until we see how this plays out, the motor may blow up at any point. Not the shops fault.

People not changing oil at normal intervals happens all the time. The sticker could say this but they keep on going. I had a 04 escape in just last wk that went 24k+ on Synthetic oil from a quicky lube place. Motor was blown up. One of the worst smelling oil system I have seen in a long time.

For the most part no one checks there oil anymore!!!! They assume its okay!!!

I know many are not fans of 3month or 3,000 miles OC intervals. The issue is that many go way over that reading. So 4500 miles is the norm I see. Not the end of the world by any means. If your car is using some oil it might be an issue. Now over the past year we have started recommending longer intervals. 5 month or 5000 miles. What I am seeing is many still go over by 1500 miles aprox. Now were talking 6500 miles which if the vehicle is using oil is more of a concern. Then it reverts back to what I said above. For the most part no one checks there oil anymore!!!! They assume its okay!!!

I had a customer get very lucky that he brought his car in that day. Car came in for a overheating complaint, I ran it for a one min Max, just after he dropped it off to verify no heat. Parked it in my bay and waited for authorization. I had to remove the oil filter to get better access to the t-stat(Toyota). Nothing was in the filter it was dry! checked the dipstick nothing. Owner gave me permission to change the oil. When I pulled the drain plug not much, maybe 5 oz came out. This thing made no noise and the oil light was not on. Hmm ran the motor no issues. I dug deeper as to why the oil pressure light was not on and where did the oil go. Found the oil pressure switch was no good and the oil pump housing o-ring was leaking. I could see it now. I would of been running it, would've of blown up and gotten blamed for it.
 
In the summer of '10 one of the wife's cousins rolled in here from western OH in a '05 Neon that hadn't seen a oil change for 29K mi, it was running fine with no apparent issues... Last change was a a quickie lube using PYB, was DUE at 79K the car had already crossed 105Kmi(I assume they were recommending 3K changes)... The oil looked like tar and barely touched the end of the stick... I told her no way she was heading back almost 650 mi with the oil that was in it, so picked up a change of Max Life HM and filter... As far as I know she still has the car, whether the oil been changed in the last year and a half I dunno...
 
If I was a shop and saw a vehicle that was GROSSLY neglected I would NOT bother with it in any way unless the owner signed a waiver that stated the car was in very poor overall condition when it arrived and the shop would not be responsible for any damages due to the neglect by the owner.

Better yet, I would simply tell the vehicle owner that I was all booked up for months maybe they could try again later...much later.
 
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So this person drove around with the 'oil change needed' message glowing for 28,000+ miles?


Just like how people IGNORE the beeping, audible "Seatbelt not fastened" light. I dont get that.

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
Hi Vikas,
What is in it for me? Actually a few things first of all i want to see how clean we can get this motor if in fact it is not to late second if that engine finally goes we get the rebuild third he is related to someone i do a lot of business with. And fourth the most important if i can help someone i do it, money is not everything as i found out a three years ago!
Why did the customer bring it to me? because he was told we do nice work and are honest.
age/gender/ethnicity of the owner? If that matter to you i guess He is in his fifties regular nice person. He also volunteers a lot of time to help the handicapped and people that are helpless and homeless.. Do something nice for people because it feels good to be able to help it really does!


if i ever live up your way and i have a car with an engine or trans problem up to and including full rebuild i want to take it to your shop. Where would i go? You rock!
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Quote:
If I was a shop and saw a vehicle that was GROSSLY neglected I would NOT bother with it in any way unless the owner signed a waiver that stated the car was in very poor overall condition when it arrived and the shop would not be responsible for any damages due to the neglect by the owner.

Better yet, I would simply tell the vehicle owner that I was all booked up for months maybe they could try again later...much later.


I have had a shop refuse service to me on a car once before. I informed them that i took it to them because i was dissatisfied with all the shady backyard mechanics doing half-assed repairs on my cars and wanted it done right. They then informed me that they were busy and booked.. and i did in fact find a shop elsewhere that performed the not-so-major repair i was requestion on my car. Now, looking at it from both ends.. the mechanic told me the car was "a bomb." Then he poined to a 1989 Mazda MX6 that he said was also "a bomb" and old.. but "workable." (He was changing spark plugs, and apparently compression testing the cylinders at the same time,, so he could inform the owner that all was well and that compression was good on his 4-cyl IIRC MX6.. a good mechanic does things like that, above and beyond.) I would have had NO issue signing a waiver, as i am not one of those sue-happy individuals my other mechanic DID in fact have a MAJOR issue with, trying to scam over the shop on his 2002 Ford Explorer., claiming things were broken after the mechanic did him the favor of a FULL $1000+ brake job (all four axles, discs, rotors, drums, cut, bearings pressed, axles greased, etc etc, hgood work.. it was a major problem and was settled outside of courts, if you know what i mean. It was THAT bad and the guy harassed the shop As i said.. it was handled man-to-man.) Wow.

In any case i can only come to the conclusion that the shop that refused service DID in fact lose business when they could have gotten their asking price on labor, and if a waiver of liabilities was in fact signed then i woul dhave to question why service was refused.
 
Originally Posted By: 45ACP
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In any case i can only come to the conclusion that the shop that refused service DID in fact lose business when they could have gotten their asking price on labor, and if a waiver of liabilities was in fact signed then i woul dhave to question why service was refused.


I think shop owners and managers get enough experience over the years dealing with customers that you can sense that intangible quality of a potential liability issue walking in the door. I think you need to act when one feels it is appropiate. Sure it is not many times you need to ban a customer or a potential customer but occasionally you need to go with your gut. Even if you might lose a little money.
 
George
Although my service orders and bills have a disclaimer and my wife is a Lawyer i did this for him and im sure if something happens he will be honest about it.. I told him the pros and cons.. As for saying i was all booked up i did not tell him that but he could see i had my whole lot and most of the street filled with cars and trucks needing engine work.. The reason i am very busy is because i don't scam anyone. By the way today he brought lunch for the whole shop and im sure it cost him about $80.00
 
[/quote]

I think shop owners and managers get enough experience over the years dealing with customers that you can sense that intangible quality of a potential liability issue walking in the door. I think you need to act when one feels it is appropiate. Sure it is not many times you need to ban a customer or a potential customer but occasionally you need to go with your gut. Even if you might lose a little money. [/quote]

I totally agree.

Not in the automotive repair business, but in business long enough to know that some business we don't want. You learn that with experience that no matter how great a job you do, it won't be good enough and it cost too much. It's not worth the time to deal with. It costs a lot to run a business with bonding, insurance, BBB fee, other marketing and overhead fees.
More then 50% of our business is now referrals and know what to expect.
 
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IDK, the 4.6 in my wifes F150 developed a tick of sorts when at normal operating temp and the oil in it has been changed at least once every 5,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
George
Although my service orders and bills have a disclaimer and my wife is a Lawyer i did this for him and im sure if something happens he will be honest about it.. I told him the pros and cons.. As for saying i was all booked up i did not tell him that but he could see i had my whole lot and most of the street filled with cars and trucks needing engine work.. The reason i am very busy is because i don't scam anyone. By the way today he brought lunch for the whole shop and im sure it cost him about $80.00


You wont tell us what shop it is, will you.

Also, i do agree that a busy shop is USUALLY the good indication of a mechanic that does good work.. if there are cars in the bays, cars outside, cars in the front as well as off to the side is what i mean by outside and they arent the "for sale" kind then thats good indicator to me!


I think you have a customer for life. My family always did say that "a good wrench is hard to find" referring to a mechanic and i agree with that.

btw, have you ever had to work on a 2002 Explorer? How much better would you say the 09 is? I have had friends with a 2002 Explorer, 2006 Explorer, and the 2009. IIRC, all of them had the 4.6L V8. (Or the V8. I think they called it an InTech V8 on a 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII) The 2002 i was never in but i was not totally impressed. The 2006 had style and comfort. The 2009? I know not alot. Not that im looking, just that im curious.
 
I work at McDonalds (yeah, so what). Saw a man in the parking lot adding oil to his late model Honda Ridgeline. I asked if I could help check any other fluids and he just said the oil got low. He started it back up and you could hear a nice loud knock in the engine. And this thing seemed quite new.

An electric car is perfect for these types of people.
 
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I have a client that works for one of those "WIDE LOAD" semi truck pilot car services. Drives a Ford Freestyle.

The OLM has been reminding her to change the oil for well over a year....probably more like two. She won't get it changed because she has a breathalyzer and she's embarrassed.

The poor little Duratec30 is making quite a bit of noise now but still running.
 
Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
George
By the way today he brought lunch for the whole shop and im sure it cost him about $80.00


I don't get it? He can afford to buy lunch for $80, but can't afford a $25 oil change? WHat have I missed?
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Originally Posted By: Spazdog
I have a client that works for one of those "WIDE LOAD" semi truck pilot car services. Drives a Ford Freestyle.

The OLM has been reminding her to change the oil for well over a year....probably more like two. She won't get it changed because she has a breathalyzer and she's embarrassed.

The poor little Duratec30 is making quite a bit of noise now but still running.


Is this her car? OUCH!

She should just change it herself. This has to be the easiest car on which do to an oil change I've ever seen. No ramps, no splash guard,oil filter sticks right out. It's literally a 5 minute job.

To crazyoildude, good for you for doing the right thing. I really don't get some of the knucklehead comments, suggesting that you "punish him for his mistake". Sometimes, good people do stupid things. Maybe the guy will continue to do stupid things, or maybe he'll learn from it--but you did your part. Kudos.
 
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