Ram 1500.. I'm being taken.. Partially my fault.

I should have done something but thought of it too late..

I did two days of research and looked for someone closer.. Only a dealer around here.. Used engines were fast becoming the option but not really what I wanted to do for what the price difference is between this guy and a engine I had no knowledge of. So I am hoping they redeem theirselfs tomorrow. When I went by on Tuesday the shop was rather organized and seemed ledigit to be able to do the work. They had what looked like about 30 or so rebuilt heads all lined on shelfs and blocks in all stages of rebuilt or bare on the ground all lined up under the shelfs.. I was actually impressed by the stuff I saw. I did notice that all the employees were Mexican and didn't speak english. Being that I know the area where the shop is located I figured this would be the case. I speak spanish so the grammer I kinda understand. I just don't like the feeling that they are trying to play me for uneducated or that I don't know what my truck was doing when it broke down. He said "when my truck overheated it did yadayada" Then I said "my truck has never overheated". Then he said "then why did the valve seat drop out?" I said "because it broke" lol.. I am not convinced that it even did that. I do know that he has me paying for a head core so I will be taking it with me.. They don't want me to get real upset.. I been known to do stupid things I end up regretting. But I feel I make a point.

 

FWIW...

I have 240,000 on my 5.7 hemi, and already have a line on a new and dealer installed engine for around $5000+$1600 labor with 3 year/36,000 mile warranty for when my engine gives up the ghost.

I called them, got the quote, got the estimated amount of time it would take to swap it, and wrote it all down in my maintenance log in the glove box.

Currently burning a quart every 2000 miles. When I have to add a quart every 1000 miles, I will start saving for the swap.

 

Here in Washington they are required by law to have written consent before they exceed a quote by more than 10%. Shops are also required to keep all parts on hand that were replaced for inspection and return to the customer if they so choose. It's actually one of the better laws on the books in this retarded state! Too bad more people aren't aware of it and allow shops to take advantage of them, kind of like the Magnuson Moss Act all the dealers try so hard to bypass.

 

Just out of curiosity, do they know you speak spanish? I have always wished I could so if they change to spanish, which they regularly do, it would be great to chime in if they are trying to badmouth or swindle you.

 

My engine was burning a qt every 3500 miles. I change my oil regurlarly and have oil and filters in stock at the shop. I take great care of my truck so it dieing on me feels like I failed it somehow.. If that makes sense..
Personaly I might consider getting a new truck before spending $6600 on a motor.. I WAS going to get a new truck but we decided to add a room to the house instead.. Whatever money I save from that might could go towards the Comet .
I recently had to spend on a trans and now this motor.. All I have for the car are dreams as always . But I have some money saved and am slowly adding to it for the suspension..

 

I am lery about any parts they show me. They are probably not mine to begin with. Sure they can hold them so the customer can see them, but when a customer leaves them then they have them for the next show and tell..

If they see me they will figure I do speak spanish lol

 

Good point on the parts, the only ones you could trust to do that are the ones you would probably never have to ask.

I gave up on assuming who does and doesn't speak spanish here. I worked with a guy that people thought he did and would walk right up to him and start talking away in spanish, he was Native American and highly offended. The clincher was when a guy came in and looked like he came straight from Ireland, red hair, freckles and all. He came to the counter and said speaka spanish? We were all floored.

 

I have a friend that worked at a transmission shop for about 3 months. he said they had worn transmission parts just to show customers...

 

Got my truck back but not without having to argue ALOT. He (Frank) was not a very nice person. He wanted and did show me how he keeps all these parts in stock to do these jobs so cheap.. I wasn't acusing him of not putting in the parts. What I was upset about is one of my fog lamps is broken, my AC is not cold when it was working and my check engine light is on.
He (loudly) stated several times that they do not open the AC system. They pull the compressor to the side. He denied breaking the lamp and had his mechanic hook up a scanner and reset the check engine light. I suggested that maybe it was something unplugged. We looked and everything was plugged. He handed me some AC guages and said I could hook them up if I wanted to. I did and there was no freon..
Back up to when I first got there..
Frank was not there. He was "at the bank". His cousin showed me the heads. One had a valve seat out of position under the valve. There was another set of identical heads close by and it had the exact same seat out as well. It was in worse condition.. I did not see any crack nor do I feel that warents a core deposit. The cousin "does not know how Frank deals with that".. The cousin started to explain how this happens when an engine over heats and stopped explaining and said "wait".. "this one doesn't look over heated.. the gaskett was still good" as he was running his fingers around the gaskett areas. So then he says "well.. Frank says overheated but he means that aluminum expands".. NO SH!P!! :16suspect
So the cousin and I spoke for awhile and even joked about some stuff. I was feeling ok.. Then Frank shows up..
My daughter was there for support and to help drive my wifes car back home 100 miles. Dorothy is sick today .. She thought it was funny when I told Frank he needed to go to school and learn about engines.
So because of the arguing and all I failed to refuse to pay for a core on the head. I paid $2200 and that was with him "giving" me $50 towards freon and $50 towards my fog lamp.
I made it home no problems..

 

Forgot to mention that the piston was slapped a few times.. The cousin said it could have been worse. THAT'S when he pointed out the other set of heads laying close by.. He said it was common on the 4.7's. My take on it is that it may be so but they are blaming it on overheating when it may or may not be.. People just tend to believe what a mechanic says I guess..

 

I tried to explain that to him but he denied any fault even though I would give him an out by saying it happens..

 

$50 for freon isn't going to cover parts and labor to fix whatever they broke that caused the leak.

I would assume something is broken, not just moved a bit to allow it to leak.

 

To be fair there was/is about 8psi in the low side.. I bought a couple of cans on the way home yesterday. I been debating on just adding it vs doing a vacuum and charge.. System holds 26ozs so leaving what little is there will put me closer to full since the cans are 12ozs ea. I'll be heading to my shop to add the freon and look the engine over in a little bit..

My truck is usually full inside and out with tools and supplies, parts etc.. I took everything out except the floor mats before it left to the shop. It will be getting a full detail tomorrow ..