Well, they had my truck for two days to diagnose a shutter in the engine/transmission that would occur while cruising between 40 and 50 mph. At the end of day one I received a phone call stating that "no codes were showing up on the computer scan and that the truck was fine and there was nothing more that they could do without check engine codes being sent." After talking with the tech for a few minutes, he decided to keep the truck for another day and drive it a bit longer to see if he could reproduce the engine/transmission shutter that I had been experiencing. At the end of day two, I got a call informing me that I needed a full transmission replacement to the tune of $5800. Quite a swing from being told there were no codes and nothing was wrong. I declined the service, as expected, and took the truck home, after paying the bill for diagnostics, that didn't produce any codes, for $134. The next day I changed the spark plugs and the intake manifold gasket, and to my surprise, my 40 mph engine shutter was gone and had not returned after 4 months now. The transmission does still shift a bit funny between 1st and 2nd gear still, but the shutter is gone. I feel like I didn't get much of a diagnostic scan of the vehicle if the spark plugs weren't even checked because the intake manifold needed to be removed in order to check them. My question is "what was the $134 for then?" Seems a bit expensive for a drive down the street diagnosis. In my opinion.
Ryan, I wanted to respond to your review and clear up a few details. As you stated we had your 2007 Lincoln MKX for two days, as no symptoms were occurring for us on the scheduled appointment day plus there were no codes being stored or recorded by your vehicle's computer system. After driving your vehicle a total of 25 miles over the two days we did confirm incorrect shifting of the transmission. Testing of the transmission control system revealed that all computer inputs and outputs were at spec, so the problem was diagnosed as an internal problem. Since your vehicle at that time had 249,628 miles on it the recommendation due to that high mileage would be transmission replacement. You paid $67.34 for the transmission diagnosis as noted on your invoice and nothing more. You also had a request for us to check for poor heat output and after testing the system's computer control, sensors and for codes we concluded that the heater core was restricted and recommended a back flush of the heater core as the next step. The diagnosis for the heater system was also $67.34 for a total of $134.67 which is one hour shop time. The technician actually had more than one hour invested in your vehicle but we try to keep cost down when possible to help our customers. Based on the fact that the shutter symptom did not occur while in our possession and the engine was not recording any misfire codes we did not pursue the spark plugs as there was no data at that time to support them needing replaced. If the vehicle had cooperated I am confident my technician would have confirmed that the plugs were a problem but sadly the vehicle did not. Intermittent performance issues are so very difficult if they do not occur while the technician is monitoring data and taking readings. At this point I am sorry you felt we did not provide good service but I hope this explains better your question of what the charges were for. Respectfully, Don
- Don's Service Center