Both the junior and master mechanic at Kingman Honda say the radiator's fans will not come on and thus the reason for my car overheating.
I just had my radiator replaced with a new Performance brand radiator by John at Cave Radiator, plus the system was flushed out and a new thermostat and radiator cap was added on as well as extended life coolant to fill the system. The fans checked out and they run whenever the car tells them to turn on.
Kingman Honda gave me a quote of $390 to replace the fan switch since the mechanics could not get the fans to engage! Plus, they said before they would do an engine pressure and/or compression test, they were insisting the fan switch would have to be replaced first!
I brought the 2001 Civic to Kingman Honda because the cooling system had already all been replaced brand new and yet the car still overheats on long, tough climbs, like the one from Bullhead City, AZ to Kingman. There is never a problem with it overheating driving in town. So before bringing the car to the Honda dealership, we already knew that this to be a problem somewhere with the engine and this exactly was explained fully to Matthew Clark, the Service Advisor. So they kept the car for the day and overnight to diagnose what might be causing this unusual overheating situation.
At 11:00 AM the next day, July 30th, 2020, Matthew gives me a call and tells me that neither mechanic was able to get the radiator's fans to engage and that the next step is to replace the fan switch since it is faulty. I was quoted the price of $390.00 to replace the switch and then they could go from there to diagnose and fix any further problem with overheating!!! WTF?!?!?!?
For this piece of advice and diagnostic time, the charge was $120.00, which I felt was outrageous since I KNEW the fans work fine and they did not tell me anything I didn't tell them when I first came into their shop. I told Matthew straight up that if I get the fans to come on, then I am coming back to get every penny back! I was pissed by the time I left there! All they did was waste my time and kept my car overnight.
Immediately upon leaving Kingman Honda, I drove back to Cave Radiator to speak with John, the owner, to go over things and see what his thoughts were. While we were speaking he opened the hood, the car was still running, and he played with the carburetor's level by the air filter to rev up the engine a little. Within a few minutes, the fans both came on as usual and expected! John has owned Cave Radiator for three decades now and is known in the Kingman area for his work with only radiators. He said it is best to avoid going to dealerships for service work when possible. I thought that maybe an authentic dealership would be the best place to really find out what is wrong with the car's overheating problem since it was adding up to be the engine.
Video of the fans running: https://kingman-honda-ripoff.com/
Before the Kingman Honda bill, I had already spent a little over $600.00 trying to fix this damned problem. It was becoming obvious that the "fix" was going to cost more than the car is actually worth. The car runs great as long as I am not making any tough climbs, so this means that the car is only a Kingman runner from now on.
John recommended that I talk to the people at Taflan's to see what they say about possibly tracking down the problem and fixing it. They agreed with John that since the cooling system itself is perfectly fine, it has to have something to do with the engine and it would be about $200 to run it through the block test, compression, and pressure tests. I thought that is a fair price, but we were both saying at the same time, to then fix the problem would be quite an expensive fix. I didn't think it would be wise to invest that much more money into the car and Doug at Taflan's agreed.
So the ripoff plan at Kingman Honda was to first hook me for the $120.00 I paid today, then hook me for $390.00 for replacing a good fan switch and then to HOOK ME AGAIN for engine diagnostics and repair!!! By then I was steaming mad and drove back to Kingman Honda and started to raise a little hell. First I showed Matthew that the fans would come on just by revving the engine a little. Then came the excuses and I demanded my money back, all of it!
Of course, Matthew did not have the power to just refund my money and he had to go to the manager for approval. So then the manager wanted to see the fans come on too and so I showed him. So then he tried to bullshit me by saying the switch must have an intermittent problem and should be replaced. I said no way and I need my money back because nothing was done as far as I was concerned. Though I might not be a mechanic, I was a licensed electrician for three decades and I know a thing or two about troubleshooting and when the bullshit is flying. It was flying high at Kingman Honda! Matthew even told me that my car was not safe to drive as it is, while he was getting my refund ready.
YES! I was refunded in full and I learned my lesson. I will not be going back to a Honda dealership ever again!
Kingman Honda Reviews
Both the junior and master mechanic at Kingman Honda say the radiator's fans will not come on and thus the reason for my car overheating.
I just had my radiator replaced with a new Performance brand radiator by John at Cave Radiator, plus the system was flushed out and a new thermostat and radiator cap was added on as well as extended life coolant to fill the system. The fans checked out and they run whenever the car tells them to turn on.
Kingman Honda gave me a quote of $390 to replace the fan switch since the mechanics could not get the fans to engage! Plus, they said before they would do an engine pressure and/or compression test, they were insisting the fan switch would have to be replaced first!
I brought the 2001 Civic to Kingman Honda because the cooling system had already all been replaced brand new and yet the car still overheats on long, tough climbs, like the one from Bullhead City, AZ to Kingman. There is never a problem with it overheating driving in town. So before bringing the car to the Honda dealership, we already knew that this to be a problem somewhere with the engine and this exactly was explained fully to Matthew Clark, the Service Advisor. So they kept the car for the day and overnight to diagnose what might be causing this unusual overheating situation.
At 11:00 AM the next day, July 30th, 2020, Matthew gives me a call and tells me that neither mechanic was able to get the radiator's fans to engage and that the next step is to replace the fan switch since it is faulty. I was quoted the price of $390.00 to replace the switch and then they could go from there to diagnose and fix any further problem with overheating!!! WTF?!?!?!?
For this piece of advice and diagnostic time, the charge was $120.00, which I felt was outrageous since I KNEW the fans work fine and they did not tell me anything I didn't tell them when I first came into their shop. I told Matthew straight up that if I get the fans to come on, then I am coming back to get every penny back! I was pissed by the time I left there! All they did was waste my time and kept my car overnight.
Immediately upon leaving Kingman Honda, I drove back to Cave Radiator to speak with John, the owner, to go over things and see what his thoughts were. While we were speaking he opened the hood, the car was still running, and he played with the carburetor's level by the air filter to rev up the engine a little. Within a few minutes, the fans both came on as usual and expected! John has owned Cave Radiator for three decades now and is known in the Kingman area for his work with only radiators. He said it is best to avoid going to dealerships for service work when possible. I thought that maybe an authentic dealership would be the best place to really find out what is wrong with the car's overheating problem since it was adding up to be the engine.
Video of the fans running: https://kingman-honda-ripoff.com/
Before the Kingman Honda bill, I had already spent a little over $600.00 trying to fix this damned problem. It was becoming obvious that the "fix" was going to cost more than the car is actually worth. The car runs great as long as I am not making any tough climbs, so this means that the car is only a Kingman runner from now on.
John recommended that I talk to the people at Taflan's to see what they say about possibly tracking down the problem and fixing it. They agreed with John that since the cooling system itself is perfectly fine, it has to have something to do with the engine and it would be about $200 to run it through the block test, compression, and pressure tests. I thought that is a fair price, but we were both saying at the same time, to then fix the problem would be quite an expensive fix. I didn't think it would be wise to invest that much more money into the car and Doug at Taflan's agreed.
So the ripoff plan at Kingman Honda was to first hook me for the $120.00 I paid today, then hook me for $390.00 for replacing a good fan switch and then to HOOK ME AGAIN for engine diagnostics and repair!!! By then I was steaming mad and drove back to Kingman Honda and started to raise a little hell. First I showed Matthew that the fans would come on just by revving the engine a little. Then came the excuses and I demanded my money back, all of it!
Of course, Matthew did not have the power to just refund my money and he had to go to the manager for approval. So then the manager wanted to see the fans come on too and so I showed him. So then he tried to bullshit me by saying the switch must have an intermittent problem and should be replaced. I said no way and I need my money back because nothing was done as far as I was concerned. Though I might not be a mechanic, I was a licensed electrician for three decades and I know a thing or two about troubleshooting and when the bullshit is flying. It was flying high at Kingman Honda! Matthew even told me that my car was not safe to drive as it is, while he was getting my refund ready.
YES! I was refunded in full and I learned my lesson. I will not be going back to a Honda dealership ever again!