What is wrong with these oil change places

[Lohman446]

I had a customer's car in the shop last week, what few customers realize is that every car I have in here I checkover for any issues. One this helps me get work before break downs, and b it helps the customer avoid break downs. So this customer is in the quick lube this week, and he comes over to ask me some questions.

Quick Lube tells him Mobil 1 synthetic came in his 01 Taurus and it calls for 5W30 - I could have sworn Ford would have put the recommended Motorcraft 5W20 in it that they have technical service bulletins addressing the need to use 5W20 oil in and not anything W30.

Quick lube tells him his oil pan gasket is leaking and is in danger of blowing out suddenly. BS I told him the week before there was a minimal amount of oil seeping from his oil pan gasket and it would get worse, eventually he would have to deal with it but there was no reason to do so before the holidays.

They tell him his belt is shot, judgement call on this issue - the belt had some minor cracks in it, nothing to affect service and it still had a lot of life left in it - judgement call I can disagree and understand this.

They tell him the transmission needs serviced - I did this last month... no way does it need it again, the fluid looks good and clean, does not smell burnt (I checked).

They tell him the radiator needs flushed - long life coolant from Ford and it tests good.

There were various other things... I pulled this in on the hoist, went over it with my customer and showed him why I felt these things could wait - but I had noted those that needed done last time and told him at his convenience - this quick lube left him wiht the feeling if he didn't do it now his car would blow up. Its places like this that are the reason when I give people notes about issues they look at me like Im trying to rob them.

Then the manager of the quick lube has the nerve to call and whine to me after the customer went and talked to him - because his technicians are "certified".. What?? I ask him by ASE or teh State of Michigan (MI technicians are certified, oil changes and tires you dont have to be) he tells me no - by his company's "comprehensive training program". I have techs who have been doing this for longer then most of theres have been alive.

Its places like this that give us all a bad name... man was I .

[Crighton]

Well they are selling services to people that can't even change there own oil after all.

[skife]

I had a customer's car in the shop last week, what few customers realize is that every car I have in here I checkover for any issues. One this helps me get work before break downs, and b it helps the customer avoid break downs. So this customer is in the quick lube this week, and he comes over to ask me some questions.

Quick Lube tells him Mobil 1 synthetic came in his 01 Taurus and it calls for 5W30 - I could have sworn Ford would have put the recommended Motorcraft 5W20 in it that they have technical service bulletins addressing the need to use 5W20 oil in and not anything W30.

Quick lube tells him his oil pan gasket is leaking and is in danger of blowing out suddenly. BS I told him the week before there was a minimal amount of oil seeping from his oil pan gasket and it would get worse, eventually he would have to deal with it but there was no reason to do so before the holidays.

They tell him his belt is shot, judgement call on this issue - the belt had some minor cracks in it, nothing to affect service and it still had a lot of life left in it - judgement call I can disagree and understand this.

They tell him the transmission needs serviced - I did this last month... no way does it need it again, the fluid looks good and clean, does not smell burnt (I checked).

They tell him the radiator needs flushed - long life coolant from Ford and it tests good.

There were various other things... I pulled this in on the hoist, went over it with my customer and showed him why I felt these things could wait - but I had noted those that needed done last time and told him at his convenience - this quick lube left him wiht the feeling if he didn't do it now his car would blow up. Its places like this that are the reason when I give people notes about issues they look at me like Im trying to rob them.

Then the manager of the quick lube has the nerve to call and whine to me after the customer went and talked to him - because his technicians are "certified".. What?? I ask him by ASE or teh State of Michigan (MI technicians are certified, oil changes and tires you dont have to be) he tells me no - by his company's "comprehensive training program". I have techs who have been doing this for longer then most of theres have been alive.

Its places like this that give us all a bad name... man was I .

you and your techs are ASE certified right?

[Lohman446]

you and your techs are ASE certified right?

We are all State certified (as required under state law and yes the certification is a joke) a few of the techs also have ASE certification just to have.

[evildead420]

i dont know if quick lube repairs other things but it seems that they are trying to get that customer to spend more $$$ on there repair shop. trying to make it sound bad and make the driver of that car worried. I use to work for Precision Tune Auto CAre, i know how it is.

[hitech]

...this quick lube left him with the feeling if he didn't do it now his car would blow up.

I had Aamco in Walnut Creek, CA tell me the same thing (the tranny was going to fail). (It was in failsafe mode (2nd and 3rd only)). I had replaced the tanny with one from a junkyard and it wasn't working properly. Fortunately I found a reputable place (Jim Dandy in Pinole) and the owner was extremely helpful. He fixed the internal problem at a reasonable price, did not charge me for the diagnostic work and told me how to fix the things I was comfortable with doing myself. I can only imagine what Aamco would have told me was wrong...

[hitech]

Well they are selling services to people that can't even change there own oil after all.

Not necessarily. I use places like that sometimes. Sometimes I just don't feel like crawling under they car, esp. in the rain.

[Crighton]

Not necessarily. I use places like that sometimes. Sometimes I just don't feel like crawling under they car, esp. in the rain.

Certainly, hell I've done it myself. But the vast majority of people that use them regularly can/will not do it themselves. You could probably tell 40% of them the flux capicitant in the coil was about to go out and needed to be replaced, with out them blinking.


It's like anything, you're always going to have some one willing to take advantage of others ignorance.

[Lohman446]

I had Aamco in Walnut Creek, CA tell me the same thing (the tranny was going to fail). (It was in failsafe mode (2nd and 3rd only)). I had replaced the tanny with one from a junkyard and it wasn't working properly. Fortunately I found a reputable place (Jim Dandy in Pinole) and the owner was extremely helpful. He fixed the internal problem at a reasonable price, did not charge me for the diagnostic work and told me how to fix the things I was comfortable with doing myself. I can only imagine what Aamco would have told me was wrong...

HAHA.. I remember Aamco when I worked at a Mercedes dealer in GA for a year. They would offer "free" inspections - they would pull the transmisison from the vehicle, yank the front cover and pull out the first few disc sets - show the customer how blue the steel was, tell them it was cause they were hot from slippign and sell them the rebuild - I defy you to find me a standard design automatic transmission with more than a few miles on it that the discs aren't blue in color on. You'd be surprised how many intelligent people would come in and be like.. umm warranty this transmission because Aamco says its bad. Umm.. NO

[Lohman446]

Certainly, hell I've done it myself. But the vast majority of people that use them regularly can/will not do it themselves. You could probably tell 40% of them the flux capicitant in the coil was about to go out and needed to be replaced, with out them blinking.


It's like anything, you're always going to have some one willing to take advantage of others ignorance.

I once had a real jerk from one of those aftermarket insurance companies "verifying" my diagnosis of a fuel pump after I had fixed it. He was the expert there to make sure after all When he asked to see the old one I grabbed a coil and told him it was the fuel pump - he took all sorts of pictures of it and took it back to show his bosses cause he thought it was Funny... customer was there to, knew something about cars and could barely keep from laughing. This particular warranty company hasn't given me crap about anything else since then - PS.. aftermarket warranties on cars are a joke, most companies can find a way to weasel out of them (I read one that required transmission services ever 3K miles) or are bankrupt.

[hitech]

HAHA.. I remember Aamco when I worked at a dealer in GA for a year. They would offer "free" inspections...

Yeah, I'm glad I would a good place. I'm not about to pull apart an automatic tranny. The owner was there and answered the phone even though they were closed. I was unsure how to adjust the throttle linkage (I thought it might be the problem). He explained how to do it even though he was closed. I took the car into his shop the next day. Because he took the time to attempt to teach me something. And didn't try to "blow smoke up my ...".

[skife]

I once had a real jerk from one of those aftermarket insurance companies "verifying" my diagnosis of a fuel pump after I had fixed it. He was the expert there to make sure after all When he asked to see the old one I grabbed a coil and told him it was the fuel pump - he took all sorts of pictures of it and took it back to show his bosses cause he thought it was Funny... customer was there to, knew something about cars and could barely keep from laughing. This particular warranty company hasn't given me crap about anything else since then - PS.. aftermarket warranties on cars are a joke, most companies can find a way to weasel out of them (I read one that required transmission services ever 3K miles) or are bankrupt.

hahaha nice.


lohman, where do you work, you seem to know your stuff, i've got a friend that reverse went out in his '94 tarus SHO he recently had it flushed at a place and like a day later reverse quit working, the place wont do anything about it.
maybe i'll have him take it to you, where are you at?

[Bear_Claw]

This is one of the reasons i switched from working at a Dealership to working in Fleet Maintanece.

When i was at the dealer they would bill the coustomer for work that was not done parts that were not used and even do work unessasarily.

Then you also have to deal with the coustomer that comes in for an oil change leaves comes back and says its wandering off the road it never did this befor i brought it to you for an oil change fix it for free.

Well now i am in the busness of trying to save the company $$$ have no coustomer and am actually FIXING things rather than always replacing them. Granted working on school buses is not the most gloriest job and i took a $1 pay cut to do it but im alot happier. Oh and there is some satisfaction in knowing that kids get SAFTLY to school cause your work Succers lol. Oh and the best part most our school buses have the same ENGINE and Trans as my own truck.

[Lohman446]

hahaha nice.


lohman, where do you work, you seem to know your stuff, i've got a friend that reverse went out in his '94 tarus SHO he recently had it flushed at a place and like a day later reverse quit working, the place wont do anything about it.
maybe i'll have him take it to you, where are you at?

Ohh (guessing) you flushed a transmission with a lot of debris in it - what has likely happened is you jammed the valve body. When you flush a transmission you force fluid through it (I personally don't flush them, I drop the pan, replace hte filter but you have some of the same issues of dirty fluid flowing through the valve body). I had a flush system and got rid of it, just don't see it being worth it, there are advantages to each system. This debris will frequently jam up the valve body internally. To further cause you grief transmission fluid is high detergent, and the new stuff will break particles loose in a worn transmission. It is conceivable to pull the pan, replace the filter, attempt to reflush it or to pull and attempt to clean the valve body. Well servicing the transmission and attemtping to flush it are the cheapest routes, followed by pulling the valve body neither of them are that likely to fix your problem long term. your best bet at this point is likely to seek a used transmission. More expensive it is also going to actually fix the problem. I try to stay away from rebuilding the Ford transmissions as I don't have a lot of luck with them - if you do attempt to fix this there are a few transmission shops I can recommend. If it were mine I'd replace the filter, try to reflush it, and hope you get lucky

As a general rule I am very hesitant to service any transmission that has gone more than about 80K between services as you run the distinct possibility of having a transmission that will not shift when you are done.

I'm about 20 miles north of Muskegon

[billybob_81067]

Oh and the best part most our school buses have the same ENGINE and Trans as my own truck.

Heck yeah!!!! Powerstroke/Navistar T444e Rocks! Is your 94 a powerstroke or the older indirect injected 7.3 with ATS turbo? Could be either since 94.5 was the split year. I've got a 95 powerstroke and love it!!!