prophet@umcp-cs.UUCP (Dennis Gibbs) (09/21/84)
<>
A few months ago, Sears had a sale on their new 60-month battery (NOT Die-Hard)
and so I decided to go ahead and replace the battery in my 1979 Datsun 310GX.
The battery in my Datsun that I was replacing was the original equipment
battery (over five years old). This original equipment battery was a GREAT
battery, it had survived a couple of winters where the temperature would dip as
low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit. The battery was still working fine, since the
weather was warm, but I was afraid that it would not survive a sixth winter of
below zero termperature. Since Sears was having a sale, I decided to go for it.
Anyway, I took the car to Sears, and bought the battery. They pulled the car
into the service facility, where I tried to watch the mechanic from the lounge
as best I could. (Sears will not allow customers to enter the sevice areas). I
saw the mechanic put in my battery, and then he proceded to test the electrical
system. I knew something was wrong when I saw him start the engine, take a
reading from the meter, and then, stopping the engine, he proceded to tighten
the alternator drive belt. Then, after starting the engine again and taking
another reading, he called in the service manager.
At this point, the service manager began heading for the customer lounge, and I
thought, oh no, they're going to try to hit me for a new alternator. Sure
enough, the manager came in, and said, " Your alternator is not putting out
enough current, you're going to have to replace it." Being a former mechanic
myself, and taking careful care of my car, I knew the service manager was wrong.
Besides, the manager's phrase "not putting out enough current" is erroneous,
because an alternator's competence is measured by its output in volts, which
is not current (amps). I told the manager this, and he said that most cars put
out about 20 amps, whereas mine was putting out only 10. This is ridiculous,
because the current in the circuit depends almost entirely upon the state of
charge of the battery. I told the manager to just finish installing the batt-
ery and I would be on my way.
When I got home, I ran a thorough check of the electrical system, and found
nothing wrong. Three months later, the car is running fine, and the battery is
holding its charge perfectly.
On a separate incident, my brother took his 1974 Capri into Sears to have a new
water pump installed. Naturally, to put on the pump, they had to remove t
he hoses from the pump, thus draining the radiator. When my brother's wife
came to pick up the car, she paid the bill, and then drove off. After a couple
of blocks, the car overheated! It turns out they "forgot" to replace the fluid
in the radiator!!! My brother raised so much hell with Sears that they gave
him a free 24 month, 24000 mile warranty on the engine in case anything went
wrong as a result of their mistake.
My conclusion? I'm not going near a Sears "mechanic" except as an absolute lastresort.
Dennis
--
Call-Me: Dennis Gibbs, Univ. of Md. Comp. Sci. Center.
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!prophet
CSNet: prophet@umcp-cs
BITNET: GIBBS@UMDB
ARPA: prophet@Marylandjackh@zehntel.UUCP (jack hagerty) (09/24/84)
It must be an epidemic. Either that or Sears has a huge stock of alternators
they're trying to unload.
My brother in law just had a carbon copy experience with Sears last week.
He brought his 1980 Volvo DL, also with the original battery, in to the
local Sears store to replace the 4 1/2 year old OEM battery with a Die Hard.
In his case the service manager was even more nit picky. He said that the
Volvo's alternator should be putting out 55 amps but was only managing 50,
a clear sign of failure! (The car has about 100k on it)
Phil just thanked him very much, took his new battery and "sickly" alternator
and went home.
This doesn't sound very ethical. Maybe folks should be forewarned before
buying batterys at large chains for the next few months
Jack Hagerty, Zehntel Inc.
...!ihnp4!zehntel!jackhjeh@ritcv.UUCP (Jim Heliotis) (10/09/84)
My car got a new battery, and I knew the alternator could have a better ground connection (occasionally the dummy light glows ever so slightly), but Sears did NOT try to get me a new alternator.