What would you do? (repair shop question)

[Stanley Rockafella]

:rippedoff:
Recently (about a month ago) I had a local shop replace a wheel bearing on my dd Focus. FYI The front bearings have to be pressed into the steering knuckle so there's a possibility for error.

Prior to starting the work I had the mechanic take the car for a spin and he concluded that the front RIGHT bearing was making noise. I agreed with this as I clipped a concrete barrier about a year prior and ever since then I knew it would probably accelerate wear on that bearing.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and while i was on my way home from work one day I literally thought my front LEFT wheel was going to come off while driving. Pulled over and all the lug nuts were tight as they should be. Considering the noise on the right side, I knew I needed to replace at least one bearing.

After I get the replacement bearing in (mechanic agreed to let me supply my own parts, of which he said there was no difference in name brand I chose) I dropped the car off to get the front right bearing replaced. When I went to pick the car up the mechanic stated that the LEFT bearing was making noise and that he replaced it. My ABS and TRAC lights were on too so he said I should replace the wheel sensors and the problem should go away. I also mentioned that the noise is still in the front end so he said I should probably replace the RIGHT side bearing too.

Last week I dropped the car off with two new sensors and a wheel bearing to get replaced. On the drive home everything seemed ok, but then the lights came on again and the noise was there (especially when turning). Took it back to the shop and the owner (mechanic, whatev) said that after hooking up the scan tool to the car and taking it for a spin, noticed that the wheel speed sensor is not able to read the speed on the left bearing (bad magnets on side of bearing) and that it needs to be replaced to get the lights on the dash to go out. At least I'm able to get a warranty part to replace the original

My question to you guys is, should I be on the hook for paying labor for the THIRD time or should the shop cover it? I know it seems like I should pay it again, but considering the noise is still there (bearing pressed in incorrectly?) and I have warning lights on the dash I think that they should cover it.

thanks in advance

tl;dr Shop did some work on my car. I suspect they pressed in the wheel bearing incorrectly causing noise to persist on one side of car.

[rcsoundn1]

You may be able to tell when he takes the bearing out. I would not want to pay labr either, but, he cant work for free, and unless you can show his work is faulty, you are on the hook.

[Reichart12]

I think if the light came on within a short distance of leaving the shop its still on them. Its like they never fully fixed the issue.

Sure labor should be on you if fixing the first problem opened up and allowed a second problem to show itself. But if you need to go back in and replace something they just put on incorrectly I would feel like its still on them. Or at least a discounted rate.

Have you scheduled an appointment or set anything up to have them fix it yet?

[Das Delfin]

A lot of mechanics have a policy where if you supply your own parts, there is no warranty on labor

How can the magnets go bad? Check to see if any wires are crushed or missing

[Stanley Rockafella]

Have you scheduled an appointment or set anything up to have them fix it yet?

Yeah, I agreed to get them to replace the Timken hub ($$$) and bearing assy again at a reduced rate next week. Hopefully they can get this shit fixed!

But honestly tho offering to do the job with no warranty on labor makes no sense. If all he does is remove the steering knuckle, press the old one out and bash the new one in with a hammer, what would be the point of paying him if he's purposefully destroying the part? He know's I'm going to pay him for doing the work anyway I guess it all depends on his reputation in the community and he's been in business since the early 80's and has a fairly large clientele with older Jap/Euro/ NA autos.

A lot of mechanics have a policy where if you supply your own parts, there is no warranty on labor

How can the magnets go bad? Check to see if any wires are crushed or missing

Wheel speed sensors were replaced as well with new ones (also supplied by me). Shop said there was still a reading from the scanner, so obviously it's able to read something...meaning that it's working but the wheel speed showing is far less on the one wheel vs/ the other four wheels.