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all you guys warned me...but i still went for it. when Firestone was replacing my alternator they had to pull off hoses to put the new alternator in, they did a ****ty job of putting the car back together when they finished. they forgot to tighten the radiator hose. after the repair was done i didn't drive the car for a week. and yesterday i drove to car to Concord and on the way back more car started smoking (i was like damn...not again). and it happed at the worse place on the bay bridge...there was alot of traffic too. when i opened the hood the the hose connected to my radiator to the engine totally came off and coolant was all over the car. i spent like 2 hours reattaching the hose and checking if my car was alrite...not a single person stopped and help! i had to walk all the way bak to the toll to get water...it was damn far, i had to make like 2 trips to get water. finally when i checked everything and made sure the car was alrite...i drove back to SF with my music off, heater on full blast and drivin damn slow. 2m im goin to go to Firestone and just start complaining! they are going to pay for all the damages that was done to my engine and whatever else is the problem! I'm never going there again! bringing my car to the dealership from now on. F*cK FIRESTONE! never goin there again!

-Greg

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the new alturnator and the hose that came off

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damage that was done to the car because of the overheated engine

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as you can see there is coolant all over the engine.

dtkw

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. All you need is find a honest MB mechanic, someone who works on Mercedes only. Even dealers could make mistakes. After all, it's not the service advisor you talked to work on your car. I had my cooling cap loosened in a coolant flushed serivice. They did not tighten it after the job. And you'd MAD if they charged you 90 buck an hour.

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OMG 2day when i went to Firestone for them to check my car.. they said they had nothing to do with it!!! and said a whole bunch of BS like that they don't have to remove that hose to change the alternator and a whole bunch of ***** like that. any of you guys got any advice for me? THANKS

-Greg

dtkw

Did you say your family knew this Firestone? Have someone who knows them best to go talk to them. If all else fail, take them to court. BTW, on your invoice, it should state what had been done. One thing you might need, is getting the work/labor sheets from them. Better to have your lawyer to get it though. Good luck.

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we'll going to talk to the manager 2m. i hope it won't go so far that we will have to go to court. thanks

-Greg

dtkw

Any luck to resolve the issues?

Mike Murrell

As stated in a previous post, you don't need to go to an MB dealer. For the most part, they aren't much better than Firestone.

Find a good independent who specializes in MBs. The Bay area should be full of them.

Go to http://www.mercedesshop.com

There is a section there that deals with GOOD SHOPS. I'm sure there have been many posts there praising good shops in your area.

JohnMichael

Your problem with Firestone reminded me a recent episode with my 91 350SDL. Last winter I had new glow plugs installed at the MB dealer. Two days later I left an a trip from Minneapolis to Florida (it was February and very cold. About 100 miles along my way the accerator pedal starts to feel strange but since I have the car on cruise I keep going but the next time I slowed down and went to hit the gas the pedal did nothing but luckily I realized I could acelerate with the cruise control so i exited the highway and you guessed it as soon as I got below 30 MPH the cruise kicked off so I limped at idle speed slowly to the gas station. Well it was Sunday no mechanic just a clerk. I borrowed some duct tape and a popsicle stick and taped the linkage together. ( the mechanic had not tightened the linkage when he took it apart to get at the glow plugs and it eventually came apart) so I got back on the freeway and started thinking about the next big town and a mall where there would be a hardware store Madison WI was coming up so I exited and tried to keep the car above 30MPH but missed a light and had to stop so it was a very long slow trip about 6 blocks and across the parking lot to a Sears store at idle speed ( thank god that engine has enough torque to pull the car at idle speed) Managed to buy some bolts and washers and fixed it rt there in the parking lot. I only have 65000 mile on the car and thats the only thing that ever happened and it wasn't the car's fault at that. I think the 350SDl is the best Mercedes ever made. Lots of power good mileage and tons of room for the family.

BUY SELL

Chief, not to stir the pot or anything, but let's look at the situation.

You are complaining that the hood pad is "damaged" due to not attaching a radiator hose and some smoke coming from the engine. Reality: you have a 15-year old hood pad that is slated to be replaced. If you must have the original hood pad, go buy some glue and reattach it. Hood pads can be had for $70, and that fraying that you see is NOT due to someone reattaching the hose, it is from 15+ years of driving a car 100K+ miles. Things wear out and hood pads are no exception. If you've ever driven one of these cars and have the air on, with little black fragments coming through the vents, that is from a decaying hood pad. Very common. Pull it out, buy a new one and glue it on. A new one will provide better insulation anyway. The coolant around the engine isn't hurting anything. The engine is not too clean either, but that shouldn't matter. It's only a signal.

On the radiator hose, I highly doubt that you have serviced the car (at Firestone) using only MB coolant. And I will also bet that that is the original radiator hose and collar. Everyone I know with a W126 of this vintage has replaced the radiator and associated components because they wear out. They are old. As a data point, at an autocross last year, an '86 560SEL with 108K blew its hose. Happens all the time. It's good practice to replace these things, especially if you plan on highway driving of any significant distance. A friend who has replaced the hose has some baleing (sp?) wire in the trunk in case that hose breaks, so he can tie it up again and make it home. It's a high mileage car.

You have a nice old car that you have serviced at a non-MB dealer/shop, I will bet any money not using MB fluids (like coolant). And in bringing it to Firestone, you're not looking for MB fluids and genuine parts, etc...you're looking for a quick, cheap fix. In my opinion, Firestone is not liable in this case.

A dealer is not the solution either. You can get better mileage out of the same (or less) money by going to someone that deals with the same cars all the time.

These W126 cars are great drivers and beautiful styles, but they are old and unfortunately maintenance-intensive. Yours should be no exception.

suntubi

Although not as bad as your experience, I once bought some tires from Firestone and had the front end aligned at the same time. Suffice it so say they got it wrong.

I picked up my car and noticed the tires singing out when I went around curves -- even at 20 mph. I drove the car home ( 12 miles) and noticed visible wear on the new front tires.

The next day I took the car back and the mechanic who did the work told me he forgot to finish up after a break and the car was still loose. (No kidding -- he actually admitted to not having completed the button up on the car.)

Long story short I had the guy re-align the car and asked for a new set of tires. The store manager actually wanted to pro rate the tires for the wear incurred on the tires.

I agreed and said I wanted the tires to send to the Secretary of State and also I would have my attorney contact his attorney in order to facilitate his signing over his franchise to me.

He wisely apologized and comped the entire thing -- including a refund for the new tires.

True Firestone story from the Firestone store in Winterhaven Florida.

maheath

No it's not. It's the foam used around the flaps in the ventilation system. Do you honestly believe that the air used in the ventilation is from the engine compartment? Think about it.

Did the Firestone place charge you for coolant? If they didn't, then they probably didn't remove the hose. If they did, then you've got them by the nuts.

Mike