I posted my story here in other threads. Truck broke down in Chicago - local mechanic says bad injectors - $1200 to replace all 4 on that side + $150 for tow truck. Gets me back to Houston and then to Dallas. Breaks down again - 1st mechanic charges me $100 for diagnosis and says one of the new injectors was bad, wants $1200 to replace it, so I took it to 3rd mechanic who says all 4 new injectors were bad, I give him $1600 to replace them again with genuine Ford remans. Makes it almost back to Houston before breaking down with the same symptoms. Paid $400 to rent a truck to tow it and my gooseneck home.

Finally have time to look at it today. I'm thinking fuel problem and I hadn't replaced the filters since I bought it used 2 months ago. So, I put new filters on, drained the water, and Presto! Now it seems to be running just fine.

I hate to talk bad about anyone, and all these mechanics seemed to be "nice" guys, but after the first guy, I specifically asked the next two mechanics to check the fuel pressure and they said it was just fine.

I'm going to drive it some more before I declare it fixed, and if so, I'll post the names of these mechanics so the rest of you can avoid them. Cost me $3350 when all it needed was a $60 filter kit.

 

I really,really hate that crap.I'd find a way to burn their ***.I hope you payed by credit card cause I pull their ticket if I was you.

 

Woah! Let's slow down-for a second before burning anyone or this or that...

You just bought the truck I assume? You towed a goose neck broke down without doing any general maint to the truck mainly FUEL FILTERS.

I think everyone is at fault obviously before I went replacing injectors 2 or 3 times I would have changed the filters FIRST.

 

The first thing I'd do when buying any used vehicle, if no maint. records, would be to change all fluids and filters. The maint. records for any diesel, my op, would also include OEM filters.

 

Hmm, I'll accept criticism for not changing the filters sooner, but I don't see how that changes the fact that supposedly expert mechanics did not properly diagnose the problem - even when I specifically asked the last two to check the fuel pressure because I thought that could be the problem.

Even stupid people don't deserve to be ripped off.

 

No offense to you-I wasn't trying to insult you-as I agree with you getting ripped off sucks-but such a simple fix and so easily over looked.

 

My first diesel. Learning the hard way. Fuel filters were never a concern with all 40 some odd gas cars/trucks I've owned. Can't ever remember replacing a single one actually. But my real problem was funds - paid cash for a Lexus 470 first, upon delivery saw it was too clean to be pulling my little trailer, so I paid cash for this truck and cash for the gooseneck. Was just out of funds until I could haul a few loads to make some money.

Now, I"m selling the Lexus to pay my credit card bill for all this work. And the reality is, I really didn't do much wrong. If the first mechanic had diagnosed my problem, I'd have been back on the road in an hour.

 

Again, I have to say, that I'm not passing final judgment yet. The truck seems to be running fine, but I've only driven it about 30 miles. Considering that it wouldn't barely move a few feet before the filters though, I'm hopeful that was the fix.

 

No problem. I didn't feel insulted - I already feel real stupid anyway. Just figured you were a mechanic sticking up for the others.

BTW, just went and put another 30 miles or so on it, running real strong.

 

Maybe it's just me,but I twist wrenches on some very expensive boats. People trust me to find the problem and fix it right the FIRST time, Not later on down the road,and you can complain to the credit card company and they maybe able to help you recoup some of you hard earned money. If you found water in the fuel your insurance may cover it too

 

Hope I'm not breaking any forum rules here but does anyone know (generally) how the legal side of hiring a shop works? Is it implied they know how to do repairs properly and have legal responsibility because they opened a business or is there an implied disclaimer that they may not fix it correctly? Is a sign at the cashiers desk or statement on the bill about their warranty details binding? Are those details in federal laws or does it vary by state?

 

You would think they would be responsible for 30 days at a minimum

 

Hold on for a minute.....

The OP broke down in Chitown and a forum member offered to look at it for him. It was over his head or he didn't have time and IIRC a friend of the forum member did the work as a side job outside of his normal work schedule.

If that is the case and there was never a discussion on warranty then it is a learning experience.

On the other 2 places that worked on it, were they not repair shops? There should be recourse there.

If you paid by CC dispute the charges if you fixed your issues.

 

I am the forum member who did what I could to help him when he broke down in Chicago. I hooked up my scan gauge to his truck and found a few codes but that was it. I referred him to the mechanic myself and our construction group uses as four of us are running 6.0's. Yes, the mechanics work for a local Ford dealership on diesels only. I personally have had him repair my truck a few times, and my experience has always been a good one. I have no knowledge of what transpired after I left him with my mechanics contact info, other than what I have read here. I hope he gets his truck running and that in fact it wasn't an over looked simple fix such as fuel filters. If it was, let this be a cautionary tale for all of us...

 

I've been a mechanic all my life, mostly gas engines, very little diesel experience, but before computer controls, all performance issues on diesels were fuel issues, and 99% of them were filter issues either clogged or water.

that being said the first thing you do to a performance issue is change the filters.