Repair shop owner breaks engine says not his problem.

Good morning,
I want to state that I know next to nothing about Diesel engines. I admire the knowledge and expertise all of you have. please forgive any terminology errors. I’ll do my best to be accurate and fair.
I own a 2008 dodge sprinter 3500 with a v6 Mercedes drive train. I brought my truck into a shop in derby Kansas called Automasters because I was getting a glow plug error light. I told the man at the desk that I’d recently purchased the truck and to be proactive I’d like all the glow plugs switched out. He replied “no problem”. After receiving no call that my truck was ready, I called in. The mans response was, “ well we tried to replace your glow plugs but we couldn’t get them out and we broke one off flush with the head and we can’t fix it so we’re just going to give the truck back to you. Oh and no charge.” I now have zero working glow plugs because the control unit detects an open circuit due to the broken plug and will not power any of the others. I asked the man, “are you telling me that you mad my truck worse and that you’re not going to fix what you broke but rather just give it back and say it’s not your fault or problem? He said, “ it’s an old truck, other people have worked on it and it’s not our fault. You can take it to a diesel specialist in mulvane Kansas if you want.”
I do not like to yell and argue with people. I’m not that type. This did not seem fair, honest, ethical or kind. I was given zero warnings that the replacement of glow plugs is hazardous or was I told ahead of time that if they break anything not only will they take no responsibility but they also will not help you fix your new worsened state. I took it to the diesel shop they recommended and it has recently passed from father to son and the son has a lot to learn about professionalism, customer service, and business in general. He stated that they mainly do truck modification stuff but that he would look at it. $150 later he said “yep it’s broke, we can’t get it out and you’ll have to wait for the engine to blow it out.” Summer was beginning it was hit abs getting hotter I am a busy construction worker trying to feed my family I need my truck. Now that the weather is cooling off the truck doesn’t want to start because it had zero functioning glow plugs. I spoke with the owner who was confrontational and argumentative and he said “ not our problem but I’ll do the repair for you at cost you pay for the parts and pay $30 an hour labor and it’s a25 hour job.” So now I’m looking at a minimum of $750 plus parts and a repair by a shop that is pissed off. I paid a diesel professional $60 to come and look at the situation and show me exactly what was broken. He explained that the circuit was open and that the control unit was not powering any glow plugs and that as it gets colder it will get harder to start. He also explained that the repair, even at cost, could be as high as $2000.
gentlemen, I’m sick about this. Please tell me if this is how you would handle a customers engine. Please tell me if you think taking zero responsibility is acceptable. Please tell me how you would have handled this dilemma and how I should proceed. Thank you in advance.

 

I’d imagine there is a way to wire up a push button momentary switch and relay to power the glow plugs that are still working .

if you just have one glow plug that’s not working the engine will still crank fine using the others that do function .

a switch and relay and fuse and wiring will be about $100 for the parts , plus the labor .

That’s what I did when I transplanted a diesel into a vehicle that had a gas engine .

just used a momentary spring loaded button and a relay .
Switch the vehicle on , push the glow plug button for three seconds , and hit the starter .

or you could get a glow plug and secure it in some shield that will make sure it can’t touch anything nearby , wire it in where the broken one is , and then the computer won’t know there’s one that isn’t working .
You’d have to be careful with this since the glow plugs job is to get very very hot , very fast. But it’s doable .

my wife has a diesel car and it knows that there isn’t enough resistance when a glow plug goes bad, but , it doesn’t stop the computer from running the engine . It just throws a trouble code .



you need a shade tree or hillbilly

(we prefer to be called Appalachian Americans )
mechanic or an old farmer to fix this .

 

Those Mercedes Sprinters are a pain. Maybe not your particular situation. I worked with the sister of a 25 year Service Manager of the local Mercedes dealer. He without a doubt HATES the Sprinters as they are a nightmare to work on. There is always a line of them needing worked on, made worse when Amazon came along.

I’m not trying to beat you down but I have an opinion on this particular vehicle. Take it to a Mercedes dealer. Yes it may be an inconvenience and yes it may cost a lot in labor. They have experience with them even though they don’t like them either. And I highly doubt they would have done what the others did to you.
Again. Just my opinion.

 

Sorry about the troubles. There are many repair shops and “ mechanics “ out there that have no business with a wrench in their hand. Alot of so called mechanics are parts changers at best.
I’ve gotten to where if my vehicles need anything more complicated that an oil change I take em to the dealer. It costs more but I have confidence that they know what they are doing.
If I were you I’d take it to a Mercedes dealer
Good luck -

 

There are kits to extract broken plugs.

https://www.google.com/search?q=glo...scso=_oFeBYbGfPJGztQbik5to6:138.3333282470703

 

Get a meter and find out the resistance value of a known, good glow plug. wire in proper resistor to "fool" ECM. Could purchase a glow plug and plug it in to harness to take place of broken one.then safely mount it out of the way......

 

What's the dates for the different repair attempts.

 

$30 an hour labor ?! .... who's running the shop these day with that number ...my mechanic for reg cars ( not semis) at $65 for me ( reg 80 ) and he can fix any german car i throw at him including my sprinter box truck

 

At least he stopped when he realized he was in over his head. I've seen too many push through, make things worse, and then try and cover up what was broken.

 

Thank you for The idea that’s the same thing my new diesel mechanic suggested I think it’ll work well and I’ll just leave the broken glow plug as is I guess my main question is whether or not the shop breaking the glow plug should have any responsibility in this whole thing should they cover the cost of the work around or is it just common practice to break something and wash your hands of it I know as a contractor I would never break a customers water valve and then shut their main water off and walk away and tell them they’re gonna have to get a plumber so I just don’t see how they’re OK with that