Post dealer fix (heater core) issues...
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Litchfield, Maine
Post dealer fix (heater core) issues...
Hi everyone - First Post, I wish is was under better circumstances...2012 JKU Sahara 6 speed.
I never go to dealerships for repairs. My heater core had been acting up for past year or so. No heat on driver side. Been there, seen that.
I have a 100k extended warranty and I'm running at 94k miles - heater core was covered. After much deliberation I decided to let the stealership do the repair...it just the heater core..what could go wrong.
I took it in first thing in the morning after making an appointment to have it diagnosed and fixed. I had already let the warranty company know about the issue and it was not an issue (Fidelity warranty Co).
I was told by the service manager that I made the appointment with that they would have it fixed and ready by the end of the day as long as I had it in first thing in the morning. I did.
Later that afternoon I got a call that my car was ready to be picked up...it needed a new heater core and they had found a hole in my radiator. Neither of which were in stock and I needed to make an appointment to have it fixed the following week. What???
OK - slightly annoying, not what I had been promised but it would all be covered by the warranty.
So I take it back the following week and they needed 2 days for the repair...hmmm.
They call me end of business the next day and tell me its all ready. I pick it up, look under the hood at the radiator, pop out the glove box and take a look to make sure there was a new heater core and waited for my jeep to warm up...the heat was blasting in no time and started to drive away.
STOP - my airbag light is still on....and NO it was not on when I dropped it off.
I go back in and say "the heat is working great, but my airbag light is on??"
They asked what I had done (10 minutes after leaving) and full my file... according to the mechanics note my airbag light was on when I brought the car in the previous week. Absolutely not I say and ask to see the mechanics notes.
Then another service manager chimes in..."Oh yes, I remember...the mechanic had said you need a new seat belt tensioner on your passenger side of your jeep."
Of course I argue about the light not being on, I ask to speak to the mechanic (who has left for the day 415pm), I ask for a copy of his notes etc.. etc.
1. It is obvious that he wrote in the air bag issue after the fact...It is out of place and in capital letters...
2. I asked why this wasn't addressed with me or the warranty company last week....no answer to that question.
They tell me they will call the warranty co in. the am and let me know what they can do...
Royally pissed off yet calm I agree to see what they say in the am and leave.
Problem # 2
As I drive homey jeep sounds like poo...
3rd and fourth gear have a noticeable metallic rattling sound on the way home...In my head I am thinking..."Did my jeep always sound like this? I must be paranoid..."
After a ten minute drive home I hop out of my jeep and take a look underneath....tranny looks like it has a little oil on the bottom....WTF.
First off I live in Maine and my rock driveway has been covered in snow for the season. There were no leaks of any kind and if there were the snow would have shown it.
Secondly, My jeep had thrown a P0420 code a few weeks ago and I had been under neath to throw a temp gun on my cats to see what was going on...My transmission as well as the rest of the jeep were dry as a bone. I KNOW there were no fluids on the underneath of transmission before going to the dealer for my repair.
I jump online and find a youtube video where someone described the same sound I was hearing on his rubi due to being low on transmission fluid.
I run out to the store and by 3 quarts of synchromesh and loosen up the fill port...This required a piece of pipe in order to break free.
Now that I knew I would be able to fill up after draining the fluid I moved on to the drain plug. I throw a 17mm hex socket on the plug, grab a 17mm wrench and the plug breaks loose with practically no effort...make your own conclusions...I may just be paranoid but I doubt it.
Problem 3:
The next day I had to goto work....That night as I was leaving work my car jumped out of first gear...scared the shit out of me. If its never happened to you it is fairly loud and feels like you were rear ended. Now my jeep JOG in first unless I apply pressure to the shifter to keep it in gear.
Problem 4:
Now that my heat is back to normal I practically cooked myself on the way home. I goto put down my rear windows and nothing happens on either side. After a little investigation I realize that the door locks are not working on either back door as well.
I have searched and cannot find a fix for any of these problems. The warranty company wont cover the airbag issue as per the dealer and the dealership is taking no responsibility for the myriad of problems that have all appeared the day after they tore apart my jeep.
I have no interest in letting this dealership or any touch my jeep ever again.
Any help would be appreciated, let me know if I left anything out or if you have any questions.
Sadly,
JKFranco -
I never go to dealerships for repairs. My heater core had been acting up for past year or so. No heat on driver side. Been there, seen that.
I have a 100k extended warranty and I'm running at 94k miles - heater core was covered. After much deliberation I decided to let the stealership do the repair...it just the heater core..what could go wrong.
I took it in first thing in the morning after making an appointment to have it diagnosed and fixed. I had already let the warranty company know about the issue and it was not an issue (Fidelity warranty Co).
I was told by the service manager that I made the appointment with that they would have it fixed and ready by the end of the day as long as I had it in first thing in the morning. I did.
Later that afternoon I got a call that my car was ready to be picked up...it needed a new heater core and they had found a hole in my radiator. Neither of which were in stock and I needed to make an appointment to have it fixed the following week. What???
OK - slightly annoying, not what I had been promised but it would all be covered by the warranty.
So I take it back the following week and they needed 2 days for the repair...hmmm.
They call me end of business the next day and tell me its all ready. I pick it up, look under the hood at the radiator, pop out the glove box and take a look to make sure there was a new heater core and waited for my jeep to warm up...the heat was blasting in no time and started to drive away.
STOP - my airbag light is still on....and NO it was not on when I dropped it off.
I go back in and say "the heat is working great, but my airbag light is on??"
They asked what I had done (10 minutes after leaving) and full my file... according to the mechanics note my airbag light was on when I brought the car in the previous week. Absolutely not I say and ask to see the mechanics notes.
Then another service manager chimes in..."Oh yes, I remember...the mechanic had said you need a new seat belt tensioner on your passenger side of your jeep."
Of course I argue about the light not being on, I ask to speak to the mechanic (who has left for the day 415pm), I ask for a copy of his notes etc.. etc.
1. It is obvious that he wrote in the air bag issue after the fact...It is out of place and in capital letters...
2. I asked why this wasn't addressed with me or the warranty company last week....no answer to that question.
They tell me they will call the warranty co in. the am and let me know what they can do...
Royally pissed off yet calm I agree to see what they say in the am and leave.
Problem # 2
As I drive homey jeep sounds like poo...
3rd and fourth gear have a noticeable metallic rattling sound on the way home...In my head I am thinking..."Did my jeep always sound like this? I must be paranoid..."
After a ten minute drive home I hop out of my jeep and take a look underneath....tranny looks like it has a little oil on the bottom....WTF.
First off I live in Maine and my rock driveway has been covered in snow for the season. There were no leaks of any kind and if there were the snow would have shown it.
Secondly, My jeep had thrown a P0420 code a few weeks ago and I had been under neath to throw a temp gun on my cats to see what was going on...My transmission as well as the rest of the jeep were dry as a bone. I KNOW there were no fluids on the underneath of transmission before going to the dealer for my repair.
I jump online and find a youtube video where someone described the same sound I was hearing on his rubi due to being low on transmission fluid.
I run out to the store and by 3 quarts of synchromesh and loosen up the fill port...This required a piece of pipe in order to break free.
Now that I knew I would be able to fill up after draining the fluid I moved on to the drain plug. I throw a 17mm hex socket on the plug, grab a 17mm wrench and the plug breaks loose with practically no effort...make your own conclusions...I may just be paranoid but I doubt it.
Problem 3:
The next day I had to goto work....That night as I was leaving work my car jumped out of first gear...scared the shit out of me. If its never happened to you it is fairly loud and feels like you were rear ended. Now my jeep JOG in first unless I apply pressure to the shifter to keep it in gear.
Problem 4:
Now that my heat is back to normal I practically cooked myself on the way home. I goto put down my rear windows and nothing happens on either side. After a little investigation I realize that the door locks are not working on either back door as well.
I have searched and cannot find a fix for any of these problems. The warranty company wont cover the airbag issue as per the dealer and the dealership is taking no responsibility for the myriad of problems that have all appeared the day after they tore apart my jeep.
I have no interest in letting this dealership or any touch my jeep ever again.
Any help would be appreciated, let me know if I left anything out or if you have any questions.
Sadly,
JKFranco -
JK Junkie
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,199
Likes: 218
From: Over the hill
There's a very old saying in my family about half of the problems with machines being caused by previous work. There's a lot of truth in it, and it doesn't matter whether were talking cars, homes, power plants, etc. I've been on both ends of this -- End users claiming coincidental or unrelated problems were caused by repairs/modifications/design changes, as well as fixing screw-ups by others. Someone that's good at what they do will have a minimum of mistakes, but no one is perfect. And there are some people that have the fecal touch, about everything they touch turns to $hit.
How much was the transmission low? A little low, like 1/2 pint probably won't cause harm in the short term. A quart or more is bad, if it was near empty it's done. I doubt they would pull the transmission drain plug during the heater repairs, even during a courtesy fluid check.
The air bag problem sounds like it could be related, there is also a recall that may apply. Maybe take it to another shop and ask them document the root cause of the problems and go from there.
How much was the transmission low? A little low, like 1/2 pint probably won't cause harm in the short term. A quart or more is bad, if it was near empty it's done. I doubt they would pull the transmission drain plug during the heater repairs, even during a courtesy fluid check.
The air bag problem sounds like it could be related, there is also a recall that may apply. Maybe take it to another shop and ask them document the root cause of the problems and go from there.
Last edited by Mr.T; Feb 2, 2018 at 02:37 PM.
Thread Starter
JK Newbie
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Litchfield, Maine
There's a very old saying in my family about half of the problems with machines being caused by previous work. There's a lot of truth in it, and it doesn't matter whether were talking cars, homes, power plants, etc. I've been on both ends of this -- End users claiming coincidental or unrelated problems were caused by repairs/modifications/design changes, as well as fixing screw-ups by others. Someone that's good at what they do will have a minimum of mistakes, but no one is perfect. And there are some people that have the fecal touch, about everything they touch turns to $hit.
How much was the transmission low? A little low, like 1/2 pint probably won't cause harm in the short term. A quart or more is bad, if it was near empty it's done. I doubt they would pull the transmission drain plug during the heater repairs, even during a courtesy fluid check.
The air bag problem sounds like it could be related, there is also a recall that may apply. Maybe take it to another shop and ask them document the root cause of the problems and go from there.
How much was the transmission low? A little low, like 1/2 pint probably won't cause harm in the short term. A quart or more is bad, if it was near empty it's done. I doubt they would pull the transmission drain plug during the heater repairs, even during a courtesy fluid check.
The air bag problem sounds like it could be related, there is also a recall that may apply. Maybe take it to another shop and ask them document the root cause of the problems and go from there.
I agree with you and would like to believe that no one would intentionally drain fluid from a vehicle with malice...Im not going to waste time thinking about the motivations of others...I just want to try and trouble shoot the problem I have so I can fix them myself or have the knowledge to take it to another shop and get it properly diagnosed. Thanks for you comments...(fecal touch - LOL) Cheers!
Does anyone have a good mechanic they can recommend in Maine somewhere between Portland and Augusta?? Preferably that works on jeeps on the regular...Im still hoping I can avoid that...
JK Junkie
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,199
Likes: 218
From: Over the hill