OK, long story short. Took wife's Civic to have water pump replaced, they did not replace it and charged me $300 for labor, not including the cost of the pump. This happened at All-Pro Automotive here in Jacksonville. They stole the new one I brought them that I had bought from Autozone, and did not replace it. I plan on talking to them on Friday about this. Should I make an appointment with the general manager to talk about this? This is a safety issue because the old water pump is leaking.

Long story:

Yesterday my wife got home about 4:30 and told me there was something wrong with the car. I was in the middle of cooking dinner, but I was like a pit-bull on a rat, and jumped at the situation.

Took the car out for a drive to test it, and the car was intermittenly losing power, like the gears were slipping or something. Took it to a Discount Auto Parts here in Jacksonville to have the code read because the car was obviously throwing a code because the check engine light was coming on.

They checked the code, and it was P0335, which is Crankshaft Position Sensor (CKP) failure, and P0336, which is Crankshaft Position Sensor out of limits.

Starting researching parts for this, and it's not something I can replace myself with a bad back. Called the Honda dealer (Duval Honda :thumsup: ) and dropped it off for replacement of the Crankshaft Position Sensor.

Scott at Duval Honda was very courteous and helpful, and even put me in a loaner car for the day. Asked Scott to keep me updated throughtout the day if things went wrong or something.

They looked at the car, and at about 9:00 this morning Scott called me. He asked me, "When was the last time the water pump was replaced in the car?" I told him about two months ago. He told me, "Well, they must have replaced it with a unit straight out of the garbage because this was either the original water pump or it was a garbage replacement unit." He told me it was leaking, the timing belt was cracked, and the timing belt cover was broken. I told him to repair everything at about $850, including a broken engine mount. I just want this taken care of.

This was the first unscheduled maintenance done to the car after five years, so we're quite happy with Honda.

Anyway, back to the story. The car will be ready later today. What are my options as far as proving fraud, and getting my money back? How should I talk with the manager of All-Pro?

The Honda dealer is going to give me the old water pump and timing belt back. I want to be polite as possible, but if they resist in giving me my money back and paying for the new repairs (minus the broken engine mount).

The water pump was purchased at Discount Auto Parts here in Jacksonville, and brought to All-Pro for replacement, along with coolant, new belts, and everything for a water pump/timing belt replacement. They stole the replacement water pump and charged me $300 for labor.

I already notified my "lawyer," my sister-in-law. She said to explain the situation to the manager, and tell them what happened.

Well, I just received a phone call from the Honda dealer, and they told me that the water pump was faulty, although it was a new water pump, just very dirty. I will have to go to Discount Auto Parts to get a refund for the part. How do I get the store to refund my money if they just want to give me store credit, or even not give me money back at all?

 

If it were me I would have waited to have anything repaired until talking to the guys at All Pro.

Now that the parts have been replaced, it will be awfully hard to prove anything.

 

Well, it was a safety issue. I never would have known how dangerous it would have been had the water pump failed catostrophically, or the cracnkshaft position sensor fail.

 

Also, in the future, when you get any parts changed out, ask for the original parts back. That way you can see if they actually did the work.

 

Without marking it, how would you know that the part they give back to you actually came off YOUR car?

 

Well, All-Pro did replace the water pump, but it failed internally. I plan on taking it back for a full refund once the Honda dealer replaces it.

Finally, the crankshaft pulley was not at Top Dead Center (TDC), so I plan on asking for a refund for an incorrectly instally pulley. Out of the $300 that I paid for the labor to install the water pump, new timing belt, and new engine coolant labor (all of the previous things labor only), how much should I ask for as a refund. The Honda dealer will document that the pulley was "one tooth off" i.e. the pulley was not at TDC. They also said that the camshaft and crankshaft seals were leaking, and All-Pro should have told me they were leaking, and some bolt were put in wrong.

The Honda dealer will give me the rest of the replaced parts today.

 

True, if possible you should mark them also.

 

raise hell.....

 

Hopefully you still have the receipt for the part. Youre going to need it.

Sounds like bad luck.