Can someone explain Dodge Service Dept's to me...

I took my car in for 3 issues...

1) P0404 code (EGR Valve stuck) on the odometer when I turn the key on-off-on-off-on, except when I took it into the dealer to have them check it out, they wouldn't even look at the EGR Valve because the code was no longer in the computer. I told them I saw the code on the odometer display using this method AND by using a scan tool from AutoZone. They told me the AutoZone tool is worthless, just so they can charge $70.00 to connect theirs, but it showed the exact same code as the ignition method.

2) My car has been hesitating, lurching, bucking, whatever you want to call it, while maintaining a constant speed. They said they sprayed water on the plug wires and they are arcing to ground. Need to replace the wires AND the plugs they said! I Just had the plugs and wires changed 6 weeks ago! Top of the line stuff too. But instead of saying to replace the wires only, they said the plugs too! Why? My regular mechanic said they are full of BS.

3) My car clunks when I shift into a gear, and when I take off - my regular mechanic says Torque Converter and it's killing the CV Joints. I told them this, they said they could not duplicate the issue so they did nothing! I picked my car up from the dealer and when i put it in gear and took off - SAME CLUNKING sounds! What the heck? They wouldn't even check the Torque Convert and CV joints out - most likely because there was no computer code for them.

Why are dealer service dept's like this? Why don't they fix your car when you take it to them? I'm so sick of dealers. I have an extended warranty and my guess is that they want out of it as cheaply as they can, wait till the warranty is over, then fix the car for 2-3x what a regular mechanic will charge you. I'm sick of it - can someone explain to me why this is?

Ticked off bad,

-TRogers

Reply to
Tom Rogers
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And if they would have replaced the EGR valve and if it didnt fix it you would be right back at the dealer complaining because your car wasnt fixed. You DONT replace a part just because there is a code!!!!

Why the hell dont you take it back to the place that put the plugs and wires on it!!! if you spray water and see them arcing there is a problem!!!!!!!!!!!! Your regular mechanic needs to be replaced!!!!

SO WHY DIDNT YOUR MECHANIC FIX THE PROBLEM??? Damn stop Crying!!!!

I can explain it to you and i have never told anyone this but your an Idiot!!! you post a question here, or should I say you cry on here , dont give a year make or model and expect to get answers. get a life or buy a Ford!!

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Technican. at the dealer!!!

Reply to
maxpower

Reply to
philthy

I didn't ask them to replace it! All I asked them to do was to physically check the EGR Valve to make sure it was working ok. That's it - period. They did not, because there was no code at the time.

This problem did NOT exist when the plugs and wires were changed out. The car IS going back to them tomorrow, but the EGR problem came up BEFORE the plugs and wires were changed. AND the regular mechanic used the OEM parts at a lower price than what a dealer would charge for them.

Because I have an extended warranty - Chrysler Added Care Plus - that will cover this crap. Why pay much more than you have to? I have a $100.00 deductible, that is a heck of a lot better than $750.00 or so to tear apart the transmission.

I have a right to voice my opinion in a public forum such as this. You have a problem with my rant because you are a dealer tech, but it's not directed at you, so take it easy!

So I'm an "idiot" because a Dodge dealer service dept did not do their job right and I chose to rant about it on a public forum? I didn't name names either. If it makes you feel better to resort to name calling, feel free - I have broad shoulders. Whatever floats your boat.

Look, I did NOT post my year/make/model because I DON'T want someone on here to tell me what is/might be wrong. I just want to know why you take a car to a dealer, tell them specifically what the problem(s) are, just ask them to check it out and PHYSICALLY see if the EGR is ok, PHYSICALLY see that the Torque Converter is ok, PHYSICALLY see that the CV joints are ok. But it seems like, if there is no computer code, there's no problem.

And that's MY problem. I asked them to PHYSICALLY check it out, you know, get their hands dirty, but they refused because there is no computer code.

Stop taking offense because you work for a dealer. This is NOT aimed at Glenn Beasley, but the dealer service centers that I have been to (2 of them). They charge WAY too much for labor, over-price all their parts, and then don't troubleshoot all the issues fully or correctly.

If I did my job this way, I would not have a job.

Reply to
Tom Rogers

You have to connect a scan tool to properly test the EGR and or check monitors. More then likely you didnt want to pay the diagnostic test to have tis done or they would have done it

Top of the line wires? did it just go from top of the line to now MOPAR wires?. If the top of the line wires fouled a plug the technician would have wanted to cover his ass and replace the fouled plug as well because you would have been complaining that the misfire was still there

If you used OEM parts that were 6 weeks old they would have been covered under the warranty and the dealer would have replaced them for free. if the wires were arcing they were cheap parts

Chrysler added care plus does NOT cover EGR valves!!!

deductible,

transmission.

I have no problem of your rant, im voicing my opinion just as you are and im not in any way offended by what you say. You are taking you car and having someone else check it out and crying Warranty. then when you take it to the dealer you dont want to pay to have it checked out because some "Philthy" said it was bad

As I stated, your plan does not cover EGR Valves. is this EGR valve causing your other problems that set the code???

No your an idiot because you think a technician is going to look at your car and fix it based on what another "Philthy" said was wrong with it. Apparently the shop that put the plugs and wires on it 6 weeks ago misdiagnoised your problem, put cheap parts on your car and now they cant fix it so they tell you it is warranty!!

O yea, Now that makes alot of sense!! You tell them what is wrong with the vehicle or just ask them to check and dont want to pay the diagnostic charge

Over priced all parts?? What the ones that dont cause arcing when water is sprayed on them?

Reply to
maxpower

She is a he. Are you drinking on the job again Philthy? Tom is a guy!!

The independent shop replaced the plugs and wires and then cry Warranty because they couldnt fix it, thus blowing it off to the dealer as one of your tactics.

No in your shop you sell parts and dont put them on so you can sell them on the internet as you have been doing in the past. Probably the reason why the dealer fired you in the first place. Busted?

Yea because you cant fix the vehicles correctly and everything backs up!!

Reply to
maxpower

That's a good question. I'll just add, though, that while your thinking on

1 and 2 are pretty good, your ideas about 3 are insane. This is where a car is just magic. If you don't know how anything works, then anything is possible. When somebody says the torque converter is wearing out the CV joints, they're just crazy. Maybe you didn't do a good job of relating what he really said, but I can tell that the reason they didn't fix #3 is they're not insane.
Reply to
Joe

It's none of my business, but I think he meant something else. Ignorance doesn't mix with criticism. If you don't know how your car works, you're not really in a position to criticize somebody else who actually can fix it. This deliberate car ignorance is a widespread problem, certainly, and it's resulted in a lot of people being exploited by mechanics, but it's also resulted in a lot of mechanics being defamed by people who were completely incompetent to form an opinion.

You have every right to express an opinion, but you don't have any skill to base one on. See the distinction?

Reply to
Joe

I don't know about the problems you are having with the dealer service department, but the classic symptom of CV joint failure is clicking when you accelerate around a corner. Your problem sounds like a broken motor mount. Did anybody mention that possibility? It's really easy to check for this.

Reply to
Robert Reynolds

There was NO problem when I replaced the plugs and wires, it was just a regular maintenance. You ought to know that plugs and wires are NOT covered under ANY warranty, so how can you say "...put cheap parts on your car and now they cant fix it so they tell you it is warranty!!"

Reply to
Tom Rogers

No one told me about a motor mount. It's very possible the mech that told me about Torque Converter is wrong. It's like going to doctors, you can get a different diagnosis each time, for the same problem. Or else you get a "I don't know"

-Tom

Reply to
Tom Rogers

Not saying you made something up, The code could have been set for a number of things, Computer related, vacuum related, wiring related or even a PCM fault. If the lite is not on that means that the problem had corrected itself, it is NOT a hard fault meaning the problem is not there at this time. It would be a stored fault with a possible intermittent problem!! Therefore if the dealer or whoever charged you a check out fee. It would have come back as an educated guess to fix your problem or no work performed at this time and you would have been charged for the check out time! Thus feeling like you spent money for absolutely nothing!! There are TSB's out that require a reflash of the engine controller that may or may not pertain to your problem. since you do not want to specify year make and model all you have on here is going to be a gripe that your independent/dealer can not fix your car

Reply to
maxpower

I sure wish that were true. When I dropped off my Caravan for my intermittent dying/jerking problem I told them, "I know I have a bad O2 sensor and I've had 2 mechanics tell me it isn't the source of my problems. I don't want to replace it at this time."

Later that morning I get a call from the dealer:

Dodge: "You've got a bad O2 sensor and a 'fuel efficiency flow' problem with your fuel filter. Should we go ahead and make the repairs?"

Me: "Go ahead with the fuel filter replacement, but hold off on the O2 sensor."

Dodge: "We've got a fault code on the O2 sensor, we have to repair it before we can proceed."

Me: "Will it stop my problem with my car stalling and jerking."

Dodge: "It should, besides we can't continue to diagnose it until we fix this problem."

Me: "I've already had two other mechanics look at the vehicle and they've told me they don't know what is happening but they're certain it's not the O2 sensor. One even had the car die on him with his scan tool hooked up. He recommended I bring it to the dealer. Now you tell me it is the O2 sensor. Are you certain this will fix it?"

Dodge: "We're 100% sure it will fix it."

Of course it didn't fix the problem. I'm still disputing the charges...

Reply to
powrwrap

Hi I would like to help. What years is the Caravan,engine size and mileage. On several occasions I see tech's change 02 sensors because of a bad reading, for example 02 stuck High or Low along with out range adaptive memory readings.Some techs are to quick to change a part because they have the fault code for a certain sensor but often don't take that extra step and check everything.It is possible that fuel pump is playing games. A simple roadtest with a fuel pressure guage connected to the vehicle could save you time and money. A pump thats not working properly can make your 02 sensor seem faulty.(Due to the lack of or to much 02 detected in the exhaust)

Claude

Reply to
camaroz396

Max, without knowing the make/model/year, other than it's a Mopar - Any Mopar mechanic worth his salt knows the EGR issues on the 4 cyl engines - and knows they can be intermittent. The LEAST they could have done is checked for a bad vacuum hose. They are VERY COMMON. It is a WELL KNOWN PROBLEM. It costs about a buck to fix. Every Chrysler dealership mechanic should be checking for the problem every time they work on one of these cars - complaint or not - CEL or not. And the dealer should be supplying the hose FREE OF CHARGE for every one found bad. Best customer relations you could envision - "by the way, there was a minor problem with your emission system -We fixed it for you - here's the part we replaced - NO CHARGE - Have a good day!!" Best buck and 5 minutes you could ever spend.

Reply to
clare at snyder.on.ca

WRONG!! As I said there are reflashes out on particular model Minivans tha require a flash of the PCM to install software that will update the engine controller for an intermittent fault for turning the Check engine lite on and setting a code for the EGR . Once again ...WORNG The newer model vehicles do NOT use a vacuum controlled EGR. it is all electronic. If you knew what you were talking about you would Know that a P0404 fault code is An EGR postion sensor fault there fore this valve is strickly electronic and DOES NOT use vacuum to operate the EGR valve. Try again

Glenn

Reply to
damnnickname

And that will probably happen if the dealer replaced the EGR valve on the OP vehcile because the owner said it was the EGR due to another technician saying that. If the valeve was bad why didnt the independent shop replace it??? they didnt know and blew it off to the dealer

Glenn

Reply to
damnnickname

exactly my point!! Just because a fault code was generated for a particular part DOE NOT mean that part is bad

Glenn

Reply to
damnnickname

It's a '97 with a 3.8 liter and 64,000 miles. The first guy I took it to did hook up a fuel pressure gauge and said I had proper pressure. He's the one that had the car die while hooked up to his scan tool and one of the guys that said the O2 sensor wasn't causing my problem. That's another reason why I'm so ticked off at the dealer--they replaced the fuel filter and the O2 sensor, over $400 in charges and it didn't fix my problem.

Reply to
powrwrap

WRONG!! As I said there are reflashes out on particular model Minivans tha require a flash of the PCM to install software that will update the engine controller for an intermittent fault for turning the Check engine lite on and setting a code for the EGR . Once again ...WORNG The newer model vehicles do NOT use a vacuum controlled EGR. it is all electronic. If you knew what you were talking about you would Know that a P0404 fault code is An EGR postion sensor fault there fore this valve is strickly electronic and DOES NOT use vacuum to operate the EGR valve. Try again

Glenn

Reply to
maxpower

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