Incompetence: It's Not Just at the VW Dealers

[PDJetta]

I found a wrong serpentine belt tensioner installed after servicing by an independent shop. This weekend my in-laws asked me about a bad belt squeel they were having with their Dodge mini-van. Since my wife and I were spending the weekend with them at their timeshare, I said I would take a look when we meet up. After I got there, I went for a drive in the in-laws' car and it squeeled like crazy at all speeds. Definite belt slip. So I take a peek under the hood. I concluded, without a doubt, the "mechanic" who serviced their car before their trip installed the wrong serpentine belt tensioner with the new belt. The tensioner was too narrow, by about 25%, for the belt. How hard is it to look at the belt, and then look at the tensioner, and notice that they do not match up? The tensioner sliced the belt along its entire length and the new belt was now about 1/4 of its width narrower, with one side jagged its entire length, The belt now matched the width of the brand new tensioner and the belt was correspondingly about 3/4 the width of all the pulleys. The tensioner, since it was for a skinnier belt, probally had less spring tension than the correct tensioner. Unbelievable! There were no belt fragments left under the hood, but they drove for about 900 miles with the belt squeeling, so they must have been long gone, go figure.

What is even more odd, about 300 miles before I took a look, the water pump failed during their trip and the car was towed to a shop, and the wrong tensioner went un-noticed. The ragged belt was removed to put a new water pump on and the same belt re-installed.

I showed my wife's brother-in-law what I found and I highly recommended that someone local fix this before their return trip. I just did not have the means to replace the tensioner myself. His response was, "Well, it made it this far, it should make it back so I can take this car back and have it fixed correctly." I have no idea if he and his family made it back, my wife will call them a little later today. This guy knows nothing about cars: the engine was just filthy, the brake fluid in the reservoire was black, and one of the battery terminals was so corroded it was about to fall off! The car was quite neglected. I am just glad I don't have to live like this!

--Nate

 

[Powder Hound]

Sounds like a van full of trouble just waiting to happen. <sarcasm>And to think it is all because Chrysler designed such a poor product...</sarcasm>

 

[TurbinePower]

Sounds like a van full of trouble just waiting to happen. <sarcasm>And to think it is all because Chrysler designed such a poor product...</sarcasm>

Well obviously they should have known better than to design a tensioner that could bolt onto the wrong engine. Really, what were they thinking?

 

[PDJetta]

The van had a V-6 in it. Maybe a tensioner for a 4-cylinder was installed.

Amazingly, my in-laws made it back home the 700 miles they were driving without incident. The brother-in-law wanted to show the error to his mechanic so he could "rip him a new one" for installing a wrong part. I did notice that the belt did not degrade on its underside in 1500 miles of use and I think that may have played into the decision to drive it home without proper repair, but I would not have done it. It made a really bad squeel under all conditions.

I should have gotten a picture of this to post, I did take my camera on the trip, I just did not think of it at the time.
--Nate

 

[MrMopar]

This guy knows nothing about cars: the engine was just filthy, the brake fluid in the reservoire was black, and one of the battery terminals was so corroded it was about to fall off! The car was quite neglected. I am just glad I don't have to live like this!

A while ago, someone posted a link to a UK TV clip that showed how frightfully many cars in GB were extremely low on oil simply because most motorists there are blathering idiots who can't do simple maintenance checks. I was amazed, and wondered how stupidity could be breed into a population en mass like that.

Then, when I think back, I see similar things in the US. I remember back to my days of the Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express, and remember the cars that came in for oil changes with engines sludged up about 99% solid. I remember the cars that came in missing the air-filter box, with a rag clamped over the air intake tube with a hose clamp. I remember the junk 4wd SUV that came in with owner complaining how the front tires didn't grip in the snow with the 4wd turned on, and I found the front driveshaft completely missing. I remember the cars that came in for new tires with the old tires having steel cords showing through the racing-slick rubber that was remaining.

All this, and glancing at the idiot foreign nationals around me driving like they're in the home country has me convinced that the USA is 99% populated by morons. The educated elite minority occasionally gathers in small groups like on this message board, and the only way we'll get by in life is making sure that we pass on a good education to our children so they can go out in the world and use/abuse/take advantage of all the peasants for financial gain.

 

[lkchris]

Then, when I think back, I see similar things in the US. I remember back to my days of the Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express, and remember the cars that came in for oil changes with engines sludged up about 99% solid. I remember the cars that came in missing the air-filter box, with a rag clamped over the air intake tube with a hose clamp. I remember the junk 4wd SUV that came in with owner complaining how the front tires didn't grip in the snow with the 4wd turned on, and I found the front driveshaft completely missing. I remember the cars that came in for new tires with the old tires having steel cords showing through the racing-slick rubber that was remaining.

And, this is how "reliability" is defined in the USA, i.e. never have to do nothing!

 

[MrMopar]

And, this is how "reliability" is defined in the USA, i.e. never have to do nothing!

In some ways, it's a shame that advances in technology and reliability of vehicles has put licensing and private vehicle ownership within reach of almost all of the general public. That means that the dedicated owners of cars are still put in danger from the possible calamities that might happen at the hands of incompetent drivers and mechanically deficient vehicles.

I compare it to flying. When air travel was deregulated, that put it in the range of affordability of the middle-class in America. Standards definitely went downhill when Joe Sixpack can jet off to Grandma's for a weekend. Now flying with the general public is like "The Clampets go to Orlando." It's a little disturbing to have to share space with the great unwashed and uncultured masses on a cross-country flight.

Maybe we need to go back a few steps to where only the moneyed could own cars and fly places . . .

 

[thebigarniedog]

I was amazed, and wondered how stupidity could be breed into a population en mass like that.
.....

All this, and glancing at the idiot foreign nationals around me driving like they're in the home country has me convinced that the USA is 99% populated by morons. The educated elite minority occasionally gathers in small groups like on this message board, and the only way we'll get by in life is making sure that we pass on a good education to our children so they can go out in the world and use/abuse/take advantage of all the peasants for financial gain.

Aren't you the guy that recommended using propane as a refrigerant replacement?

 

[MrMopar]

Aren't you the guy that recommended using propane as a refrigerant replacement?

Yes, and also recommended diesel fuel as an effective tick bath for dogs. But I moved on up to the big school (college graduate) so I'm only an honorary redneck.

 

[hevster1]

What is even more odd, about 300 miles before I took a look, the water pump failed during their trip and the car was towed to a shop, and the wrong tensioner went un-noticed. The ragged belt was removed to put a new water pump on and the same belt re-installed.

Maybe because he didn't want it?

This guy knows nothing about cars: the engine was just filthy, the brake fluid in the reservoire was black, and one of the battery terminals was so corroded it was about to fall off! The car was quite neglected. I am just glad I don't have to live like this!

--Nate

The second paragraph is why I think perhaps they did see it and he declined. Perhaps he was too embarrassed to admit it?
In the dealerships I used to get them all the time. I don't know how many times I heard the phrase "I only want the oil change" or "if it isn't under warranty I don't want it." My personal favorite is " i will bring it to my mechanic and see what he thinks". Well considering the lack of maintenance I doubt if "their mechanic" had ever seen the car.
This is far to common.

 

[Blackknight]

I remember the cars that came in for new tires with the old tires having steel cords showing through the racing-slick rubber that was remaining.

Guilty as charged.

I am getting them replaced tomorrow though.

 

[SootFoot]

All this, and glancing at the idiot foreign nationals around me driving like they're in the home country has me convinced that the USA is 99% populated by morons. The educated elite minority occasionally gathers in small groups like on this message board, and the only way we'll get by in life is making sure that we pass on a good education to our children so they can go out in the world and use/abuse/take advantage of all the peasants for financial gain.

Complete agreement.