Cummins Sales and Service Portland Oregon

[Ken Thompson]

Avoid Cummins of Portland at all costs! I recently had a Cummins engine failure while coming home from a trip. Since it was an engine failure I had it towed to Cummins of Portland. They charged me $400 for an engine diagnostic, which I accepted. After a couple of days, they said that they needed to go further into the engine and needed more money. I questioned their so called $400 diagnostic fee, and was told that was just the initial fee. They asked for an additional $754! Being at their mercy, I reluctantly agreed. At this point they had done some electronic tests, and finally taken off the valve cover and found 1 valve bridge off of the intake valves on the #2 cylinder. They also discovered that the intake tappet for that cylinder was stuck in its bore. At this point I was asked for another $1200 to remove the pan and inspect the cam and tappet from the bottom. I then asked how many hours the tech had into this inspection, they couldn’t tell me. I then questioned them as to who they wanted more money when they didn’t know how much they had spent. I was also informed that the tappet failure was the only thing that they couldn’t fix in the frame, and I would need a new engine. I did not agree with the additional $1200 and went to the shop to see the problem myself. I told them what time I would be there, and they said they would have my coach ready for me to look at with the tech. I waited over an hour for them to get my coach ready for me to look at. Once I looked at it, sure enough, the tappet had seized. When talking to the tech, he suggested installing an ISL 400 instead of the original ISC 350. I agreed that it was the better choice. I would get 200 ft. lbs. of additional torque, as well as replacing the near worthless pac brake with a 2 stage Jake. The tech told me it would take home about 10 hours to get the old engine out and about 20 hours to get the new one back in. I then went and told the service manager that’s what I wanted to do. He said he would get me a price from Cummins. 2 weeks later he gets me a price for the original ISC, not the ISL. Nearly $24k for the engine and $12k for the labor. At $190 per hour for the labor, that was 65 hours. I was then informed that Cummins will only do “like for like” engine exchanges. I then found a good used ISL engine with 80k miles on it for $8k and prepared to get my coach out of there. They emailed me the invoice for $1500 which included 4 new valve cover bolts. I said no, and will only pay the $1154, as agreed to. They changed the invoice and I paid it. I then had it towed to Eugene to a truck repair shop to have it changed. It was an additional $2800 to get it towed there, but their shop rate is $140 pre hour and they will change it for $8500, which will include all new belts and hoses. When I looked at my valve cover, they had only replaced 2 of the 4 bolts I was charged for. Supposedly Cummins in Coburg is a better shop, but I would question everything they are charging you for. 
 

[Bob Schmeckpeper]

Im very dissolutioned with Cummins.  I have a great relationship at the parts counter, but when it comes to mechanical side then things fall apart fast. Working with Cummins in three different states I find that they add about $50 per hour and double the time when it comes to motorhome work because its a little harder to get to. And example with me was a lift pump replacement they quoted me 11 hours to do the job. I  hired my son to do the job. I played gopher. Held a light, got a couple of wrenches, drove him to the parts store to get a gasket,(because cummins did not include it) thing like that. Never did it before no experience. Took 4.5 hours. Now if an experienced mechanic has to take 11 hours to do the job that a person with no experience can do in 4.5 hours something is wrong.  That same job was quoted by 3 different cummins shops in 2 states. 

That's just my experience.  

[Ken Thompson]

55 minutes ago, Bob Schmeckpeper said:

Im very dissolutioned with Cummins.  I have a great relationship at the parts counter, but when it comes to mechanical side then things fall apart fast. Working with Cummins in three different states I find that they add about $50 per hour and double the time when it comes to motorhome work because its a little harder to get to. And example with me was a lift pump replacement they quoted me 11 hours to do the job. I  hired my son to do the job. I played gopher. Held a light, got a couple of wrenches, drove him to the parts store to get a gasket,(because cummins did not include it) thing like that. Never did it before no experience. Took 4.5 hours. Now if an experienced mechanic has to take 11 hours to do the job that a person with no experience can do in 4.5 hours something is wrong.  That same job was quoted by 3 different cummins shops in 2 states. 

That's just my experience.  

Well, you do have to pay for their breaks and lunch hour too! I feel your pain.