Mechanics.........love to hate them

[tbdefender]

This is a bit of a vent disguised as a post hehe

So I had a 'mate of a mate' want to buy my Defender.

I had to get the AC regassed so got it done at the local Profix as i can't do it myself. Long story short, the 'regass' became a 'full service' and doubled in price(ill get back to this)

Anyhow lent it to the interested party for 3 days to test towing his boat and have a specialist look over it. The specialist said with a list of 'little things' and possibles/maybe broken things it needs 3-4k spent before driving it out of suburbia.

Awaiting the list but the friend of friend is a nice guy and is giving me the list (that he paid for) but I cannot see how a lot of 'little things' can be 3-4k, labour must be $130+p/h or something.

He was aware it needed a timing belt in 15000km and that it had the drivers side small oil leak that i hear 300TDIs suffer from but things like a broken air filter mount and the likes, is that asking a bit much from a 16yo car??? Also 'possible cracked top tank on coolant system' is this common? as i never leak coolant and how can something be 'possibly cracked'? under pressure wouldn't it leak quiet a lot.

Back to the AC regass, the LR specialist has said the service they did was a 'dodgy job' and needs to be redone. I was told by Profix that LR don't put dye in the system from factory to check for leaks so they couldn't see where it might have a leak prior to 'servicing' the system. does that sound correct or like absolute crap?? I am the type to fix things and hate it when i can't do it myself for this very reason.

Awaiting the full list but id drive my bus anywhere tomorrow. Seems i have been having a lot of people looking at my 110 who have never even driven one before, are people too used to 'modern luxuries' too understand these beasts?

And before you ask, yes i am asking 13k but more than happy to negotiate and one guy said "geez i just drove one with 100000km less and it drove like it'd done 300000km more than yours"

[Scouse]

Land Rover, like all manufacturers I know of, don't put a dye in the A/C system.


If the A/C place found your system low on gas, they would (should) have checked for a leak. If they couldn't find it, they have recharged the system & added a dye to trace the leak. They should have told you this at the time & asked you to return in #days/weeks for further diagnosis.


Dodgy? I would say not but they should have explained to you what they did.

[Davehoos]

ford use dye in factory fitted A/C. most dealers put dye in the system.


gas and oil can come premixed with dye. automated A/C service stations add dye to each recharge.




Code of conduct for A/C repairs demands that gas not be put in a system that contains leaks so there is no leaks to test for.Dye is bigger than gas particals so the leak has to be big to leak out.


3 dye will return to be a powdered pigment-so over the systems life you may as well fill it up with talc.


the other idea is to fill the system with moose incase it leaks.When it does you have to buy a complete system anyway.

[DasLandRoverMan]

The black header tanks can crack below the seam at the back -I assume the mounting brackets stress things a little?- and Land Rover redesigned it to solve the issue, new style bottles are made in white plastic to prevent confusion.

However, they're either cracked or they're not, and if they are you'd be seeing fairly constant water loss as a result.

Oil leaks are most likely rocker gasket or breather pipes, none of which are difficult/time consuming to change, nor particularly expensive -in the UK anyways- with a rocker gasket being a couple of pounds, and a modified header tank retailing at about 20.

Must be an epic list if they're trying to sting you for $3k

[tbdefender]

Land Rover, like all manufacturers I know of, don't put a dye in the A/C system.


If the A/C place found your system low on gas, they would (should) have checked for a leak. If they couldn't find it, they have recharged the system & added a dye to trace the leak. They should have told you this at the time & asked you to return in #days/weeks for further diagnosis.


Dodgy? I would say not but they should have explained to you what they did.

Yeah they did explain that, and I thought claiming the service was dodgy without knowing the situation was a bit rough on them.

[tbdefender]

The black header tanks can crack below the seam at the back -I assume the mounting brackets stress things a little?- and Land Rover redesigned it to solve the issue, new style bottles are made in white plastic to prevent confusion.

However, they're either cracked or they're not, and if they are you'd be seeing fairly constant water loss as a result.

Oil leaks are most likely rocker gasket or breather pipes, none of which are difficult/time consuming to change, nor particularly expensive -in the UK anyways- with a rocker gasket being a couple of pounds, and a modified header tank retailing at about 20.

Must be an epic list if they're trying to sting you for $3k

Yeah looking forward to seeing it for my own sanity, Can understand if the timing belt is in there too, that would account for a good part of 1k parts and labour, but even so with fluids and some gaskets (and i just did eng oil and filter 5 days ago so count that out, also did gearbox oil in july 2013) and a bit of labour i couldn't see it take more than one mechanic one day MAX to fix a 'list of little things'. Mechanics just grind my gears thats all, id hate to be one to have to rely on a mechanic, or id be giving him a good christmas present and hoping he liked me.

[DasLandRoverMan]

$1k for a timing belt on a 300 Tdi? I wish I could charge that sort of money for the job.
I know it's a bit different in the UK, but barring major disasters a 300 belt is $370 Aus.

I'm a one man Land Rover workshop, from my perspective keeping the customers happy is the important thing.
I've managed to build up a small following of loyal customers, and do my square best to keep everyone happy.
Doing well so far having done work for people as far afield as the Gold Coast.