Words cannot explain my disgust..who do i contact

DUVALINCOLN

DUVALINCOLN

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So it is going on Day 8 my car has been sitting up at the Lincoln/Ford Dealership brought in last Monday due to check engine light. After days of diagnosing the issues I’m called and told I need a new intake manifold cover for $1500 part alone But here it the crazy part.

***Back in July took car in for the same issues check engine light and overheating. I was put in a rental car kept for 5 days. They “replaced” gaskets parts in the intake manifold.

Fast forward to today they are saying the entire manifold needs to be purchased because the gasket pieces don’t come separately and they found that a ring in the manifold had been glued with silicone and it’s not suppose to be like that. My question to them why wasn’t this caught back in July when engine was taken apart???? Their reply, no record of work from July in system!! SO I show them the invoice copy I have. Dumb founded look they decided to wave the labor to replace manifold but still charge me for part $1500. Needless to say I had car towed from there. My questions:

#1 They are the only ones/last ones to remove cover why didn’t they noticed ring glued (unless their mechanic did it.)

#2 Why wasn’t issue taken care in July when I paid $561.14

#3 Who do I call about complaints???
 
First, Sorry this happened... sucks to deal with shops/dealers/companies like that.

....but, not much you can do. Take it to another dealer and have them check it out. you might be able to get Ford (calling / writing them) to cover a little, but you still have an expensive part to replace. Starting with just a gasket was correct. then after that failing to correct the issue, replacing the manifold would be next. Their process seems right, just sounds like poor work... If you can get the "glued" part verified by another dealer, then you might be able to get Ford to pay to have it redone... Maybe, but most likely not.

GL man,
 
Would it be possible for you to take a picture of the damaged/glued area of the manifold?
 
Yes, I actually had the car towed from the dealership to another mechanic who called and told me he was taken pictures of the parts because there was a part glued with silicone that wasn't suppose to be.
 
That's an awfully long time to change a $15 gasket. It's an afternoon job IMO. Speaking of which, I might be doing this on my LS soon as it sounds like it's supercharged at times. The noise seems to be coming from the manifold area, pass side. Anyway..

This is exactly why I hate going to dealerships. Last time I went in to have work done on the LS (under a recall campaign), they broke one plastic washer hose elbow piece, overtightened one bolt on the coil cover (the whole fking brass insert comes out of the valve cover now!) and got grease on my steering wheel and seat. Is it that hard to use your head and stay clean? That was when I decided to do grow some balls, invest in some more equipment and do everything myself.

The issue with dealerships, IMO, is that the people that work in the service dept seem to be a bunch of depressed sobs. People are underpaid, and hate their lives and jobs, which reflects on their work. Corners are cut, jobs are rushed and done with zero pride. Cars are treated simply as objects and no one gives a $hit. I love my LS, and I love working on it because I take pride in it and the work I put into it. I understand that not everyone has a garage and the tools, or most importantly the time, but I believe it's best to rely only on yourself (that's another rant of mine), or on a good mechanic.. but finding one might be difficult, depending on your location. Yes, my opinion is very biased based on my negative experience with the local Ford Lincoln dealer (I would love to demo that whole place), but I haven't been impressed by any other shops that I tried visiting.

</rant>


I bet the dealer fcked up the gasket install (probably some dumbass high school dropout working there), and broke something in the process. Now you need an entire new manifold and they sure as hell won't foot the whole bill.
 
DUVALINCOLN said:
Yes, I actually had the car towed from the dealership to another mechanic who called and told me he was taken pictures of the parts because there was a part glued with silicone that wasn't suppose to be.
Click to expand...

Could you post them?
 
joegr said:
Could you post them?
Click to expand...

What he said.




I hate to hear these stories, the times I use my dealer work has always been excellent and both times my bill was about $100.00 less than the original estimates, which were never particularly high for dealer work anyway.
 
Truth in advertising, why didn't you just keep the original thread from the 9th rolling?

attachment.jpg


So a dealer tech cost you $289 to change 2 intake gaskets. The rest of your $560 was for a rental. Seems to me that you got a pretty good deal since most dealers are charging $85+ per hour of labor.

As asked by others, which gasket did they silicone? Depending on the application it's probably not a big deal.
 
It was not a gasket they siliconed, it was a circular ring near the end on the manifold that I was told should not have been siliconed (So I was informed at dealership). I apologize but I am not a mechanic so I could not provided you with the name.

I am a bit confused Ranchero, I was also informed that it was not two gaskets replaced but the seal on the bottom of the gaskets replaced on 4/4/2013. I was told the gaskets could not be replaced b/c the part has to be purchased as a whole with the purchase of the $1500 intake manifold. Is this true? Does this invoice reflect two gaskets being replaced. (not a mechanic)
 
says right on it: R&R INTAKE MANIFOLD ASSEMBLY AND REPLACE GASKETS
then it shows: GASKET -INTAKE 2@ 18$ = 36$

Labor
Parts
Rental


Easy reading if you ask me.
 
Thank you LVC for your instruction an assistant. I wish I had the time to learn to work on my own LS but I work mentoring and assisting youth in 3 cities throughout the day. I love my LS and I can always come here for direction on keeping it running.
 
Can you identify the gasket(s) in question on this diagram?

The gaskets shown are about $18 each and very available. Not shown is where the plastic part of the manifold mates to the two lower metal parts. If it has come apart there, then the manifold has to be replaced. There are no gaskets to solve that problem.

The o-ring gasket between the intake and the throttle body is no longer available. I don't know if that one comes with a new manifold or not.

Anyway, the only thing that makes sense is that the manifold is broken where it meets the metal part(s) at the bottom. If so, everything they have done is reasonable. The last time, they may have tried some glue to seal it to see if they could save you the $1500. They may not have wronged you at all. BTW, the manifold is about $1200 and takes a couple of hours to change out.

s6x~us~en~file=n0037013.gif
 
The intake doesn't look like it would be terribly difficult to replace once the coolant lines were removed.

Circular ring near the end of the manifold sounds like a casting cap. Again, if it's that it shouldn't be terribly difficult to repair with epoxy or even a plastic welder. I understand about the OP not having a clue about what's going on but at the same time your posts aren't giving much information. Is the car still driveable, is the intake off or what?

Following your current line of actions you should probably sell the LS and buy something new with a warranty.
 
Ranchero50 said:
The intake doesn't look like it would be terribly difficult to replace once the coolant lines were removed.

Circular ring near the end of the manifold sounds like a casting cap. Again, if it's that it shouldn't be terribly difficult to repair with epoxy or even a plastic welder. I understand about the OP not having a clue about what's going on but at the same time your posts aren't giving much information. Is the car still driveable, is the intake off or what?

Following your current line of actions you should probably sell the LS and buy something new with a warranty.
Click to expand...

There are no coolant lines to remove. You only have to disconnect the two throttle body heater hoses.
The bigger pain, is the fuel rail. The eight fuel injectors and fuel rail from the existing manifold will have to be moved over to the new one. The o-rings on the injectors should be replaced when this is done.

I don't think he's talking about the end cap. On gen II, that's at the back of the manifold and is metal. It's bolted on and easily repaired. I think he's talking about the metal spacers at the bottom of the manifold. They are permanently attached somehow to the manifold. If either of those have broke loose, I don't think there is any repair for that. (If you've ever removed one of these manifolds, you know what I am talking about. If not, I'm probably not describing it well enough for you to know.)
 
If you just need specific gaskets go see your local Jag dealer. The LS engine is a Jaguar AJ engine, and they can get parts for them that Lincoln cannot. They might be able to sell you just the needed seal instead of an entire kit, if you can ID the seal you need on a parts diagram. When I did my cooling system they were able to get the seals I needed next day, 6 bucks for one and 7 bucks for the other, where the Lincoln dealer said 2-3 weeks, IF the seal they found was the right one which they could not guarantee would be correct.
 
buy a used manifold I had to do this job since the manifold on my old 01ls busted. I got a used one for $149 checked it was good and then installed it the hole job was done for 350 that's parts and labor.
 
chocolat1701 said:
buy a used manifold I had to do this job since the manifold on my old 01ls busted. I got a used one for $149 checked it was good and then installed it the hole job was done for 350 that's parts and labor.
Click to expand...

I like this idea. I don't really consider manifold to be wear items so a used part should be good, especially considering the savings.
 
Thank you LVC once again for you input. This has definitely been a trying time. The car was drivable and not really having too many issues besides slight hesitation when initially took it into Dealership to have the codes checked out. From the dealer I had it towed to avoid any more issues. At the new mechanic I was shown (according to the diagram listed above) where the two gaskets on the left toward the back had coolant fluid in them and the bolt #15 was rusty unlike the other bolts he says due to the coolant leaking on it. He also showed me where the #17 part look new liked it had been replaced. He stated the manifold is cracked and needs to be replaced. While there he pointed out several places where silicone was used on the engine, wires that were broken and repaired and some missing bolts. I should have pictures soon. Thank you
 
Yeah that would be the case if the dealership didn't tell me themselves they do that when brittle parts break and are no longer available.
 
1-800-521-4140 is the number to call Lincoln to complain.

If they don't satisfy you, what I would do is write a letter and send it to the Dealership GM and to Ford Consumer Complaints.

I had a similar issue with a Mustang I owned. Dealership tried to charge me for an alignment after doing a recall repair to the suspension.

I wrote the dealership a check and stopped payment in the check. Then called Ford, who took care of it.

My advice, don't use dealerships. Find a local mechanic who will take care of you.
 
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