“Lube, filter, and new engine, please.”

Sometimes when your car goes down and you turn to your second vehicle, you are surprised to learn that it’s actually in worse condition than the first.

A gentleman came in because his ‘95 Taurus wouldn’t start.  He dropped off the car to confirm that the starter had stopped functioning and he called his wife to pick him up while we waited to get the car into the shop.  By the time she arrived, we had confrmed the need for a starter and he said he’d be back in a few hours (plenty of time to install the part).  They leave, only to return ten minutes later.

Man: “I have my car in here and when I left with my wife in our other car, some lights lit up on the dash and the car lost power, then died.  We got it to run enough to get back here, but it seemedto be making a weird noise.”

Me: “A weird noise eh?  What did it sound like?”

Man: “It sounded like the transmission was giving out.”

Me: “OK.  How far from here were you when the problem started?”

Man: “About a quarter mile up the road.”

Me: “I see.  And it was running?”

Man: “Yeah, for short distances.”

Me: “Alright let me get this car into the computer.”

While I entered the car’s info into the computer, the mechanic who had been working on the Taurus returned the paperwork to me for invoicing.  I sent the customer to the cashier to pay for the Taurus while I informed the mechanic about this other car, an ‘01 Sebring.  He grabbed the keys from me and went to bring the car into the shop.

A few minutes later he cames to me and told me that there is no oil reading on the dipstick…and that there was a giant puddle of oil under the car.  He said he was going to put two quarts in before he tried to start it.  He walks out and returns again and asks me to go out the shop with him.

I followed him out and looked at the the car as he tried to start it again.  As the starter turned, I watched oil spurt out from under the car into a puddle near the right front wheel.  But that wasn’t nearly as bad as the noise the engine made when he tried to start it.  It sounded like a car accident without the breaking glass.  My heart dropped.  That sound only means one thing…

I went to my customer and looked him in the eye…

Me: “Sir, your car is broken.  That is, the engine is shot.”

Man: “It’s that bad?”

Me: “Yeah, I don’t think this engine is going to be normal again.  There’s no oil filter on the car.  Oil is spurting from the oil filter housing.”

Man: “I just got my oil changed not two weeks ago.”

Me: “They may have put on the wrong filter, or not tightened it down properly.  Or you built up enough pressure to blow off the filter.  But that’s not the likely story.”

Man: “OK.  Excuse me.”

He walked off a few feet and opened his cell phone.  He punched some numbers and after a few seconds, began a rant…

Man: “Well, you did it.  The car is junk now…I told you when the oil pressure light came on that you should just get it towed…There was no oil in the car!  That’s why the light came on…We’ll talk about this later.”

He angrily shut his phone and walked back over to me.

Man: “I can’t believe they even let women drive.  You have to tell them everything twice, they don’t listen.”

Me: “Really?”

Man: “Well, I don’t men you.  My wife can’t listen to me.  Like it’s impossible.”

Me: “Some men are hard of hearing too.”

Man: “I told her to just get the car towed.  The low oil pressure light came on.”

Me: “That explains it.  When the filter came off and the light went on, it didn’t take long for you to drop your oil. Things happen and at least you didn’t get hurt, right?”

Man: “But this is the third engine she’s blown.”

Me: “Have you considered hiring a driver for you wife?”

Man: “I might have to, I can’t afford to keep buying her cars.”

With that his phone rang, and he waved to me as he walked out the door. 

The next day the company who did his oil change go the car towed to one of thier shops and determined by the paperwork that the wrong oil filter had been used.  They have extended the offer of engine replacement or a cash settlement.  I was glad to hear that they took responsibility for thier mistake. 

I sense a disturbance…

Every so often someone comes into the shop that I want to slap.  I can’t, but the time spent thinking about it is worth every minute.

A man came in complaining that his car was overheating.  He had previously come in and gotten a fan motor installed, but it seemed that it wasn’t working properly.  I told him we’d get him right into the shop and I proceeded to write up a work order.  We had just switched to a new system on our computers so I had to take a few minutes to transfer his information. 

Me: “It’s just going to be a few minutes, we have a new system and I’ve got to add your info to it.”

Man: “You think you’re a cat with those nails?”

(I have artificial nails that some might consider too long for my profession, but whatever.)

Me: “EXCUSE ME?!  What’s that supposed to mean?”

Man: “You think you’re catwoman or something with those talons?”

Me: “They’re nails, Sir.”

Man: “I don’t see how you get anything done with them, they look like they’d get in the way.”

Me: “I can still do my job better than someone without them.  Can I have your keys?”

He gave me the key and I directed him to the waiting room.  I took the paperwork to the mechanic who would be working on this ‘87 Taurus and talked with him about the problem.

Well, he began testing the vehicle.  He let it run until the temperature went up and the fans never came on.  He turned on the AC and the fan never came on.  He got out the test light and started going through the process of finding out where the power got cut off.  It didn’t help that the wires that came off of the fan were bound with a plethora of other wires. 

Now, this mechanic does not specialize in electrical problems, and even after he printed out a wiring iagram, he was having trouble with the vehicle.  Luckily, another mechanic noticed his frustration and pointed out a relay box on top of the radiator.  He had worked for Ford and said that these boxes have a tendancy to burn out. 

Sure enough, when they took off the cover on top of the radiator and unplugged the relay box, the connection dealing with the fan operation was completely burned out, even on the connecting piece.  I took the part to the customer to show him and he agreed that this might cause the fan to not operate.  Unfortunatly, on a Sunday, this part was unavailable.  He decided to take his car home so he didn’t have to walk and to bring it back in the morning.

Now, he arrived at nine in the morning, and by 11:15am he was being rung out at the register.  Unable to control himself he began to run his mouth…

Man: “Look at the time, I’ve been here for two hours.  I can’t believe it took you guys two hours to figure that out.”

Me: “Yeah, You should have just told us what was wrong with it, then you wouldn’t hav had to wait.”

Man: “That’s why I brought it here, so you could figure it out.  I didn’t think it’d take this long though.”

Me: “Well, it WOULD be nice if we could put our hands on the hood of your car and divine the problem without having to open the hood.  Unfortunatly, at this period in time, we actually have to go through a process of elemination and check the individual components that make up the car.  Possibly in the future, cars will have the ability inform us of thier issues using telepathy and then you won’t have wait for us to use these archaic methods to diagnose your problems.  Until then, you’ll have to wish for a brighter tommorrow while you sit in the waiting room.  Your car is parked behind bay #1 and the keys are in the ignition, have a nice day!”

OK.  Maybe I shouldn’t have brought up the telepathic car thing, but he was working my Sunday nerve (which is usually running thin because Sunday is the last day before Im off for my weekend) and I was sick of his attitude, but after he left, the day seemed to go quickly without excess sassiness.  He came in Monday to get the work done, and his fan is now working fine.  I just hope I don’t have to see him again before the auto-manufacturers perfect mind to motor communications…

Typographical errors. Your problem…or mine?

It has been brought to my attention that this blog contains numerous spelling and gramatical errors.  An anal friend of mine commented on how it tends to irritate her while she’s reading it.  Apparently, she was surprised because before I got into the automotive field, I was an English major.  To her I answer, “This wasn’t written for the reading enjoyment of the world.  Istarted this blog because I would come home everyday from work stressed out from my customers and my sister thought it would be a good outlet for me.”

I do not spend my time editing and backtracking to make sure that it is an easy read.  This isn’t the Oxford Society of the Gramatically Sanctified.  I sit down, and I type what comes to mind about my day, and I leave my issues on the internet.  This blog isn’t about perfection.  I might spell “their” like “thier or they’re”.  I may spell VTEC, v-tech.  There’s no end to the amout of errors possibly made while writing this blog.

 I’m not perfect.  I don’t know everything about English or cars.  And I know if it bothers my friends, it probably bothers other people who have read this.  I’m glad some people have taken an interest in what I have to say.  And I’ll try in the future to be more mindful of my grammer, spelling, and my content. 

I’m open to criticism (the constructive kind) and for some reason, I care what the people who read this have to say about it.  Seriously, if my blog is out of line, let me know because it’s an evolving thing that I want to keep making better. 

However, I would like to remind people that this is not intended to diagnose or solve any vehicle problems.  Like I previously said, I don’t know everything about cars, and many facts do not apply to every make and model of vehicle.  I may even be misinformed.  I do not intentionally say anything wrong or offensive, I’m just trying to vent and go on with my life.

In the end, I’ll tell you like I told my friend…If you don’t like it, don’t read it.

Business…mind yours

Sometimes, my day can be perfectly fine, then it gets weird out of nowhere.  I was talking to a lady who said she wanted a new set of tires.  I like people like this because they usually have some idea of what they want. 

I went with her to her car (a black ‘92 Intergra) ad got her tire size and we went inside to talk tires.  I brought up the screen that had all the tires we carry in stock in her size.  I turned the screen around and asked her if she knew what type of tire she wanted of if she wanted to go through the tires to find one that suits her car and driving style.

After looking at the screen, she pointed out the Kumho KH18 saying that she’s previously owned them and she wanted them.  I told her that they were a great tire and that I put them on my mom’s (LOVE YOU MOM!!) old Galant.  I thought they helped increase the performance of the car as far as cornering, especially when turning the corner at high speeds…heeheehee.

I didn’t have to sell her though, she knew what she wanted.  These tires were on clearance (as they were discontinued) and they were going for $48 per tire.  I told her to let me check the stock to make sure we had them, and we did.

Me: “We have a full set in stock, in fact, we have five.”

Lady: “You have five?  And they’re on clearance?”

Me: “Yes.  Usually these tires are $65- $80 per tire, if I had known they were that cheap, I would have bought some myself.”

Lady: “Well, I want all five.”

Me: “Well, having a full size tire for a spare is a good idea, especially if you aren’t close to a repair shop when your tire gets damaged.”

Lady:  “But I don’t have my fifth rim with me, does that mean I can’t get the tire?”

Me: “No, you can buy the tire now so it doesn’t get sold to someone else, then you can bring it back to get it mounted.  We’ll just charge for the tire today, then you can pay for the labor when you come back.”

Now, at some point during our exchange, a man walked up to the desk and stood across from me and a couple feet away from the lady.  It was at this time he made his presence known.

Man: “I know it’s none of my business, but, I don’t think she needs a fifth tire.  She can use her donut.”

Lady: “But, I’d rather have a matching tire on a full-size mathing rim.  It’s only $48 dollars.”

Me: “It’s safer to have four matching tires on a vehicle.  That’s whay new cars now come with full size spares, many on matching rims, it’s safer for the occupants and gives you more time to replace the tire.”

Man: “I’m just trying to save her some money that she could use for something else.  You’re just trying to make more money.  The more tires you sell, the more money you make.”

Me: “I make the same amount of money no matter if she buys these tires or not.  I am an hourly paid employee.  I do not work off of commission.  She ASKED ME for a fifth tire.  In fact, she told me that she wanted a new set of tires in the first place.”

Man: “All these shops are about making money.  You’re out to make a buck.”

Lady: “I want five tires.  I am going to buy five tires.”

Me: “And I’m going to sell them to her.”

Man: “You’re ripping her off!”

Me: “SIR!  I am trying to give this lady my attention, and  am going to finish dealing with her.  When we’re finished, I will give you my full attention and deal with you.  You’ll need to just wait your turn because there’s a line forming.”

Man: “Well, I don’t think you’ll be getting MY business!  I’m leaving.”

Me: “Peace!”

Lady: “Bye!”

With that, he was gone and she was finished being written up.  We put four tires on the car, and the fifth tire in the trunk.  She left happy and I was able to take care of the rest of my customers. (The other writer was on lunch, so that “disagreement” really slowed my progress.)

Not more than an hour afterward, the general manager came to me asking why this guy was saying I was a rude bitch who was mean to him and dishonest with my customers.

WHAT!?!

Ok, I could have said “Have a nice day!” when he left, but I thought “Peace” was more appropriate.  I don’t really care if he has a nice day, but I do hope he’s peaceful and learns to stay out of other people’s business.

NEWS FLASH PEOPLE!  The world isn’t going to coddle you like your mommy does.  I have a child at home that I have to treat like a child.  She’s four and she knows whn the conversation doesn’t concern her.  Know when to keep your nose in your own crap.  He wasn’t paying for the tires, it wasn’t his place to say anything.  He prefaced his tirade with “I know it’s none of my business, but…”  If you have to say that, shut up, ’cause it’s none of your business!

I’ve yet to see how this complaint is going to affect me.  I still believe I was within my right to say what I said.  I wasn’t loud or disrespectful, I just needed him to be quiet.

Sometimes these types of exchanges happen.  I’m not happy with the outcome of them all the time, and it makes me not like certain people, but that is part of my job.  I’m not there to be your friend, I’m there to get your car back on the road.  If someone is irritating or ire-inspiring their business isn’t worth the trouble.  I’m surprised some people can manage to get any service at all with their bad attitudes.  Maybe we were off to the wrong start.  Who knows?  Life happens. 

But he shouldn’t be so dern nosey! 

Peace!

Windows and engine, so close yet so far away…

Life in my world would not be complete without someone, somewhere, saying something that annoys the crap out of me.  So, the other day,  lay comes in and drops off her Blazer to get some work done to it on the windows.  After examination, it was determined that she needed two front window regulators and motors.  Now, this is a ‘92, Blazer I believe and when a vehicle is that old, you expect it to have some issues, even if it’s been well taken care of.

So, she brings the car in on Friday morning.  We order the window motors and regulators fom two different places so we could get them as soon as possible (the next day) and we tell this woman that they will be done Saturday. 

Now, Saturday this woman calls at about 11:45, and I answer the phone.  she’s calling to nquire about the status of her vehicle.  Well, we were still waiting for the motors. 

Lady: “You were supposed to call me when they came in.”

Me: “Ma’am, they haven’t come in yet.”

They came in about an hour later, and by then she had called again.

Lady: “You have’t called me yet.”

Me : “Your parts just came in, we haven’t had a chance to call you.  The parts are here and we’ll get started on it in about an hour as the mechanic is in the middle of another job.”

(Note: When a mechanic is waiting for parts or authorization on a vehicle, he or she will begine to work on another car.  If the mehanic is at a critical point in the second job, s/he will not stop until the second vehicle is finished or at a point where it can be left for a while.)

Lady: “Well, I need my car tonight.”

Me: “Ma’am, we’re trying to make sure that happens.  We’re going to try for five, but if it’s not done or won’t be done, I’ll give you a call.”

Now, what I did not know is that the regulator and the motor have to be riveted together.   In fact, at first we all thought they could be bolted together, but then we began to see the truth.  What made it even worse was that the assembly also had to be riveted to the vehicle.  In many vehicle it can be bolted into the door frame.  Well, right there you can add an hour to the expected release time.  What made it worse was that the old rivets had to be drilled out in order to get the old assembly out.

Well, when she called at four, I let her know that she was looking aat more time, but that we were going to get the car out to her that night.  She was angry, but there wasn’t much we could do.

Well, the mechanic was pissed off because of the extra time involved, but he was working hard, and I appreciated his efforts because I knew he’d do a good job.  I was angry because this woman was stalking me, and she was angry because the wrld didn’t revolve around her.

At around seven she called back…LIVID!

I was shocked at this woman’s attitude.  She had no idea the type of work that had to go into this job. 

Lady: “Is my rig done yet?”

Me: “Your rig?”

Lady: “Yeah, my rig.”

Me: “Rig?”

Lady: “I dropped it off there yesterday.”

Me: “Your car?”

Lady: “My rig!”

Me: “Your rig?”

Lady: (Angrily)”My rig!  You know, my car.  That’s from a while back, you probably don’t know.”

Me: “Oh no, I’m not nearly that old.  I have no idea about rigs unless they’re big.”

Lady: “Is my car finished yet?  It’s the blazer.”

Me: “For the windows?”

Lady: “Yes.”

Me: “He’s putting the passenger door panel onto the door.”

Lady: “That’s what you were doing last time I talked to you.”

Me: “No.  Last time we talked he was riveting and drilling out rivets.  The pieces are assembled and secured in the doors.  The driver side panels are on, and now he’s putting on the passenger side panels.  The panels are the actual pieces exposed to the interior of the car.  It’s the part that makes the door look nice.  It has to be put onto the vehicle or you’ll see the insides of the doors.”

Lady: “I’m on my way down there and they BETTER be done.  I can’t believe you’ve had my car for two days.  You said it would be done at five and here it is past seven and they’re drilling out rivets?  Why didn’t they do this before?  Like he didn’t know there were rivets there.  How much longer am I going to have to wait?  Thirty six hours isn’t enough, eh?  You have to take more of MY time?  Shelly, you’re such a lying motherf*cker.  What a peice of sh*t, you’re playing with me.  I want my f*cking car back, fixed!”

*CLICK*

Oooo, I wish I was allowed to perpetrate violent acts against people.  But I can’t.  By the time this “lady” arrived, her vehicle was ready for her. 

She came in with a chip oin her shoulder.

Lady: “So, where are these “rivets” that you had to “drill out” of my car?”

I walked into the shop and picked up a handfull of metal shavings and dust, walked back out of the shop to this woman and ropped the pieces in her hand.

Me: “This is them. There’s plenty more on the floor in the shop if you want to take them with you for proof.”

Lady: “And it took all this time to make this?  Whatever.” 

I went out into the shop after handing her the paperwork so she could pay.  When she came around back to pick up her Blazer, she got into it, started it, played with the windows, then shut it off and called to the mechanic.

I was down a few doors, but her ranting could be heard clearly.

Lady: (Screeching)”Did you hear my rig when I started it?”

Mechanic: “Yes.”

Lady: “Why does my truck still sound like sh*t?”

Mechanic: “I simply put in window motors an regulators.  I was standing there when they called to see if you wanted a diagnostic on your engine.  You said no, so all I did was make the windows work.  Fixing the windows isn’t going to correct your engine problems.”

Lady: “You could have checked my idle and adjusted my timing at least, I spend all this money and you take all day.”

Mechanic: “I checked the timing and the idle, but that won’t correct your misfire.  You have to find out what’s going on with that, but fixing the windows won’t make your car run better.”

With this the woman left, and we were glad to see her go.  I hope everyone understands that sometimes, you have multiple problems with a vehicle.  Sometimes, two totally unrelated systems have failure at the same time, and fixing one won’t help the other.  Sometimes, it sucks to be you, and it sucks to have your car.  If it sucks for multiple reasons though, don’t pass along the bad feelings.  Let it be your burden.  Well help you, but you must be willing to pay.  Otherwise, let it be your burden.

Uncool cars…

It’s that time of year again in Las Vegas.  The temperature is rising and the locals need thier AC to spit out ice cubes in preparation for summertime. 

A lady came in today looking to get her AC compressor replaced, and after confirming that that was the problem, we replaced it and recharged her system. 

When she picked up her car, she sat in the driver seat with the engine running for a few minutes.  Angrily, she stomped over to me and I asked her what was going on.

Lady: “I just paid $400 to get my AC working and it’s blowing out hot air.  I didn’t spend that money for hot air.”

Me: “Hmmm…lemme see.”

I get in the car and sure enough, there’s hot air blowing out of the vents.  I check the controls for the temperature and after pushing a few buttons, it was blowing out icy cold air.

Me: “Ma’am, it feels like it’s gotta be 50 degree air coming out of there.”

She puts her hand over the driver’s air vent and a look of surprise comes over her face.

Lady: “Well, it was hot a few minutes ago.”

Me: “You see, if you don’t turn the Air Conditioning on, the system will not cool the air.  when you have the heater on, hot air comes out.  If you switch the control to AC, it will turn the compressor on an start the cooling process.”

Lady: “Well, I haven’t used it since last year.  I’ve been using the heat all winter.”

With this, she got in her car and left.  I marvelled at this woman who has had this car for years (as she has a long history with us) yet, can’t figure out how to use the temperature controls.

Now, another interesting AC issue came in a week or so ago.  The complaint was the same, turn the AC on, hot air comes out.  This was a 2003 Ford Ranger pickup and when it came into the shop to find out why the air blew out hot, we were hysterical.

This vehicle did not come equipped with AC.  Of course it will blow out hot air.  The best part is when we told the owner of the vehicle, he was shocked.  He’d had the vehicle since it was new and he “never noticed before”.  How you even manage to buy a vhicle in our valley without AC is a mystery to me.  Well, he ended up paying for an entire system to be installed. 

That’s another lesson there people: Don’t buy a car or truck without first knowing what options it has…or doesn’t have.

So, the lesson in all of this is simple: If you don’t have the AC on, you won’t get cold air.

Failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part…

It’s 8:57 PM, and I’m ready to go home.  I want to make it to my sofa and my Budweiser.  I’m in the shop, locking my bay doors, turning things off, and a co-worker alerts me to some gentlemen who need service.

Me: “How can I help you?”

Man 1: “Yeah, I’d like to get these rotors turned.”

Me: “I’m not taking in anymore work for the evening, I can get them done in the morning and you can pick them up first thing.”

Man 1: “No.  I need them tonight.  I have to drive the truck to work in the morning.”

Me: “Yeah, that’s not gonna happpen tonight.”

Man 2: “We’ll pay cash.”

Me: “The morning.”

Man 2: “Double!”

Man 1: (Obligaciously) “If you don’t turn them, I’ll have to put pads on these terrible rotors…I need you to do this.”

Me: “Really.  They won’t get done tonight.”

Man 2: “Well pay you personally.”

Man 1: “I don’t think she’s going for it.”

Me: “I’m not.  It’s not going to happen any sooner than the morning.”

Man 1: (Outraged) “I can’t believe I have to put the pads onto these uncut rotors.  that’s ridiculous.”

Me: “I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do for you.  Have a good evening.”

They walked away angrily with the rotors in tow, and it struck me that he waited until three minutes before we close to bring them in.  See, if it had been twenty minutes earlier, I would have squeezed him in.  I knw people’s schedules don’t always mesh with those of the rest of the world (especially in Vegas), but it’s vital that people understand that there is a cut-off point.  We’re not talking about loosing a limb or saving the world, we’re talkin’ CARS PEOPLE!!  We want to go home too.

So, don’t take it personally when your rotors can’t get cut or your radiator won’t be installed in 20 minutes, it’s not because we don’t want to do it.  We just don’t want to do it when we’re supposed to be home.  We’ll be back in the morning, with open arms and empty bays…

Focus Pokus…the magic of a good deal

Another interesting day at the job led me to the red ‘03 Ford Focus.  The owner is one of our customers who had just bought this car “for a steal” and he was about to find out why.  I met him at the bay doors and in his hand was a chunk of metal about the size of one of those small cell phones.  My co-worker confirmed my suspicions about it being part of a piston.  It was pretty mangled, but the rings gave it away.  (Piston rings help act as a seal keeping the combution gasses and pressure on the top side of the piston and in the combustion chanmber and keeping the oil on the rod side of the piston in the crankcase.  The rings are metal and they seal the chamber with the tight tolerance produced when the ring heats up and expands to the cylinder walls.)

The customer said that he went to start the car and it died quietly.  When he got out, he noticed the metal chunk on the ground and picked it up.  Also, a “whole lot of fluid” fell onto the ground when the engine died.

We were to put it in the air and try to confirm our suspicions. 

WOW!

I’ve seen some strange things, but this was amazing to me.  There was a hole on the rear of the enginelarger than my fist.  It was BLOWN out of the engine.  When the fluids (or what was left of the engine fluids) were examined it had the indications of a blown head gasket.  All of the oil had a chocolatey color, there was low coolant in the radiator, there were signs of rust under the hood.  However, we still haven’t concluded that a head gasket will cause a piston to shoot out of the car.

Even more interesting to me, how could this not make a horrible sound?  The piston looked like it had been hammered out of the vehicle and melted partially.  One of the techs tried to start it to see what it would do, and it sounded awful.  Whatever happened to that car, there’s not much we can do for it but put another engine in it.  And really, I doubt that car is worth the money and time involved with that. 

I do give this guy credit though, he was fairly sure about the outcome of this and was reasonable when considering the possible results of this.  I think people should take a lesson from this.  When you buy a usesd car, you should ALWAYS have it inspected by a mechanic before the sale is finalized.  Sometimes things just break and there’s nothing you can do to find that problem ahead of time because there is no indication of imminent failure.  But many times, the owner knows about a problem and does nothing to warn the buyer, or worse, commits actions to conceal the need for costly repairs.

People expect the automotive industry to be shady which is why people should on thier toes and know what to look for and ask for when paying for services or vehicles.  I hate to hear about people who get ripped off in this industry because it makes my job harder.  But as consumers, I think customers should do a little homework and know exactally what they are or could be getting into.  It’s the public who should have the upper hand, but they choose not to take advantage of thier possible power and they get screwed.

Maybe they like it.