Picked up the Dodge ....

$857.55

Drove out to the road. Brake pedal goes within an inch of the floor.

I drive around the block .... back to the garage.

They check it. They bleed the brakes with the truck off. It had a good pedal. However; running ... no pedal. Oh ..... and the 5th brake booster they got .... doesn't work. They have ordered two more. One from each of two suppliers.

And .... when they went to bleed brakes again, the bleeder screws broke off. Rust. So they replaced each front caliper. More$$$$$

Ok ..... Hope your day is going well.

Gary

Oh, we will have some beautiful handmade items for sale to trade for parts for a worthless old truck. Stay tuned!

It's a darn shame Gary .
Did you say a one owner with 70,000 miles ? Them southern mechanics ain't used to seein rust buckets from up here in the rust belt . In the winter I always try to get the $6.00 under wash but it still doesn't help much . They have actually been spraying the roads in winter with some kinda brine solution here in Michigan . Not only are we known for the worse roads in the country but just as cheep vehicles rusting out prematurely also .
Pot hole heaven too . More salt more plow more hot patches more struts more rims more shocks .

What cracks me up is the way they repair the roads . Each pour has expansion joints when they get bad they cut a foot or so on each side of same joint take out cement and add two more joints for Miles and miles ! Pretty soon it's all expansion joints . That's if we're lucky enough to NOT get asphalt.

With the truck thing when do you stop ??!
I feel your pain .

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt,

When you stop? You know that one. You either don't have a truck or you fix it.

I bought it new in 04. Traded my other.

Ya'll don't want me to go buy a new truck - do you? Ha.

Yeah - wish they'd have taken a bit more time heating bleeders on rusted calipers. But, time is labor ... 'Cept here ...

Anyway. Not asking for flowers. It's just a comical story that never ends.

Gary

Gary DEFINETLY don't buy a new truck .
That's really weird about the booster . You know they are vacuum driven and I had a truck that would suck the break fluid into the Moter and burn it thru engine . I can't believe that many power boosters are bad . Sometimes the pin /shaft that actuates is bent or pushes to far into the master cylinder . I've even seen the fire wall flex and crack too .

The bleeders are another issue . The heat applied as you know .... too much / not enough ( in the wrong place) well you know more than most about applying heat to metal . I hope your brake lines are good enough too . You made a lot of trips with big loads from MD .

You'll get it all worked out and then .... Sell it $$$ only 70,000 I think you could get good money for it and then get a similar southern truck now that your a ( Dang Yankee ) you won't have to worry bout salt ever again except on your baked potato!

Thanks
Kurt

Hi Kurt,

These boosters are rebuilt at a co. In Pa. They do about 90% of all the units in the co. So; no matter where you get one - they probably rebuilt it. Mechanic was griping about the quality declining.

There is the shaft you mention, held in by a clip. The mechanic said the things came in with the shaft out of place. Some of the boxes had the shaft completely missing. He put one back together but somethin wasn't right. Hideous quality control.

Gary

Gary
They are kinda like starters . They are sometimes specific to the parts they mate with and if it's a funny one and doesn't work right , they modify it to work . And just like starters you need to add or subtract shims to make it work .
It's a bunch of crap though cause even the mechanics are loosing time fussing with sub quality parts ! I'll bet you they sell you a master cylinder too now !

Thanks
Kurt

Kurt,

Sorry. I'm pretty familiar with mechanical things but there are tons of things I don't know.

They originally said the Master Cyclinder can fail and leak into the booster - ruining it. So; orig. deal was for rebuilt Master Cyclinder and Booster - together.

They have worked on the brakes about four times. Replacing this line. Then that. They could have gone for more earlier. I can't just go with the assumption they are padding the bill. They've had chance to do worse. I don't know. Yes - I'm ready to drag the truck out in the woods with a shovel. But I need the darned thing.

It's like MOST stories go for me. People rarely believe it. They often can point out where it would have been simple ..... if I'd have ONLY done this or that. I just can't know everything and have to trust folks to know the rest.

It's a bummer. I agree. Salt, snow, ice suck. Big reason I'm here. But I brought the rusty junk with me.

Gary

Gary,

Sry to here about the truck.... Seems like it's always something with those 4 wheeled machines, at least the older ones you can still work on! With the newer ones you need a degree in computer science to Change a spark plug lol...when all else fails Nitrous makes a vehical run better!

Matt

Hello Gary,

Sometimes it seems that certain people are like a bad-luck magnet. If a thousand parts get made and one is faulty, of COURSE that's the one they get. On the other hand, sometimes a company either changes management or loses some key people and all of a sudden their formerly reliable work turns to crap.

Hard to say which one this is, but I wouldn't discount the possibility that it could be both

Since you read this, they got and installed nos. 6 and 7. None work. I doubt they ever allow me in the door again. Not sure I want to go. I might have to "spread the Luvvvvv".

Gary

When you eventually get back to the autoshop and they finally have it fixed, the invoice will probably have a big red "86" on the top. For the next few weeks they'll flip the sign to "CLOSED" whenever they see a big green Dodge drive by.

Hi Sean,

I've found it helpful to just consider that I no longer HAVE a truck.

Gary,

After 1 year can you sue for visitation rights? Maybe just weekends?

Maybe look for a local used truck? Options are limited till you get that running and safe.

Sigh.

Good luck.

Larry

Our old Jeep has been in the shop almost three weeks now for a gas leak. Had to drop the tank, everything is rusted and hard to remove. The tank itself is fine, it's plastic. Could have been out two weeks ago but for one gasket they can't seem to get anywhere.

I'll just wait for them to all when its done. No point in pushing them to just get it out the door. I'll be the one to sit along the road. Not going to second guess their knowledge. I know that stuff just goes wrong .... and comes in "twelves".

Just got a call from the shop, the Jeep is finally ready. And all for about what two or three payments would run on a new car...ouch.