Dealership cant fix truck... what to do next?

Sorry to be rude but these dealers who say "we can't find the problem" should take their parts changers, soak them in diesel and light them up.

A good mechanic will look at things like the GROUNDS and pull the fuses to the ECM to make sure they are not corroded. They would take the truck out for a drive, and get it to stop, all the while monitoring (and recording) the activity of the engine.

 

To check if it is a faulty computer - ECM, it is best to hook up another one from a similar truck with the same engine.
I learned it the hard way too, after throwing a fortune and wasting time on those dealers and tows, I was carrying a spare ECM programed to my vin.

I feel your pain. You must be a few grand behind already and the problem is not solved.

Next time, you gotta find a friendly local shop near home and tow it there, if you're not too far out. In my experience, that's cheaper than to fix things on the road.

 

That's horrible. You bring a piece of their equipment into their shop & they say can't found out the problem. Those are the type of "mechanics" we have to deal with. I'm glad I have been blessed to work on my equipment. I hope you can get the help you need.

 

At least they should give him the money back.
There's no accountability for those dealers.

I once took them to court for raking up hours and fixing nothing. Nothing! After 2 days, I aborted their fiddling around and took the truck somewhere else. The judge said, they worked, so I owed them. The bill was over 5 grand.

 

That is absolutely one reason why I always pay with a credit card. If they can't figure out the problem, being a dealer, they ain't getting my money. I had this happen with a dealer in Florida, they raped me on the bill ($9500) to troubleshoot a regen issue, and they changed all kinds of parts out but would not give me the old parts and still didn't fix the problem, so I paid the bill to get the truck released to the driver, and as soon as I was off the phone with the dealer, I was on the phone with AmEx and filing a complaint. $9500 was reversed before I was off the phone. It's been a year, and I haven't heard a word from AmEx about them complaining about the complaint.

 

My freightliner dealership won't take AmEx

 

What about inactive codes? I would find it hard to believe the engine stop light comes on but no codes are set.

The most common causes of a stop engine light are:
1) low coolant level
2) low nox conversion
3) high soot level in the DPF filters
4) low oil pressure.

Any one of the above can also be falsely reported by a bad sensor or bad wiring harness.

 

Do you have some sort of aftermarket warranty?

 

It's not so easy getting charges reversed these days.

Banks will usually side with the business nowadays.

I don't know about Amex though. I don't use that card much.

 

If it is an ecm issue it could be deleting all codes active and inactive when it acts up.