Took my truck here for a state inspection and oil change. They called me and said I needed a new left outer tie rod end and that my power steering was messed up. I drive this truck 35 miles each way to work every day and have never had a problem with the power steering so I told them I wanted to see the problem.
1. When they brought me into the shop they first told me that I had to wear safety glasses. I wouldn't have had a problem with this if the employees were wearing them instead of having them sitting on top of their heads.
2. I stood at the front of my truck and the technician (if you can even call him that) got in the cab and started the engine and turned the wheel all the way to the right to the stop and said that the squealing that we heard was the problem. Yes the squealing that happens when you crank your wheel all the way and hold it there apparently isn't normal. I told them to put the tires back on the truck and I would take it somewhere else.
3. I went into the waiting area and talked to the manager about what had just happened and all of the sudden the story changed. He said when the tech "pulled it into the shop" the power steering "gave out" on him an that the kid that was telling me the squealing was the problem was wrong. I told him I wanted to go for a ride and have him prove it to me. The guy that was actually doing the inspection got into the truck and we drove it around the lot. We took it out around the shopping center where he said he drove it and had the problem (before this he said the problem happened as he was pulling it into the shop). He stopped in a parking spot and cranked the wheel all the way to the left and some how did something and made it hard to steer. I told him to take it back to the shop and put a rejection sticker on it and I would take care of it.
4. The mechanic told me that it needed either a power steering pump or a new rack. And he would start with the new pump and see if it fixes the problem. I guess they just expected me to go for process of elimination rather than good old fashioned troubleshooting.
I left Firestone and on the way home at every stop light I went full range on the steering several times. When I got home I sat in my driveway and continued with full range steering checks for about 15 minutes. I could never duplicate the problem.
I have never had any problems with this truck and maintain it very well. If there truly was a problem with it I would not hesitate to fix it because I rely on it to take me 70 miles every day. I do not know how the tech made the steering act up but I am absolutely certain there is no problem with it.
I will never be going back to Firestone again for anything and once I replace my tie rod end (they wanted $80 for the part, I got it for $13 online) I will go and spend another $16 for another state inspection somewhere else rather than the $1 they would charge me if I brought it back to them. Never never never again.
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