[BLKCLOUD]

Back a few weeks ago on the coldest day we have had I went out to feed a roll of hay..well my tractor wouldnt start and I reckon I burnt up my starter..Well I ordered another one and got a local mechanic to come out to put it on..He got it on but it wouldnt turn over the motor,he took it off and it worked fine so he put it back on but it still wouldnt turn over the motor..stacked bearings was his guess, so I loaded it on a rollback,which of course got stuck and i had to call a bull dozer to pull it out..finally got it to the guys shop and he unhooked the rear drive shaft and it still wouldnt turn over, he took everything off the front of the motor and put a wrench on the end of the crank and it would barley move, next he took the oil pan off and loosened the mains and got it to move a little more, took the head off and nothing wrong there...thinking maybe a injector tip had broken and fell into the cylinder..so he pulls the motor out and starts to remove the crank thinking it may be bent when he notices a few metal shavings on the flywheel..so he took the new starter off to get a better look and waalaa the motor now spins freely, the nose of the new starter wasnt machined correctly and when the starter bolts were tightened up it locked against the flywheel and therefore locked up the motor..so now a $150.00 starter has turned into a $2K screwup..my question..do you think my name should be changed from blkcloud to blackercloud and do you think the company that sold me the faulty starter is responsible here any?? thanks!

 

[Wabash River Bear]

I would think it wouldnt hurt to try to recoop some if not all the repair cost. The worst they can do is say "no".

 

[biga]

thats a baaaaaaaaad deal hope the mechanic helps you out on the labor of putting the motor back together because he really should have caught the starter problem sooner ... he was thinking the worst to quick.... oooh: at my shop i would have eat my labor and probably the parts on that one to keep a customer happy.. but i would for sure check into getting some cash out of the parts supplier .....

 

[catfishjohn]

I would think it wouldnt hurt to try to recoop some if not all the repair cost. The worst they can do is say "no".

I totally agree with this. It definitely wouldn't hurt to try.

 

[SkipEye]

DANG!!!!! BlackestCloud comes to mind after that story!oooh: Doubt the starter company would be liable for anything more than the starter as it isn't their fault the mechanic tore down the whole thing before realizing the starter was the culprit! Good Luck! Doesn't hurt to try I suppose, it was their bad part.

 

[Wabash River Bear]

After reading the post again, I got to agree with Adam. The mechanic installed it, it didnt work, so he took it off and it worked fine (at this time he should have noticed where the flywheel was crammed into the nosecone). I would go after the mechanic or shop he works for for the labor and parts to put it back together, and the starter company for the starter.

 

[BKS72]

I'm with the "mechanic" faction - when I'm working on something like that I try to start simple and THEN tear the motor apart. The only thing that changed was the starter, I'd've checked it first. Don't know if you can get them to eat all of it, but if you lay it out for them politely I'd imagine they'd do something to make it right. Good Luck~

Branden

 

[Big Dav]

If all mechanics went buy the saying "If I can't do nothing to help you i sure am not going to do anything to hurt you". The mechanic is trying to charge you for guess work. He should have checked the starter first. The guess work started and your bill got bigger. Sad but it happens every day. I have seen a lot of mechanics trade out parts until the problem was fixed. Guess who paid for the guess work parts, thats right the owner of the experiment (car). I had a good friend once that worked in a GM garage and that practice was pretty common for him.:angry:
I would try the nice approach with the mechanic or shop but it may get ugly fast. Might even need legal action to solve the issue.:sad2:

Thanks
David

 

[223reload]

Sounds like an un sound Mech. to me,Starter problems are just that ,starter probs. Should have checked the gears to see if they were meshing or not before going to all that.

 

[metalman]

I know of what I speak, I am a qualified mechanic with over 40 years of experience behind me.
It was 100% the fault of the mechanic.
Nothing can be relied on. He should have compared the two starters side by side before fitting the new one. Even then, he sounds incompetent and obviously has no ability to logically trouble shoot a problem. How on earth can a failed starter lead to removing the crankshaft and cylinder head?
His tools should be confiscated and he should have idiot tattooed across his forehead.
I doubt that he will accept responsibility though. This probably will get ugly...W

 

[CountryHart]

Hopefully this can be reconciled outside of court. My bet is neither the parts jobber or the mechanic will step up and shoulder the blame. $40 roll of hay got expensive quick.:confused2:

 

[Mark J]

The coup de grace is when you supplied the starter.
Most of your garages that are worth a saltlick will go above and beyond and have good warranties on parts and labor if you buy the parts from them.

If you supply parts yourself you aren't saving a thing beyond right now , right this minute.

If they supplied the starter and all this happened, there is no way they could charge you for it.

 

[Dreadnaught]

A good mechanic would have found the problem when he took it back off the first time by turning the fly wheel to see if the motor was locked up the first time!!!! Bad starter or not, it should have never left the farm to begin with!!!

 

[willcat]

I agree w/everyone else, here we would only replace the starter for you since it is a manufactured defect. The mechanic tore into it "thinking" the worst, therefore he is responsible for the unnecessary tear down & labor!!!!!

 

[biga]

If all mechanics went buy the saying "If I can't do nothing to help you i sure am not going to do anything to hurt you". The mechanic is trying to charge you for guess work. He should have checked the starter first. The guess work started and your bill got bigger. Sad but it happens every day. I have seen a lot of mechanics trade out parts until the problem was fixed. Guess who paid for the guess work parts, thats right the owner of the experiment (car). I had a good friend once that worked in a GM garage and that practice was pretty common for him.:angry:
I would try the nice approach with the mechanic or shop but it may get ugly fast. Might even need legal action to solve the issue.:sad2:

Thanks
David

DAVE that was dead on the head!!! this [practice] of parts swaping and guess work is what makes it hard for a good mechanic to make a living because we all get labeled the same.. and the bad part is that people think it wont happen at a dealership!! bs..... i have friends at a local dealership that have called me to troubleshoot a problem for them after they have changed everything they can and it is sad because the customer pays!! a friend of mine that owns a garage put a water pump and a radiator on a customers car after her boyfriend tried to do it and dropped the ball in the middle of the job... well russel started over redid everything that the other guy had put together and finished the job .. happy customer......... wrong ....... 3 weeks later a belt tensioner locked up and started an engine fire and burned it pretty good... she calls from a cell phone and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is what kind of car are you going to buy me!!!!!! .... she said that he messed hers up and thats why it burned... i went to the impound yard and looked at it with a fire investigator and you could tell the fire started in the front of the motor so we got to looking at everythng and i started spinning accessories .. water pump ok.. alternator ok... power steering pump ok... belt tensioner..... locked and discolored around the hub... our story was that it locked at highway speed belt slipping caused it to heat up and ignite..... couldnt prove it but thats what it looked like .. well when it went to court the judge didnt even care.. he said that you were the last one to work on it and unless you have proof that you were not at fault them my decision is made.. she was awarded like $6200 for a car that wasnt worth $1000

 

[BLKCLOUD]

I took the 2 starters to the rebuild shop this morning..no one there could find anything different between the new one and the old one, finally I measured the flat spot on the drive housing and its .080 thicker than the original, that is what was binding the flywheel up. we have counted teeth and measured everything on there before taking this measurement. I'm going to pay the bill, I have known these guys for years and they do excellent work..this one just slipped by,honestly..I have replaced starters since my first truck at age 16 and have never seen a single one that did anything like this.If I were to blame anyone it would be the bosch inspector that let it out of the plant where it was machined. thanks guys! :sad2:

 

[BLKCLOUD]

Hopefully this can be reconciled outside of court. My bet is neither the parts jobber or the mechanic will step up and shoulder the blame. $40 roll of hay got expensive quick.:confused2:

$40 bucks?? where did you buy any for that..the smallest ones around here are $50 and go all the way up to $70 for the 6x6's that are really good first cuttings..:smile2:

 

[Flatheadhunter33]

Sorry to hear how things turned out for you brother. i hope that things start to look up for ya from here.

 

[catfishcrazy256]

I feel the mechanic should have checked into the starter more before he did anything else as for as the parts house they should replace the starter

 

[keyskevin]

I'd offer to pay for the gasket kit, if they'd cut you a deal on the labor. They should meet you in the middle, since you've been doing business with them for some time.