[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by saitvsk23

Generally resetting these would help lose the error, but if not then a replacement would be ordered..

Thanks for sharing your experience. Why would well trained technician resort to replacing parts when resetting does not solve the problem. That is when real expertise comes in I would think. Anybody can swap parts based on what the computer says. The trick is to be able to use the computer to find the root cause. Replacing parts is, my opinion, an absolute last resort.

I am sure faulty modules, certainly expensive ones, get returned to MB for further examination. Most brands, such as Jaguars, that actually publishes statics on faulty units returned will tell you that usually 80-90% of the unit returned because the computer deemed them faulty were actually 100% in order.

Swapping units tends to solve one massive issue that computer don’t pick up on, corrosion and wonky connectors. Replacing the unit, usually solves it. But it is a very expensive way of trouble shooting I think.

When the computer says the unit is faulty, time to break out the multimeter, scope and protocol analyser. But first do a good visual inspection of all electrical connection for proper fitting and corrosion or damaged wiring, damaged pins. Check out my “fiddling with cars thread”. I have come across any number of faults and error codes on modern cars. At the dealer they would have swapped the unit, because that’s what the computer says. I have never ever, touch wood, swapped electronic units, ever. It was always something simple like a damaged wired, bend pin, poor ground, corrosion. Very easy to fix, difficult to trouble shoot. Impossible to trouble shoot with OBD analysers and fancy computers. But the OBD analyser or computer will give you an indication by flashing a fault for a certain unit. By and large, there are no fault in OBD that says, replace ECU, or PCM. On some of the computers used in dealerships certain error codes will trigger the message replace the unit. I maintain, a competent mechanic would never do that. especially in India where labour is, even at mainstream dealers very cheap compared to replacing parts.

Just a one man opinion of course.

And by the way, any technician that just resets the unit and gets rid of the code and considers the job done needs to be sacked. There is always a reason for a code. Resetting might and often solves it temporarily, but you really ought to check for the root cause.

Does MB keep track of which error codes gets resend and how many re-occur? They should. They should also keep track of how many faulty units are actually fine! Jaguar does and so does BMW I believe.

Jeroen

[raptor_diwan]

Thanks for sharing your internship story. It's a bummer to hear about the fuel theft and shady stuff going on. It makes you wonder about the technicians and the whole service center's ethics and management. If you've got more experiences to share, don't hold back!

[007]

Thanks for sharing.
Being automobile expert and in-charge for company workshops in automobile plant earlier, this low pressure fuel pump feed technique was common practice for us to extract fuel for various purposes - cleaning sensors, attending breakdowns etc.
It was allowed as all cars were owned by company and no theft was involved.

[wheelguy]

Thanks for sharing. Nice write-up, well-written, and informative. Fuel theft is rampant across all workshops of all brands, whether authorized or unauthorized. I accepted it and stopped dwelling on it. Now, I give my vehicle for service when the fuel tank is near empty. Sometimes, if there is a good amount of fuel in it, I simply ignore the theft. Your post reminded me of my brief experience at a Shell distributor where I used to work. A colleague of mine used to steal engine oil from the firm, and he used to proudly tell me about it. Though I silently listened to him, I felt disgusted by his actions.

[saitvsk23]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks for sharing your experience. Why would well trained technician resort to replacing parts when resetting does not solve the problem. That is when real expertise comes in I would think. Anybody can swap parts based on what the computer says. The trick is to be able to use the computer to find the root cause. Replacing parts is, my opinion, an absolute last resort.

I am sure faulty modules, certainly expensive ones, get returned to MB for further examination. Most brands, such as Jaguars, that actually publishes statics on faulty units returned will tell you that usually 80-90% of the unit returned because the computer deemed them faulty were actually 100% in order.

Swapping units tends to solve one massive issue that computer don’t pick up on, corrosion and wonky connectors. Replacing the unit, usually solves it. But it is a very expensive way of trouble shooting I think.

When the computer says the unit is faulty, time to break out the multimeter, scope and protocol analyser. But first do a good visual inspection of all electrical connection for proper fitting and corrosion or damaged wiring, damaged pins. Check out my “fiddling with cars thread”. I have come across any number of faults and error codes on modern cars. At the dealer they would have swapped the unit, because that’s what the computer says. I have never ever, touch wood, swapped electronic units, ever. It was always something simple like a damaged wired, bend pin, poor ground, corrosion. Very easy to fix, difficult to trouble shoot. Impossible to trouble shoot with OBD analysers and fancy computers. But the OBD analyser or computer will give you an indication by flashing a fault for a certain unit. By and large, there are no fault in OBD that says, replace ECU, or PCM. On some of the computers used in dealerships certain error codes will trigger the message replace the unit. I maintain, a competent mechanic would never do that. especially in India where labour is, even at mainstream dealers very cheap compared to replacing parts.

Just a one man opinion of course.

And by the way, any technician that just resets the unit and gets rid of the code and considers the job done needs to be sacked. There is always a reason for a code. Resetting might and often solves it temporarily, but you really ought to check for the root cause.

Does MB keep track of which error codes gets resend and how many re-occur? They should. They should also keep track of how many faulty units are actually fine! Jaguar does and so does BMW I believe.

Jeroen

Usually faulty modules are replaced for free of cost if the car is under warranty, and there is a separate procedure to redeem faulty parts under warranty. Even in case of service recalls the parts are replaced for free of cost. All these failed parts collected under warranty and service measure returns are stored and sent back to MB for inspection. Yes, MB does keep track of these error codes in the form of initial quick tests, detailed specific-to-module tests and final quick tests. When updates are issued (for any modules or infotainment systems), they are promptly installed from the XENTRY tab.

As depicted before, replacement of parts is the last resort we have. Else everything possible is tried and tested. 90% of the time the job gets done with a quick clean of connectors, or a quick dust using compressed air, or a harmless quick reset of the control module. Even the branch going to the control module in the wiring harness is checked for discontinuity. If found, it is promptly repaired. Sometimes the cause of the error was a simple blown fuse in the fuse box.

[FiatDiesel]

Originally Posted by pritanshchandra

Great Post, I am currently conducting Internal Audit of MG Dealers Pan India with my team. Dealership(&Service Centre) Business is very nasty, a lot of ways to cheat customers and the company (MG India in this case), much more than we can imagine or have come across. Being Vigilant is extremely crucial in today's times.

Looking forward to your feedback whatever limited you can share due to confidentiality agreements. It will be very helpful for all.

[SID7115]

Thanks for sharing this internship story.
I have just started my 1st year of B.Tech Automobile Engineering.
Looking forward to an internship soon, in either 2nd or 3rd year

[RaviKBobba]

Originally Posted by pritanshchandra

It is confidential ofcourse.........
but I will be giving some cues to fellow BHPians later sometime after we close the Audit.

Looking forward to hear about your tips regarding this.

[shresan23]

Great post by OP. I am not sure if it happens nowadays, but i can confidently say that this used to happen some time back. My dad makes it a point to stay inside the workshop and monitor the techies closely for the entire duration of the service or repair (despite several pleads) and i have accompanied him sometimes. I had noticed this a few years ago, in a completely different car. I (due to lack of knowledge), assumed that it was some collection of fluid, completely legal and usual, i never thought it was fuel. Now, looking back, i think it might have been fuel.

I would also like to narrate an incident that my father had with his old S-Cross 1.6 320 Ddis. Given the fact that the Majority of the Engine bay of this car had new parts and imported ones at that, my dad knew that most of the techies will be walking into unchartered territories when they lay their hands on this one.

In fact, in some places, ours was the first ever 1.6 to walk through. My dad, the ever vigilant, once saw a little bit of coolant on the floor, when the car was idling for some time(it was diesel, and back then fuel was a little bit more tolerable). Initially he dismissed it as AC related excretions, but then the security guard or me ( i dont remember) informed him that it was green. He then immediately took the car in for a check.

Apparently a bush or padding of sorts at the lowest level was soaked with coolant, due to a leak (the cause of which was unknown). The techie said it could have been because of multiple things ( a recent crash, hard bumps or anything).

Nevertheless they decided to replace one of the parts (sorry for being so vague. I have a hard time remembering those names, primarily because of my commerce background).

It seems, the techie brought in the part that was meant for the 1.3 variant. My dad subtly caught this and demanded him to change it. The lazy techie said that the parts are of the same size and spec (actually nope), and that they are named differently only because of the change in variants.

My dad, still unconvinced decided to trust the guy and had it installed and brought it home. Two days later, still green on the floor, this time, more volume. This was it.

My dad usually makes friends quickly inside the workshop. Today all hell was loose. My dad completely lost it there and started shouting at the management for this. The management decided to replace it properly this time and take the cost out of the faulty techie's pocket.

By that time my dad had softened and decided to save the techie's head and paid for it anyway.

This happened again, with the regular service of the Nissan Kicks that my dad owns currently. The techie in the workshop, bought the wrong kind of oil. This one is a 1.3 Turbo, he bought the one for the diesel, or NA i think.

So even if you dont, i strongly urge all of you to stay with your vehicle when it is getting repaired. Because issues like this are hard to diagnose but will throw you one curveball after another. Fixing will also be difficult.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by saitvsk23

But honestly, after working here, I have gained so much respect for all the technicians. Their blood, sweat and tears go into keeping us comfortable, all while they are paid peanuts, as compared to the service advisors.

I always wondered how much are technicians and service advisors paid. What are the working conditions of the technicians. How long are the working hours. I am surprised that the service advisors are paid more than technicians. The only skill the service advisors seem to have is being obsequious in front of the customers. Ideally skilled and experienced technicians should be the most well paid people at a car dealership.

[Sensible_Speed]

Hahaha, this is hilarious! I just couldn't stop laughing for some reason! Car service technicians siphoning fuel is a tale as old as time. My local Hyundai service centre had to take a somewhat extreme step and note down the exact volume of fuel in every car that came into the shop after this epidemic grew out of hand a few years back. I heard one veteran technician say that some temp had siphoned off almost a 100 litres of fuel from various cars there before he was caught!

[exhaustbreather]

Originally Posted by saitvsk23

I can relate to this thread more than ever.
...

Specific account of one Intern's experience at a Luxury Brand's Service Center and fellow Intern's experience at India's favourite Brand MS's Service centre certainly shows the difference. It's all up to the Brands on how they want to be. Luxury Brands overcharge for the basic assistance, have good practices whereas MS and many other of the same tier are cheap for good but have no working discipline. Funny Instance here, a friend of mine went to apply to Maruti Suzuki for college Internship, they straight up refused. Same guy went to Audi Service Center Mumbai South, and they they kept him. I wonder what's wrong with MS.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by Sai Teja

....At last we ended up at a NEXA showroom situated...

Originally Posted by saitvsk23

...I did my internship from a reputed Mercedes Benz Customer Service Centre....

Two engineering grads, two future car-nuts, petrol-heads entering into the professional world, two very different stories.

All the best young brothers to your futures. Remember Character, Integrity, Discipline are not taught in Schools. Only such rare values go a long way in defining who are are many years from now. Do what is right, walk away if you dont feel so.

If you return home in the evening and cannot tell your wife and kids what you did in the job that day, it is not worthy to do it ever.

[r2212xx]

Originally Posted by saitvsk23

I did my internship from a reputed Mercedes Benz Customer Service Centre .

It was quite a joy reading your experience. Not sure if it is the same place you are referring to, but several years ago, I did an employee satisfaction survey commissioned by MB through a third-party agency with whom I was working. I visited their showroom and service centre since the survey covered employees at both centres. While the showroom folks were all suave, as expected, I was stunned by the service centre. The sheer amount of tidiness was jaw-dropping. No greasy floors, no stray parts lying around unaccounted; even the aprons worn by the technicians were sparkling.

Each technician I interviewed there was so eloquent and confident. They understood the survey’s objective and were keen on giving responses with alacrity. The service centre manager/head was a polite gentleman who showed me around and shared several nuances of their approach to work, similar to what you shared. Most MB cars are sent with drivers, who return to receive them. It was good to see that the service staff treated them with the same respect as they would treat the actual owner.

Ultimately, I left the place more impressed than the showroom. MB can pull decent customers through tours of their service centres alone! Good to see a brand that lives up to its tagline, “The Best or Nothing”.