I have been dealing with a local ford dealership for a brake issue. They have been fairly good to me thus far. I had my premature ABS issue while driving to the gym tonight so I stopped in and told them it might be a good idea to try and capture it. The mechanic gets in my truck and long story short he suggests that I swap the front rotors to see if my fault changes sides. He is a nice guy and says this is a cheap way to find out if its a tone ring (sp??) issue. I told him that I would try it since I was going to bring the truck in to get new plugs since I have 93KM on the ones currently. This is when he tells me that he wouldn't advise I change the plugs. He said that the risk of them breaking in the head isn't worth it. So here's my question. Is this guy really being nice and trying to save me a real hassle?? Is he just trying to protect his own a$$ by making sure he doesn't have to risk doing the work?? Should a dealership mechanic really tell me to leave my plugs alone because of risk?? I told the mechanic that I had read here that there is a procedure to reduce the risk of breakage that requires putting a lubricant in the hole, and letting it sit, then turning 1/2 turn and letting sit again. He told me he had never heard of it.

SO ... I am not really sure what I should do now. Should I call the dealer and ask a shop manager or something? Should I call ford and ask them directly?

Sorry its so long but really curious what you guys think??

 

Without knowing the person, it's difficult to know what his motives are. I could understand a tech telling you not to change your plugs at "only" 60,000 miles, with the idea being that they are 100,000 mile plugs (according to Ford). (IMO, although that would be a poor recommendation, it would be in line with Ford's recommendations)...

But for him to tell you not to change them due to the risk of breaking them..??.. To me, that's like a doctor telling you "Well Mr. Smith, you have a tumor in your heart. Right now, it's still relatively small. But the more time that goes on, the bigger it will get. However, I suggest you DON'T have it taken out, for fear of damage that I could do to you during the extraction. Just go on living as if we never had this conversation, and hopefully you'll never notice it."

IMO, a competent technician would never tell you to NOT change your plugs. I'd think that he'd tell you to change them MORE OFTEN due to the inherent risks associated with this plug design.

And for him to say that he's never heard of the procedure for removing these plugs....we'll I'd find a different mechanic in a hurry!... ... ... ... On 2nd thought, maybe that's why he recommended not changing them; because he's done it several times before and they've all broken. Because, of course, he's not familiar with Ford's recommended procedure for removing them... ... ... ... Are you sure he is truly a technician, and not just a grease monkey (or worse yet, a porter)??? <No offense to them, but their job is not to give mechanical advise>

 

Its going in tomorrow to have the front rotors swapped .. guess I will just see. It just seems that the longer I wait, the more chance I have of breaking one.

 

Ahh... don't call them auto "technicians"... they are just auto mechanics...

Sorry if I offend anyone... but there's nothing "technical" about a vehicle besides the ECU and some wiring.

I would find a new shop ASAP.