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Worse/toughest auto repair
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autotecha
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Nov 11, 2011, 6:06 PM
Post #1 of 11
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Worse/toughest auto repair
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Ok its me again.
Was thinking about how sometimes our jobs are easy but at other times not so.
What was the hardest/toughest or most headache repair that you've had to do?
*******ASE Master Automotive Technician, L-1, L-2 and a lot of wallpaper too :-)******
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re-tired
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Nov 11, 2011, 7:24 PM
Post #2 of 11
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Re: Worse/toughest auto repair
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While working at a dealer I was handed the S 10 from hell . Seems it had been around the shop , everybody but the lube kid . It had been "fixed" several times . The customer was talking buy back ,lemon law etc . Sometimes the truck would start all by itself KEY OUT . It was a stick and if you left it in gear it would chug along not quite fast enough to catch . It had no rime or reason .The eng compartment harness had been replaced ,as was the starter ,alt and ecm. Finally I was allowed to go on "clock tme" . Only used for special jobs .After a day and a half I finally found a pattern. The A/C had to be on and in defrost mode. I pulled the dash out and untaped the harness . The harness went tight behind the flat linkage rod for the outside air door . The flat linkage was sharp as a knife . If you shut the engine off in A/C on and defrost it would hold a vac in the line .The vac would bleed off slowly till the rod touched a YELLOW and a RED wire The red was fed from the hot all time circuit .The yellow was tapped off the purple wire and ended going to nothing just past the glove box. Sometimes the touch was enough and Sometimes it wasnt. GM took a lot of pictures . I got a free coke from the rep.
LIFE'S SHORT GO FISH
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Nov 11, 2011, 7:39 PM
Post #3 of 11
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I'll have to get back to you on that. I get beat like a redheaded step child everyday at work.
Just a few hours ago I had to redo the water pump on a 3.5L Honda Pilot because the replacement Duralast waterpump was defective and pissed out the weep hole with the engine running. It didn't even leave the bay thank goodness.
I told my boss that's it! This defective part stuff is getting really old on these long jobs. I know your trying to make money on mark up and save the customer some cash, but your wearing me out...LOL. So, he got a Honda pump and it is finer than frogs hair and went home tonight.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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Sidom
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Nov 11, 2011, 8:02 PM
Post #4 of 11
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You know........That is the truly amazing thing about the human brain.....It has this ability to block out the most horrific, terrifying events that happen to you over the course of your life....
Right now I'm drawing a blank so I'm gonna have to think about this for a spell......I'm sure it will involve some time intensive job that I was just putting the finishing touches on only to turn around and see a critical internal part sitting there on the bench........
I've seen that before DS....With Bosch water pumps.....A tech put one on & the impeller was loose on the end of the shaft.....Never really thought about it before but I don't care if it's a Chry 3.3.....I grab the impeller & give a good hard spin.....
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Nov 11, 2011, 8:28 PM
Post #5 of 11
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The China man at the sweat shop must nicked the seal on that pump, because it was tight on the shaft. It didn't start leaking until it had 15 minutes of run time.
Your right the mind is an amazing thing. Maybe we don't want to unlock and evaluate those horrific incidences.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
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Sidom
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Nov 11, 2011, 8:42 PM
Post #6 of 11
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You're right there....somethings are better left buried....
That is the worst feeling with that pump....Your DONE, it's sitting there idling, putting tools way, topping if off, waiting for the fans to come on..........and then all of a sudden you're doing it all over (and it's now hot) and quite possibly for free......
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Discretesignals
Ultimate Carjunky
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Nov 11, 2011, 9:33 PM
Post #7 of 11
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I just thought of one of many.
Working at the dealer I got a R.O. for a Lumina APV handed to me. I walked out to the lot and opened the door. It was the middle of summer. I opened the driver's door and the F**king smell slapped me in the face. It smelled like the devil's #$%^&%$. You could see the outline of the passengers in the seats. There were empty soda bottles, burrito wrappers with half eaten burritos laying on the carpet, lollipop sticks stuck to the back of the seats, and what looked like chocolate hand prints smeared all over the windows in the back.
I looked at the RO and it was a no start. I had gloves on and a fender cover wrapped around me. I diagnosed it to the PCM. Guess where the PCM is at? Under the dash.
I lowered the hush panel on the passenger foot well and baby cockroaches streamed out from their hiding places. I pulled the PCM out and did the pin checks with my face hovering inches from the stank ass carpet that someone probably puked or Sh!t on. I had to get away from the vehicle every 5 minutes because I thought I was going to puke. I managed to swap out the PCM's. The old PCM was covered in roach crap stains.
Got it running and filled out the RO. My uniform and body smelled so bad that I went home and showered. To this day I still feel like I have baby roaches climbing in my hair.
Since we volunteer our time and knowledge, we ask for you to please follow up when a problem is resolved.
(This post was edited by Discretesignals on Nov 11, 2011, 9:54 PM)
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re-tired
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Nov 11, 2011, 9:47 PM
Post #8 of 11
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Ahhh memories .BTDT , must be vans . I had one similar ,but add LOADED diapers. I went to the paint shop and borrowed a respirator.
LIFE'S SHORT GO FISH
(This post was edited by re-tired on Nov 12, 2011, 2:48 PM)
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autotecha
User
Nov 11, 2011, 10:00 PM
Post #9 of 11
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Your right the mind is an amazing thing. Maybe we don't want to unlock and evaluate those horrific incidences. I am evil for asking aint I .....
I had one awhile ago when I was working at an indepent. shop. The owner was always cutting costs and buying cheap off brand names and doing a 65% markup LOL. I was doing an Olds Achieva steering rack... very easy job right... to make a long story short, I did that job 3 times because the racks kept failing and when it didnt it wouldn't adjust right. Thank god the customer didnt care about coming back three times. It shouldnt fall under worse job but it was nerve racking dealing with the shop owner trying to get him to get quality parts. But at least the warrenty covered the parts and the customer didnt have to pay, but the shop owner had to pay me lol. The hardest part of the job was not ringing his neck.
This was last winter, my customer for my mobile business: 82 Bronco 351w. Waterpump r & r. easy job at least it usually is. 4 broken bolts, one fractured hand, and blood all over the engine compartment later it was done. What made it so bad was it was done in 2 feet of snow, 15 degrees out, and customer in a hurry, in a remote area. Couldnt tow into my garage. Not fun and almost made me give up on mobile business. She's a loyal customer now though so...
*******ASE Master Automotive Technician, L-1, L-2 and a lot of wallpaper too :-)******
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autotecha
User
Nov 11, 2011, 10:15 PM
Post #11 of 11
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I just thought of one of many.
Working at the dealer I got a R.O. for a Lumina APV handed to me. I walked out to the lot and opened the door. It was the middle of summer. I opened the driver's door and the F**king smell slapped me in the face. It smelled like the devil's #$%^&%$. You could see the outline of the passengers in the seats. There were empty soda bottles, burrito wrappers with half eaten burritos laying on the carpet, lollipop sticks stuck to the back of the seats, and what looked like chocolate hand prints smeared all over the windows in the back.
I looked at the RO and it was a no start. I had gloves on and a fender cover wrapped around me. I diagnosed it to the PCM. Guess where the PCM is at? Under the dash.
I lowered the hush panel on the passenger foot well and baby cockroaches streamed out from their hiding places. I pulled the PCM out and did the pin checks with my face hovering inches from the stank ass carpet that someone probably puked or Sh!t on. I had to get away from the vehicle every 5 minutes because I thought I was going to puke. I managed to swap out the PCM's. The old PCM was covered in roach crap stains.
Got it running and filled out the RO. My uniform and body smelled so bad that I went home and showered. To this day I still feel like I have baby roaches climbing in my hair. I'm laughing cuz "been there, done that".... when I was going through college to get my degree I worked on one of the donor vehicles we donated to a needy person in the community. We get vehicles donated to the college, we fixed them up and redonated to needy in the community. This vehicle came back for more repairs after we gave it to a homeless woman.
The vehicle was a ford exploder. Needed a new multifunction switch and a/c control switch. Since I worked on it originally I got assigned to it again. The vehicle was trashed inside because she lived in it. It stunk like a landfill (to be nice), I said ok I'll do it quick and get out of there. I dropped a screw driver under the driver's seat and reached for it. I ended up pulling out a used tampon instead. talking about sick lol. The smell, the blood on hand etc...
people laught when I put gloves on when I first start working inside of a vehicle until I tell them that. 
*******ASE Master Automotive Technician, L-1, L-2 and a lot of wallpaper too :-)******
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