Electrical short in 330i. Update

[rumatt]

For those who haven't heard, my 330i had the service engine light and "EML" light come on. After that it wouldn't start, so it was towed to the dealer.

Here's the latest update:

First day they looked at it, they said every time they started it, it would blow a fuse.

After blowing a number of fuses, they replaced the fuse with a breaker, to help the testing. (I guess that makes sense )

They pulled out and inspected all the wires from the fuse box, over and through the ECU box, and to the other circuit breaker, and they all looked OK.

The last time they started the car it started fine, and it's been running for "several hours today" so far with no problems.

So they've replaced nothing, and it's working fine now. I asked him for a list of exactly which fuses were blowing, and exactly what they've done. He's going to find that out, talk to the technition about suggestions, and call me back.

Dammit. Intermittent problem. Worst case scenario.

[rumatt]

They officially can't reproduce the problem by jiggling wires.

They offered to

a) Give me back the car with the understanding that it may happen again, or

b) Keep the car through next week and let their guys keep driving it around to see if they can reproduce it.

Ummmmmmmmm. I picked a).

[Plaz]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Ummmmmmmmm. I picked a).

Good call.

[FC]

Originally Posted by Plaz

Good call.

Werd.

[SARAFIL]

Originally Posted by Fernando

Werd.

Option B means that the shop foreman gets a new demo for a week. (or, if you drive a lowly car like a 3-series with vinyl and no moonroof, one of the new techs gets a demo for the week while the shop foreman looks for a nicer car to drive... D: )

This is no lie... we once had a situation where the police showed up at a customer's house at 3am in the morning to ask him if his 745 had been stolen. The police had pulled over a man in his late-20s that spoke with a Russian accent and looked rather scrubby driving the car, and he didn't look anything like the British man that the registration belonged to. Expecting to hear it in the morning (and expecting to lose his job), the tech showed up at work the next morning scared beyond belief. Sure, he had permission to test drive the car, but no one expected that to include 3am test drives that resulted in being pulled over and ending up in trouble with the authorities.

In case you're wondering how the story ends, the tech was spared when the customer called up and specifically asked that we not give the tech a hard time over the whole ordeal. He said that he found some humor in it and he was just happy that his car was working again.

[rumatt]

Yeah, they guy actually said that they would test it, possibly with the service manager taking the car home nights.



Um..... No.

But I can see how some customers would rather keep a reliable loaner and not get back their car until it's fixed 100%. And he gave me a choice, so that's fine with me.

[rumatt]

It's the "fuel pump relay fuse" that kept blowing.

[Plaz]

Originally Posted by rumatt

It's the "fuel pump relay fuse" that kept blowing.

Yeah, that sounds like it would put a crimp in your "go" plans.

[kognito]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Yeah, they guy actually said that they would test it, possibly with the service manager taking the car home nights.



Um..... No.

But I can see how some customers would rather keep a reliable loaner and not get back their car until it's fixed 100%. And he gave me a choice, so that's fine with me.

I used to be a service writer, then service manager for a Dodge dealership. Once I became manager, I only once drove home a customer's car. It was a loaded Ramcharger that was converted to an EMT rescue vehicle. (I wanted to play with the lights and sirens D: )

between the choice of driving a new demo vehicle, or a customer's car that may or may not breakdown, what would you choose??

You made the right call, I drove many customer's cars while I was a service writer, and I drove everyone of them like I stole it!!

[rumatt]