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Erik Olson (Jon)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 04:26 pm: | 
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I just wanted to give a really good guy his due because guys like him deserve recognition when they go beyond what most consumers have come to expect.
I posted about a month ago about my 1995 D1 that would not start in the morning and got some good advice here for things to look for. After no success on my own, I took the vehicle to a dealer in Walnut Creek who shall remian nameless. The dealer adjusted the transmission selector cable for a reasonable price, however, a week later I was found myself stuck in my driveway with the same symptoms.
The frustration came with the fact that the damn thing would eventually start after multiple turns of the ignition.
I took the vehicle back to aforementioned (but nameless) dealer and rented a car on my own dime while they looked over it for two more days with no joy in isolating the problem. After some fussing, the service manager agreed not to charge me for the "diagnostic" as they were unable to provide a fix - but did recommend $1200 in electrics work to include a starter, eproms update, wiring loom update and a half-grand in labor.
Needless to say, I wanted to buy my own starter and have someone friendly to my plight do the install - so I hesitated and drove the truck under duress for another week. I'd now been stranded in my driveway each morning for ten minutes or so while the confounded machine seemingly started only after much cursing and up to fifty turns of the key.
That brings me to Roverland San Francisco - a truly small, independent shop run by an enthusiast, Phillipe Antoine Gonzalez (he alledges a dis-like towards servicing Series trucks - although I cannot confirm his position).
I'd met him some year ago at an Northern California Rover Club free clinic that his shop hosted on basic maitenance (e.g. parking brake adjustment, etc.) and happened to be near his shop last week.
I dipped in, hoping he would sell me a used starter on the cheap, but was surprised when he dropped his lunch and crawled right under my rig. No appointment, no estimate, no bullshit.
He ASKED me about ten quick questions while leaning on the ARB bumper - I could tell he was giving me the full benefit of his attention:
"When does it not start?"
First start of the day.
"And the rest of the day?"
No problem.
"Do you park inside or outside?"
Outside now, my wife just bought a new Volvo.
"Does everything inside light up, fans blow, headlights work?"
Yep.
At this point he dropped on under the car and emerged about a minute later as I looked on. He smiled and explained that he believed there was a loose connection to the starter (actually I had not even thought to check this! - idiot boy) and that in the morning, after being cool overnight, there was a small build-up of moisture at the starter terminal.
Each time I was turning the ignition with no result, a spark was still present - eventually warming the connectors and drying the moisture. At this point, (up to fifty key turns later) the vehicle would mysteriously turn over and I'd have no means of diagnosing the problem - but at least the car was running!
He told me to take a 13mm spanner and clean rag to the terminal and then re-tighten the connection. He took the time to remind me that it was a brass fitting and to be careful. He cared, and did not charge me a dime for taking what must have been a half-hour of his lunchtime.
What really pisses me off is that I took the thing to the dealer - to factory-trained specialists. If they had only listened like Phillipe, they may have made a better diagnosis. If I had given them $1200 for a new starter, they would have solved the problem in the course of swapping out the old for the new - not because the starter was bad, but because they would've tightened the loose wire to the new starter. I'd have never known the difference.
I need the $1200 for modifications, not for parts that I already own and Phillipe seems to get it. Anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area who is looking for an honest, hardworking specialist - here he is.
Thank you again Phillipe, and d-web for letting me tout him in an open forum.
Erik |
Randall Smith
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 04:51 pm: |
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And thank you for posting the solution to your problem.
Randall |
Jeff Anderson (Groovydude)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 05:14 pm: |
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Can you really blame the dealership. I mean if they looked at the Disco after it had started they would not have seen the problem like Phillipe stated. Unless the terminal was really that loos to where it was noticable when checked. Just a thought. And thanks for the update. I`ll keep that fix in mind. |
Erik Olson (Jon)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 05:57 pm: |
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Jeff,
Both the dealer service dept. and Roverland had the same information, a truck that was running at the time of diagnosis and a desperate customer willing to talk about symptoms for hours if needed.
I drove the vehicle to Walnut Creek (the second time) in the evening and dropped it off specifically so they would have the benefit of an early morning cold start-up (or lack thereof). This is a luxury Phillipe did not have - he crawled under the car while it was hot.
The only restriction the dealer had was their own unwillingness to think about the possible scenarios without so much emphasis on emptying their customer's wallet.
e |
JMcD
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 06:17 pm: |
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Every Dealer I have ever been to sucks hard. Glad you got your rig fixed!! File that under "check the basics first." |
chris sharpe (C_M_Sharpe)
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 02, 2002 - 06:42 pm: |
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If only Roverland was in the southbay!!! |
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