Car Care Specialists Inc

***SEE DOCUMENT ATTACHED***October 2017Ms ***, I am in receipt of you letter dated 10/02/and would respectfully request to submit the following reply.The *** vehicle was brought to our repair facility on July and was completed business days laterThere was an update from
Suzuki for cam thrust washers that took considerable time to obtain from Suzuki as they no longer sell vehicles in the US and dealer network system has all but folded and closed their doorsUpon disassembly the *** timing chain plastic guides were worn in accordance with Suzuki technical bulletinsIt was also noted these do not fail immediately but wear over time, the wear on the tensioner plastic was in a fashion with bulletins of defective plastic composition from the manufacturerIt would be an absolute finding that the vehicle had been operated for periods of time and thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of miles before the vehicle was in our possession with moderate to severe timing tensioner wear It also needs to be noted that the oil looked new and that the oil sticker indicated it was newer oilAs noted later the oil was only 300-miles old.The *** did return the next in April/May with a service light on and it was descriptively documented that there was no oil in the engine at that time and that the oil change was severely overdue, the technician added plus quarts of oil to bring the level onto the dipstickThe *** spoke among themselves as to why there was no oil one querying the other" I thought you changed the oil " in a discussion back and forth between the two of them referring to perhaps another vehicle that they had the oil changed on, this discussion was witnessed by service staffWe serviced the vehicle with the correct amount of oil and scanned the vehicle and it had a cam correlation codeThe camshaft actuators are controlled by engine oil pressureThe technician performed testing and found that the correlation after new oil was within manufacturer specifications and further more provided Mrs*** with a written copy( not a fantasy) but actual written service bulletin update of the Suzuki tech forums request for updated software for the on board computer to increase parameters to keep the light of for the cam codes .The *** stated that the oil light had been coming on and off, we drove the vehicle and checked the oil pressure we could not duplicate the problemThe *** were referred to Gladstone Suzuki for the reprogram, we prepaid for the reprogram in advance on our company debit card as a goodwill gestureA service writer from that dealership and stated they were unaware of the bulletin and asked for a copy of the bulletin requesting the programmingWe sent numerous amounts of information to the dealer over days that the vehicle was in their possessionWe called and left numerous messages none of which were returnedThe *** finally found out through dealer admission that they were no longer a Suzuki dealer and that they did not have the correct software to reflash (reprogram)They are or were the last known Suzuki dealer in Oregon.The *** returned to our shop and stated these facts as well as the oil light had been coming on and off as well as their displeasure with service facility at the alleged Suzuki dealer.We drove the vehicle and were able to duplicate the oil light after driving several miles we installed at no charge an oil sender as the oil pressure reading was low but the manual testing showed pressure to be within limits.The *** returned and stated the light was still coming on, we installed a manual oil pressure gauge again, engine passed testing but when drove for extended periods pressure would drop below specificationsWe advised the *** of possible reasons for the low oil pressure Defective oil pumpA restricted oil pump pick up screenWorn engine componentsWe suggested that the oil in the vehicle be sent out for oil analysis which was agreed too be performedThe results of the oil analysis results were provided to the GrandquistsThe results indicate high levels of internal bearing media components or failed oil cooler mediaThese readings are concurrent with worn high mileage engine components and lack of preventative maintenance both of which are present in the *** vehicle.Mrs*** commented in her allegations that pieces of the thrust washer were evident in her oil pan as discovered by another technicianThis allegation is hard to believe as the old thrust washers did not seem to be destroyed or show signs of significant wearThe oil filter on this vehicle was inspected upon changing the oil when we serviced it over months after the repair and showed no signs of so called excessive metallic debris as stated in Mrs***'s allegations The oil analysis performed showed no signs of alleged thrust washer debris rather engine bearing and or oil cooler micronsOil filters used today filter approximately down to microns it would be impossible for any large piece that would be visible to a human eye to enter the engine and it passes thru the engine oil filter first, that is why it is so vitally important to service and maintain vehicles at manufactures scheduled service time *(A micron is a unit of measure in the metric system equal to millionth of a meter in length (about millionths of an inch)The average cross-section of a human hair is 40-micronsThe human eye cannot see anything smaller than microns in size).There is no notation, verbal or written as a request to replace the oil pump, it is not documented on the notes nor reflected in the bill which was approved by Ms ***In order to replace the oil pump we would have had to remove the oil pan to inspect and replace the oil pick up screen, this task in itself would have added hundreds of dollarsWe did discuss a water pump which was replaced per agreement at the same time.MrsGransquist specifically stated to me that she was going to have a "person" that could pull the oil pan and replace the oil pick up screenUpon discussions she had stated that maybe a new vehicle might be in orderI helped her locate a reasonable trade in value for her Suzuki She thanked me several times.Findings:Vehicle has excessive mileageOil was documented to only be miles old by Carfax at time of serviceVehicle has severely high miles per year average for make and model per CarfaxSuzuki no longer has a dealer in Oregon that can reflash PCMComposition of manufactures plastic timing chain rails are a known defectCustomer had not inspected fluids per the manufactures requirementsOil analysis is consistent with internal bearing failure not plastic media or thrust washer media possibly accelerated by lack of oilVehicle was not in a service shop from July of prior to our inspection on 5/ 2017(per Carfax) lack of engine oil would confirm suspicionsPrevious oil changes would have removed evidence of plastic media from defective tensionersCustomer has not removed oil pan to inspect condition of oil pick up screen as she has stated"Fantasy bulletin" was not a fantasy and was provided to the customer in written format from a national bulletin information sourceOil change records indicate no oil service from until over on oil service indicated by Carfax.Conclusion Work performed at Car Care Specialists did not in any way contribute to the current condition of lack of oil pressureCustomer did not perform oil pan removal as she has stated to confirm oil pickup screen is free from debris, customer did not maintain the vehicle at scheduled intervals per Carfax, previous customers did not service vehicle at scheduled intervals per Carfax, customer failed to maintain correct oil level per manufacture standards.All work performed is covered by a year 24,mile warranty for defective components that have been installedNo defective warrantable components noted upon previous inspectionsRequest for reimbursement denied