I really do hate to see the dealer techs get beat up.............lots of the guys are very very good.....Steve 88...did you give the service writer a full explaination of the problem with the car?Did he go over it with you?Would you have been willing to authorize another couple of hundred of dollars of diag. time?Would you have been willing to pay straight clock time for the diag?Did you read the work order before you signed it?Docmirror....Its leaky rear seal on that boxster...I love them.

 

I agree. Some are very good. The trick though - is to find the good ones. Also, even a really good tech who sees a 928 maybe once per year is going to lose money on anything but a small book-time job on a 928 simply because you never beat book time the first time unless you cut some corners. So, the real trick is to find a good tech with 928 experience that doesn't mind working on 928s - or even better likes working on 928s.

One of the Porsche dealers in MA (IRA in Danvers) has two really good techs. One of them I've known for years (Bob D.) and he's the only tech I'd let work on one of my 928s. He's a P-car guy through and through and has a lot of experience with 928s. But, he's so busy making good bucks doing RMS replacements on the 996s....

Also, IMHO, 50% of the problem are "service advisors." And like technicians, some are good and some are bad. A good SA will enhance communication between you (about your problem) and the designated tech. A bad SA will screw up communication.

 

Hopefully he didn't damage anything that didn't show up immediately, BUT, I second the suggestion to put it in writing, cc PCNA, and the owner of the dealership, and send it registered. All of those are PIA steps, but it shows you are serious and if anything does happen, you need the documentation. That is a serious breach and to try and tell you otherwise is laughable.

 

You make a good point, that there is more to the story than has been said. However, I still think it's irresponsible to put a double-size fuse in and I'm directing my ire at this particular tech and this particular service rep. Sure there are good ones out there but IMHO this one goofed big time.

 

While it's true we don't hear about the techs that do good work, I would postulate that as Joe Customer, I shouldn't have to be worried about the quality of repair at a marque dealer like Porsche. As a wrench, if the car shows up in my bay, and I don't know how to fix it, tell the service writer to get someone else! Don't start hacking away, clueless with a box of fuses. I have one of those nice big pipe wrench gouges in my front pully from a DEALER rep holding it while taking off the crank nut. Just to save 30 minutes of work to lift the car, pull the clutch rod, and install the lock; Bast......

Also, Joe Customer doesn't have to know all the gory details of the problem. Just 'hey, this fuse keeps blowing. I want it to stop doing that' is enough. The professionals, that wear the smocks should take it from there. Some owners want more info, some ask for the parts back that were replaced, some would take the time to fix it themselves. If you take the car to the DEALER, that should be enough of a statement that 'I just want it fixed, call me when you're done'. The owner can alsways put a stop limit on the bill, or a diagnose fee limit.

Now if I was taking my car to a independent, and I was knowledgeable about the car, it's issues, and this particular problem, then an in depth discussion can be had. But, for a dealer to install a double rated fuse, in a circuit that's already blowing them, and then tell a bald faced lie to the customer is still inexcusable. I'm amazed we don't have more car fires in the 928, with the miles of embedded wiring. Sorry about the wrong end on the seal. I forgot the engine is in bass-ackwards. DOH!

 

To answer some of the questions...

I told the SA that I had been having this problem for several months...I told him which fuse it is and how sometimes it would blow a new fuse right away other times it would last a couple of weeks. I don't know what else I could have told him.

I also told him to call me if the bill got over $300 and I would decide if I wanted him to continue. SO I gave him plenty of room to work with $ wise.

Does anyone know of a good 928 mech. in Oklahoma or southern Kansas? I have to drive to take it to OKC anyway so I think it would be better to drive a little further and get my car back in better condition than when I left it.

Also, my blower motor isn't turning on now...could this be caused by the actions of the dealer tech?

AND does anybody care if I use comments from this thred in my letter to the dealer and PCNA?

 

Dealer's electrical knowledge is flawed. A corrode connection causes the circuit to draw less current. Blowing fuses is a sign of a wire that's carrying excess current to ground. You are searching for a short circuit, not an open/intermittent connection in the normal current path.


Electrical diagnosis is a lot of science, a little tiny bit of art, and a lot of knowledge of the car. Many techs have the 'little bit of art' section nailed, but fail miserably at the two major components: knowledge of electricity and knowledge of the car.

And remember: the fuse is sized to protect the wire in the circuit. It's a designed-in 'weak link' in the current path. Installing a larger fuse usually moves the 'weak link' to some other, less convenient spot in the current path. If that spot happens to be in a harness, that means the insulation needs to melt away before the copper gets hot enough to melt. Fortunately, all those other wires in the harness will melt in sympathy... The trail of smoke and the distinctive fragrance are handy for locating the fault. Just replace this harness... Wait a minute, you still haven't found where the drain is, just where the weak link is.

I used to teach this stuff, way back. Ben had just finished flying the kite, and Thom E was getting glowing reviews on his carbonized thread in a jar. Seems like that long ago anyway.

 

its ,my experiece dealers dont know squat about 928's . If i ever have a 928 again, ill never go to a dealer for service. They havent a clue even with a manual.

 

I did explain, in some detail, the symptoms and circumstances of my battery/alternator problem to the dealer. I had owned the car (my first shark) just a couple of hours and was stranded in the middle of an Ohio cornfield in the rain.

Other than some missteps during diagnosis, the dealer was very pleasant and helpful - that is why I didn't identify them by name in the post. I wrote about the incident just to support the point that some Porsche dealers may not know much about our 928's. Many less informed people (like me) might assume that Porsche dealers are the best places to get service.

 

You're lucky. Here is a worst-case scenario:



'nuff said.

 

hahahahaha terds

 

That picture just dropped my heart to my stomach.

 

if they couldn't find the problem they shouldn't even have charged for the diag time...

 

I guess the guy who owned this car had had enough of trying install the vacuum lines onto the back of his A/C Controller?

 

Hmmm... I'm not sure I agree.

On one hand if a technician spends a day or a half-day doing electrical troubleshooting on a 15-year old car, doesn't find the problem and then doesn't charge for the time how does the technician get paid?

On the other hand if a technician charges a customer for four hours of labor and cannot find the problem the customer is likely to feel screwed.

Either way its bad for the technician.

It's a thorny issue.