Dealer missed easy problem?

[marine65]

My son has a 2013 F150 with only 31K on it.
He does drive it hard.
He told me his steering wheel would shake when he braked at highway speeds.
I said warped rotors.
He took it to the Ford dealer and they did an alignment and tire balance.
Problem still there.
No mention of possible warped rotors.
I said again warped rotors.
Saturday he replaced the rotors and pads himself with high performance rotors and pads.
And he thanked me for making him learn how to do it when we used to work together on our beaters years ago.
It brakes much better now.
No more shake.
Why wouldn't the dealer check for warped rotors?
Rotor and pad replacement at the dealer would have been a much higher dollar amount.
And I was not at the dealer with him so I don't know what was or was not discussed.

 

[The Critic]

Perhaps the work order was not properly written and the tech interpreted the complaint to be a shake while cruising at high speeds and not while braking from high speeds?

Perhaps the service advisor did not authorize any diagnostic time so the technician had no incentive to properly diagnose the concern?

 

[marine65]

Originally Posted by The Critic
Perhaps the work order was not properly written and the tech interpreted the complaint to be a shake while cruising at high speeds and not while braking from high speeds?

Perhaps the service advisor did not authorize any diagnostic time so the technician had no incentive to properly diagnose the concern?


Good response.
I was not there.
I do know that you have to be very specific on your problem and make sure the service adviser gets it right.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by marine65
Originally Posted by The Critic
Perhaps the work order was not properly written and the tech interpreted the complaint to be a shake while cruising at high speeds and not while braking from high speeds?

Perhaps the service advisor did not authorize any diagnostic time so the technician had no incentive to properly diagnose the concern?


Good response.
I was not there.
I do know that you have to be very specific on your problem and make sure the service adviser gets it right.

The other question I would have is:

Did the service advisor recommend the alignment and balance, or did the service advisor write up the complaint and the technician recommended the alignment and balance?

It is entirely possible that the work order was written up as "Please perform alignment and tire balance" and at that point, the technician is unlikely to road test the car at highway speeds.

 

[tcp71]

No warranty parts required for an alignment and balance. So no need to trouble Ford corporate for approval. I doubt either was done.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Did he tell them to turn and/or check the rotors for warpage?

 

[JamesBond]

They get you to pay a smaller amount first and tell you that it might fix the problem. When it doesn't then you come back and they hit you up for $500+ worth of brakes. When you get a fish biting you've got to let him take the bait before you set the hook.

Just kidding all shops are honest and I'm the first person to ever come up with this idea.

 

[ammolab]

Originally Posted by tcp71
No warranty parts required for an alignment and balance. So no need to trouble Ford corporate for approval. I doubt either was done.


I doubt any Ford warranty exists on a 2013 truck

 

[gathermewool]

How likely was it that the rotors were actually warped. If your friend drives aggressively, then he likely stops aggressively, too.


Before warpage, I'd always put my money on pad deposition.

 

[mattd]

In my experience the service advisor is terrible at best on conveying the customers problem in words to the technician. I would bet that is was not communicated properly to the technician.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted by gathermewool
How likely was it that the rotors were actually warped. If your friend drives aggressively, then he likely stops aggressively, too.


Before warpage, I'd always put my money on pad deposition.

Warpage or pad deposits, the resolution is the same: machine or replace the rotors.

 

[tiger862]

Had an 80 Chevy truck I bought used in 82 that had 20k miles on it and i brought it in cause it would use oil and knock. They pulled heads and sent out to be rebuilt and to there surprise it didn't fix problem. They kept it for a month then I went over there not to check if they figured it out but to tell them the problem since there master tech couldn't figure out. I got there and was told waiting on GM to authorize a short block then since I needed truck for work I told them to replace the fuel pump. 305 with fuel pump on motor and at that time less than 20.00 part. Service advisor was glad but technician didn't believe me but he change anyway and problem was solved. Funny how times never change. I would rather fix a cheap part even under warranty then deal with dealers.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted by tcp71
No warranty parts required for an alignment and balance. So no need to trouble Ford corporate for approval. I doubt either was done.


Those are considered "adjustments" which are only covered under 12mo/12K mile warranty.

 

[rubberchicken]

Originally Posted by tiger862
Had an 80 Chevy truck I bought used in 82 that had 20k miles on it and i brought it in cause it would use oil and knock. They pulled heads and sent out to be rebuilt and to there surprise it didn't fix problem. They kept it for a month then I went over there not to check if they figured it out but to tell them the problem since there master tech couldn't figure out. I got there and was told waiting on GM to authorize a short block then since I needed truck for work I told them to replace the fuel pump. 305 with fuel pump on motor and at that time less than 20.00 part. Service advisor was glad but technician didn't believe me but he change anyway and problem was solved. Funny how times never change. I would rather fix a cheap part even under warranty then deal with dealers.


Why would a fuel pump cause excessive oil consumption and knock ? Was the oil level going up, or other obvious oil dilution problems ?

 

[tiger862]

Originally Posted by rubberchicken
Originally Posted by tiger862
Had an 80 Chevy truck I bought used in 82 that had 20k miles on it and i brought it in cause it would use oil and knock. They pulled heads and sent out to be rebuilt and to there surprise it didn't fix problem. They kept it for a month then I went over there not to check if they figured it out but to tell them the problem since there master tech couldn't figure out. I got there and was told waiting on GM to authorize a short block then since I needed truck for work I told them to replace the fuel pump. 305 with fuel pump on motor and at that time less than 20.00 part. Service advisor was glad but technician didn't believe me but he change anyway and problem was solved. Funny how times never change. I would rather fix a cheap part even under warranty then deal with dealers.


Why would a fuel pump cause excessive oil consumption and knock ? Was the oil level going up, or other obvious oil dilution problems ?

Those fuel pumps would dump gas in oil causing usage from oil thinning and one of signs pump going out was a knocking noise from pump. Remember oils if yesteryear weren't as good as now. The truck used a 1 quart every 1000 miles up until 300k. With a bad pump oil level increased for short time but on hwy it would slip past rings at least the only explanation I ever could come up with. 1 quart of oil in 250 miles before pump replacement and head work so valve seals could have been bad from all the gas but no smoke ever.