[Velislide]

Well, havent been a Duramax owner too long. Found a great deal on a 01' LB7 that needed headgaskets done. Truck ran great, super smooth and plenty of power. I decided to find someone locally that had experience working on Diesel trucks, and looked to craigslist in the services section. I came across a Father & Son automative business that said they had done one before, and said they would cut me a deal being I'm a laid off union worker (Laborer), which sounded great to me. So I dropped the truck off and expected about a week before getting the truck back.

After waiting a little over a month and a half, and replacing a few things that were busted during the removal and install of the heads, I got the truck back. Paid a little over 1400$ cash to have them do it. Also supplied them with a 730$ head and stud kit, and what I got back...

Well, the truck ran. Barely. The whole engine was jolting side to side about 4" or more from the heavy misfires. Exhaust was bellowing out white lingering smoke, and it was idling extremely rough. They told me it was built up from the head removal, and needed to be burned out. Right, lol. I managed to limp the truck down to Advanced Auto and had the codes scanned. When I brought it to them, only code the truck had was the fuel sending unit (gauge doesnt work).

12 Engine Codes. Cant recall all of them at the moment. Something like...

Glow Plug Relay circuit
Intake Heater Element circuit
Random Misfire Code (tons of cylinder misfire codes also)
Turbo Electronic circuit or something
ABS Circuit
Tons more..

The turbo wont spool up, and the transmission is shifting extremely harsh. I only drove it about 5 miles to my house. Just wanted to get it back from them after all that so I can see what I got myself into. They wont respond to my messages now after hanging up on me, after asking them about what the hell they did to it.

Was told to contact the District Attorney to try and get my money back. I don't even know where to start with this now. I'm thinking maybe the white smoke is due to injector sleeves?

Any advice what to do on this? Only records I have is text messages, as they wouldnt issue me any type of receipt in the end after it was "Done" by their standards.

 

[Bosis21]

wow dude im sorry to hear that, but thats complete bullsh*t! you either got to get your money back or get the father and son to pay for a Gm dealer to do it, its there fvck up, there responsiblity, plus im assuming your from the states, and you guys can sue for pretty much anything

 

[Velislide]

Yep, up in Minnesota here. They didnt even finish putting the body back together, but after seeing how it was running, I didnt want them going anywhere near it.

I also forgot to mention, he somehow popped a hole in the tranny cooler, so he hosed that off since it was spraying fluid out of it. And he said the oil dipstick was shooting oil out, so theres some black hose clamped onto it, and its extended about 3' with the dipstick plug on the other end. So I have a nice oil caked engine bay now too. I dont know how the hell someone can screw up a job like that so bad. He must have been lying to my face from the start. But I never rushed him once during the time he had it, completely patient just telling him to do it right, and he said he was making sure everything was perfect.

I've got about 1000$ left over in my savings to try and get this truck running now, so unless I can get my money back from this guy, I'm royaly screwed. I've been nothing but patient and nice with this guy, its amazing how bad people will fuck you over to make a buck.

 

[Bosis21]

Lawyer or fair practices if you guys got that down there, it's free to talk to a lawyer

 

[Goose2448]

Man that Blows! I would also contact that PO as a witness to what was wrong with the truck when you bought it.

 

[lb7dirtymax01]

Head gaskets are not that hard on these trucks with the right tools. Shit I'm 19 and could do it by myself. Sounds like they had no clue what they were doing and screwed up something with injectors. Probably forgot to plug some sensors back in and broke or ripped some wires. Definitely get with a lawyer and get it fixed right by a dealership. They would have to pay for that. And anyone else who saw your truck and heard it run before you took it in could be a witness for you too.

 

[Velislide]

Yep, I have quite a few people that heard the truck run and drove it before all of this, and knew how smooth it ran. Just laying here thinking about it, just makes me sick. Going to do some checking with the DA tomorrow and see what I can get done about it.

 

[04llydirty]

where in minnesota? is there a business name?

sorry to hear this, best of luck to you!

 

[Jhill]

If you are going to fight/contest/sue this shop, I suggest only getting estimates, no actual repair done to your truck for the time being. It sucks to not have it running, but if trying to get them to pay, it's easier to prove they screwed up if it hasn't been repaired yet. And your less likely to get reimbursed for any future repairs if you go out and get them.

 

[dirk991]

Judge Judy! We're these guys an actual shop and did they have a diesel mechanics liscence? I'm assuming if they atleast had a liscence then you'll have a strong leg to stand on.

 

[mott555]

Wow...how do shops like that stay in business?

One of my coworkers had issues with a local shop. He took his SUV in for a tranny flush and refill. The transmission has an internal filter only, but the mechanic didn't realize this and assumed it didn't have an oil filter at all. So rather than consult a manual, check the web, call around, ask someone more experienced, etc. he decided to splice open a fluid line and add a filter! I'm not sure what kind of filter, I'd guess it was a motorcycle fuel filter.

So my coworker got his car back, the thing barely drove because the filter was cutting down fluid flow. And his tranny got baked before he got home.

Not sure how it got resolved, but it's obviously fixed because he still drives it. He told us about it and now there's one shop here I refuse to go to.

 

[jethro1]

The sad thing is the father and son business may not have the $ to have the work done right and you might be chasing them to be compensated if you win this case in court. You definately didn't save on this occurance. Dealer don't sound so bad after all on all my repair work.

 

[Blackcloud556]

wow that sucks bad man

sounds like they have sensors either unplugged or possibly plugged into the wrong places.

 

[Velislide]

What could the heavy white smoke be from incase the head gasket was actually torqued down correctly?

 

[Camoedoutlander]

If you want a place in MN that know's what they are doing and has done tons of jobs on duramaxs, and other vehicles, Jags pro truck shop in zimmerman mn should be able to help you out!

 

[lb7dirtymax01]

White smoke indicates bad injectors. I doubt they went bad right on start up. They could have screwed up some injector harness's, forgot to replace o rings and crush washers, or possibly lifted injector cups

 

[lb7dirtymax01]

Where are you located? I'm sure someone in your area could either help you out or reccomended a good shop.

 

[primetime_2]

where in Minnesota are these guys located? We don't want anyone else that reads this to make the same mistake!

 

[Tony323]

Like some other guys have said, to throw that many codes and abs, it could be a bad or disconnected ground that could be causing a large amount of the problems. It sucks they let you have the truck back when its worse than when you dropped it off.

 

[08LMMWYO]

I'd work on getting my money back and then after I did I would corner them in a dark alley and beat the [email protected]#t out of them!!!!!


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