Questions and Answers
Explorer Made Me Work
Q. 1997 Ford Explorer, 4.0, 2WD, 4DR E, 65,000 miles. When I turn the interior heater on, it blows max hot air continuously.
The dealership told me the heater-blender had quit and to replace it they would need to remove the dashboard - $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
I asked the following questions:
Q. How do you know the heater-blender is broken?
A. "We looked at it by using mirrors and saw that a protruding part had snapped off."Q. Are you absolutely certain the dashboard must be removed?
A. "We are positive."Q. How often do isolated components like this break?
A. "We've seen this before."Here is the basis of my skepticism. My previous car was a BMW and the A/C fan stopped blowing. My mechanic informed me that to get to the unit, the dash would have to be removed, $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. (I looked and next to my car was a Mercedes, dash removed, wiring exposed and to me that was like open-heart surgery. My heart sank). I took the Beamer for a second medical opinion and the second mechanic showed me that the standard method for accessing an A/C fan is through a hole in the side of the glove box cavity.
I changed mechanics and saved myself quite a bit of money. In fact, several friends, who used the same import auto garage, also took their business away. The owner called me and apologized. He said that he was just having a 'bad' day when he substantially misquoted my repair.
Can you confirm that I am getting the correct diagnosis?
Rear end pinion nut loose...
At a regular, 3,000 mile oil change, it was pointed out that the rear pinion nut was leaking oil. I did not pass go, I went directly to the dealership and this is what they said:"Problems, interior problems, car dangerous over 70 mph, etc, etc, etc.." However, if I paid them $280, they would open her up and examine the full extent of damage, which in their opinion was, in all probability, quite serious.
I told them to replace the seal, tighten the nut and top the oil. When I heard any noises, felt any grinding or had the vaguest suspicion that the car would disintegrate over 70 mph I would be back in a jumping-jack-flash.
After replacing the rear pinion seal and topping with oil, the shop wanted to charge me $247. I asked for a breakdown and they told me they charged a large fee for 'repair diagnosis'. Hello, excuse me, but my mind is starting to get extremely fuzzy at this juncture. They charge me a fee ($80) to tell me they think there is something wrong with my vehicle. The they want to charge me another fee ($280) ascertain what the problem may be. For the above, two situations, they wanted $1,100 before repairs!!!! Am I crazy to think this is highway robbery? The service manager reduced my nut-tightening bill from $247 to $119.
Back to the pinion nut leak. Do you think it is OK to reseal and listen for a problem. We do not believe that the rear end was drained of oil or that the leak had been there for long.
Thanks for your response.
A. Boy, you really want to make me work on this one, don't you?. That's okay, I love a challenge.
As far as your heater problem, they are giving you the straight story. The problem you are having is a very common problem. There was a defect in the in the blend door that caused it to break. In fact Ford issued a service bulletin on it. It was bulletin number 97-24-25 issued on 11/24/97.
Quoting from the bulletin:
ISSUE:
The discharge air temperature from the A/C-Heater system may not change when the temperature lever is moved. This may be caused by a broken blend air door.ACTION:
Install a new plenum which has a revised blend air door and should reduce the possibility of cracking.In order to do this, the whole dashboard must come out. I've done it and it's no picnic. In fact after doing the first couple, I now send them to the dealer because, from an economic point of view, there is no way for me to make money on it. I can not charge the actual time it takes to do the job and the book time is about half of what it actually takes to do.
In the case of your BMW, the book does say the dash needs to be removed. So, technically, he wasn't wrong. That's not to say there aren't any short cuts. BMW is not going to tell you to cut a hole in the side of the glove box to get to the blower motor. This is something a line mechanic will do. A line mechanic gets paid by the job. If the book says the job is worth 3 hours, he gets paid three hours. If it takes him 4 hours, he loses money. If it takes him 2 hours, he makes money. In fact most shops look for their mechanics to book 12 hours in an 8 hour day. If something goes wrong and the car comes back, he has to fix it for nothing. So a mechanic learns to do the best possible job in the shortest amount of time.
About the rear pinion seal, according to my book the seal costs about $13.00 and the labor is 1.3 hours. Which means in my shop the job would cost about $97.00 plus fluids. So their $119.00 is not out of line.
Charging diagnostic time is not unreasonable. Most times it take longer to find the problem then it takes to fix it. If the diagnostic time is considerable, as in taking a differential apart for inspection, then that charge is reasonable as well and did the right thing informing you about it before they did anything. If the repair is done however, I would NOT expect to be charged for inspection AND repair. In other words if it is $280.00 to inspect and nothing is found, then that's okay. But if they charge $280.00 plus the cost of the repair, then that's not right since you have to take it apart to do the repair.
I have seen many rear pinion seals leaking. The important thing to determine if it is seeping or leaking. Seals will seep some fluid from time to time. That's normal and looks worse than it actually is. I've been told a quart of gear lube will cover an acre of land. But an outright leak has to be repaired or damage can occur.
Differentials are tough cookies. We're talking massive pieces of metal and it takes a hell of a lot to destroy them. In thirty years I don't think I've replaced a dozen rear ends. So I would not worry about your decision to install a new seal and top off the fluid. I would have done the same thing myself.
