Small problem with independant- advice please

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Subyland

Active Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
576
Location
Norfolk, UK
Car
E320T; E270T CDI; A170L CDI auto; Land Rover Defender 110
Hello all,

I have just picked up my car from my "local" (still 40 miles one way) MB specialist. The car was in to have the speedo cable and duovalve replaced and find out why rear wash pump not working and one or two other small bits.
Unfortunately the wrong parts were delivered which means neither the speedo nor the valve have been sorted. :devil:
But my main concern is elsewhere. The rear wash pump fault was traced down to the tailgate wiring loom breaking at the hinge, apparently a known weakness. Whilst investigating the matter they have obviously fiddled with the loom and as a consequence, neither the electric catch nor the rear wash wipe are now working. They admit to it is all part of the same loom.
My question is what should I do ?
- nothing ?
- ask them to repair FOC meaning that I would get the pump repaired automatically ?
- something else but what ?

When they phoned me to give me the various prices to carry the repairs I did say no to repairing the loom as I could live a little while without the pump working and knowing that the wiper and the lock were working and I was planning to have a look at it myself first.

This is the first time that I have used them and I do not wish to enter in a fight over it. But I am a bit disappointed that I have to go back because the wrong parts were delivered (gonna cost me at least £25 in fuel) and that I have been given back a car with 2 things which were ok before no longer working (but I can understand why). So what do you think I should do ??
 
I would ask them casually whats going to happen with the catch and wash wipe, if they act dumb ask ask what you mean just say they seem to have been disconnected when the pump was inspected, let them sort it out for you.

Second option find out the price of the items and do it yourself if its possible, since the pump needs replacing anyway and this would solve the other two faults, save yourself the petrol and the 'labour'.
 
Thanks. Repair cost for all items is mainly labour as you just need to repair the loom with a bit of wire and soldering iron. The lenghty bit is dismantling all the bits to access the loom.
 
then there is the point that you asked them to investigate the problem, and in doing this the break gotworse, hence the additonal problems. They will probably say, if you replcae the loom all will be soted! Would you rather they said " we wont touch that in case it gets worse" and then it went on you in a few weeks anyway?

it would et to a point when no-one will be willing to investigate silly little niggly probs in case whilst they do investgate them they make it worse!

just my 2p worth! :)
 
The additional faults are almost certainly a result of the loom investigation. If a bit of pulling has caused the faults then it was about to happen anyway.

If it was me I would accept that the loom needs repairing and this isn't really the garages fault.
 
Repairing the loom at the hinge isnt too an ardous task, I had to do this to my 250td and took me 2 hours at tops. Just needs the roof lining peeling away at the nearside rear and the tailgate panel off. Some wire from the scrapyard and some connectors didnt cost much. As I remember--- I completely cut the wire and pushed it back inside the tailgate-- did my joining inside and then pulled the new wires up and through the hole and then joined them inside the rear head lining---and everything was working again. No need to pay anyone for such a n easy job.
 
Loom fix

I'd recommend doing it one wire at a time - it makes feeding the cables through easier. Also use washing up liquid on the cable to make it slide through the (tight) rubber boot

The screenwash water pipe breaks there as well. I normally cut the pipe either side of the hinge, attach one end to a pull wire, pull it through, use the pull wire tp pull through a short section of new hose and use a hose joiners either side of the hinge to hook it all back up again

Early W124 doors do the same thing. So, if your electric windows only work with the door half-open, now you know why...

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk
 
bolide said:
I'd recommend doing it one wire at a time - it makes feeding the cables through easier. Also use washing up liquid on the cable to make it slide through the (tight) rubber boot

Thanks for the advice Nick but I have already stripped everything and got the whole loom out...:eek: The repair is done, now the hard bit is left. Putting the loom back inside the rubber grommet, with its 3 90º angles...hopefully a careful application of heat gun and washing up liquid will assist no end...:crazy: BTW there is a fairly thick cable that goes through there as well but does not form part of the loom. There is a weird round connector that it connects to, next to the loom connecting block. Do you know what the cable is for ??

bolide said:
The screenwash water pipe breaks there as well. I normally cut the pipe either side of the hinge, attach one end to a pull wire, pull it through, use the pull wire tp pull through a short section of new hose and use a hose joiners either side of the hinge to hook it all back up again
I shall be trying this as I discovered not all the screen wash actually goes to the rear window...:crazy:
 
Subyland said:
Hello all,

I have just picked up my car from my "local" (still 40 miles one way) MB specialist. The car was in to have the speedo cable and duovalve replaced and find out why rear wash pump not working and one or two other small bits.
Unfortunately the wrong parts were delivered which means neither the speedo nor the valve have been sorted. :devil:
But my main concern is elsewhere. The rear wash pump fault was traced down to the tailgate wiring loom breaking at the hinge, apparently a known weakness. Whilst investigating the matter they have obviously fiddled with the loom and as a consequence, neither the electric catch nor the rear wash wipe are now working. They admit to it is all part of the same loom.
My question is what should I do ?
- nothing ?
- ask them to repair FOC meaning that I would get the pump repaired automatically ?
- something else but what ?

When they phoned me to give me the various prices to carry the repairs I did say no to repairing the loom as I could live a little while without the pump working and knowing that the wiper and the lock were working and I was planning to have a look at it myself first.

This is the first time that I have used them and I do not wish to enter in a fight over it. But I am a bit disappointed that I have to go back because the wrong parts were delivered (gonna cost me at least £25 in fuel) and that I have been given back a car with 2 things which were ok before no longer working (but I can understand why). So what do you think I should do ??

Well if I were you I would choose a nearer garage. When I had my 230 CE I travelled about the same distance to a so called specialist. The problem being that the car had to go back to them several times for the same repair....however they didnt seem bothered in the least. The stress was too much for me. Unless you are retired with nothing else to do then fine. But if you hold down a demanding job and have a family forget it you just wont have the time....Good luck :)
 
There isn't anybody else closer with a decent MB knowledge bar a stealer so I haven't got much choice.
I have repaired the electrical problem and I can clearly see what has happened. I can't really blame them over it so I will go back to have the original repair scheduled done and see if at the end I am happy with the service I got.
 
Petef meant take the car to a general garage as opposed to a "specialist".

It has to be said, what is so special about a W124 thay demands specialist attention? These cars are not reliant on diagnostic equipment for most repairs.
 

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