Questions and Answers
Chevy Pickup Heater Stopped
Q. Hi Vincent:
What a wonderful website you have prepared. I carefully looked through all your questions to see if you had previously dealt with my question and since I did not find it, I have decided to ask you directly.
Here's the situation:
Our son is driving a 1989 Chevy Silverado pickup. Auto trans. Power steering, A/C and ABS brakes. Cruise control and of course rack and pinion steering. The truck was purchased new by my husband in 1989. Never had any trouble with it. Served us well. A real work horse. As our son neared the time when he would get a license we were bombarded with questions as to what he would be driving. As a family we finally decided on the truck. It was solid, no body damage and we knew it had been well maintained. We did not want to buy someone else's problems. Within a month of getting his license last year, our son began to have trouble with the engine. A quick trip to a trusted mechanic that works on transmissions and engines solved the problem. A new engine and transmission were installed. Labor and parts for both were about $3500. A bargain. Truck ran like a dream again.We enjoy having a truck to haul bark dust and such and did not want a monthly payment to buy something new. November of 2000 our son went off a cliff and hit a tree with the truck. Miraculously neither he or his passenger were hurt. The truck held together, but sustained front end damage.
A friend recommended a body shop and we took the truck in for an estimate. Our son had already had two speeding tickets (in my car, not the truck) and so we were hesitant about turning in the accident to our insurance company. An estimate came back indicating that we needed a full front clip. There would be some painting needed as well with a total cost of $2,000. We eagerly paid the amount and once again felt the truck was worth the cash outlay as it was dependable and, of course, had the new engine and transmission. One week after getting the truck back our son began to complain that the transmission was doing something funny again.My husband drove the vehicle to work one day and noticed that there were large puddles of transmission fluid beneath the truck. The truck was taken to the mechanic that did the original engine/transmission replacement. By coincidence an adjuster from another insurance company happened to be on site when my husband arrived at the shop. Both the mechanic and adjuster listened to my husband as he related what was going on with the truck after the body work. A quick inspection of the vehicle verified what the adjuster and the mechanic thought.... during the body work, that repair man had pinched the line that ran from the transmission to somewhere on the truck. Now the new transmission was shot and would need to be replaced. The adjuster offered to take free photographs of the situation and the information was phoned into the body work repair man. He did not protest, but reserved the right to view the damage himself. Two days later he wrote a check to the engine/transmission repair person for the new transmission.
Once again, everything seemed to be going well. My son has missed most of this school week due to bronchitis. Upon questioning him during his doctor appointment, we were shocked to find out that the heater in his truck has not worked since we got the truck back after the original body work was done! Ah, teenagers! My husband had no reason to use the heater when he took the truck to work that one day to check out the transmission as we had been having some unusual warm weather.
Our question: Because the body work person pinched the transmission line we now worry that perhaps he did something to the heater as well. I do know that a radiator was part of the total front clip and wonder if he did not install it properly. Or perhaps he pinched something else in the heater area when he was doing the body work. It seems so odd that the heater was working at the time of and during the accident and now it does not work at all. I was thinking of taking the truck into another mechanic to have the heater fixed, but if you feel this body work mechanic did something to the heater, then I feel he must redo his work rather than having us pay out additional funds to correct his mistakes. What are your feelings about this?
Thank you so very much.
KarenA. Thank you the compliment. I do try to make this the best site I possibly can.
You are quite correct, if the body shop made a mistake, you should not have to pay for it. They should correct the problem if they are responsible. Read Adventures In Camaro Land for a real horror story.
From what you have related to me, the body shop is willing to take responsibility for mistakes made when the body work was done. There are two ways you can handle this, You can take it back to the body shop who did the work and explain to them what the problem is and that it started right after you picked up the truck. Or you can take it to your trusted mechanic and let him check it out. If the problem is related to, or caused by, the body work, he will tell you and provide documentation to back it up. Then you can go back to the body shop and they will take care of it, or have your mechanic do the work and either reimburse you or pay him directly.
The body shop seems like they will stand behind their work and will make good on any mistakes they made. I would give them a fair chance to make it good.
