my 95 dakota began to stall whenever it was put into reverse. My mechanic told me that it was a bad solinoid inside the tranny and it (the tranny) had to be removed to fix the problem. I took it to a local shop and had the tranny rebuilt for about 2500 dolars only to find out that wasn't the problem. turned out it was the crankshaft sensor. Hope this will save someone else from my misfortune.
What misfoturne? Sounds like you need to be collecting on his "advice." And why would you still be calling him "my" mechanic?
Was this the same mechanic that replace the transmission, or a different one?
OK, same question, was this a second mechanic? And he agreed with the original diagnosis? Or did you go in and say 'Replace part X'? Did two people misdiagnose the problem, or only one?
it was two different shops and yes, unfortunately I did just tell the second place to rebuild the tranny completely. Hindsight being 20/20, it was rather stupid of me to do it that way but at the time seemed like the way to get it done back on the road.
Reminds me of last year, my daughters Ford ZX2 started making a strange knocking noise like a rod bearing was going. I took it to the Ford dealer. Two guys looked at it and decided the flex plate was somehow doing this. Anyway, cost me 1400 for them to pull and replace it but at least this fixed what really sounded like a rod bearing knocking.
Sometimes you need to take it to a large dealership, often they have already seen your problem and fix it the first time.
Yep, this happens frequently. Can't blaim the second shop if they did what was requested.
The real lesson to give out is never go in and tell the repair shop what to do unless you are 1000% sure that will fix the problem. Instead tell them what the symptoms are, show them the symptoms, and ask for an estimate to fix the problem. That works so much better... This is sadly an aftifact of so called consumer protection laws in that repair shops in most locations (in the US) cannot do repairs that the customer didn't request, and must do what the customer requests or they are in violation of the law.
Yeah that and the current lawsuit happy folks make it interesting!
My policy is usually to do some Q&D diagnostics and see if what the customer asked for fits what I find. If not it gets noted on the paperwork so that I have a record as well. I also run a full scan and print that out JIC they get upset that what "the guy in the store told them" didn't take care of the problem.
Nothing like replacing those "faulty" O2 sensors to fix the bad fuel cap gasket!!!
I've had similar problems, and find that there are a bunch of catch-22's:
In short, when a customer comes in and asks for X to be replaced, we make sure that we note on the RO that "replaced at customer's request, may not resolve customer's problem." and have the customer initial it. We will also add a "repair stated (description) problem in addition." if they wish it.
The service engine light came on - on my 2001 dodge ram 1500
6 months and $3000 later the truck which did run ok but this light came on and now it won't shift right and the Dodge Dealer in Quincy, Il. said they couldn't fix it and walked away
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