I need a professional opinion about clutch master cylinder Lee Myles just robbed me!

[01xplorersport]

I got a complete clutch replaced 30,000 miles ago and had no problems at all then the other day I went out to start my 2001 Explorer sport and pedal was really soft, I could start it in neutral but couldnt put it in gear. I could start it with clutch pushed to floor in first gear and it would move. I had a small fluid leak on my clutch pedal a while back and thought it was odd and assumed it was my clutch master cylinder or slave cylinder. I took it to Lee Myles and of course they said it was my clutch, needless to say I told him what I thought it was and he insisted it was the clutch. A day later he called me and said new clutch is in and truck should be ready by 4pm on Wed and it will cost $1300! So I head over there and now they tell me when I get there we put in new clutch but pedal was still soft and now have to put in new Slave cylinder and Master cylinder! I took two subways and walked a mile to have to go home and come back next day because supposedly they got the wrong part sent to them? They didnt even bother to call me and save me a trip over there and now it was gonna cost me $1680! My clutch was perfectly fine, no slipping no chatter before pedal suddenly went soft and I would like to know what a professional would say about this and what he would have done to diagnose this issue. Then on top of this when I get my vehicle back on Thursday the stick shift is all over the place and really loose! It was already closing time when I picked it up so I couldnt do anything, I called the shop and explained what was wrong and the owner was rude and started yelling at me when I told him I was gonna bring it in the next morning and had to have it looked at right away because its my work vehicle when the opened and he said I would have to drop it off and leave it all day again! Turns out the mechanic put the stick shift back together incorrectly! I had to take another day off of work to go back there to get it fixed. Regaurdless I called my credit card company and will dispute the charge because I feel he did more work then needed to be done instead of just replacing the master and slave cylinder like I suggested. Please help if you are a professional mechanic as I will be submitting this thread as evidence to help my claim. Oh yeah and when I said I wanted to see the old clutch it was no longer there?! How convienent.

 

[wolfcreek]

Unfortunately you did approve the clutch replacement, so it will be difficult to dispute the charge with your credit company. Did you need the clutch?? I am going to say probably not, but I was not there when the vehicle was diagnosed. I hear similar stories all the time, you can try disputing the charges, but you may have to contact the DMV, Good luck on your venture

 

[01xplorersport]

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Unfortunately you did approve the clutch replacement, so it will be difficult to dispute the charge with your credit company. Did you need the clutch?? I am going to say probably not, but I was not there when the vehicle was diagnosed. I hear similar stories all the time, you can try disputing the charges, but you may have to contact the DMV, Good luck on your venture

Thanks, nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[96eb96]

You definitely have a case. A shop has a right to charge a fee for an estimate. If it is over a certain amount (I believe 1 hr labor) it has to be approved by you Beyond that:

Were you given an estimate that is within 10% BEFORE the work started?

The estimate must also state time and date and who authorized it.

If you authorize over the phone (and from what you wrote I don't think you even did that) PARTS MUST BE KEPT, no exceptions (even air filters!). The place could have replaced your trans too and hit you with a 3K bill. I knew a shop owner in Brooklyn and he told me that. Here it is from the DMV:

http://www.dmv.ny.gov/broch/c17.htm

I would forward that to the credit card company.

 

[my98nnj]

If you signed the work order, you need to pay. It seems obvious the master/slave was the issue. Why did you allow them to do the clutch?

The only thing you might use to fight them is that the truck had the exact same issue when they finished replacing the clutch, which should prove a misdiagnoses.

Good luck!

 

[01xplorersport]

If you signed the work order, you need to pay. It seems obvious the master/slave was the issue. Why did you allow them to do the clutch?

The only thing you might use to fight them is that the truck had the exact same issue when they finished replacing the clutch, which should prove a misdiagnoses.

Good luck!

Actually it shows on the reciept that he first wrote the original price quote and supposed issue but then after he added on the same reciept that it needed a master clyinder now increasing the cost! I told him to check the master cylinder first when I brought it in and he told me it was fine and that it was the clutch on the phone at 1030am on Wed and quoted me the first price written on the reciept and told me that job will be done by 330-4pm but will definitely be done by days end and would call me if there was any other problems so by 4pm no calls so I head over to there shop 2 subways and a one mile walk in the cold and his son says it wont be done till tomorrow and that they had to replace Master and slave now! I have the reciept from the complete clutch job that was performed just 30,000 miles ago. And I had this same guy at Lee Myles put in a brand new transmission 4 years ago just days after I got the clutch done in florida and while driving back to ny I had transmission issue and of course he said my tranny was shot but clutch job was complete and fine. I know my truck and clutch was working fine and feel he just wanted gough me for extra work since the tranny had to come out in order to replace the master cylinder.

 

[96eb96]

If you signed the work order, you need to pay. It seems obvious the master/slave was the issue. Why did you allow them to do the clutch?

The only thing you might use to fight them is that the truck had the exact same issue when they finished replacing the clutch, which should prove a misdiagnoses.

Good luck!

What is not clear is he stated to them it is NOT THE CLUTCH, they said it IS THE CLUTCH, then they just went ahead and replaced it and called him THE NEXT DAY with the price.

According to NY rules for a phone repair:
1) They have to say: Hello Sir, my name is Lee we have diagnosed a bad clutch in your truck. It will cost close to $1300 to replace. Would you like to authorize the repair at this time?
2) Is not clear if he told them to go ahead at this point. It looks like he was surprised by the price the next day(I don't know the details).
3) Here is the big issue: Parts MUST be available for inspection when he returns. That is the rule in NY. That is a big question of fact here.
4) It sounds like they found the clutch is OK (or just never even replaced it- without the old part that is a big smoking gun!). Then they replaced the other parts.

 

[01xplorersport]

What is not clear is he stated to them it is NOT THE CLUTCH, they said it IS THE CLUTCH, then they just went ahead and replaced it and called him THE NEXT DAY with the price.

According to NY rules for a phone repair:
1) They have to say: Hello Sir, my name is Lee we have diagnosed a bad clutch in your truck. It will cost close to $1300 to replace. Would you like to authorize the repair at this time?
2) Is not clear if he told them to go ahead at this point. It looks like he was surprised by the price the next day(I don't know the details).
3) Here is the big issue: Parts MUST be available for inspection when he returns. That is the rule in NY. That is a big question of fact here.
4) It sounds like they found the clutch is OK (or just never even replaced it- without the old part that is a big smoking gun!). Then they replaced the other parts.

I told him to check the master cylinder when I brought it in and that my clutch was fine just lost pedal suddenly and had a small fluid leak recently onto my clutch pedal and he said the next day on phone at 1030am it wasnt master cylinder and that it was clutch and quoted price for clutch job quoted price which is on reciept $1332.55 and would be done definitely today and if any other problems they would call so by 4pm I head over 2 subways 1 mile walk in the cold and son tells me its not done and wont be done till tomorrow! No phone call! He now says it was master cylinder and it would now cost $1549.55 plus tax total $1687.07! I feel the fact that he replaced master cylinder after clutch was done and didnt do it first I feel it was misdiagnosed and they just went for the big kill instead of just doing simple fix. And he just added it onto the same reciept after the initial qoute of $1332.55

 

[01xplorersport]

You definitely have a case. A shop has a right to charge a fee for an estimate. If it is over a certain amount (I believe 1 hr labor) it has to be approved by you Beyond that:

Were you given an estimate that is within 10% BEFORE the work started?

The estimate must also state time and date and who authorized it.

If you authorize over the phone (and from what you wrote I don't think you even did that) PARTS MUST BE KEPT, no exceptions (even air filters!). The place could have replaced your trans too and hit you with a 3K bill. I knew a shop owner in Brooklyn and he told me that. Here it is from the DMV:

http://www.dmv.ny.gov/broch/c17.htm

I would forward that to the credit card company.

Thanks for that link very helpful!

 

[Turdle]

Is a clutch a part which requires a core trade in? If so, you are not entitled to the "old" part.

 

[koda2000]

Is a clutch a part which requires a core trade in? If so, you are not entitled to the "old" part.

I've bought quite a few clutches over the years (and I've sold clutches in 3 different auto parts stores) and I've never heard of a core on a clutch. Maybe if was a clutch for a classic/antique car, where no one manufactures a new one anymore, but certainly not for a fairly new Ford truck.

To the OP... While I can't say for certain you didn't need a new clutch, as we can't examine the old one, and we're only hearing your side of the story. It sure sounds like you got taken advantage of by this shop. A soft clutch pedal on a hydraulically operated system is almost certainly due to a clutch master cylinder, slave cylinder or line leak issue. The only time you'd be looking at replacing a clutch is if there were slippage or chatter, and that's not what you say was happening. Any mechanic worth his beans would not suspect the clutch/pressure plate first with your symptoms. OE quality clutches are not that expensive, so I might consider replacing one while I had the transmission out, even it it didn't have that many miles on it, but if they did this first and then charged you to take it apart again to change the parts that were actually the problem... that's just wrong.

I've worked as a mechanic and have known quite a few. In my opinion a lot of shops are dishonest and rely on the fact that most people don't know enough about car repairs to know when they're being lied to. I don't trust any of them and do my own repairs. Good luck in trying to get justice. Maybe Judge Judy would be interested in your case (seriously). At any rate, small-claims court may be your best bet if the shop didn't actually break any laws.

 

[wolfcreek]

Although I will not use one unless it is absolutely necessary, they do make reman. clutches which do have a core. They could always say they had to return a core, weather they actually did or not.