Just spoke with the service manager of the dealership...... they replaced the park brake actuator and that's good to go..... bit she told me that my thermostat housing is leaking as well as my transmission pan....I told her I was aware of the thermo housing and that it was a slow leak, but that they'd just serviced the transmission and replaced the pan 3 weeks ago so they'd need to handle that....she asks to call ke back.....calls back says tranny is fine, but thermo housing is leaking so bad it's dripping on the transmission. ....wtf....is that even possible?

 

Not sure about down-under, but between gravity, convoluted shapes under the leak to be followed, and effects of air-over off the fans, it is certainly possible in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

They had seen a leak from the transmission pan but not realized it was water

and not ATF!!

 

I'm not down under, and I can see how it could possibly reach that far back on a cold engine, but it seems to me she was back pedaling because she got caught in a lie. My real concern is what the exact nature of that lie may be. It seems to me likely that what occured is there is still a transmission leak as they didn't replace the pan and sleeve for which I paid to be installed, but rather just topped up the transmission with fluid and charged me for the extra parts but didn't install them....

 

Big dealerships sometimes get things lost in the translation the old storey to many Chief's and not enough Indians
and the poor receptionist is the one left holding the bag

Recently went through something similar with my local Jeep dealership was told that you could only have 2 keys programmed for the car your average person might have accepted that statement
I needed 3 keys for the car one for me one for my wife and one for a spare logical I would have thought in this day and age

Needless to say some forum surfing and a phone call to head office problem solved yes it possible to have as many keys as possible

Recently returned too the dealer to check some fault codes got a phone call from the head mechanic later in the day spoke to him at length

Now we have an understanding he rings me first before doing anything to the Jeep that way nothing gets lost in the paperwork

 

yeah, I'm seeing one common factor in every problem that I've had with this dealership......the service manager......

I think that she's technically incompetent and just catches keywords from techs and digs up whatever she thinks she can find to 'fix' based off those keywords.....

 

Having been (though not in autos) or hired and trained 'Service' folks, the primary attribute sought is a personality and skillset that can de-fuse tense situations and calm the argumentative. Confidence, trust, and similar 'feel good' factors.

Ability to convey technical information accurately (very few nowadays are THEMSELVES at all technically inclined..) is also valuable, but too often allowed to slip to secondary importance.

The idea behind it is that if the Service [Manager | Writer] can keep the customer complaisant, the technoids can sort the issues and the admin/billing/cashier munchkins can collect.

Rinse, rewind, repeat.

All with minimal strife or the distraction of having to deal with the details of the machinery at one side of the wall, or the customer on the other side.

Space, heat, light, power, investment amortizations, salaries, overheads, and various Sputnik hamsters starve if the velocity of that wheel slows-down too much.

Some firms work the specializations as a well-integrated team that delivers value for the customer, earns them a stable living.

Others, NOT.

Hence, 'Wall job' or 'GFUB unit replacement' situations ensue.

 

I'm on the verge of a meltdown...

Picked my car up today from having the epb actuator and thermo housing replaced...
Make the 24 mile trek home and park in the driveway..... Come back out to run some errands and the fuel gauge has lost its mind and I have an air suspension fault and the vehicle adjusts height randomly

 

Aaaaaannnnnnnnddddd

While driving it out to the dealer, I got a parking brake fault........

 

Heres what is at work, the fuel tank had to be lowered 60mm to access the brake motor. It probably got lowered too far and damaged the fuel level sensor harness. The rear subframe had to be lowered, the suspension has two suspension level sensors on it. The tech probably did not disconnect the battery after lifting the car and before messing with the subframe and messed up the suspension setting programming. If the power is on and the level sensors are moved and not in the exact same position when the work is finished, they think the car is in a different position the settings are blown. It just needs resetting, but it will require the dealer WDS computer. I could be all wrong but the results you got could be produced by this sequence.

 

Occams razor is still pointing straight at the wiring connector under the right rear seat and that's what's been the problem all along. .....but I do see how your scenario has plausibility

 

Geee, whadda ya know....after a full day of two techs working on tye car, they tell me that it's the connector under the right rear seat.....the same connector ive been asking them to check out for a month only to he repeatedly told it couldnt be the problem and that I didnt know what I was talking about...
.

 

I wonder if they realize this means I'll be expecting a refund of all the money I paid them to fix the stuff they proclaimed 'broken' that was really just being affected by pin corrosion in this connector

 

If they give you any trouble, there's always small claims court..

 

No, there's circuit court....my damages will exceed magistrate jurisdiction

 

Well, the dealership GM called today and assured me that I wouldnt be paying at all and we would discuss further concerns when the car was fixed......they've got to order the wiring harness to replace a corroded connector......but whatever, it's not on my dime

 

They ordered the harness.....the wrong harness......ordered the proper one and have no idea when it'll be in because it's coming from the UK and it doesn't even look like it has shipped yet....

I'm going to have been in a loaner for pretty much 2+ months straight

 

If ever there was an example of loosing a Kingdom for want of a horsehoe-nail, wiring connectors and harnesses have to be damned high on the list.

Goods such as bearings, fracture-split con rods, ECU, MAP sensors are hard to substitute.

'Basic' wire and connectors are very much the reverse.

'Lectricity just isn't all that picky so long as it has 'some form of' reliable conductive path that can carry the loads and signal types.

Time was, any competent technoid would have made-up a serviceable alternative (sometimes of better design than original, even!), said 'bring it back when the "factory" goods arrive, and we'll swap them in.'

That said, one surmises that it isn't so much the skill to do that having been lost, but the legal liabilities that societies have 'gained' - as constitute the barrier to such a simple course to getting you back on the road in your own vehicle.

 

Very true....In the mean time, I'm going to have put 3 thousand miles on this most recent loaner...

 

OMG- I have my baby back! And she seems to be working properly on all fronts!