Indy Mechanic - Leak, I supplied Parts

[larryinnewyork]

Good Evening all.
I had a Coolant leak around the Timing Chain Cover.

This is the thread asking for advise.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...ger#Post4067658

I took it to a Indy Mechanic (2 Weeks ago) who charged me $750 @ 6.8 hrs. of labor

I now notice a slow oil leak (2 drops a day) on my garage floor.
The leak is in the area of the Timing Cover.
After I try to pinpoint the leak better, I will go back to the Mechanic and have them look at it.

Here's my problem: I supplied the Gaskets (water pump & timing cover).
* If the leak is around one of these gaskets, I'm worried the mechanic will say - "you supplied the parts,,, YOUR PROBLEM".
* I bought the Gasket Set at NAPA and it's the same Pt. No. the mechanic would have ordered.

This is the first time I had work done at this place.
I have more confidence in them (and still do) then anyone else (and that says a lot).
I don't want to burn my bridges because I would like to go back in the future.
I don't want to be a jerk about this.
I was told the timing cover was "flat and had no corrosion".

Question:
1) What would a reasonable mechanic say in a situation like this ? ? ?
Yes, I supplied the gaskets. It's not like I gave him a Starter or Alternator.

2) What should a reasonable customer expect ? ? ?

3) Anybody have a similar situation ? ? ?

Hind sight is 20/20.
I never should have supplied $12.00 worth of parts with 7 hrs. of labor.

Thanks for any advise.

Edit: Yes I did read the thread on Repair Shop Question
I don't like where this is headed.

 

[SatinSilver]

Are you losing a measureable amount of oil per the dipstick reading? I'd use some or top off with MaxLife 5w30. Have you replaced the pcv valve? I wonder if you could put a dye in the oil to see where it's coming from. I would get feedback from the mechanic about it as well to see what he says. If he dismisses the leak then you don't want him doing the work.

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
I bought the Gasket Set at NAPA and it's the same Pt. No. the mechanic would have ordered.


That's the key right there. If the mechanic has an ounce of integrity, he won't use the parts to weasel himself out of covering his work; especially since the gaskets are the same part numbers he would've ordered.

 

[Trav]

The mechanic made a mistake during installation, he accepted the gaskets from you and they were acceptable to him for the repair. They were a brand he knew and used, in this case its his problem you are responsible for the replacement gaskets.

Hard parts would be another story, when the garage supplies the parts they have some recourse for the labor from the manufacturer of the part, the labor would be on you if you supplied them.
I put a OE rack for a guy and it failed a few weeks later, no problem I put another new one in and got $380 labor from the manufacturer of the rack. If he supplied the rack it would be unfair to expect me to eat the labor.

 

[mehullica]

Have them disassemble it & be there as he does it. Then you can see what failed, whether it's a parts failure or labor issue

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

If everything you say is accurate this is where the tech will show his true colors...he should ask you to supply new replacement gaskets, and he should perform the labor at no cost to you...will he have integrity, the odds say he won't.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: Trav

I put a OE rack for a guy and it failed a few weeks later, no problem I put another new one in and got $380 labor from the manufacturer of the rack. If he supplied the rack it would be unfair to expect me to eat the labor.


That's the part a lot of people don't understand. Higher part cost from the mechanic pays for some of the insurance and warranty.

Sometimes it is worth the trouble, sometimes it is ok to take the risk if the customer will eat the cost.

 

[Bladecutter]

Just take the car back to him, and tell him that you noticed that there's an oil drip, and you wanted him to see where the source is. Let him come back to you with an explanation of what the problem is. It might be a completely unrelated issue, but ultimately, you don't want to accuse the guy of having screwed up the job.

Just go in, say that you noticed a drip, and let him look the car over.

BC.

 

[larryinnewyork]

Originally Posted By: Bladecutter
Just take the car back to him, and tell him that you noticed that there's an oil drip, and you wanted him to see where the source is. Let him come back to you with an explanation of what the problem is. It might be a completely unrelated issue, but ultimately, you don't want to accuse the guy of having screwed up the job.

Just go in, say that you noticed a drip, and let him look the car over.

BC.


This makes just too much sense.

And I thank everyone for the other comments.

If it requires further work to fix the original problem, I also feel that a fair cost to me would be to pay the mechanic for ordering new gaskets.
I'll go in next Week, hear what they say, and report back.

Please stand by;

 

[punisher]

Guess I am in the minority. Generally if a customer brings in his own parts..it is up to the person who supplied the parts to prove his/her case. I speak from the point of view of a tech/shop owner that customers have tried to burn because of faulty/substandard/non OEM parts a customer wanted me to install.

I do agree that if the original cover is still leaking, the tech might have made a mistake. Maybe the crank seal is leaking?

Agree with above, let the tech/shop look at it and go from there. Seems you have a good handle on the situation, so I wish you luck. Surprised they didn't try to sell you a new timing cover, chances are I would have in case of a water/coolant leak.

I worked for one shop owner in college who allowed absolutely no customer supplied parts on straight repair jobs. He wasn't nasty about it, just insistent.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Trav
I put a OE rack for a guy and it failed a few weeks later, no problem I put another new one in and got $380 labor from the manufacturer of the rack.


Thanks Trav. I hadn't heard of charging the supplier for that labor cost; I just assumed mechanics kept some small percentage of their labor charge to cover instances like this--the part can be exchanged under warranty, for not cost, but I figured you guys just ate the lost time on the job.

 

[Trav]

There are a lot of tricks in this business that most people don't know, even mechanics if they don't work with parts suppliers.
Here is a good example. Honda Odyssey PS pump you buy for $162 from AA you use a $20 off code so you pay $142 + tax for a cheap garbage rebuilt Cardone pump with no pulley. Cheaper than the $342 OE Honda pump, good deal right?

Wrong, its a horrible deal. The Honda OE pump includes the pulley (no big deal) but they also have a bare pump that uses all brand new OE internals just a used housing with no pulley for $120.
I buy it for $90 sell it to you for $125 and charge you an hours labor. If it fails Honda will pay me warranty labor rate (less than retail) and replaces the pump.
I lost nothing and you got a really nice part. The small markup I made on the pump will cover the difference in warranty labor and retail if it needs replacement, if not its a little extra profit. Everybody wins including the customer.

Where things go bad is if the shop or mechanic tries to sell you the pump at new retail or at a slight discount from OE new which makes him a ton of profit on the part.
The one for $120 is identical to the $342 one including the finish and the internals.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/cardone-power-steering-pump-without-reservoir-remanufactured-21-5442/20710313-P?navigationPath=L1*14921|L2*15009|L3*15715

http://www.hondapartswholesaledirect.com...me=p-s-pump-kit

http://www.hondapartswholesaledirect.com...-power-steering

This is just one example, there are hundreds. I get the best parts for less than AA with a code most of the time OE. I just bought a VW 2.0 brand new factory short block for $600 and a brand new head for $300 for about 1K I have a brand new not reman engine with zero miles.
I got a brand new steering racks not reman from ZF for $230 ($1200 retail) ea. A cardone reman at AA is almost $500. Anyone can get these deals its just knowing where to look and jumping on them.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: punisher
Guess I am in the minority. Generally if a customer brings in his own parts..it is up to the person who supplied the parts to prove his/her case. I speak from the point of view of a tech/shop owner that customers have tried to burn because of faulty/substandard/non OEM parts a customer wanted me to install.


For me, this would only be true if the mechanic warned me about the quality of the parts I supplied and I still insisted he install them. If the parts were of the same quality/brand he would use anyhow and he never mentioned anything against using them, I would not feel that I had to prove anything to him.

 

[zzyzzx]

How do you know that the leak isn't residual? I mean, unless they cleaned the whole area really good, and they normally don't, that could happen, at least for the first couple of days.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Trav
There are a lot of tricks in this business that most people don't know, even mechanics if they don't work with parts suppliers.
Here is a good example. Honda Odyssey PS pump you buy for $162 from AA you use a $20 off code so you pay $142 + tax for a cheap garbage rebuilt Cardone pump with no pulley. Cheaper than the $342 OE Honda pump, good deal right?

Wrong, its a horrible deal. The Honda OE pump includes the pulley (no big deal) but they also have a bare pump that uses all brand new OE internals just a used housing with no pulley for $120.
I buy it for $90 sell it to you for $125 and charge you an hours labor. If it fails Honda will pay me warranty labor rate (less than retail) and replaces the pump.
I lost nothing and you got a really nice part. The small markup I made on the pump will cover the difference in warranty labor and retail if it needs replacement, if not its a little extra profit. Everybody wins including the customer.

Where things go bad is if the shop or mechanic tries to sell you the pump at new retail or at a slight discount from OE new which makes him a ton of profit on the part.
The one for $120 is identical to the $342 one including the finish and the internals.

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/cardone-power-steering-pump-without-reservoir-remanufactured-21-5442/20710313-P?navigationPath=L1*14921|L2*15009|L3*15715

http://www.hondapartswholesaledirect.com...me=p-s-pump-kit

http://www.hondapartswholesaledirect.com...-power-steering

This is just one example, there are hundreds. I get the best parts for less than AA with a code most of the time OE. I just bought a VW 2.0 brand new factory short block for $600 and a brand new head for $300 for about 1K I have a brand new not reman engine with zero miles.
I got a brand new steering racks not reman from ZF for $230 ($1200 retail) ea. A cardone reman at AA is almost $500. Anyone can get these deals its just knowing where to look and jumping on them.

I will keep that in mind the next time I break something! Geez, those are some great deals.

 

[Trav]

Your up in NH, there are some really decent folks up there that like to deal if you come at them the right way.
NH is one of my favorite states, I spend a lot of time in the Rochester/Milton area.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
I never should have supplied $12.00 worth of parts with 7 hrs. of labor.

Bingo...I made that mistake once with camseals ordered on-line. Guess what? Two days later, they were leaking. So I paid for the labor twice and learned a valuable lesson!

Never again...................

 

[CKN]

I went by a local garage and asked them what is their position on a brake job for my Silverado if I supplied the rotors and pads. I told them the prices were very competitive over the Internet for parts.

He said they would not warrant the brake job with customer supplied parts. And he added as far as the parts were concerned "You get what you pay for".

Of course, I would be buying as good as quality parts as he could get from the local Napa store (or where ever the parts come from).

So-is there even a motivation for them to do quality work if they will not warrant their work?

Shops like to really mark up rotors-at least that's my experience.

 

[Trav]

How many other professions have to put up with this stuff? Does anyone ask the electrician, plumber, roofing contractor, furnace, appliance repair guy, etc to use the parts they buy at Home Depot and call them crooks and gougers if they dont?
It sounds a bit crazy doesn't it.

I guess I will sand this car down, mask it up, buy the paint because i know its the same they use and ask someone to paint it and warranty the job. If they charge me more than 2 hrs they are friggin gougers that shouldn't be in business.

 

[The_Eric]

Yeah, and this board is full of them.