I don't know how your customers are, but for me, if I check the tires and 5 years later the engine blows up, they think it's my fault...

As a customer I would have paid. If you said "no charge" I think at least paying for your trip would be fair.

As a customer I wouldn't be annoyed to receive an invoice after a year and 25K miles. However, if the tech says no charge and explains they may not have quite got it right the last time (exposed copper for e.g.) for 'reasons' as in this case, then I would happily take the no charge AND be sure to refer more work their way. Actually for a mobile tech that comes to my home, I would try to insist on making some, even partial, payment to cover fuel / travel if not the time. No-one is perfect and honesty deserves to be rewarded.

I have never regretted doing the right thing. Fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow EVERY night! Best advice my Dad ever gave me!

Grease it up to prevent corrosion. Some shops have different warranty maybe parts but not labour A car in California where corrosion isn’t much of an issue may well be different to a shop where the whole car rots out in a few years... As a customer after 12 months and 25000 miles I would certainly expect to pay something..... and if I wasn’t charged I would certainly give them something for their biscuit fund It’s certainly good practice to look after your customers and that customer will always come back.....so today you have just invested in the future of your business But not all shops are like you who stand by their work Im sure some shops would tell the customer it was a different issue and bill them Great video as always

Ivan in this day and age it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a talented tradesperson to show up and work for you period. I think what you did was honorable by not charging, but you need to realize that an incompetent shop would have tried to soak the customer for a computer, or coils (parts cannon at the customers expense). You took a risk by repairing the harness that was a failure in quality, design, and/or elements the vehicle was used in. It bit you in the ass this time, but the customer got a year out of that efficient repair. I wouldn't feel guilty charging for this repair again with the caveat that you relocate the ground or do some improvement to the design to prevent future problems. At least enough to cover your expenses to show up and materials required. You are a good man.

got to love the honesty and the humbleness. No ego here guys! Great work!

Yeah, me.... I would take care of this on me. I couldn't in good conscience charge for something I did and just didn't hold up. Something like electrical should hold up for quite a few years, IMO. You did the right thing Ivan. I like how you handled this. 😊

Over a year and 25k miles all bets are off, however if you remember the repair being less than ideal, than eat this one

A year tuff call..but I would have done the same NC. Word of mouth is gold! And I would sleep better and everyone is 😊 awesome video per usual Ivan

Yes Ivan, I would look at that AC/Line dripping condensation on those wires and connection's. I have seen that before, The water running down the wires into the socket. It's good you found the problem.

Ivan, you "saved the customer" and that has always been my motto, rather than all the negative feelings on both sides, that can result from a situation like this. Hopefully after 25,000 severe miles the customer would come forward with some payment, that would be reasonable. Never the less, keep up the videos of you can, they are terrific.

You're a good man, Ivan... Hard to find these days... I can tell you would do the same thing even if the camera wasn't running... If I was the customer, I would have to pay you at least an hour labor or I wouldn't be able to sleep at night...

I would expect my shop to recommend a new serpentine belt and cooling system flush. And a new ECU.

this is what set you and south main auto above the rest ivan most shops would charge for diagnostics and the fix again keep up the great work and you handled this situation like a true gentleman who stands behind his work 100 percent that is a very rare thing to find these days sad to say

Nice job Ivan, hopefully this repair will last longer than a year!

As a customer I would pay for the diagnosis. I would be stoked for a free fix. Your a good soul Ivan.

Ivan, as a customer I would say you are giving excellent customer service. You probably have a very loyal customer base.

I would have gladly paid as a customer. It's been a year and you came and fixed the car, bottom line.

I would of just let it go but I bet most shops would of found a way to charge the customer anyway. I will never be a rich man, but I sleep good.

I think you did right by your customer. You want his business, not just his money. Lots of businesses don't understand the difference.

When you solder wires,if one end is fixed to something, you need to secure the other end from movement until about an inch beyond the solder joint. The solder creates a hard point and the flex on that point acts like a crimp or kink and it will break the wires over time. Its basically a slow motion version of someone flexing wires to cause them to break. If you cannot secure the wires past the solder joint, use some suguru, hot glue, or something similar to create a relief to allow the flexing further away and spread out from the hard point.

Mom and Dad taught you the right way.... You did the right thing, nice diagnosis as well.....

Hey there viewers...welcome back to the...wait wrong channel. Subbed. Great troubleshooting! I remember your references to Eric in the original video and enjoyed that one too!

Most shops would charge again. Most shops would of throw a lot of parts on the bill also. Bill would be like $1,000.

That was indeed a fun diagnosis. That's a tough call. As a customer with some mechanical knowledge I'd pay for the repair. If it was a month later, then yes. The shop should consider it a comeback.

Ivan you are true professional word of mouth is extremely powerful and keep up the good work.

Your integrity is A+. I owned a 2000 Ford Windstar that went to the shop for repairs over 11 times (non maintenance). I believe that 4 of those were returns because of service mistakes. Here's how I explained it to their service manager: If one service requires 10 critical steps and you get 9 of those right I will still need to come back to the shop, but in education a 90% grade was considered very good. Lucky for me these were warranty repairs, but needless to say all the mechanics knew my name. I wasn't happy and they were tired of seeing the vehicle...

Seeing as the same issue came back, I would have looked to move the eyelets to another position higher up!! Yes it means extending the wires with a heat shrink joint, but if it means the problem won't happen again then that's the route I would take.

You did the right thing. You now have a customer for life and they will recommend you to family and friends

Very good Ivan,integrity has no ego.

Hey Ivan! I think not charging for it this time is genuinely honest and noble. I remember a friend from church, I replaced (for free) his PS Fluid reservoire on a 2006 Dodge Caravan about 5 years ago as it was clogged and would just spill whem the engine runs. Last year he told me he had a PS Steerring Rack replaced with a reman by some mechanic. Last month he told me he lost Power Steering and became hard to steer. He took it back to the mechanic who replaced the PS Rack and he found out that the return hose to the PS reservoire got dislodged. Then I got blamed for it. 😔. I will refuse to touch his van again.

I watched the previous ghost vid again. That Jim guy seems to be a nice honest mechanic. Gotta love that big screen at his diag tool. So... you failed to do a proper job last time, so now you should eat it. You did the right thing. Jim will value it and will probably have more business for you, in the future.

You are a lifesaver, I just got a 2006 chevy cobalt and it was working fine. I went to replace the master cylinder and while doing that I had to shift the fusebox and due to that movement that earthing wire broke off and it would crank but wont start. So your video exactly showed me step by step process and nailed the culprit. Thanks a ton. I sent you a small gift token for your video to your papal!! Great Video!!

Ivan it is what it is. You did the right thing. Stay well Artie ❤️

Fantastic video, great job Ivan!!!!!

ah yes the ol bypass ground trick seen you diag and fix plenty with that little move, nice master ivan !!!!

Most of the places I've worked at would charge again and make some story up. Personally I would own up to it even if it was a year later, bad crimp on wires that were corroded. After i fixed it i would defiantly coat in something to try and protect the connection from doing it again. This year I had a good example of one, I had a saturn vue with no highspeed. wires previously fixed by fuel tank had corroded splices, i spliced and fixed several wires. was fine, 3 months later it came back doing the same thing. Quick diagnostic check lead me to believe the issue was in the same spot, cut open harness i had taped up nicely and found one of the splices that i didn't replace was corroded, i missed it the first time. I fixed it inspected the wires closely and all splices and taped harness back up. Technically it wasn't a wire i repaired that came back but its something i should have noticed while i was in there. Owned it, fixed it and moved on, and still ended up with a good week that week.

As a shop owner and it was a good loyal customer I would have fixed it at no charge. . That ground is and has been a GM issue anyways. Plus it makes you look like the hero and not the Rip off repair guy that our industry gets the this bad rap for. You did the right thing by fixing it and you probably will have a grateful customer who will tell how great and honest you are . Crap happens and you can't test drive the car for a year to verify the repair . Great Job 👍

...when you do something like this Ivan, you gain the customer's loyalty and trust 100%.....I would have done the same thing :)

I know soldering feels like the right thing to do, because it takes some time and feels strong, but it has no place on a flexible and vibratory application. Crimps are the way to go, even though it feels too cheap.

Excellent plan of procedure. I would like to point out that when using solder, Any remaining flux is highly corrosive. Nobody thinks to flush flux off of wires. My problem was Squirrel chew at a ground ring (4wires) on the back of the motor! LOL

As a costumer, I would think that the repair was permanent so...But, after all your time is valuable and after a year I think it would be fair a 50/50 on this one.

I've owned a shop. Regardless of what local law might say, it's still an item you fixed and within a year is still (more or less) within a warrantable period. It wouldn't be unreasonable to cover the repair as warranty but ask for a contribution for your travel to his home. Consider the alternative, if you were on vacation or coming home in a day or so, of his expense to have the car towed / flatbed to your or a repair shop. Your travel time / expense is clearly less and a reasonable request.

Good job Ivan!! No charge is the way to go. But you definitely need to sell your customer splash shield.. if there’s not one.

Awesome job Ivan!!!!

Ivan I would tell you to meet me half way on the diag, and say free re-repair, but here’s gas $ and a cold beverage if you like that kind of thing. So glad you are honest! Rock on dude!

In a Chevy of that era it's common for the key to get stuck in the ignition when the battery dies/goes weak. On a 2013 Cruze I even saw it throw an immobilizer code for a dead battery, there's a hole you can stick a screwdriver in and just release the key under the ignition barrel

hi there, I like what you do , it gives me knowledge on thing s of the same nature, but ,in Australia we dont sodder things to gether ,we actually solder them . keep up the good work.

Back in the day our shop had a 1 year, 12,000 mile warranty after any repair. Had it been slightly over with either they may have honored the warranty especially if it was a come back. You did the right thing here I think by not charging him. I have to wonder if a ring terminal with the adhesive inside of it would have worked good on this repair and crimping all three of those wire ends in it. Then heat until the adhesive comes out sealing it air/water tight.

Some of my clients are like that, you fixed one in their car, they accuse you of another thing not near related to what you initially fixed, but I always try to explain to them how cars are function, car functions are like humans, you could have headache today, and have waist pain next week, do you blame your doctor for having waist pain after treating you for headache? So are this cars, they have components once it begins to develop fault and one thing is fixed there is tendency for another thing to come up, but as a mechanic just do your job professionally and make sure you do a proper diagnosis, and if you observe any part going bad in the car apart from customer complaints, just call the customer attention to it, for record purposes. Great job out their, am looking forward to work with any good mechanic company or garage in the US, Canada or Australia, am a good mechanic here in Africa. You guys are wonderful I watch a lots of repairs videos on KZfaq.❤❤❤❤

I think that a no charge is way more valuable because this customer is going to appreciate your honesty and integrity and they are going to recommend you to others in need of a skilled technician. You can't buy that for any price.

The cool thing is that you did not blame something or someone else for the issue and you methodically traced out the bad wiring yours or not.

Hey Ivan, don't beat yourself up over it happens. Great job finding the issue. It happens in the semi truck world as well. The company I 🔧 for part time sent a truck to a shop while I was on vacation. Complaint was stalling, won't run sometimes, can't restart. I was gone over a week on vacation. I come back from vacation and I find on my work bench. A computer and a brand new wiring harness for a 2001 Mack truck. Ok so the parts get sent to the shop. Four days later almost two weeks we get the truck back. I go to use it later that night. Some problem. So I get it in the shop. Check charging voltage 12.2. noticed the alternator isn't charging. Put a alternator on it. Alternator is now 14.2 but at the batteries I only had 12.2. I voltage drop the ground side with the verus pro and the long scope leads. Found a 2 voltage drop. I found no ground Cable from the engine block to the batteries. I build a new ground Cable. Attached it and I started the truck and it's all set. My boss comes down in the shop and asks what's wrong with this now. We just got it back here's he invoice from the other shop. I said it only needed a ground Cable. Simple voltage drop testing would've proved that at the other shop. He was pissed about it because the money spent. Keep your chin up and keep rolling. Because there is alot of guy's out there that would've gotten their butt's kicked on this Cobalt.

You need to charge for the job, The character of the ground is a failure esp location. The wire corrosion can travel many inches inside the insulation. I would cut the wires back as far as possible, resolder and shrink tube the connection with 3 /4 feet of wire left and relocate that ground to a more friendly environment out of the weather, perhaps even inside the car in a kick panel area. The ground issues I would bet is very common in certain salt winter states

Had a guy come in with a check engine light on and engine running rough. Diagnosed it as a #3 coil. He said he was ordering 4 new coils and plugs off Amazon and changing them himself. Get a call he snapped #3 spark plug off trying to get it out. He got it out somehow and wanted to tell me I misdiagnosed the problem. It was the plug. He was sending the new coils back. Calls the next day and says engine light on and car is running rough. Nice guy I am I tell him to bring it over. #2 cylinder misfire. Pull the coil and it has a #3 on it as I mark my coils with white paint pen. Pull other coils and show him numbers on them. Next I move that coil to #1 and yep, #1 misfire. Tell him to re-order his new coils, or at least one. He decided I should now fix it. Not knowing how he handled the #3 plug breakage I declined. With my luck part of it could have gone in the cylinder and I'd get blamed for any issues.

Not to bust your balls Ivan, but as you pointed out at the end, a proper repair on wiring will almost never fail. You did the right thing, I've come to expect nothing less. Our shop would have covered that at no cost to the customer. We also pay any tow bill involved it is our screw up. Customers will usually happily forgive and keep coming back if you take ownership of your mistakes

As a customer, I would have expected to pay for this. It's more than a year, and the car is old, and this car is driven in a climate with snow & road salt. If the original repair was able to use a new wire harness, if that was even possible, then maybe I would not have liked to pay.

I was on the fence about whether or not to charge until you mentioned about not having the best solder and being rushed when you fixed it first. Flux can be corrosive depending on how active it is and it's always a good idea to clean the joint after soldering with alcohol.

If you hadn't of admitted you had rushed the previous fix and had issues soldering as a customer I would have paid you. 12mths and 25k is far enough along to remove your responsibility. Because you admitted it ( and more credit to you) I would have maybe have suggested splitting the bill because again 12mths on is a reasonable time. That way I sleep at night. I admire you for your honesty and you get to keep my business. If on the other hand you had insisted I pay the bill (which I would have done given the time and distance) and then I had found out your solder job was crap then it would have been the last time you got to repair anything of mine. I treat people how I would like to be treated. Tell the truth, be fair and the world is a happier place. Nice fix!

As a customer and after a year I would pay for both diag and repair. Not your fault and I’m sure vibration could be root cause. I would be happier though with maybe 15-20% discount. After watching I was about to guess something intermittent in the ECM/PCM 🤷🏽‍♂️. Great video👍🏽👍🏽

Look at it as an investment. That customer will be back for other repairs and recommend you to others. Guaranteed. . You earned his trust. Wish you lived near me.

You didn’t really do the repair for free. You earned a ton of respect and good will! After all word of mouth advertising is the best advertising you can get. You will get many referrals off of a satisfied customer. I can hear this customer bragging on you to friends and family. All the KZfaq comments on how they wished they had a honest mechanic like you. Lastly my third rule of life, you can’t go wrong helping people, in any way.

The old mechanic's adage when troubleshooting, "What did you "fix" last". Meaning that your repairs were incorrectly executed. However, a year's service on an older car ain't bad. Bill him but modestly.

You did the right thing, however I wonder if it's fixed for good even now. Seems like a less than ideal ground location. Also, perhaps a good layer of the Fluid Film for protection.

I would be happy with that one Ivan. I put a Promar 350 in one of my best customers 97 GMC a year and a half ago, He brought it back Jan this year with 5G miles with a knock. I found it had 2 bad wrist pins and the pistons were scorched on those pistons. Promar replaced the engine N/C but would not pay any labor. They scrubbed the pistons when they pressed the pins in, IMHO, but I was happy they replaced the engine. I ate the labor! No more engine jobs for Winslow's Garage!

There is either an inherent design flaw or it’s due to a lack of adequate preventative maitenance . If this was to happen to every cobalt, then you would say it’s comes down to a design flaw, as the manufacturer did not do enough to protect the earthing eyelet from corrosion. Also if you live in a part of the world where it snows & salt is used to dissolve snow, then it’s also up to the owner to take extra care on maintaining the grounding points on the car.

As a customer, I like doing business with the small shop and I expect to pay them a fair price so they stay in business when I need them. On the other hand I love a lifetime warranty. Back in the early 70’s, Ford came out with a repair warranty that you only paid once for a repair. I had a 71 Pinto and it was in their shop so many times for the same bad part, Ford finally gave up on their lifetime warranty and never made that mistake again. In your case I agree with you not charging because it turns a negative situation into a positive advertisement for your business.

Knowing the history of the vehicle I would have gone right back to check previously known problems... But you had to make a good electrical diag video so you had some fun with it. Depending on the customer I might charge again because its a design flaw imo. 1 yr and 30k is how I do it. Almost met both of those. Most of my customers when I tell them to not worry about it they either do me a favor later or refuse to not pay me something.

You control your shop. Your a good Man

Good job Ivan! But what I’m wondering is how difficult was it to get in there to do your soldering.? I wish you would had shown that, anyway because I know these cobalts as a lot of cars almost impossible to get to without moving everything. Excellent video!

Tough call for sure, first video I watch & seen man make a repair & eat it cause he thought he own it because of maybe hurried work. As a customer I'd slip some cash in your pocket for sure . As shop owner would hope customer would give good review to friends that you made it right & brought you Business. Subscribed for sure two thumbs up

This helped me fix a car that I'm going to flip I went straight to what this it fixed my car the same exact problem was wrong with mine thanks a lot good job

You mentioned that when you fixed that same problem terminal a year ago with the customers solder and it did not seem to be flowing or melting correctly, but the joint looked good, tested and ran well after the "hurried" repair. Sounds like you created what is known in the electronics industry as a "cold solder joint" which has not flowed adequately to completely enclose the joint (but only partly). This leaves the cold solder joint vulnerable to the subsequent entry of corrosive materials, like dirty water, etc. The cold solder joint then begins to corrode rapidly in the parts that are not protected by a good mechanical joint with good solder flow and eventually corrodes through the few good contacts that exist in the cold solder joint. The joint failure is not your fault, but more importantly it is not the customers fault either. So you made the correct decision to not charge the customer for "come back" work, though it had been a year. Now you know there is an old homily that applies to this kind of scenario: "Sin in haste, repent at leisure." This kind of outcome happens to everyone who has ever wielded a soldering station more than once. Congratulate yourself and move on.

Good real life video. Thanks for posting.

Maybe some marine heat shrink would help the repair last longer since it will seal out the water from the joint. I've seen repairs only guaranteed for one year or 12,000 miles, so that's kind of you to still back your work after this time and mileage. On the Cobalt, there's a release button for the key under the steering column. It was a common failure as I recall (for some reason the car isn't registering the shifter is in Park.) Anyway, there's a small hole on the bottom steering column cover where you can reach in towards the lock cylinder and manually depress the release button, allowing the key to be rotated to "Lock" so you can remove it.

25k and one year any warranty is shot. i personally would bill full but then discount up to 50% depending on the customers attitude. corrosion is beyond your control. one thing i have found though that works good is the red spray high tack gasket adhesive seals the tightened connection really good.

Ivan had to eat this repair. Silicone paste will protect wires against corrosion.

Your an honest man .

i would def. be spraying wires and ground stud with some Fluid Film, white lithium, or Muscle Grease. Anything to slow down the corrosion. Living in the salt belt, I go around my vehicles at least once a year with some spray grease on ground studs and electrical connectors as a preventative measure. Everything is a greasy mess, but I don't have electrical problems. As far as not charging for this repair... ivan, you're a better man than I am. "Rust never sleeps." -Neil Young

I did it similar repair on my own vehicle same scenario but this time after I had fixed it I covered it with that liquid tape all the way around

My personal approach on this one your very intelligent when i comes down to any auto motive problem 2 you care about your customers and that makes big difference in this world now if i was the customer i would say thank you give you $ 50 for gas and take u out tor lunch and thank you we need more guys like you and Eric at south main auto repair personal u and Eric would kick ass in that field myfriend i can get the customer like chicken in fields love you buddy great job?

EXCELLENT diagnosis procedure!1 Thank you!! In looking back perhaps attaching another ground wire to THAT same connector have been a good idea? I guess not IF the end had corroded the connection would have failed anyway, right?

Yep EE here Double-wall Heat Shrink there are taping techniques but shrinkwrap works not cheap ...Look for Double-wall Heat Shrink as solder areas are easily corroded and need protection.

Me personally I agree. I would have ate the time and repair also.... BUTTT on the other hand my boss not so sure on how he would be. Anyways great video!

You did the right thing by not charging the customer. The ground repair should have lasted more than a year. And there is not a mechanic out here that has not had a comeback whether it was there fault or not. Remember,"We only get one mistake a Year" .

Might be the eyelet and the cable made of different materials so you get electrolysis. Must protect the fittings with sort of wax protection to avoid another "comeback".

Thank you.Great Diagnostic Video. Thumbs Up

If you replace a bad component and the new one goes out a year later, it's a judgement call as to whether something else caused the component to go out. In this case your wiring repair wasn't good enough, so it's on you. Could be the wires are exposed to corrosion because of a bad design, but you should have fixed this the first time. Good vid!

Ivan, flux from flux core solder will corrode copper. Couple that with salt and you can have a mess. Do you clean your solder joints with isopropyl alcohol or contact cleaner to remove the flux? A little shellac, or any coating, over the exposed area helps too.

I only solder larger wires after crimping. 10ga-24ga wires get crimped and I only use heat shrink with hot melt glue so the crimp is sealed from elements. Also since that area failed again I might have done a crimp with a singe larger wire and relocate the ground point to eliminate any strain issues.

Hi Ivan I would have done the same no charge, I look after my good customers too.

Id definitely fix it for free but i kno some that would charge if they fell they could get away with it without any headaches,thx Ivan👍

Hell im under 5 minutes into the video and you just cranked the car and commented that it cranks funny. Hell yes it does. Im betting its either a blown head gasket or a valve issue like timing being off for the valves just a hair. Im leaning towards the head gasket because I have had a really bad head gasket come in that sounded like that. Topped the coolant and went to try to start the car and talk about shooting water a good 6 feet in the air. When i took the head off it I found a nearly 1/16" gap between the head and the block between cylinders. Damn that thing must have gotten hot to do that.

Interesting.... When you originally re-soldered the grounds, was the solder Acid-core, instead of Rosin-core? If Acid-core was used, the acid will continue to eat up the wires unless you wash the acid off.

Rare honest man. Mechanics around me woulda charged again

That ground on cobalts is common for a handful of issues I always cut that out and redo them all

Spoken like a true teacher "Did WE forget to hook something up" Why does everyone say that when the only person there is YT yours truly? LOL another fine job Ivan.

I could not in good conscience charge for this. I would extend the wires and find somewhere higher in the engine compartment to complete the ground. Happy customer is future customer. Word of mouth can either make you or break you. Stay safe, God Bless.

Well all depends Ivan. If you are honest and good person and wanted to keep a good reputation you do what you did. But... if the condition of the area is salty and there is a lot of corrosion on the road, it is expected for every surface to corrode. So in this case it pass over a year of use, the car was driven on winter with road coated with salt and it corroded the connection and the cable just broke it is not your fault. That will fall under normal wear and tear and the manufacture does with their product. Some shop will charge for the diagnostic and maybe do the repair for free, other will charge for everything because it has been over a year and others be more customer service incline and do the repair for free.