Yea ,I am on board with that. The fact that I lost 3 weeks working time last fall before freeze up should not be forgotten.Lets get back on track. Steve, first thing you need to do is stop admitting you made mistakes. You did initially but once it went to the dealer it was up to them to diagnose the problem and repair your machine. That's what you paid them for. The only thing you should be admitting fault for was trusting the Cat dealer to fix your machine. They are supposed to have the expertise and all the special tools like Junkyard posted. They still owe you a proper running machine. Cat corporate covering $4K makes me think they know the dealer screwed up. The dealer should be covering the rest. The dealer screwed up royally and are scrambling to try and get out of it. Keep the pressure on and don't back down. You've got them rethinking their position. Just this thread should arm your lawyer with more than enough proof they cut a lot of corners. If they fixed everything except the rad, at the very least you should get a discount on a re-cored rad (they most likely get a discount at the rad shop) and they should cover the labour for the extreme length of time they have had your machine. They should also deliver it no charge because if they had properly diagnosed it and fixed it in the 1st place, they wouldn't have to haul it back and forth. Their time is worth $100/hr.+. Your time, downtime and frustration is worth something too!
Hobby time, I don't quite understand fully your post. Are you saying that they are responsible for the radiator recore expense, camshaft and lifters replace ,leaving me with the original bill on first rebuild??I am ok with the first bill only. They have to remember that I had to drag the machine across our field with our big tractor, load it up ,time lost not finishing the job last fall ,that has to be accounted for also .you should have a good running dozer at their expense at this point, I would think you paying for new radiator and any labor on that fair, as if the motor didnt cook and they found the real issue, you would be paying for the radiator and costs anyway..but you paid for a rebuilt engine at a cat dealer and thats what you should have at no additional costs for the engine part, plus the radiator and related expenses..thats fair..
I agree but what would you call a fair settlement? I have lost a lot of running time with this machine .Another thing ,every time I asked for an update on my machine ,I was the one who had to call and inquire. Even though I asked for periodic updates, they would never call or email .Expecting them to recore the radiator at their expense is just wishful thinking. You would have been charged for it if they did things correctly the first time. If it were mine I would pay for it. Provided I could get a fair settlement in this fiasco. Just my opinion.
NO....the only new expense to you should be the radiator and any labor directly related to fixing the radiator, anything failed by a clogged radiator is the dealers fault for not properly repairing and testing the dozer to make sure all is good....you are getting a ton of support from both guys in the industry and others that have businesses and have dealt with these issues of having equipment repaired and all of them are on your side that you have a good running dozer coming to you from this dealer at no more expenses other than the radiator and some minor related costs....the dealer is already backtracked on what they want just with the resistance you have given them so far, enter your lawyer and all the proof they screwed up and it seems cat corparate is even on your side from the comments you provided from him, so for a little more aggravation you should end up on top of this in the end, dont give up and try to explain to the wife all is not lost and the flower is about to bloom in your favor..Hobby time, I don't quite understand fully your post. Are you saying that they are responsible for the radiator recore expense, camshaft and lifters replace ,leaving me with the original bill on first rebuild??I am ok with the first bill only. They have to remember that I had to drag the machine across our field with our big tractor, load it up ,time lost not finishing the job last fall ,that has to be accounted for also .
If they used their own equipment they'd have this hooked up while they checked it over and made sure it was ok.....
View attachment 179006
Idk about y'all but when I'm starting a new motor I'm super sensitive to noises, smells, vibration etc. I even go as far as running them without valve covers to make sure it's all oiling properly etc.
They didn't go that deep into it. It was sent out as in good working condition .They only noticed the camshaft and lifters problem after they tore it apart the second time .They looked into the failure deeper the second time it came backIt may have been missed but I asked yesterday if the cam and lifter charge was because they did not find them bad the first time they worked on the engine. If they delivered it to you they were in essence all the parts were in good usable condition at that time so if they are bad now I would say it is there fault for not catching the problem the first time.
As for the radiator, yes that is your responsibility, but and it is a big BUT, you should not be forced to pay the dealer to re-core it! I would be checking around to find a radiator shop that can do the job for you. Darwin is only a bit west of the "Twin Cities" so I'm sure there are some good radiator shops near buy. It is very possible that a good radiator shop could clean the core and have it just as good as new. Even if it needs to be replaced the radiator shop could source a new core for much less than the Cat Dealer would charge.
Heck just for fun give this outfit a call and see if they will quote you a price, I have not dealt with them but might at least give you an idea of what a core could be had for. If you were close to NY I would contact my local rad. shop.
http://www.superiorcooling.co/radiator-core-for-caterpillar-3.html
Thanks, I have heard of them .I am going to call Ziegler caterpillar to get my radiator back to their shop .It is in Minneapolis right now. Thanks!Okay did some looking online for you try calling these people seem to have a few very positive replies:
Hillmyer Radiator Services Repair
Auto Radiator Repair Service
15302 43rd St SW
(320) 286-2404
Just outside of Cokato Minn!
Even manufacturer's original warranty on a new machine specifically excludes loss of use so I don't think you can expect to get anything there. You can certainly mention these facts though.
If you needed an engine rebuild then you pay for an engine rebuild, cam and lifters then you pay for cam and lifters (unless their screwup tore them up), you need a new radiator you pay for a new radiator but that is as far as it goes, you don't need to pay twice for anything. There should be a pretty good benchmark for how much each of those "should have cost".
Additional transportation cost you can argue and fight over, I don't know about that.