You can't........

[Hagar1]

make this stuff up.
Today at an auto parts store I was asked if you did a compression test on BOTH spark plug holes. The guy was serious and I really had to choke the laughter that was threatening to break out.
I did retain my composure as I explained that it is the same cylinder so it doesn't really matter which. Also explained the need for torque wrench to reinstall plugs.
I guess I could have been cruel and suggest checking each hole and record the difference but I'm getting kind in my old age.
Back in my younger days, the car clean up guy came to me, shaking a can of paint. He asked< "how long do I shake this can?" I quickly answered, " keep going until you don't hear the ball any more."

 

[Hanover Fiste]

I had my truck's hood up in a mall parking lot because I was resetting the radio fuse, as the display went blank.

A middle-aged woman came up to me, told her my predicament, and she told me it was because of the fan belt!

 

[Randy Grant]

My dad was a farm boy, but started as a mechanic in a shop about 1940. Learned that if it's broke, fix it by rebuilding it. Went to work as the mechanic/transportation super around 1967 at a school district, so same principle still applied.
One day he went into Auto Electric in The Dalles, and said he wanted a Delco(whatever number) voltage regulator. Kid asked him what vehicle it was for. He had to explain to the kid that electricity doesn't care about the brand, ant that that was what he wanted, and if he couldn't get it there he would go someplace else.
He got the part, and the kid got a lesson in cranky mechanics.

 

[Pull Ya]

In a lot of cases now it is more expensive to rebuild something than it is to just replace it. As a result we have ended up with lots of techs that know how to replace things but can't fix things.
Jay

 

[Curmudgeon]

In a lot of cases now it is more expensive to rebuild something than it is to just replace it. As a result we have ended up with lots of techs that know how to replace things but can't fix things.
Jay

Where I used to work decades ago, we called those guys "Exchangicicans".
Throw new parts at it until it works, who cares who's paying?

 

[Curmudgeon]

I had my truck's hood up in a mall parking lot because I was resetting the radio fuse, as the display went blank.

A middle-aged woman came up to me, told her my predicament, and she told me it was because of the fan belt!

That's just silly. Practically everybody knows you need a new battery.

 

[Pull Ya]

If your radio display went blank, you must have been listening to the "new" country music. It was an automatic defensive reaction by your radio to prevent internal damage.
Jay

 

[Gwerner74]

In a lot of cases now it is more expensive to rebuild something than it is to just replace it. As a result we have ended up with lots of techs that know how to replace things but can't fix things.
Jay

Yep, and its not just the auto industry. I was a Navy Electronics Tech from 92-02, and during my time in the special warfare community I became adept at tearing down and repairing the primary man-portable SATCOM radios, often times down to the individual resistor or capacitor. Around 2000 the company that made that radio released the next gen model and we were sent to the factory for maintenance and repair training. The "training" consisted of them showing us how to open the case and replace 1 of 2 modules, that was it. When I asked how we open the modules to troubleshoot them, they literally asked "Why would you want to do that?', I was floored and realized my time in that world was coming to an end.

 

[Hagar1]

In a lot of cases now it is more expensive to rebuild something than it is to just replace it. As a result we have ended up with lots of techs that know how to replace things but can't fix things.
Jay

You are so right! It goes back to a couple of things, for the factory, they look at the labour cost and if it is cheaper to "just throw in a new part" that is what will be done.
Second thing is the most shops want the vehicle in and out as fast as possible. Their view is that the floor space should be making money every minute the doors are open. Not unreasonable, but just not always possible.

 

[bcbouy]

If your radio display went blank, you must have been listening to the "new" country music. It was an automatic defensive reaction by your radio to prevent internal damage.
Jay

mine automatically shuts off when you try and tune in any country music.

 

[EdGs]

If your radio display went blank, you must have been listening to the "new" country music. It was an automatic defensive reaction by your radio to prevent internal damage.
Jay

Years ago, the Wife's '02 Ram 1500 4.7 had an intermittent stumble. Very intermittent.

One day we were at the in-laws and I had to run to the store. I took the truck, and when I returned I said, "I found out why your truck was stumbling." She asked, "Oh, yeah? What was it?" I said, straight-faced, "The truck started stumbling bad and I changed the radio from Cat Country to K-Rock, and it instantly stopped!!"

I thought my Father-in-law was gonna fall out of his chair, he was laughing so hard.

 

[Hagar1]

mine automatically shuts off when you try and tune in any country music.

If you play a country and western song backwards, thw wife and the dog come home, the cows give plenty of milk and the grass never stops growing.

 

[Randy Grant]

If you play a country and western song backwards, thw wife and the dog come home, the cows give plenty of milk and the grass never stops growing.

And you never have to drive in the rain, and moma never gets run over by a reindeer.

 

[Wild one]

You are so right! It goes back to a couple of things, for the factory, they look at the labour cost and if it is cheaper to "just throw in a new part" that is what will be done.
Second thing is the most shops want the vehicle in and out as fast as possible. Their view is that the floor space should be making money every minute the doors are open. Not unreasonable, but just not always possible.

Man that really reared it's ugly head on me recently.I did a cam swap /headers etc on a buddies 6.4 Challenger for him,2 days after it was back up and running,he was at the track,where on his 3rd pass he sheared an axle off in the diff. You "can not" buy any servicable replacement parts for the independent ZF diff in the cars,all you can buy is a brand new replacement diff.All his diff needed was 1 axle gear,and a set of clutches and plates for the limited slip unit,as it fried the limited slip when the axle broke at 6,000 rpm doing a 2nd gear burn out.The diffs have to be one of the easiest diffs i've ever disassembled and are simplicity upon themselves to rebuild "if" you could get parts for the diff.
We ended up scrounging up a very low milege used diff (1,000clics/600 miles) with a couple broken cooling fins and one stripped out mounting hole for next to nothing,so i made him one good diff out of the 2,and got him back up and running for a little over $1500 with a set of low milege used Hellcat axles.If he'd bought a new diff and axles through the dealer he would of been looking at $5,000+ Canuck,and he'd still be waiting for the diff,as his cars a 6 speed car and uses the relatively rare 3.90 geared ZF diff,and it's out of stock everywhere with no ETA on when they'll be available.
It just floored me that nobody in the aftermarket is even building replacement parts for them,as the ZF diff behind the 6 speed cars does have a rep of blowing up when launched on drag radials/slicks on a sticky track.
The upside was i talked him into replacing the 4 cradle bushings and 4 diff bushings that are very soft with all poly bushings,and it's night and day differance on how the car feels and launches now,even though they're a royal b!atch to change even with the cradle and diff out and sitting on the floor,it's well worth the time and money to replace them on a 6 speed Challenger

 

[Grams]

Yep, and its not just the auto industry. I was a Navy Electronics Tech from 92-02, and during my time in the special warfare community I became adept at tearing down and repairing the primary man-portable SATCOM radios, often times down to the individual resistor or capacitor. Around 2000 the company that made that radio released the next gen model and we were sent to the factory for maintenance and repair training. The "training" consisted of them showing us how to open the case and replace 1 of 2 modules, that was it. When I asked how we open the modules to troubleshoot them, they literally asked "Why would you want to do that?', I was floored and realized my time in that world was coming to an end.

We own an Airstream camper that has a variable-speed overhead vent-fan.
One day the speed-control quit…and I expected a standard Ohmite rheostat needed to be replaced…. but when I took it apart I found some sort of small PC-board with an I.C and a dozen components on it and the knob operated a small “pot’ of some sort.

The mfr’r did not sell that speed-control-board separately, and that model vent-fan also was out of production… so I’d have to replace the entire unit…meaning I’d have to tear it out of the overhead …AND the Above-Roof deflector / framework….. risking a re-seal of the rainproof scoop on top of the camper…. and the replacement fan prices started at $500+….

I didn’t want to deal with all that.
At the time, I was working as an Instructor-Pilot in Simulators at DFW …and we had an avionics technician …”Mr. Li” …. a Vietnamese refugee about 70 yrs old… who did most of the electronics repairs of the many custom-built specialized aircraft sims.
So I took the little PC board with the speed-knob still attached to him and asked if he could look at it.
I explained that it was MY OPINION that it did not vary voltage…but that it may regulate “pulses” of D.C. to the fan motor for a method of speed control….because a 12V power supply would run that fan at high-speed…. I wasn’t certain, however.
Mr. Li took a look at it…and said, “You MELLICANS! You trow evie-ting away! WE NO TROW AWAY. WE FIX! Tomollow!”. …and he waved me out of his cubicle.

Next day, in my employee mailbox I found a small box with the PC board which obviously had a few components replaced on it. I took it home…installed it….and it worked perfectly.

I tried my best to get him to take some money for the repair but he refused and just kept “waving me out” of his cubicle.
I left a $100 Home Depot gift card in his employee mail box.

I retired the next year. That was 12 years ago. Still working perfectly.

 

[Gwerner74]

We own an Airstream camper that has a variable-speed overhead vent-fan.
One day the speed-control quit…and I expected a standard Ohmite rheostat needed to be replaced…. but when I took it apart I found some sort of small PC-board with an I.C and a dozen components on it and the knob operated a small “pot’ of some sort.

The mfr’r did not sell that speed-control-board separately, and that model vent-fan also was out of production… so I’d have to replace the entire unit…meaning I’d have to tear it out of the overhead …AND the Above-Roof deflector / framework….. risking a re-seal of the rainproof scoop on top of the camper…. and the replacement fan prices started at $500+….

I didn’t want to deal with all that.
At the time, I was working as an Instructor-Pilot in Simulators at DFW …and we had an avionics technician …”Mr. Li” …. a Vietnamese refugee about 70 yrs old… who did most of the electronics repairs of the many custom-built specialized aircraft sims.
So I took the little PC board with the speed-knob still attached to him and asked if he could look at it.
I explained that it was MY OPINION that it did not vary voltage…but that it may regulate “pulses” of D.C. to the fan motor for a method of speed control….because a 12V power supply would run that fan at high-speed…. I wasn’t certain, however.
Mr. Li took a look at it…and said, “You MELLICANS! You trow evie-ting away! WE NO TROW AWAY. WE FIX! Tomollow!”. …and he waved me out of his cubicle.

Next day, in my employee mailbox I found a small box with the PC board which obviously had a few components replaced on it. I took it home…installed it….and it worked perfectly.

I tried my best to get him to take some money for the repair but he refused and just kept “waving me out” of his cubicle.
I left a $100 Home Depot gift card in his employee mail box.

I retired the next year. That was 12 years ago. Still working perfectly.

Definitely getting harder to find guys that can still diagnose and repair like that, even if they have access to the schematic.

 

[British Bulldog]

I lived in Turkey for three years. They are the same. Fix ANYTHING. Old 1980s cars still running perfectly.

 

[Pull Ya]

We own an Airstream camper that has a variable-speed overhead vent-fan.
One day the speed-control quit…and I expected a standard Ohmite rheostat needed to be replaced…. but when I took it apart I found some sort of small PC-board with an I.C and a dozen components on it and the knob operated a small “pot’ of some sort.

The mfr’r did not sell that speed-control-board separately, and that model vent-fan also was out of production… so I’d have to replace the entire unit…meaning I’d have to tear it out of the overhead …AND the Above-Roof deflector / framework….. risking a re-seal of the rainproof scoop on top of the camper…. and the replacement fan prices started at $500+….

I didn’t want to deal with all that.
At the time, I was working as an Instructor-Pilot in Simulators at DFW …and we had an avionics technician …”Mr. Li” …. a Vietnamese refugee about 70 yrs old… who did most of the electronics repairs of the many custom-built specialized aircraft sims.
So I took the little PC board with the speed-knob still attached to him and asked if he could look at it.
I explained that it was MY OPINION that it did not vary voltage…but that it may regulate “pulses” of D.C. to the fan motor for a method of speed control….because a 12V power supply would run that fan at high-speed…. I wasn’t certain, however.
Mr. Li took a look at it…and said, “You MELLICANS! You trow evie-ting away! WE NO TROW AWAY. WE FIX! Tomollow!”. …and he waved me out of his cubicle.

Next day, in my employee mailbox I found a small box with the PC board which obviously had a few components replaced on it. I took it home…installed it….and it worked perfectly.

I tried my best to get him to take some money for the repair but he refused and just kept “waving me out” of his cubicle.
I left a $100 Home Depot gift card in his employee mail box.

I retired the next year. That was 12 years ago. Still working perfectly.

Maybe Ram needs a few people like that to look into all the electronic problems they're having with the new Ram trucks.
Jay

 

[OldManEdge]

That's just silly. Practically everybody knows you need a new battery.

Really? I thought it was the old knobble shaft?

 

[OldManEdge]

Definitely getting harder to find guys that can still diagnose and repair like that, even if they have access to the schematic.

It's what is missing in High School today. Bring back Auto Mechanics in High Schools.