This is the 5th time my truck has been in for a misfire. The first 4 times were with a mechanic who is a friend of my brother-in-law. Here is what has happened so far:

1st time: 38,253 miles. Truck was misfiring. He told me that my plug wires were bad. Asked me if I wanted to put new plugs in while he was in there. I told him to go ahead. Total bill $331.54

2nd time: 39,586 miles. Truck was misfiring. I asked him to check the plugs and wires because I read here that people were having problems with the boots coming off the wires. He said that one of my injectors was clogged. Cleaned injectors. Total bill $75.12

3rd time: 40,963 miles. Truck was misfiring. I asked him again to check the plugs for a bad plug or a bad wire. He says that my heater hose was leaking onto the back plug on the passenger side. Sealed with silicone. Total bill $0.

4th time: 42,487 miles. Truck was misfiring. I told him to please check the plugs and wires and that I am tired of bringing my truck back every 1500 miles. They found some more moisture around the back plug on the passenger side. Total bill $0

5th time: 44,235 miles. Truck was misfiring. I called my best friend's mechanic because I have given up on the first guy. He told me to bring it in yesterday. He called yesterday afternoon and said that I have two bad plugs. He also asked me if I paid for 8 new plugs because over half of the ones that he has pulled out are the factory plugs. I am pissed! He is going to give me all of the plugs and I am going to take them back to the first guy and ask for at least a portion of my $$ back. He also told me that thye ones that they did replace were in good condition but had no anti-sieze on the threads and two were loose.

At least I found an honest mechanic out of all of this. My best friend and his wife's famjily have used this guy for years. My friend usually buys the parts himself and then takes his truck in and this guy just charges his labor. He actually just totally rebuilt my buddy's engine for him (my friend has a Chevy....lol).

 

Get the second mechanic to put it all in writing.

Then take the first mechanic to small claims to get ALL of your money back.

All of your misfiring was due to plugs he never replaced when you paid him to.

 

Document it all up and get your money back. Things like this are one reason to ask for the old parts back after repairs are done. Sometimes its one more incentive to do the job right the first time. While not foolproof, it at least can help.

Hope your misfire is gone once and for all!

 

Thanks for the advice. I am going to get this mechanic to write up everything and give me the plugs that he pulled out. Then I will give the 1st mechanic a call and see what he offers to do for me first. If nothing then I will take him to small claims court for the $300 he charged me.

 

be glad that you found a good mechanic. dont waste your time and energy on small claims court. the time you will spend preparing for it and the missed time from work and the fustration you will experience is not worth it plus you put the good mechanic in a bad place with the bad mechanic. the time, money and good work from the new guy will more than make up for the first guy in the long run.

 

reliable mechanics are awesome. theres a new shop that opened up 1/8 of a mile from our house. very trustworthy guy. way better than Ford's service department

 

Personally, I disagree... I'd say $300 is worth missing a half day of work, but that's just me. (Heck I'd do it just for the point of it!) Hopefully it won't get that far, and it he'll take care of it. If not you might file a complaint with the BBB aswell. IF he's a member he'll have no choice but to settle the matter.

 

I would definately take a 1/2 day off from work to fight this. I have plenty of PTO stocked up.

Just an update on my truck...
He said that the frist guy did not replace the tough to get at plugs but he pulled all 8 and replaced them. I am picking it up tomorrow because now he thinks I have either a bad coil pack or a faulty throttle part. I forget the name of the throttle part but he said that it is what controls the flow of fuel when you hit the gas. He took it for a test drive and said that it runs great except for when you really step on it then it shudders a little like it is not getting enough fuel. He is also testing each injector to see what pressure they are running at. He is waiting for parts so I will pick it up tomorrow and report back with all of the infomation.

 

Being how freaking hard it is to change plugs on these Tritons, I wouldn't be surprised if a BUNCH of mechanics only change 4 or 6 plugs but charge for 8.

 

just be prepared to take the good mechanic to court with you, I am sure he would not mind spending his day at small claims court (what a great way to treat someone who does a good job for you). Then it is his word against the first mechanics word. if you win he still dosent have to pay you so now you can take of another have day and go file leans against him.
I have employees that use this logic for taking days off to waste good money and time, chasing money that is gone, that why i am the bose and they work for me...good luck.

 

Your last paragraph sure has me feeling good. I own a business also and some of my guys do the same stupid chit. I have actually had guys take off a full day and loose $160.00 because they had to do some kind of project that only gains them half that much.
Of course you and I both know that laziness is the REAL issue. The excuse for being off is just to feel good about not moving forward.

I am only getting a kick out of finding out I am not alone in the hourly hack problems.


Now, as far as getting ripped off by a mechanic....welcome to the club. There are good mechanics out there, but unfortunately there seems to be more bad ones than good. When I find quality service, I go with it. I also don't run all over the place looking for the cheapest "bids" on everything I do. The cheapest "bid" is never the best QUALITY.

I would be a bit hesitant to put the good mechanic on the spot. You may scare him off. I would though at least call the other guy for an explanation and refund for the work not done.

Rocks

 

Turn the first mechanic into the BBB.

If you get the repair bills ( I see almost 400.00, WTF clean the injectors to cure the plugs he did not change the first time ), and get the repair bill from the second mechanic that notes this..make a call to the states atty.
The states atty may or maynot do somthign about, it but at least it is on record there. If the states atty got a ccmplatint about someone like this ever time, they mght investigate him someday.

While this might not get your 400.00 back..this guy could have days of a closed shop if the states atty sticks a microscope up his butt in an investigation. That would be my reward, knowing that I in part caused this cheater to loose all sorts of business by closing up for the investigation, and he would prob. need his own lawyer for this..more cash down the drain for him. This is either going to put him out of business or might make him think twice about ripping off so many people.

Oh yea...and tell your family how much of a shumck he is, and what he did.

When was the last time you changed your fuel filter ?
Might want to tell the mechanic that info, I don't know what the fuel problem is for sure, but the filter could be a cause of this as well ( or at least added to the problem ), and letting him know this might aid him.

 

should have bought a chevy.... oooops, Did I say that? I love ford! LOL

 

Do file a complaint with the BBB. That will trigger a notice and prompt for a response.

Notify your local newspaper -- it may be a slow news week (Clinton's been staying low) -- and they may have a consumer section chief that needs to get out of the office.

Check with your local city www -- there may be a frequently-read area where you can 'vent' and influence some others in the area.

If all else fails, build a potato cannon and launch the plugs thru his windows.

 

SSCULLY,

Thanks for the info. My fuel filter was replaced at 35,000 miles.

I just talked to the mechanic and my truck will be done tomorrow. The TPS was bad (throttle positioning sensor), which was causing even more problems. Also, he said the plug wires were bad! He said whoever put them on either bent them when installing them or they were bad from the start. He said that there is a graphite shaft in the wires and if bent the shaft breaks and it has to arc over the broken part. At idle this is tough but at higher speeds not as bad. This would also lead to fouled plugs.

I will be taking the wires and plugs back and asking for my $$ back.

Basically, I had three problems that were making my tuck run like crap. Bad plugs, bad wires and a bad TPS. Who knows how long the TPS has been bad.