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59 messages, Last post on Mar 13, 2010 at 11:14 AM
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'05 Ram 1500 4dr, 4x4 w/ Hemi, just under 50k Early last week my ABS and Brake indicators kicked on. I'd been meaning to get my truck serviced anyway because I had a loose tie-rod end and my rack & pinion was leaking on my driveway. I made my appointment for dropping off my truck today at the dealer I bought it from. After I called and prior to the drop-off my speedo started going wacko on me, staying at 0 until I hit 20mph or so and then jumping up. It would occasionally kick me out of cruise, downshift, or it would downshift twice real hard as I was coming to a stop. Basically it wasn't sure how fast I was going and it was jacking up my shift pattern. That's expected when you lose a speed sensor and the truck can't consistently determine your speed. I got a call from my dealer about an hour ago. They're claiming that there's water in my rear diff. I have never had that lightweight piece of junk in high water, ever. It only ever had maybe 200 miles of non-paved roads put under it (and I had to replace the factory tires just to get a decent set of rubber for our gravel roads). For a country guy now living in the city this truck has lived the high life (minus the garage). The only things I can think of is that the vent tube was off of the rear diff or the filter on the end of the vent line was jacked up. They're saying that there's nothing wrong with either. I asked them to check the front diff because if I was in high-water in the rear it would be highly likely that I was in the front as well. He balked at that and said something about having to charge for full diagnostics and all that jazz if they crack open the front diff. He then tried to say that if the seals on the front diff weren't leaking then there wouldn't be any water in their. I caught him on this and spun it back on it. I asked that if leaking seals could cause a water problem in a diff then why couldn't that be a possible cause for my rear diff and if a seal is leaking then why would that not be covered under warranty? He couldn't answer that question. To cover the parts and labor they quoted me $990. They also want me to pay $185 for the diagnostics, labor, and parts for a damaged speed sensor which is jacking up my ABS. He said that it is not covered under my power-train warranty. They also want me to pay a $100 deductible to Chrysler to replace a transfer-case output seal which they say is leaking. I have one oil slick in my driveway and that's caused by the leaking power rack and pinion. I don't know how this seal could be leaking noticeably without leaking a grease spot on my driveway. It could have just started leaking of course but I would expect something on my drive in most cases. They want me to pay another $100 deductible to Olympi-Care which covers my rack & pinion. They're replacing the whole steering rack, both outer tie-rod ends, and the power-steering coolant lines. And of course they're going to align the front-end again. Why wouldn't this be covered under my Chrysler warranty? They recommended I replace the fluids in the front & rear diff as well as the transfer case for a total of $325. That's a lot of $$$ for 90-weight and ATF. In total they asked for $1375 plus another $325 if I do the fluids in the diff and transfer case. Now I made sure to mention that my father was a mechanic (+30 years but he doesn't do warranty work and he's now out of auto and the aircraft industry) and that he made the initial diagnose on the tie-rod end and rack & pinion. I also told him that I'd be checking with the service tech I knew at another Chrysler dealership down the road. I put in calls to both of them. They both called BS on this, saying that 1) the prices were outlandish and 2) that there should not be water in the rear diff if I've never drive in high water (which I don't) and 3) that warranty should cover all of that. I called the guy back with some pointed questions about the vent tube & filter, why they cracked open the rear diff to get to the sensor (which I've been told is removable from the outside), and for contact info for both Chrysler Customer Care and the Olympi-Care people. I also asked him to save the fluid from the rear diff. My friend from another dealer said that the axle seals are a lip seal and are good at keeping fluids in but not so good at keeping them out. Still I've never been in high water so I don't think that's a problem. About 15 minutes later he called back again. He said that he and his service manager checked everything over again and said they thought they could work something out with me. He asked if I bought the truck with them which I had and that I was the only owner. He said that they'd eat the $990 since I was a customer. That seems like a pretty dramatic reversal to me. He said there wasn't much of the oil/water left from the rear diff, that they'd already dumped most of it. Convenient. Now I'm mechanically inclined (I'll tackle just about anything with good directions) but I'm not a mechanic. I'm a computer engineer. My father is the mechanic. I'd like to think that I'm nobody's fool though. Frankly this sounds like they're trying to put a good one over on me, seeing a nice shiny pickup with a clean interior, thinking I'm a city guy that wouldn't know a dip stick from rectal thermometer (had I pulled up in a flatbed with a feeder on the back I wouldn't elicit this kind of response I don't think). I feel confident in siding with my other mechanics and calling BS. Does anyone feel differently? Should a power-train warranty have covered all of this? This is a fairly large regional dealer and their radio ads claim to have been rated to have the #1 service dept in the country (though don't all dealer claim that?). I'm putting in calls to Chrysler and Olympi-Care tomorrow to find out exactly what my coverage should be. Thanks J
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Replying to: justins79 (Mar 17, 2008 5:48 pm)
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Replying to: corkscrew (Mar 18, 2008 7:48 am) Cutting out $990 worth of charges, a reduction by 72% does not feel right to me. My Chrysler mechanic friend suggested that perhaps when I started asking for all the info to check the warranty myself that the dealer may have decided to also check it for themselves (assuming they hadn't and just guessed that water in the rear-diff wouldn't be covered). Then when they called back 15m later they played the hero and said they'd just eliminate the $990 out of the goodness of their hearts, rather than say that sure enough it really is a warranty repair. So now my goal is to see if Chrysler will say that it should be warranty to begin with. In which case the $185 for the wheel sensor to fix my ABS should have also been covered and all I should owe on that would be the $100 deductible. Then I need to tackle the rack & pinion part of the problem to see if it too should have been covered. Fun stuff.
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Replying to: justins79 (Mar 18, 2008 8:45 am) Chrysler confirmed today that the speed sensor wouldn't be covered even though the dealer was now saying that the rear diff was a warranty job and caused the speed sensor to go bad. They said is was consequential damage caused by the rear diff and not a failure of the sensor itself. They also said that rear diff oil wouldn't be included in the price because it was regarded as a maintenance item, even though you have to drain and refill it to do the warrantied seals and bearings. The Ethos people (Olympi-Care) said that the sensor wouldn't be covered because the cause for the failure (as listed by the dealer) was water damage in the rear-diff. Had it been listed a simple failed item it would have been covered. I made a list of everything and called the dealer back to authorize the repairs. I read it off to the guy with the prices. $100 deductible to Chrysler for the power train repair items (and i listed transfer-case seal, rear-diff seals, bearings, oil and labor (I said oil on the phone)). He said yes. $185 for the parts and labor for the speed sensor. Yes again. $100 for the rack and pinion parts and labor. Again yes. $10 for the oil change (my materials their labor) and $15 for the shop fee plus tax on everything. Yes to all. I didn't record it but hopefully it won't matter. In a few days I should have it back. I'll do the fluids in the front diff and transfer case myself for a lot less $$ when I move into my new garage next month. So I think this is where it ends. I'm not exactly sure whether this was carelessness or malicious intent. I think I've reached a decent resolution though. The ABS thing still annoys me. Next time I will get the GM that I wanted instead.
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Replying to: justins79 (Mar 18, 2008 2:47 pm)
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Replying to: corkscrew (Mar 19, 2008 8:35 am) Anyway, the truck should be finished today or tomorrow. My family is not very happy with Dodge quality though. My mother's Durango has given them problems from day 1. My father's 96 Ram is a gutless wonder and the steering is constantly loose (replaced the steering sector and surrounding components repeatedly). We've never had a really good Dodge. I'm going to pony up the extra $$$ for a GM next time.
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Replying to: justins79 (Mar 19, 2008 12:01 pm) |
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