Dishonest mechanic?

[krmccour]

Two months ago I had a local mechanic replace my flywheel, pressure plate, clutch disc, and throwout bearing because the old pressure plate fingers had broken off did some work on the inside of the transmission. I supplied the parts because, well I don't have to explain myself. LUK flywheel with Exedy clutch kit, quality parts imo. ~$500 just in labor

SO. Just last week I noticed that my TOB was chirping when the clutch pedal was NOT being pressed. Checked things out, and my TOB has been constantly resting on the pressure plate since I had it worked on. This is because a piece of my OLD pressure plate was wedged underneath my clutch fork and keeping it from fully returning to neutral. See photo:



I wrenched out the pressure plate finger, but my TOB still rests on the pressure plate unless I push the clutch fork back towards the slave cylinder. Not to mention, the clutch fork vibrates like crazy when in light-moderate contact with the pressure plate, suggesting uneven wear. To me, it looks like this old piece kept the clutch fork from engaging evenly, thus causing uneven wear on my pressure plate in addition to causing the TOB to wear out VERY prematurely. Took all of this information to my mechanic, and he of course said "There's no way that could have been a piece of the old pressure plate, I looked all over inside and didn't see it". He claimed it was my new pressure plate, after which I assured him it wasn't since I just used a camera to look at ALL of it, and all the fingers were there. Then he said he shouldn't be responsible because the clutch fork wasn't something he had to replace.

I think he SHOULD be responsible because:
A. How do you not see a pressure plate piece stuck under the clutch fork
B. Even if you didn't replace the clutch fork, a good mechanic should CHECK it and ALIGN it with the new TOB, in which case he should have seen it
C. Once everything was installed, he should have checked to make sure the TOB wasn't resting on the pressure plate, and that the fork was properly aligned when it was all back together, which it wasn't
D. If I could see this piece through the clutch fork hole, then there is no excuse for him to not have seen it

I was furious that he wouldn't own up to his mistake. He agreed to re-do the labor, but I have to pay for the new TOB. I forgot to mention the vibrations, which I'm sure means I need a new pressure plate as well. So what do you guys think? I feel like I got screwed and he won't own up to his mistake.:yell:

 

[clemson4r]

If he's going to replace the TOB free labor, just do it, you'll be ahead as opposed to fighting him about it for a ~$50 TOB. If you have this large of an issue with mechanics, I would replace it myself next time if I were you, alleviates these headaches.

 

[krmccour]

I have absolutely no problems with mechanics, and I would have done it myself if it wasn't below freezing and 3 feet of snow when I had it replaced (no garage). I already told him I'd pay for the TOB, but I don't think it's fair for him to keep denying everything, and hinting that I was lying about the whole thing. He keeps bringing up the whole "This is why I never install customer parts" even though it has nothing to do with the new parts.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Deny, Deny, Deny..... that's all he really has to do. Since he's not owning up to it now, he never will and would just rather lose a customer. I honestly feel for ya man. Just flat out sucks.

 

[krmccour]

I know it obviously wasn't intentional, but it's instances like these that always makes me want to do it all myself. If only my previous pressure plate would have waited 2 more months to blow up hahaha, then I could blame myself for the missed PP finger (or not because I would have scrubbed the inside of that bell housing clean).

I'm ok with having to pay for the TOB bearing and pressure plate, at this point I really just want a functioning transmission, which I haven't had in nearly a year. Stuff happens, but I still stand firm that I shouldn't have to pay for labor since it was likely missed due to a rushed job. Just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and you can bet I'll be checking over everything immediately after this next job. Heck, if he wasn't so defensive about all of it I'd grab some beer and help him do it.

 

[krmccour]

So my question now is this:

Would uneven contact of the TOB on the pressure plate mess up the clutch and flywheel? Obviously the pressure plate and TOB need to be replaced, and I'll probably replace the clutch fork for the heck of it.

 

[Doc2012]

So my question now is this:

Would uneven contact of the TOB on the pressure plate mess up the clutch and flywheel? Obviously the pressure plate and TOB need to be replaced, and I'll probably replace the clutch fork for the heck of it.

If it's all apart, why not?

Rather put all new stuff in there than to have the clutch go because of something the other problem caused.

Just my .01....

 

[slapdappy]

either:
1) incompetent, or
2) dishonest
An honest mechanic would own up to his mistake and make good on it.
A competent mechanic would be able to explain what went wrong and how to make it right.
An incompetent mechanic won't be able to explain what went wrong or provide a reliable fix.
A dishonest mechanic will shrug his shoulders and deny responsibility.

Do you trust him to do a proper job the second time?
Is there any downside to paying the $50 and having him do it again?
Is getting it fixed more important than him owning his mistake?
unfortunately there are a plethora of mediocre everyxxxx in this world... lawyers, painters, driving instructors, doctors, mechanics, english teachers, etc. The shoulder shruggers. Pay for the new part, have him do it again.
Maybe ask him, gently, if it is possible that he somehow left that piece behind. Tell him it is ok, everyone make mistakes, you appreciate his willingness to redo it. The $50 part is a face saving measure for him.

Ultimately, his ability and integrity are his. You have little recourse in making him be what he is not.
Find 2 good mechanics and get their opinions.

Simple lesson moving forward, always have them keep and return the old part to you.