posted
So, I take my car into the dealership because my rear window stuck in the down position. Apparently the motor was burned out...
But, they check it out for a ton of stuff I never requested and tell me that my upper injector throttle body system needs to be cleaned out because my gas peddle is sticking (which it has been doing).... they tell me that a gunked up injector system can cause that to happen.
Is that BS or is there truth in that? I don't want to spend money unnecessarily. Thanks to you gear heads for your opinion on this.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
Seriously, I don't know what you mean by 'gas pedal sticking' but I can tell you that a gas pedal hung wide open is potentially a much worse problem than a stuck back window. Ask me how I know.....
Involves a dirt track car and the crazy fact that when the throttle hangs it seems that all your brain can think about is pushing the brake with both feet instead of hitting the kill switch....
If they think that is causing it, I'd let them fix it....
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
I've been on both sides of the fence. As a Dealership Service Manager, it was the technicians "duty to discover and report", service writers "duty per se' to "upsell" as needed. However, their discoveries do not warrant any service unless agreed to.
Many injector service flush systems are a major add on profit....ask me how I know...
Unless your burning pure crud, have leaking valve stem seals, etc.... there is enough detergents in todays gas to combat the carbon build up...you can clean your own throttle body with a 4.59 can of Berrymans.
-------------------- Skidmore Sign Co. 3806 1st Avenue North Birmingham AL 35222 205-251-6049
Skidmore Signs - Facebook
"Success always occurs in private, but failure in full view."
posted
Berrymans... Available at Sam's Auto Parts for $4.59...
Seriously, never heard of it. Just Googled it. Interesting read. Thanks for the heads up, Sam!
-------------------- Bruce Bowers
DrCAS Custom Lettering and Design Saint Cloud, Minnesota
"Things work out best for the people who make the best of the way things work out." - Art Linkletter Posts: 6451 | From: Saint Cloud, Minnesota | Registered: Jun 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'll give it a try Sam....with Jon's blessing LOL.
Will Berryman's do the same job as what the dealership claims needs to be a injector rail flush? They say the stuff you poor into your tank doesn't do the same job as them actually cleaning out all the lines for $129.
This is an older car Mike...and I actually took it to another shop for the window which reduced my bill from $621 to $250...if I was thinking I could have gotten the motor from a junkyard fand reduced it another $150.... but I didn't want the hassle of running all over town.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
No, but the "rail flush" would not be needed unless the vehicle has sat for extended periods of time allowing the gas to "varnish" per se'. I would say in the neighborhood of sitting for a few years. Gas has all of the solvents in it to keep lines, rails etc. clean.
But if you have the concerns, Todd, just pick up a can of B12 spray, and B12 additive...one in the tank, and the other spraying out the throttle body.
The Berrymans product, will clean the minor build up around the throttle body butterfly, throttle position sensor, etc at the throttle body.
Yer welcome Bruce!
Thank ya Jon, but that "superior knowledge" thing...I don't know....LOL.
I don't know it all...But I have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once...
and I have seen Jon around a racetrack...
-------------------- Skidmore Sign Co. 3806 1st Avenue North Birmingham AL 35222 205-251-6049
Skidmore Signs - Facebook
"Success always occurs in private, but failure in full view."
posted
TOP TEN THINGS TO KNOW TO AVOID DEALERSHIPS:
10. Remember, they are just like us. They wanna sell an 'up'.
9.The dealership ALWAYS charges WAY more than regular mechanics. It's like goin' to the ER when ya could'a walked-in the Dr's office.
8. The Service manager probably works on commission.
7.Repeat this mantra: 'The attractive secretary, new cars, and fresh coffee and refreshments in the showroom will not sway me'.
6.Think of all the things you could spend the saved dollars on by going elsewhere.
5.Get a second opinion from someone you normally use & trust/ your regular mechanic.
4.Let your regular mech. fix the window, anyway?
3.Call CAR TALK.
2.Go to a junk yard, buy the motor, and install it yourself.
And the #1 way to know how to avoid the dealership:
Listen to your Letterhead pals! They're all tellin' ya basically the same thing.
(L0L, I'm really not down on dealerships THAT bad. Please don't take offense anybody. My daddy worked for GMAC in the late 70's and had a used car lot for years afterward. I r'spect y'all.)
-------------------- Signs Sweet Home Alabama
oneshot on chat
"Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a dog" Posts: 5758 | From: "Sweet Home" Alabama | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Service writers and service managers can't live on their regular pay. Known fact, they have to rely on commissions from up-sells to make a decent living. BTDT and currently have a nephew who is a service writer.
-------------------- Donald Miner ABCO Wholesale Neon 1168 Red Hill Creek Dobson, NC Posts: 842 | From: North Carolina | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged |
I spent a good many years behind the service counter at a Michigan Ford dealer while I built my business. The guys I worked with, (all non commissioned), were honest...to a fault many times. Lets not "pidgeon hole" dealership service departments.
Yes, you can buy junkyard parts cheaper. Yes you can install it yourself. People who use junk yards are not prone to patronize dealerships anyways. You are comparing apples and hot dogs here.
Todd, The dealership is responsible for their repairs for a period of time after you drive down the road. Their job is to gain your confidence during warranty periods, so you will trust them when it's time to open your own wallet. It is more expensive, but, you should be able to dismiss it from your mind in exchange for the money you paid. If not, bring it back until it's right.
[ October 16, 2008, 09:00 AM: Message edited by: Rick Beisiegel ]
""Good judgment comes from experience; and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" - Will Rogers Posts: 3485 | From: Beautiful Newaygo, Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Todd, trying to save money by using a window motor from a junkyard can actually prove costly in the long run. Junkyards are a great source for hard parts that don't wear out, like a-frames or axles. Parts that do wear out like alternators, water pumps and window motors are already on their way to wearing out. A junkyard will charge you $20 for the motor. A new one from an auto parts store is around $50. It's the labor that gets you on replacing these, especially if it hasn't been replaced before. Most window motors are held in place with rivits that have to be drilled out. Pain in the butt!
-------------------- George Perkins Millington,TN. goatwell@bigriver.net
"I started out with nothing and still have most of it left"
I did get a NEW motor assembly from Car Quest for $196 and paid the local bodyshop guy $50 to install it. It works great - in fact, it's faster than the rest of my windows now (ok, which one is next?!)
So I paid $250 through a bodyshop, who has replaced hundreds of these things, verses $621 at the Buick Dealership.
Although I paid $80 to the dealership for the "diagnosis" which is understandable - they had time into checking it out, I guess.
So my total cost was $330 vs $621 for a good job done and a net savings of $291.
That'll buy a lot of movie tickets so's I can go terrorize the audience...lol...just kidding.
Probably good advice on the junkyard motors...they may not last long. Not unless they came off a low mileage wreck, I suppose. But getting a new part gives one more confidence - especially since I'm going to keep this auto for a while.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Working as a mechanic full time at this point i can tell you Todd that you have gotten good advice here. if your throttle is sticking a fuel rail cleaning wont ever fix that. depending on the vehicle you are driving, some throttle pedals are nothing more than a modified version of the volume control on a radio. If it is a throttle body type car with a cable running from the gas pedal to the throttle body then your throttle plates might be carboned up which would be a reason to use some sort of carburetor or aerosol fuel system spray cleaner. Anything you pour into your fuel tank isn't going to fix a stuck throttle anytime in the next 10,000 miles. However there are plenty of fuel system additives that will help clean your fuel injectors and improve fuel mileage such as Justice Brothers products. regarding the window motor, I must agree with George, you can buy a junkyard part, but you know that before it was even taken out of the junk car its death warrant was already signed, and they usually come with no warranty. You did the right thing there getting a new one. Also like Rick said, not all dealerships are crooks, and also realize that not all mom-n-pop garages are honest too. Face it, auto repair business is alot like the sign business, we have materials, and a service to provide. All done with different levels of morals, ethics and skills. You could consider most auto dealerships to be somewhat like the sign franchises and the mom-n-pop sign shops to be like most of us in the sign business, (privately owned and operated businesses with our own ways of doing things)
-------------------- Harris Kohen K-Man Pinstriping and Graphix Trenton, NJ "Showing the world that even I can strategically place the pigment where its got to go." Posts: 1739 | From: Trenton, NJ, USA | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic