Local mechanic, usually pretty good, took my old Saab in as it has a fairly dramatic water leak, basically all the water falls out after 40 miles of driving.
Anyhow he returned the car last week, new part was about 30 quid, but needed 2 hrs of labour to fit because it was so hard to get access given size of engine..he had warned me that stripping out /refitting various parts was going to be the bulk of the cost to fix, and so it turned out.
Anyhow..car still leaks as bad as ever so has obviously misdiagnosed the leak, or there were 2 and he only fixed one of them. Not bothered about arguing the toss over the part he replaced, even if it didn't solve the issue, but given the cost of fixing will be at least another couple of hours labour stripping parts of engim bay, is it reasonable that I am expected to pay for that again?
That would entirely depend on the conversation you had at the start of the process. Did the part have a leak in it? If so they fixed one of the issues - what is the potential other one?
Check yourself.
Warm the car up with a short run, get it up on ramps or even a just a couple of blocks then leave it idling with the fans unplugged, heater off and radiator covered up as best you can. When it overheats water will pour out somewhere and it's up to you to find out where.
Reasonable to expect mechanic to properly fix the leak free of charge.
That would entirely depend on the conversation you had at the start of the proces
That went something along the lines of..
Me..there is a leak in my car, no idea where from
Him..its probably a split hose but getting to it will be an issue, probably 2 hrs worth of labour
Me..ok, bash on
Ask the mechanic if he's got a pressure tester. Normally you'd pressure the system to find the leak then check after fixing it.
Cheers that sounds like good advice! Kind of assumed he would have done that if he had one though but will ask.
Yeah the pressure test is one thing but the probably is also the get out of jail card
I don't mean to be that guy but,
You have an old Saab. That's the root cause, no?
You have an old Saab.
Yes I do, it's 21 this year. Generally a robust bit of equipment though slightly tatty looking and smells a bit internally. Age is not generally the root cause, sounds like a perishable part or rusting part has decided it's too much to carry on. My old beast needed the steel coolant manifold across the front of the engine replaced, if you get the wrong size o-ring (or forget to fit it) on the engine end coolant will widdle out. Not a couple of hours labour to fix it though.
You asked him to fix the leak.
He is the mechanic. He diagnosed the problem, but ultimately didn't fix the problem.
You need to return the car, and ask him to fix the original problem.
No need to get arsey with him if he is 'usually pretty good'. Sometimes faults do need more than 1 visit to resolve.
I had to fix a radiator pipe where an unclipped cable wore i nice groove.
Should have been a nice quick fix but can i get to either pipe clip?! Can I ****.
Result... Pipe on back seat, silicone tape holding up well...
Give the guy a chance!
I've had this a couple of times in the last 30 years:
Fix leak (hose or whatever).
Pressure test system.
Test drive.
Pressure test again.
Hand car back to customer.
Day later customer complains coolant leak.
Up shot is that the pressure has been restored to the system with the first fix, but that normal/increased pressure takes out another component - usually a hose.
He should have warned you that this might happen though. I'm assuming an older vehicle with 'crispy' hoses, which might not be the case here.
Hth
Well it turns out the issue was fixed, the problem was an air bubble in the system that by total coincidence caused the warning light to come on after pretty much exactly the same amount of miles as usual. The air bubble had worked it's way to the Top of the system meaning there was no water in the water reservoir when I looked.
Anyhow, filled it back up and he pressure tested again and no issues since
That is good.
Tell the guy that if he can fix Brexit we'll all chip in?
Fix it, like "make it stop happening, and doesn't come back again in future"
Like you do with a leak?
^^ Yeah, that would do. Or the Guy Fawkes method.
I'm easy.
I got my pitchfork out for nothing?