I wasn't meaning to sound challenging if it came across that way..

The torx screws that hold the lower shift bracket should be installed with a liquid thread locker. Some shops and folks just retighten them when they back out, or completely fall out onto the carpet. And they will again come loose if not removed and recoated.

When the shifter is moved from P to L and back,, or during range selections back'n forth do you hear any 'pop' or a cracking sound? Theres a few places these shifters assemblies can cause problems,, the half clamps/nylon bushings that hold the shifter tube in place (and again, screws) on the column can come loose and the tube bushings wear and/or come out. The shifter tube itself can crack or break as well..

The first place to always check would be the lower column cable bracket.. Might save a buck or two if you can check/tighten them yourselves (?).

Parts do come in varying quality, most times vendor dependant, and no reliable shop would tend to use a parts vendor or parts that have a high failure rate. It's not always the shop..

Shops have to stand behind the parts they install 'to a degree', and don't like to use 'supplied parts' quality being one reason, and most usually get retail prices (or close) for the parts they install, and DO make money not only on the labor but parts as well. The market is flooded with discounted 'parts' and some will fill the bill, some just barely, but may not have the longevity of a OE spec item. With a new shop, ask what the part manufacturers warranty covers in months/year (some the part vendor/supplier will cover labor within part/time coverage) so there's no surprises, and, if the shops labor coverage meets or better yet,, exceeds the part (if limited warranty) should a problem out beyond the part coverage happen.

My neighbors 07 Honda Pilot just lost the A/C discharge hose.. He asked If I would do the repair, and I 'requested' he get a OE hose, He opted for and ordered a N##A hose at a savings. Made in China.. He's worried it won't last,,, Hmmmm
I was shopping for a heater core for my 69 Firebird yesterday.. Everyone that had one available sold a quality part
Warrant coverages ranged any where from 30 days, to 1 year,, again suppllier dependant .. Shops labor 'may' follow only what the part warranty will cover.. always good to check...

 

Oh no. Absolutely not! LOL I was just hoping that I was answering correctly.

And again, I want to thank you for your wealth of knowledge and info.

 

Well, the truck is in the garage as we speak. Guess we'll know soon enough what was actually wrong with it. Son is tired of not having wheels, lol, but we had to just leave it sit until the garage could fit us in rather than drain the new battery/cause additional problems. Fingers crossed it won't cost a fortune!

 

A suggestion, ask the shop to call you before they get into any expensive repairs which they are supposed to do anyway. Once you have an idea of what they say is the problem, there is nothing wrong with getting a second ,third or fourth opinion here on the forum. You still will have time to make a decision on whether to proceed or not. As long as you don't try telling the shop what to do because some people have a problem with customers instructions and when they follow them and they are wrong , guess who pays ?

 

I always do that anyway when we need work done. I ask them to call us with what's wrong and what the cost will be BEFORE they do the work.

So, turns out that after all the testing they did, it definitely was the alternator. He said he wanted to run electrical tests and some other things (which he did) to make sure that it wasn't something else messing with the alternator?

Anyway, he called me back to say that he needed to pull the alternator out in order to get the parts number (since it's on the bottom). He said if it was a high amp one it would be $210.55 and $75 for labor and if it was the low end amp it would be $185.54 and $75 for labor. And based on what I read on the internet, that seemed about right so I told him to go ahead and fix it.

Turns out ours needed the high end amp so the total, including him also fixing that screw/issue under the steering column (which fixed the problem with the needle being off), came to $330. I'm happy with that. At least it's up and running again.

I want to thank all of you again for your help and suggestions.

 

Awww, wtf!!! So son used it last night for just an hour and noticed the battery icon inside on the dash showing at about 1/4 of the way. He said it did that right before the car died before so he quick parked it. Then today he took it out again and it started at 1/2 way then soon enough went down to 1/4. So he took it back to the garage and they tested it and said sure enough, it was measuring at about what it was like when we brought it in. The mechanic seemed to think it may just be a faulty alternator so he told my son to bring it back on Monday and they would replace it. I hope like hell that's the case because he already told me he tested for everything else the other day before deciding it was indeed the alternator. Grrrrrrr

 

Should be easy enough to do a output state test on the alternator (old or new) while its still in place on the engine. (A running test) Hopefullly its a bad unit, but not always the case, and maybe more so if it follows the same fail pattern as before or intermittent.

On the Alt. connections, they should have 12v+ (battery voltage) at 'B+' and on 'A' as well with the key cycled on or running.. If one is missing voltage, its not going to charge. If the B+ circuit tests out ok between the alt. connection and the battery positive terminal of the battery, and 'A' circuit distribution is missing or may be suspect, then as part of the test, apply 12v to the 'A' terminal and the voltage regulator/alt. will go full charge. Could be an intermittent alt. circuit/distribution problem, and both B and A need to be checked for drop outs and clean/tight connections..

If B+ is interrmittent or missing voltage, look towards the fuse links and starter relay connections. If 'A' is missing, look towards power distribution box fuse and/or connection and again on over towards the starter relay connections..

If a new alternator fixes the problem, no worries

 

Thanks again for your input. Well, my son dropped it off on Monday to be fixed and so far, so good. They said they tested the one they pulled out and it was indeed bad. The reason he had to wait several days to drop it off was because they sent away for a brand new one. Anyway, he's used the truck several times since then and has had no issues at all. I hope it stays that way. LOL Thanks again!!!