emission warranty ?? exhaust flange on converter

[Dean68]

On my 2001, the weld to the flange coming up from the converter where it connects to the exhast manifold is broken. I am not the original owner. My question is whether or not this will be covered by emission warranty because the flange is a part of the converter. I have an appointment with the dealer next week to determine if it is covered. I talked to 3 dealers and one of them said it isn't covered. The other two wanted me to bring it in so they can look at it and the one I have the appointment with thinks it would be covered but needs to see it. The Isuzu warranty person on Isuzu's 800 number said it is up to the dealer to determine if something is covered. The emission warranty is 8 years or 80,000 miles and mine falls under this time

My argument for coverage is that since the flange is part of the converter (if you ordered a converter, the flange is part of the converter) the broken weld should be covered.

What do you think?

Thanks,

Dean68

[circmand]

but not sure since you are not the original owner.

[Dean68]

This is an emission related item which is a federal mandate. It doesn't have to do with any regular Isuzu warranty. The emission system is required to be covered for 8 years or 80,000 miles no matter how many owners a vehicle has been through.

[Solitude]

That is a good argument for a dealer, I think you don't have to stand on a soapbox here to get a point across when it comes to warranty on parts

[Ascinder]

Sounds to me like if they built it and its part of the exhaust, it should be covered. Kinda wish I knew this about a month ago when my downpipe weld broke.

[Y33TREKker]

This is an emission related item which is a federal mandate. It doesn't have to do with any regular Isuzu warranty. The emission system is required to be covered for 8 years or 80,000 miles no matter how many owners a vehicle has been through.

That's always been my undersanding of problems/dealer-repairs related to emissions equipment too.

[Dean68]

I brought it to a local Isuzu dealer and they say they won't cover it because it still passes the emissions test. Of course I tried to reason my way through it saying that is a defect and that defects to the catalytic converter are covered. See this link and the Design and Defect section. http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/warr95fs.txt

All they were concerned about was that the VX still passed the emissions. While at the dealer, I spoke to an Isuzu warranty person that they were on the phone with and he told me the same thing. I asked him if the only way they would cover it is if I filed a complaint with the governement (EPA) and they forced Isuzu to pay and the warranty person said yes. He wouldn't even listen to anything else I had to say.

What will I have to do in order to get this covered under the federally mandated emissions warranty? In the mean time, I really would like to get it fixed by another shop that told me costs would be $250-500 depending on the time it took. If this whole fight with Isuzu takes a while and I win, I want the money I spent on my own back.

On top of all of this, the service manager showed such a lack of professionalism. He wanted to put it on their emission tester and inspect the underside of the vehicle. He said that if it passed, it would cost me $50 for their work. I knew it would pass because there were no check engine lights on. I told him that I didn't want to pay for anything and then he told me that this wasn't the welfare office and started to give me directions to go to one. I then told him what I thought of his statement and then he threatened to clock my block. Before leaving the dealer, I told him that he soiled the name of the dealership. He apologized to me for what he said but I told him the only reason he apologized is so that I wouldn't tell his boss. He said he would be ok with dealing with the consequences.

[Y33TREKker]

I see you're in Saint Louis. Was the dealership you went to in St. Charles? Everyone here has at least always had good luck when dealing with Merlin in the parts department, so if that's not where you went, you might give the place a try. Sounds like they couldn't be any worse anyway.

I think I may have taken the service manager up on his offer, on the condition that the dealership manager was referee. I imagine he may have been interested to have heard what had been said.

[pbkid]

wow, thats crazy!!! i think i would take that up with his superiors...you may get your car fixed up if you cause enough of a stink...

and +1 on going to st. charles....talk to merlin...i know he helps everyone out here on the board...

[Y33TREKker]

...While at the dealer, I spoke to an Isuzu warranty person that they were on the phone with and he told me the same thing. I asked him if the only way they would cover it is if I filed a complaint with the governement (EPA) and they forced Isuzu to pay and the warranty person said yes. He wouldn't even listen to anything else I had to say.
You know, after further consideration of the other stuff that occured with the service manager, I can't help but wonder if the "Isuzu Warranty person" you spoke with on the phone was actually just one of the service managers' buddies in the next room. ;wtf;

I'm paranoid like that sometimes though... :bgwo:

[Dean68]

The dealer is not St Charles Isuzu. I later called back the Isuzu warranty number and ended up talking to the same person that handled the call when talked to them at the dealer. When I asked to talk to the Isuzu warranty person's supervisor, the Isuzu person said the supervisor would just tell me the same thing. He wouldn't even listen to any reasoning I had. It was as if his answer was set in stone.

I am waiting to hear back from the general manager of the dealer. My next steps depend on what he says about the situation.

Has anyone ever had an Isuzu warranty person say no to a claim but then later say yes? If so, what did it take?

Thanks

Dean68

[AlaskaVX]

It seemed to always take a lot of bitching to get them to do any warranty work for me, especially my windows, but with enough of a scene in the lobby they normally would change their minds.

I think you should go back to the dealership you went to and pee (or worse) on his windshield then go to St. Charles Isuzu. If I lived next to St. Charles Isuzu I wouldn't go anywhere else, I buy almost all my parts through Merlin and he's great!

I have also had the weld break (both sides multiple times) you may want to make sure your engine mounts are good. The cheap fix is to just weld it back together, but I don't think any shops wanted to do that for me, I had a freind do it.

[Dean68]

As of now, I have not heard from the general manage of the dealership.

I don't think I will get anywhere with any dealership because Isuzu already has my issue in their system and they made the denial as well as the dealership. Does the dealership have to follow the Isuzu warranty people??

I did check the motor mounts and they are fine. Any idea how long it takes to pull the converter and what has to come off? I have one place that said about 3 hours book time.

Dean

[AlaskaVX]

It's definately worth taking to a shop, exhaust bolts suck, and trying to wiggle it out of there is a PITA, I think I actually dropped the trans a bit to get it out the first time. I would say 3 hours is a good estimate, and when you go in to pay they will say "That job sucked" lol

[nfpgasmask]

This is scary. Yours is the 3rd one to break in the last few months and before that I never heard of this problem.

Bart

[Ascinder]

This is scary. Yours is the 3rd one to break in the last few months and before that I never heard of this problem.

Repent sinners, repent!! The end of the world is nigh......:eek::rolleyes::razb2:

[Dean68]

I spoke to an EPA person. He said something about them either taking some type of action against a manufacturer if they get at least 25 complaints about the same problem. I don’t remember exactly what he said. I think he said the action would be to make the manufacturer put out a service bulletin or something like that. I think that it is a lot easier for them to get 25 complaints when a company makes 50,000 of the same vehicle in a year compared to the number of VXs that were made.

I am curious as to how many other people had this same problem with the welds on the converter breaking. I don't really know the posting rules and wanted to know what it would take to put a survey question out here so that the counts could be easily taken. What can be done?

I am also still waiting to hear back from the general manager of the dealership. 8 days and counting.

Thanks,

Dean68
St Louis, MO

Dean68

[Dean68]

I realized I never followed up on this. I gave up on everything and it cost me just over $300 to have the weld fixed. It would have been over $1000 for a new converter. And a big F U to Isuzu and to the dealer (not St Charles Isuzu)

[LittleBeast]

I realized I never followed up on this. I gave up on everything and it cost me just over $300 to have the weld fixed. It would have been over $1000 for a new converter. And a big F U to Isuzu and to the dealer (not St Charles Isuzu)

HAHA, yeah I know what you mean the dealer here in Houston fried my Tranny and screwed me for over $2k in the process. Oh and I had the same exact muffler flange weld connection break on my driver's side and Meineke down the street charged me $150 to re-weld and fix it. Tone had this happen, MANY people on here have had the problem.

[circmand]

My TOD went bad had it fixed under warranty in CT moved to Houston and a few month later had the same problem. The dealer said it was something different. and not covered. When I got the bill I compared the part numbers and they were the same. I got Isuzu America involved and the BBB and Cosumer Protection Agency. I never got a refund but it will be years before they have a clean report from any of the organizations I complained to.

[Dean68]

I guess this is what happens when a company pulls out of the market. I hope people that have GM or Chrysler vehicles don't end up stuck like us.