Something Isn't Quite Right

ON THE MARK
Something Isn't Quite RightJust when you think you've seen it all 
in this industry ...

Have you ever been in the middle of a repair, and then suddenly, you just get the feeling that something isn't quite right? Well, I recently found myself in this same situation. 

A customer had dropped off their 1998 Nissan Maxima with a strange complaint: " 'Check Engine' lamp on after underhood fire of unknown origin." That was exactly what he wrote on the key drop envelope. The customer also called and said that since the fire, the car was not performing well. In addition, he also wanted to know how serious the damage was. 

I was familiar with this vehicle, as the customer had purchased it from us about two years ago. The owner is very fussy and always keeps his vehicles immaculate. Because this is a 1998 Maxima, my first thought was the alternator fire recall. My underhood inspection did not reveal any obvious burn evidence. There were no signs of fire damage on the alternator side of the engine compartment. 

However, moving over to the driver's side did yield a few clues. The lower section of the air cleaner box showed evidence of heat damage. There was some black ash in this area. Some wire harness plugs exhibited a slightly melted appearance. The three wires going to the throttle position sensor were new. Someone had spliced in what looked like brown speaker wire from the main engine harness to the TPS connector. 

The two fuel filter lines had a light ash coating as well. One thing stood out like a sore thumb though: The fuel filter was unusually clean and shiny. It appeared that it was the only thing in this area without heat damage. I started to get that, "something isn't quite right," feeling. It was time to call the customer. 

Paul Harvey certainly had a good saying with his, "And now, the rest of the story" phrase. That saying definitely applied here. I asked the customer what the source of the fire was. The customer stated that he and his brother-in-law were performing a tune-up, when suddenly, there was a flash fire. In fact, he said he had "never seen a car go up like that." Well, that sure seemed frightening to me, especially because I knew the owner happened to be a local firefighter. He ended by saying that he would have his brother-in-law give me a call. 

About an hour later, in came the call. The brother-in-law was very courteous on the phone. He started by saying that what he was about to tell me was, sort of, embarrassing. I could not believe my ears as I heard the rest of the story. It turns out these two guys were chatting over some beers while changing the fuel filter, when suddenly, flames broke out under the car. The cause? They had a kerosene heater working within 5 feet of the car. 

It appears the fumes from the fuel filter's drippings were not smart enough to drift away from the heater. (Now, that's a nice way for me not to blame these two for such a lack of common sense, isn't it? What the heck, blame the fumes.) A firefighter, an open flame and gasoline. I guess that trio doesn't mix. 

The brother-in-law also admitted to rewiring the TPS after the car started running so poorly. The original wiring had burnt through. 

Well, the story didn't end there. After I went back to test-drive the car, I found it was like riding a bull. If you gave less than 30 percent gas pedal, the car ran fine. If you gave more than 30 percent gas pedal, the car surged violently as if someone were giving it full throttle, then no throttle.

A pull of computer codes revealed a total of nine PCM faults, transmission faults, you name it. Further visual inspection revealed additional heat-damaged areas of underhood wiring harnesses. After clearing the codes and test-driving the bull again, five of the codes had returned. I started to get that feeling again. I was starting to picture myself changing wiring harnesses and sensors, then pleading for additional parts and labor authorization to go further. No way. I'm not getting caught in that trap. Been there; done that. 

I called a service manager I knew at a local Nissan dealer and asked him if he would be willing to give the car a thorough check with his electrical technician and the Nissan Consult tool. The service manager agreed, and I called the customer to advise him. I told the customer that his vehicle should go to the dealer as they could do much more pinpoint testing for a problem of this complexity. The customer also agreed, and off went the car. 

About a week later, my buddy at the dealership called me back with the news: The service manager wanted authorization for $2,200 to cover both wiring harness replacement and labor. However, he warned me that more repairs might be needed if any modules had cooked due to the shorted wiring. Sounded good to me, but I wondered how good it would sound to the customer. 

Because this was fire damage, I thought his auto insurance might cover it. On a hunch, I called my insurance agent to ask whether she thought that the customer's auto insurance would cover a situation like this. My agent was pretty sure that his auto policy would cover the damages, less his deductible. Now I had some good news for the customer. I told him about the $2,200 estimate that the dealership had proposed and how I was confident that his auto insurance policy would handle this. 

Now you would think that this guy would be happy that I was calling him with some promising news. Well, he was not very happy at all. He told me in no uncertain terms that the Nissan service manager was "full of it." 

Then he made a really interesting statement: He said that he knew for a fact that the dealer's price was too high because he had already received a $1,100 settlement check from his insurance company. 

Stunned at this revelation, my voice cracked as I said, "I'm sorry, did you say you already received an insurance check?" Funny how he did not tell me that in the first place. 

Now I knew exactly what was going on. The owner was trying to pull the wool over my eyes! This guy was trying to shop me for a cheap repair so he could pocket the difference. Now he wasn't happy knowing this repair was going to cost him more than his insurance had already paid him.

Regardless, I told him to call back his insurance company for a supplement claim. I told him to have his adjuster contact the Nissan dealership's service manager so they could work out the details. 

A full month went by before I got word from the dealer that the repairs were finally completed. All in all, the car required three wiring harnesses. The total cost was just over $5,100. 

Ready for the best part? During the calls back and forth, the customer told the service manager that the power antenna had not been working that well this year. He wanted to know if the manager could "put it in" with the claim. 

I laughed when the service manager told me what he told the customer: "Sorry pal, that's on the other end of the car."