Just Dave's Hot Rods

Customer brought his vehicle in with a check engine light on.  The two codes that were present were P0017 and P0365.  Customer stated that he had already replaced the cam and crank sensors but the light remained on.  Our technician went through the diagnostic procedures and determined...

that the ECM was defective and needed to be replaced.  According to the Alldata diagnostic instructions for code P0017, other codes present must be corrected first.  This included the code P0365.  Our technician went through the diagnostic procedures as outlined in the Alldata Circuit/System Testing and Inspection.  We ordered the computer and asked the customer to drop off the vehicle to have the computer installed and reprogrammed.  We told the customer that the technician that would be reprogramming the computer was on call and would come by sometime during the day according to his schedule.  The customer elected to stay until it was done.  Once the computer was installed and reprogrammed, it gave us a new code P0315.  Because it was late in the day, we asked the customer to bring it back another day for further diagnosis.  Customer stated that he would be out of town for work Tuesday and Wednesday and he could drop it off at the end of the work day on Monday.  Customer dropped it off late Monday.  Our technician immediately began checking customer's vehicle out Tuesday morning.  He found that he needed to resynchronize the system.  All of the codes were now clear.  We drove it on and off Tuesday and Wednesday.  The light never returned.  Customer came to pick his vehicle up.  The light had come back on.  We cleared it once again.  We instructed the customer to go by our electrical technician's shop if the light returned.  It came on the next day.  Customer went by electrical shop and the code present was P0017.  Customer dropped vehicle off the following Monday evening before he left town on Tuesday for us to further diagnosis. We double checked all of the previous work, which checked out correctly.  The code that continued to present with no other codes present was P0017.  This code has to do with the timing and Camshaft Position Exhaust Actuator Replacement.  The customer was informed of this and declined any further repairs.  We followed the diagnostic procedures as outlined in Alldata.  Unfortunately, more work is needed on customer's vehicle to get rid of all of the codes present.The technician that backed into his vehicle no longer works for our company.  No damage was done of which we were thankful.  Both customers were present and said it was ok.  We were very apologetic for this incident.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
[redacted][To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Regards,
[redacted] [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason if he complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved] I'm rejecting this response. Due to the fact, if you read there response they don't deny that I had to take the truck back four times!!!! All they are mad about is that I got the batteries cheaper,than they do and they try to charge double,than a battery really cost. I get the fact they are a business and they have to mark stuff up to make a living, but not double what it cost. Also the truck is lifted,they knew that before they agreed to work on it. Not like I called over the phone I took it in for them to see. If they are not qualified to do the work, the could have told me and I would had been fine with that and took it else where. There also mention that they didn't reconnect the hose from the pressure valve that they where testing my fuel pressure. Once I got truck towed to other repair shop. They reconnected it,truck has been running fine ever since wow!!! Seems like I'll never really get to the bottom of this claim, maybe small claims court will be my next step thanks. The Revdex.com gives them an A on there reports, all I see is a license to steal money from honest people.

Customer brought her vehicle to shop in July to check a transmission leak.  We replaced the manuel linkage seal on the transmission.  Customer was charged accordingly. In September customer brought her vehicle for us to check a leak.  The leak was coming from the valve cover gasket on...

top of the engine.  We replaced the valve cover gasket, repaired the crank sensor and replaced the spark plugs and wires. Customer was charged accordingly. Customer returned in October for us to check a leak and check brakes.  Pedal was soft.  We found the valve cover gasket was leaking again.  This was replaced under warranty.  Customer was not charged for this repair.  We also found the brake master cylinder was bad causing the pedal to be soft.  Customer was charged for this repair.  It was also recommended at the time that the coolant temperature sensor and coolant flush be done.  This was noted on customer invoice.  Customer returned two months later with a leak.  We thought it was the rear main engine seal.  Customer was informed.  We took the transmission out and found the rear main engine seal was fine.  We did find that the valve cover gasket was leaking again. It's location is at the back of the engine. After doing some research, we found that the valve covers, which are made of hard plastic tend to warp over time thus not allowing gasket to seal. Customer was informed.  A new valve cover was installed.  Customer was only charged for the valve cover itself, not the gasket or labor. Customer was not charged for taking the transmission out. We only charged customer for a new transmission mount.  The old one was bad.   We also found that the power steering pump had begun to leak. Customer was charged for Power Steering pump and labor.  Customer called in January 2018, she had lost all the coolant in her vehicle.  The vehicle was towed into the shop.  We found there was a massive coolant leak at the back of the engine. I called Customer.  She told me that the radiator light had gone on while she was driving, she continued to drive and then the coolant level light came on.  She parked her car.  The next morning she came out to a large puddle of coolant under her car. That when she called us to tow it in.  It was not drivable at the time, coolant was pouring out as fast as it was going in.  We attempted to see where the coolant leak was coming from from the top of the engine.  We decided that the best way to find the leak was to take the transmission out and do the pressure check on the engine that way.  We knew the leak was coming from the back, we thought it might be a coolant hose in the back.  Customer was informed of all of this.  We found that the leak was coming from the back of the cylinder head.  The head gasket was leaking.  Customer was informed. The heads were sent out for machine work, pressure check, valve job and resurfacing the heads.  The work was completed, test driven.  All appeared to be ok.  I went to pick up customer, a 30 minute drive one way to get her.  When she picked up the car, it started making noise.  We were going out of town for our son's wedding the next day and were closed for one week.  I took customer home.  We found that the machine work done to the one lifter that was replaced was bad and needed to be redone.  The machine shop replaced the head and two lifters.  Customer was given $300 credit on repair for inconvenience.  Customer picked up vehicle but thought it was running rough.  The check engine light came on for an oxygen sensor.  We ordered an OEM sensor but would not be in for two days.  Customer returned on Monday for installation of O2 sensor.  She left and then called 30 minutes later and said oil light had come on.  I told her I would tow vehicle in on Wednesday and get it on a lift.  On Wednesday we towed vehicle in, she came in with mechanic friend that said we double charged her.  We NEVER double charged her.  She was charged once for labor on the valve cover gasket, and only charged for gasket and valve cover.  There was one bolt missing from the a/c bracket and the rubber stopper, that was hard and brittle was cracked.  The radiator resivour that was loose was never touched by our mechanics.  Customer did have the lower engine oil pan gasket replaced at another facility in the recent past.  The upper engine oil pan gasket is still leaking.  We believe that the oil pump does not have enough pressure to pump the oil through the valve causing the oil light to come on.  Even though it appeared that the only problem to the vehicle was the cylinder head gasket leaking, the over heating caused more issues to the engine.  When I told the man that came with the customer that the car had been overheated, he was surprised. that information hadn't been shared with him before.  He told me the customer didn't want us to work on her car anymore.  We never ever, ever said we wouldn't work on it again.  The vehicle was towed back and forth three times at our expense. We also would never and will never take advantage or scam anyone, elderly or otherwise. That is a very serious thing to say.  We gladly took her home and picked her up on several occasions.  There is something going on in the bottom of the engine.  We never did anything to the bottom of this engine.  We are sorry for the troubles that the customer has had. Tell us why here...

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  Owner of Auto Clinic states work was not done on bottom of car but in order to replace heads the exhaust manifold needed to be removed from bottom of vehicle.  Also nowhere in invoices does it indicate the car was ever over heating. I did however mis-speak on double charging, I actually meant I was over charged and the male owner agreed and quickly refunded $1000.00 and profusely apologized for what had occurred. The mechanic that accompanied me informed male owner (female owner was not in on that day) of the discrepancies in the receipt and informed him that brackets were not connected The male owner continued to apologize to me over and over again. The second time I returned vehicle for Valve cover gasket leak the female owner indicated that the wrong gasket had been placed on the vehicle in error so they rightfully didn’t charge me because it was their error. The wrong gasket should not have been placed on my vehicle in the first place.  The power steering pump they replaced also continued to leak and was not  done appropriately. The mechanic that accompanied me both times to the auto clinic also informed them that he believed some debris had fallen into the engine and plugged up gullies causing loss of pressure.  The research the female owner indicates they did was basically their mechanic googling how to repair my car, that should’ve been my first clue to run and not look back although I wanted to believe that they would make everything right.At the end of the day I had to replace my engine because of the work or lack thereof that this business did on my vehicle. 
Regards,
[redacted][To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, the consumer must give a reason why they are rejecting the response. If the consumer does not provide a reason the complaint will be closed Answered]

The customer called our shop and had us tow in their 1984 Olds Cutlass.  They asked that we service the transmission and said there was no speed.  Once the vehicle was at our shop, we checked the transmission fluid level and found it to be low and burnt. We drove it around the block and...

found that the transmission was not shifting, the brakes were bad and not picking up speed.  We also found that the alternator was not hooked up and the linkage was held together with wires.  We had to jump their new battery just to get the car started.  We then put the car on the lift and found that the engine has several leaks and the transmission  was leaking from the pan gasket and rear output seal. We dropped the transmission pan and found an excessive amount of metal and brass in the pan.  The fluid smelled very bad.  The clutches were burning due to the low fluid level. These findings definitely led to the transmission not shifting.  We then called the customer, spoke to the wife told her what we had found.  She asked us to call her husband and relay this information to him.  He authorized us to rebuild the transmission.  The customer was not charged for the tow bill.  Once we got the transmission rebuilt and reinstalled in the vehicle we got it to shift through all the gears on the lift and we found that the brakes were even worse than we thought.  We had to use the emergency brake to slow the tires to check the shift points.  This was a true safety concern.  We informed the customer of our concern by phone.  We highly recommended repairs to the brake.  They declined.  We told the customer that we could not drive it on the street with the brakes in their unsafe condition so they would need to fix them before we could check the shift points and make any adjustments necessary.  They said they would fix the brakes themselves.  The husband picked up the car.  We reminded him of the alternator issue and the brake issue.  The next day the wife called and said it was not picking up speed and her husband almost got into an accident when he left our shop.  We told them the brakes were a problem.  She said "all you have to do it pump the brake pedal for it to pump up"!  (This is an indication that there is something wrong with the brakes! You shouldn't have to pump the brake pedal to stop!!! Period!  I told her to bring in the car and we would check it out.  She said she didn't want to drive it in.  I told her we could tow it in and she could reimburse us for the tow.  I also wanted her to drive the vehicle  because of the brake situation.  Since she was obviously aware of the way they were working, she knew how to stop the vehicle safely.  I did not want to put anyone in danger.  She agreed.  When the vehicle arrived at the shop, our technican went for a drive, cautiously, with the customer.  The vehicle shifted into 2nd gear, which it wasn't doing prior to the rebuild, but would not go any higher.  We concluded that the catalytic converter was also bad.  Again, probably a good thing due to the condition of the brakes.  You should never have to pump the brakes to make the car stop!  The customer was told about the vehicle also needing a catalytic converter.  It is obvious, that there has been a lack of maintenance to the undercarriage of the vehicle.  The customer had a tow bill which she did not pay in full.  She then towed the vehicle away. We never told her we couldn't replace the catalytic converter.   Unfortunately, this vehicle has numerous issues.  This car has had a lack of maintenance and now it is need of many repairs.  The transmission was not shifting at all when we first drove it.  Again, thankful for that because of the brake situation.  The customer did not disclose to us that the brakes were bad and could have put us and others in harms way.   In conclusion, the transmission was not shifting at all before we rebuilt the transmission.  It is now shifting.  The vehicle can not pick up speed due to the clogged catalytic converter.  The customer has a warranty on the transmission at our shop, which we will continue to honor.

Customer brought his 1999 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 in for us to check a leak on December 17th, 2015. The mileage was 202247.  The customer had recently purchased this vehicle. We found that the front seal of the transmission and transfer case were leaking.  Customer gave us the authorization to...

reseal his transmission and transfer case. The vehicle has been modified in all areas of the vehicle including "lifting the truck".  Once we had the approval to reseal the transmission and transfer case, we drained the fluid in both.  There was no fluid in the transfer case!! It was leaking that bad!!  We called the customer back to let him know our findings.  Because it had no fluid in it, there was damage to the transfer case.  Customer was informed and authorized further repairs.  On a side note,  in order to start the truck, the headlights had to be turned on.  It has to do with the alarm system.  We completed our work and road tested the vehicle.  While driving, it stalled on us.  We were able to get it started again.  Customer picked up his truck.  He did bring it back on December 31st for a leak.  We found that the extension housing and rear output seal on the transfer case was leaking.  The manual linkage seal on the transmission was leaking.  These leaks were all resealed.  Customer picked up his vehicle.  The second week of January customer had his girlfriend drop off truck because it was leaking.  I told him that we wouldn't be able to check it for a few days due to our schedule. When we were able to get to his vehicle 4 days later, we could not get it started.  We tried charging his both of his batteries.  They would not hold a charge.  One battery had an install date of 11/2012, the other install date of 12/2012.  We called to inform him that his batteries needed to be replaced.  We do mark our parts up.  Customer said he could get his batteries from a friend that works at [redacted].  His friend sold him the batteries at his cost!  I wonder if the store manager knows that their employees are selling parts to their friends at cost? His girlfriend brought the batteries and took the old ones as cores. We installed his batteries.  We got the vehicle started and begun to bring it around to the bay and it stalled once again.  We pushed it into the bay.  We continued trying to start the truck.  Something odd happened when we had the key in the on position but we were not cranking it, the vehicle started and then died!  It was very odd!  It never started again.  We informed the customer, he said that he had trouble starting it and had a "way" of starting it in the past, very unconventional.  We tried it but it didn't work.  He girlfriend dropped by unannounced, which was fine, and tried to start it the truck.  She also was unable to start the truck.  We then checked the fuel pressure and found the pump was not working correctly.  The customer was informed.  He informed us that the pump needed to put out 150 gallons of gas per hour.  Again, this truck has been modified in many different areas!  The customer asked if he could provide a pump.  We agreed. In the meantime, we fixed the rear output seal on the transfer case.  We determined that the angle in which the driveline and mount are installed with the modification, it is putting stress on the seal and the back of the transfer case causing it to leak.  This is probably why the transfer case was out of fluid in the first place.  Customer was informed of our findings.  Customer brought in the fuel pump.  It was different from what was on the truck including an elaborate set up.  We informed him we would have to look into how it needed to be installed and charge accordingly.  Customer did not like that and decided he would have Trucks Unique install it.  We took our fuel pressure tester off but did not reattached hose.  We weren't going to work for free.  Customer thought we should.  When someone came to pick it up, we were told it was going to his friends shop, not Trucks Unique.   In conclusion, we spent many, many hours on this vehicle and did not charge him for nearly all the time spent.  This vehicle has several modifications on it.  The customer had just purchased this truck in November and it appears that he bought someone else's problem.  Maybe the customer is having buyer's remorse.  He did mention to us on numerous occasions that he was just going to sell it.  We allowed customer to bring some of his own parts.  We will not make that mistake again.