[Sparky5501]

I'm having my oil changed by the dealership and while there I asked them to check the brake system. I've noticed my brakes tend to pull to the right under minimal braking conditions.

Well, the service [edit: consultant] called me, after testing the car, and said they couldn't duplicate this and that the ABS system only starts braking one side before the rest kicks in. What the F***?! ran through my head. i've worked on lots of brakes to know that from right to left the braking pressure is the same. Granted front to back brake bias might differ but i've never heard of left to right unless there's a problem like air in the line.

I'll talk to the service manager when I go pick up my Insight to get his straightened up. Left to Right brake bias just sounds crazy to me. Is there something I'm missing with ABS systems or did they spout a bunch of hooey?

 

[Holicow]

....
Well, the service technician called me, after testing the car, and said they couldn't duplicate this and that the ABS system only starts braking one side before the rest kicks in. What the F***?!.....

My sentiments exactly. Sounds like a good way to induce a spin, which would negate the purpose of ABS, eh?

I hate when they try to blow smoke up your nethers....

Ask them to bleed the system, and obviously check the pads/shoes, which they probably haven't even done, yet.

 

[AZCivic]

The correct answer is more like... never let anyone work on your car that makes up a line of total BS like that because they're just going to lie to you again. Take it to a different dealer or to some place that specializes in brakes.

 

[Sparky5501]

Take it to a different dealer or to some place that specializes in brakes.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do next time. My local dealership's service quality has begun to drop. I'll start taking my money across town to the Bellevue dealership.

Turns out the service tech test drove my car after he adjusted the rear brakes, so he might have inadvertenly fixed the problem of it pulling to the right and that's why he couldn't get it to pull. :shock:

As to the service consultant I had, he was a new guy. Nuff said without getting vulgar... :wink:

 

[Holicow]

Seems like they fixed your problem. I wouldn't judge the shop by the "consultant" or service writer you talked with. They usually aren't clued in to what's going on in the back anyway. The problem is when they don't know that.....

 

[Sparky5501]

I wouldn't judge the shop by the "consultant" or service writer you talked with. They usually aren't clued in to what's going on in the back anyway.

Why not judge them? Customer Facing is very important for customer loyalty. If you get served by someone at a resturant and they are picking their nose will you go back? I think not. They just gave bad customer facing which impresses on you that the rest of the establishment isn't very good either.
Being clued in to what is happening with their customers cars is part of their job. The Service Consultant needs to be able to communicate to the customer what the shop is doing.
My consultant failed on this but the service tech did well. It's like a stale mate and they both canceled each other out.

 

[Holicow]

Hey, I understand what you are saying, and generally agree.

It seems that the technician knew their business. If the advisor gives you the heebie-jeebies, ask to talk directly with the tech. This is usually not a problem. Now, if it IS a problem, then move on.

Good, dedicated, techs are worth their weight in gold.

 

[Sparky5501]

How simple can it get...

Tire pressure!

That's what was causing my Insight to pull to the right when mildly braking. The service tech never checked my tire pressure at the dealership. But, I thought they had because on the service sheet it said "set tire pressure to 30ish blah blah" Being that I didn't want to have low pressure I went to the gas station pulled out my trusty dial pressure meter and discovered all of the tires basically where at the tire pressure I last set them to. Well, that is except for my left tire. It was low by five pounds. This kind of makes sense for it pulling. Differing tire radious and contact patch sizes could throw off the braking ability. So the brake adjustment didn't change much of anything (only on the day I picked up my Insight, then back to pulling) Since I've set all of the tires to 10lbs above normal 48 front 45 rear my Insight hasn't had any weird pulling issues.

So strike 3 for that dealership service center. They're OUT OF HERE!