Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

The dealer notated the serial numbers of the old batteries. I will look for the purchase records next time I go on home time and see if I have any way to get a bit of money back. I doubt it. Thinking more closely on it I am pretty sure the batteries were replaced in late winter or early spring last year, not summer.

 

I think I already said it before in this thread, but I will say it again, stop going to dealers, you are getting ripped off. Everytime you post how much you pay for repairs, I get that sinking feeling in my stomach

 

Jumper cables, and a thick strap.When in doubt, park on a hill.

 

Six hours of testing seems out of line, I know its tough to have enough tools on the road to fix everything and the experience and knowledge to diagnose any issue adds to the volume of crap needed to get the job done but you will be money ahead to lean how and what tools are needed.
In this instance with perfect 20/20 hind site I can tell you how I would approach a none start and a jump that fixes the problem.
It's the battery's because if it was the starter a jump usually has no effect.
The first thing I would have done is take the cables off and checked the battery voltage on all 4 with a 15$ voltage tester probably found the bad one there in 20 minutes more than 1/2 a volt deference and you may have found the bad battery 1 1/2 volt deference and you definitely found it also it the low battery feels a little warmer than the others its another sign you found it. The other tester that helps is a harbor freight 100 amp load tester 20$ you could get the 60$ 500 amp one but if the battery are already low the 100 amp model will usually tell you all you need and its smaller, the battery with the problem will show weaker. The voltage tester can also do a voltage drop test and tell you if the cables are bad but you will also need 2, 10 foot lengths of 12 gauge wire with alligator clips. google can help with some of this but the school of hard knocks is how I leaned before google.
I Make more money fixing my trucks and keeping them running than I do driving them a big part is reduced down time and fix it right the first time its not hard to do a better job than the guys at the dealer, its not that they are all bad but its a crap shoot on weather you are getting an experienced man that cares or an inexperienced kid learning on your dollar and lively hood and then though in the possible less that honest shop that needs to make money.
I know a car repair shop that the goal was to make 500$ more than necessary on every repair what do you think I dishonest truck repair shop goal would be.

 

The Shop got him on the 6 hrs. What a joke. Should have been 1 hr. Diagnosis and Labor to install batteries. It’s insult to injury, since another Shop put the wrong batteries in last time. Can’t let yourself be at their mercy. A straight up, estimate, before they look at it, and an argument if needed, to hold them to it, when paying the bill. Unfortunately, some Service Managers will take advantage, if they think they can. I hate those situations, but sometimes you just have to be a rude ### about it. To drive the point.

 

Honestly, I think it has as much to do with how he pays.......They think that since he's paying off of a PO from a company, they can screw the company as hard as they want to. On the other hand, were he paying cash out of his pocket, it probably would have been much less. TA did all 4 of my batteries a couple of years ago and it was like $500.
6 hours of 'diagnosis' is straight up bull####. They're batteries, guys. Either they work or they don't. That's 15 minutes.
Remember a couple of months back when my and Bob's brake chambers or cans or whatever went bad? TA wanted to charge me for a 1 hour 'diagnosis'. I said Bull####. You walk out to the truck and the one that has air blowing out of it is the one that's bad. That's a 5 second 'diagnosis'. They took the charge off.

But anyway, Bob. I think you'll find that in the repair business, cash is king. It gets you in and out a lot faster and they tend to not screw you quite as hard.
And the MPG thing? Give it a rest. 2 10th's is the difference between a head wind and a tail wind.

 

I generally do not pay with a PO from the company. That's the truck payoff fund, if i can avoid spending it long enough.

 

but you're kinda like me.....we don't know much. So, if they say something, we say, ok, whatever.
We didn't come out of the chute knowing all things to be known about trucks. But we're getting smarter every day.
Mostly, it comes from people who are kind enough to tell us the truth.
Best wishes, Bob.

 

Yes, you are absolutely correct. While I do get a bit frustrated with some of the responses and comments I receive here,

EDIT ADD

#### keyboard has screwed me up twice now, getting irritated, responding much more shortly than the last time I tried to edit this.

I recognize the advice and criticism here, and I consider all of it. I welcome it, but I do get a bit grumpy when folks paint the picture of their own operations over mine.

I have no shop. I carry few tools. I don't have a buddy with a diesel repair service. I am a mechanic, but not a diesel mechanic. I am not an electrician. My truck is not old iron, and needs more than a hammer and screwdriver to fix most problems. I would rather be safe than sorry, and pay for people with the experience and tools to do a job than possibly make potentially stupid mistakes out of ignorance.

Do I get shafted by some shops? Yes. Outside of a real emergency, I will never do business with that Freightliner dealer in Pacific, WA again because I am more than a little irritated with how much it cost to test and replace 4 batteries.

 

I understand your frustration but some of us get frustrated when we see one of our brothers get taken advantage of too.

So what did we learn about batteries? What makes these special spec batteries different than traditional truck batteries so we all know for next time this happens?

Guys here are trying to help you buy showing you the equipment needed to test your batteries and would help you through the process of changing them in the parking lot.

YOU are just as capable as any shop or more so in a lot of circumstances of diagnosis your batteries and replacing them in the same amount If time they charged you.
Plus you would have a clear understanding of WHY they needed to be changed and for WHAT reason.

We are not the enemy, Nor is the shop That charged you $1300 for batteries.

The question is do you understand WHY?

Look I’m rooting for you to be successful but I can’t just sit here with my mouth shut while you think it’s ok for it to cost $1300 for batteries and not know why.

“Special spec” is not the correct answer.