MOTHERF***ING CROOKS - Zoran Harrison
**********DO NOT USE THESE xxxxxxxx**********
I am an owner operator transporter for Horizon Transport, transporting travel trailers cross country to dealerships. on 12/15/2017 I took my 2008 Ford F-250 into Greenwood Ford Dealership in Bowling Green Kentucky for scheduled maintenance, oil and fuel filter change. During that maintenance the tech (Nate) could not remove the engine fuel filter cap and they had to break it in order to remove it, then replace it with a new one at my expense. Which was fine with me. Then the tech (Nate) had problems with the oil filter cap. The service writer (Chris) advised me that the filter had separated and the end of the filter was stuck in the oil cap and said that it needs replaced too. I said that was not necessary, I walked to the tech’s bay and removed the filter end from the cap myself. Saving me around another $50. Once the service was completed my vehicle was pulled up to the service lane where I checked out and went to leave, but upon starting my vehicle I could hear an unfamiliar sound, kind of like a ticking or slight knocking. I just put it down to air bubbles still working their way out of the fuel lines after the filter change. So I drove out of the dealership and went over to IHOP which was directly across the street (out of Ford, across 4 lanes and into IHOP parking lot). When in the middle of the road my check engine light came on. I continued to IHOP and had dinner. When leaving IHOP I went to hit the freeway which was about 1/10th of a mile down the road, but noticed the vehicle would not rev above 2500RPM and would not shift above 2nd or 3rd gear. At this point I didn’t enter the onramp but went over the freeway to turn around. While at the turn around point I stopped and call Greenwood Ford and asked for service but was advised they were closed. I continued to drive back to the Dealer and spoke with a salesman and he provided me with a loner car so I could get to a hotel while I wait for Service to open in the morning.
The next morning (12/16/17) Chris scanned the codes that caused the check engine light, he told me it was a problem with the high pressure fuel pump (HPFP). So chris had a tech investigate a little deeper. The tech checked the fuel filters and found that the inline fuel filter under the truck was not installed correctly. Chris told me that the cap was not screwed on correctly and that it had been sucking Air and Dirt. The tech cleaned the dirt from the threads of the fuel filter cap and re-installed the filter. Then he cleared the codes from the computer and took it for a test drive. When the tech returned he said it is still not running like normal and that the check engine light cam on again, so he checked the codes again. And it was the same code as before. The tech continued to investigate and found that the fuel pressure was too high. Which indicated to him that the HPFP had gone bad. At this point I feel that this is fault of the Dealership for not installing the fuel filter correctly. They denied, causing me to have to stay in Bowling Green for 8 days and pay for this repair costing close to $3000. And $1000 for my accommodations.
I spoke with the service manage and the general manager concerning the matter of the incorrect installation of the fuel filter causing the HPFP to go out and they told me they are not responsible for it that I was not their fault. I feel differently as I did not bring it into the Dealership like that. All they was willing to do was offer me a 25% discount on the repairs. The quote was $3847.60 less 25% brought it down to $2915.51, I was charged for parts like cab bolts and washers at a cost of $64.68, but after inspection those bolts are not new. License plate bulbs, my license plate bulbs were not replaced nor did I authorize them to be replaced, the fuel lines that go from the HPFP are single use only but were not replaced even tho I was charged for them. These are just a few examples of what I was charged for that I can physically see. How much was I charged for that I cant see?? I was charged for 2 different types of transmission fluid, this truck only takes one type! The HPFP was $208.09 more expensive than me buying it directly from ford… as were most of the other parts on the invoice. I asked the general manager why they were price gouging and doing work I did not authorize and all he said was that look at the 25% discount we gave you though. I said what does the discount matter if you are price gouging in the first place. He had no reply but PAY YOUR BILL OR LEAVE!! So I paid as I needed to get back on the road to make money. I feel that the ford dealership is responsible for this repair and not me, they are the ones that screwed up!! As for this next problem I describe I feel Greenwood Ford is still Responsible for the ongoing problems. I did call Ford Customer Service but all they could say is they would note my complaint and forward it to the Dealership so their management could review it, I have heard nothing from Greenwood Ford.
Once the repair was done I drove to a friends house for Christmas (60miles away) then on 12/26/2017 I drove back to northern Indiana to pick up my next load to transport. The truck seemed to be running okay, except now I was blowing a lot of white smoke out of the exhaust.
On 12/28/2017 I picked up my next trailer for transport, it was going from Howe, Indiana to Chesterton, Indiana (99miles). During this transport the truck went into reduced power mode 25 miles into the transport. So I pulled over and shut the truck down, checked the fluids and found that the coolant was low so I topped it up with gold coolant. I start the truck back up and it is not in reduced power mode anymore, so I continue down the road. I get another 20ish miles and it does it again, so I repeat the same steps as before. This happens to me 4 times in the 99mile transport. On the way back to Goshen Indiana I don’t have any problems except the smoking from the exhaust. So I pick up my next load from Goshen that was going to Texas. Once again I get about 25 miles and it goes into reduced power mode again so I pull over and top up the coolant and restart the truck. I get another 25miles down the road and it does it again so I limp over to the closest Ford Dealer Which was in LaPorte. They scan the computer and say it is in reduced power mode because the coolant has low flow/poor performance. They advise me that the thermostats are bad, and need replaced. (thermostats were just replaced less than 2 months ago) so I get a hotel and put the truck into the shop the next day for the repairs. This seems to fix the problem but while the tech was doing the repairs he noticed that GREEN Coolant was in the Cooling System. This was wrong as this truck requires GOLD Coolant. Mixing coolants of different types can cause sludging in the cooling system and said that is probably why the new thermostats failed, he advised. Later that day I am back on the road and the truck seem to be doing okay except for this white smoke from the exhaust and uses about 5gallons of coolant over the 1000miles and again goes into reduced power mode twice. Due to the mixing of different Coolants and the sludging that occurred on the thermostats it seems that was not the last of my problems, after talking to diesel tech’s it sounds like there are other blockages in the coolant system. Possibly the oil cooler which is another huge $3000 repair, after finding this out I call the service manager and ask him what he is willing to do about putting the wrong coolant in my truck and he said “nothing” on your bill it shows we billed you for gold coolant so that is what we put in it! I told him that the tech at the LaPorte dealer would testify to pulling green coolant out and then the service manager told me, “well there is no reason for us to be talking then, just have you attorney talk to our attorney and hung up the phone.
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