Went to Akey Brakey due to leaking rack and pinion on my Ford Windstar. I was told rack and pinion nwas leaking and needed to be replaced, but the only way to warranty the work was to replace the power steering pump, as the fluid was dirty. As a previous coustome, I believed them and told them to do the necessary work. After talking to several other more reputable Ford mechanics, I was told that pumps are never replaced due to dirty fluid, they only need to be flushed. When I asked the owner of Akey Brakey about this, he informed me that the pump was indeed in working order, he just routinely replaces power steering pumps to "cover his ass", and that he would not warranty the work with out replacing it.
As the job was complete, I paid the bill and left, knowing that I was sandbagged for $350 of unnecessary parts and labor, but the work was warrantied. After driving the car for several days I realized that the steering was unresponsive and lose and the new power steering pump was squealing. As i was under warrany, I took the car back to Akey Breaky and was told that the rack and pinion was not installed correctly and they had to fix the problem. I was also told that squealing on Ford power steering pumps was normal. I again checked with a Ford mechanic who informed that that squealing was definitely NOT normal, so I took the car in again. They said they would warranty out the new pump and put in a second pump.
When I picked up the car and examined the replaced power steering pump I noticed that it did not look new at all, in fact it look very familiar. As I had to add power steering fluid daily to my original pump (due to the leaking rack and pinion) I became very familiar with the appearance of that pump (ie. Fluid stains on the resevoir, wear on the cap, etc.) This was definitely my original pump, the one they had to replace due to dirty fluid, the one that worked just fine but had to be replaced to get a warranty. When I called and told the owner this he acted very defensive and guilty and hung up the phone. Very rude and unprofessional
Tim
Simi Valley, California
U.S.A.
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