ceboyd

is it possible that someone within the dealership doesn't know what is happening? (IE, the service writer doesn't know that a mechanic fixed the belt tension and is now just trying to cover his ***?) ...or the mechanic loosened the belt, reported all o.k. and someone else in the dealership decided to ignore the 'work' ..I dunno, I've been told some pretty outrageous things by service writers (who usually know very little about mechanics of cars -- even the basics)..... like the service writer looking me straight in the eyes telling me my radiator service is extremely overdue on my 993 (this was 6 years ago when I was literally the only 993 there in a sea of 996 and boxsters)... needless to say, I never set foot in the dealer unless I'm picking up parts..

DJF1

Why its always the same dealers who come up on the surface? The other day Advantage whom I had a bad experience surfaced, now Champion... whom I had a bad experience as well... In 1990 I went in for a oil change service and I received a call that I brought them a broken car and my gearbox was stuck in reverse!!! They want me to spend 5G's back then to fix it... Despite my efforts to prove that my car was ok when I brought it in, they said that I brought it with the broken gearbox and now trying to blame them!!! I wondered to the manager back then how did I drive it on reverse from Boca but I was told they dont know if I towed it and unloades on the parking lot behind the dealer! Outrageous really and that is the last they saw my money or my cars...
Alas, back then I did not know better, I did not call PCNA to complaint, sucked it up and replaced the box at another shop.... You should take pics and fight it with PCNA.

tom97c4s

I don't know if there is a easy way. When I used to fly RC heli's we would remove the fan from the engine and put it on a free spinning rod and see if it would stop at the same spot. That would show the heavy side. I guess the same principle would apply?

FGL28

What a feaken moron.
I would have asked the service writer to put it on my receipt and then sent a copy of the receipt to PCNA. Or say that the water temp gage is running a little high and could he, the service writer, help you by giving you some coolant to get you by until next week.

Seriously, I would have gone in to the manager on duty and raised hell. And I have found a tech and told him what the idiot said. Servicewriters like this guy gives Stealers the rep they deserve.

ZombiePorsche44

That's easy....get the mechanic who did the work and have him put his tongue on the edge....if it gets ripped off, it's out of balance. Too bad you can't do that.....lol

Actually the only way you can tell is start the car and observe it from the back to see if there is any movement of the hub while turning. You can also look at one point, ie; the top of the fan just below the housing and watch for the fan to climb and decend through it's arc.

These are not proven methods, but I just did this with my car today and if the fan was unbalanced it would be obvious.

Good Luck

ZP44

pcar964

Ceboyd, you're right on target, that is EXACTLY what I think happened here: The mechanic (there's only one at Champion who works on 993s) I believe loosened the belt back to normal tension when the car came in last week, and is now pretending it was never over-tightened.

The service manager is trying to be helpful, but of course the mechanic will lie to save his ***. I will be bringing this whole matter not only to the owner/president of Champion, but also PCNA.

vjd3

This may be an unpopular sentiment ... but I don't think Champion is deliberately trying to screw you. They are a huge dealership, big service department and sell and work on a lot of cars. Did someone make a mistake? Apparently. Did they do it on purpose? Of course not. Does getting irate and threatening and unpleasant mean you're going to get an amicable response out of them? Nope.

Understand that while this is preying heavily upon your mind right now, an overtightened fan belt is fairly trivial in the grand scheme of things at a Porsche dealer who sells $450,000 Carrera GT's and has dozens of cars in and out of service every single day.

My tack would be to express my concerns reasonably to the service manager. "Look, a tech made a mistake and over tightened the belts, everybody's human, here are my concerns." Get them to agree in writing that if you develop a problem with the alternator bearings or some other component related to the fan and its housing over the next 18 months, they will comp the repair on it. (It seems doubtful to me that having the fan belt overtightened for a couple of weeks is really going to damage much, but who knows?) See if their detail guy can buff the scratches out of the fan and its housing. Or see if they can locate a used fan and housing to swap it out if the scratches are really bad, or powdercoat it for you. Try to work with them and solve it amicably. Threatening them with a lawsuit and "going postal" only reinforces the stereotype that younger people who drive Porsches should not be taken seriously.

If the service manager does not think this is reasonable, suggest that perhaps the zone rep or PCNA customer service might be able to mediate and find a solution workable to both parties. This will indicate that you are trying to work toward a solution, not looking for an excuse to fly off the handle.

The dealership is a business, approach it like a customer who wants to work it out, and you will likely get it resolved. If you approach it as if the mistake was a personal insult, it's not going to go very well.

I went through a similiar situation 8 years ago at a Porsche dealer; they ran my pristine 88 Carrera with 30k miles through their carwash when I warned them not to and damaged the fragile anodization on the Fuchs rims with wheel cleaner (they were all spotted). I could've pitched a fit, got threatening, raised my voice over the basic incompetance of the lot boy, but instead, I was reasonable about it, they agreed to have the rims professionally refinished if their detailer couldn't make them look new again. He was able to get the spots off with a gentle polish and some Vaseline, and everybody was happy.

The key here is to get the dealership to agree to work toward a solution. Sounds to me like they want to, as the service manager has already said he "wants to make it right." Be reasonable, and give him a chance to do it. Don't go in accusing people and interrogating mechanics. Act like a gentleman and perhaps they will treat you as one. If they don't, then you can fly off the handle and hire yourself a lawyer.

Vic
95 C4

Avenger6

This brings upa big question.... (I also had a recent problem at a dealer, where, after all of the facts are in, they seem to have overfilled the car on an oil change) Aren't these guys certified Porsche Techs? I mean, if they are letting jackasses work on the cars, what is the advantage in going to the dealer? For me, I am stuck in a place where the only independent guy won't work on 993s (Not totally sure why), and due to being here only 1 year and then back overseas (So I don't want to buy jacks and things right now), I am left with the dealer for things that can't be done easily. I thought that going to a dealer (at least for Porsche) would mean PCNA trained and certified techs.

I know the dealers are privately owned small businesses, but you'd think there would be SOME kind of requirements put on them by PCNA! Anyone know the deal?

pcar964

hahaha that's what I feel like doing.

I'll look at the fan carefully before I drive the car back home tomorrow.

Mike J

Well said Vic...I was trying to say this but you were much more eloquent. I did the same for my Targa top...it was no point of yelling so I did it layer by layer being reasonable each step. It took quite a while and several steps but now it appears some action is happening (not sure of the total story yet).

I did have to threaten to hire a lawyer at the end but that shook it up enough...but I did it all without yelling or losing my temper. I was told by my friends that they would not have that kind of control...

In the cases where I had to go after some "wrong" like my top I usually write a letter with:

1 - An unbiased description of what happened
2 - A description of how the situation should have been handled
3 - A list of corrective measures that the vendor can implement that will help the next customer
4 - Finially what I would like in compensation for the situation.

This way its win-win. They get feedback and some recommendations on improving their systems and I get what I need corrected. It seems to work but it takes some time.

Cheers,

Mike

pcar964

The service manager only became reasonable once I got angry. At first he was stonewalling. And the lead mechanic was all but calling me a liar - this is all before I raised my voice. So the idea that being calm will get them to capitulate, is wrong.

Excuse me, but they ARE TRYING TO SCREW ME. I don't know about you, but when a mechanic tries to cover up his mistake and then make believe it never happened, leaving me with damaged parts, I call that "screwing me."

STAR57

Lets all Fax or Email this Stealer...you will know that his reputation is on the line.
PLEASE POST FAX AND EMAIL ADDRESS, we should all Fax the owner and after 5K faxes maybe he will look into it.
Brother looking after bro.

Just my thoughts after two glasses of fine Port.
FF

rcwelch

OH you crazy kanucks......

kkim

Why not email them a link to this thread to let them see what's being discussed and give them an opportunity to respond?

c993k

Sorry for your Champion experiance, Try Gulfstream in Pompano.
Chris