Folks Of Interest Crap sack mechanics , does anyone know why they do the work they do?

We operated a lot of heavy equipment and eventually bought a Sioux valve machine and seat grinder as well as a Hall Toledo orbital seat grinder for grinding stellite seats, all because we were getting screwed anytime we sent a head out for a valve job.

For example, we had a lot of 71 series Detroits. Send out a 4 valve 6-71 head, and the first thing they'd do is throw away 24 sodium filled valves at $25 a pop. Then take a facing cut across the head, which meant all the injector tubes now need to be replaced. Parts and labor would run a thousand bucks (20 year ago pricing) on a head that had no apparent problems. We did the remainder of the work in house, and the cost for the head work would be 2/3 as much as a Mahle/Clevite overhaul kit that included pistons, rings, liners, bearings, and gaskets.

In the dozen or more Detroit heads I did after we bought the valve equipment, I never found a head that needed to be faced. Found maybe 10 valves that needed replacing. 10 total, not 10 per head. Funny thing was, I found more seats that needed replacing than valves, yet in all the heads we'd sent out over the years, no shop ever found a bad seat. I guess there's less profit in replacing a seat as compared to tossing a valve and grabbing a new one off the shelf. Same deal with guides. Outside shops never seemed to find a worn one, yet when I checked them on the heads I did, I regularly found enough near or past the wear limit to justify replacing all of them.

3 different shops, and all the same. Might as well have a monkey trained to throw away and replace all the most expensive pieces, ignore the rest, and git 'er on out the door.

 

Then there's the hard sell. I went with my brother to a Sears to have his battery checked, 2007 Honda. The car is in the battery bay... all of a sudden there's an army of people crawling over the car. They had alignment gauges hung on it, someone is looking at brake pads with a mirror and flashlight. Long story made short... we got out of there before my brother killed someone. And no battery, got one elsewhere without the circus act.

 

Metilmuncher funny, as no head ever left our rebuilder without a complete valve job either!!! Lol

After I started and straight edged the heads and pulled a few valves for inspection on heads... magically we were only doing head gaskets !!

Yeah bob396 I worked at a meineke that brought you in with the 19.99 oil change and tried to sell you 2 grand worth of work! I lasted 2 months and dragged my tool box outta there!

Here in lies the problem, cars don’t need the maintenance they once did, tune ups, thermostats, brake services, etc that now dealers and mechanics need to or feel they have to “ reach in” to make money.
Like I stated before that’s why I liked working on the old stuff when I was a jaguar as Just doing a tune up and carb setting along with a service paid my day with no rushing and no “ iffy” work being called

You couldn’t “ Hamb fist “ your way through anything on a V12 slow and steady won the race and that was fine with me

 

my dad always told me: " there was no reason to do unnecessary work on cars" he continued "i can always find something that was honestly needed" that was back when cars needed more maintenance.

 

Sounds like my, former, dentist.
The man sees cavities everywhere.
Doesn't matter if they actually exist or not, he will drill and fill.

 

they do it because they could not get into gay porn. I hate wana be mechanics. they mess up more than they fix.

 

Lock out tag out procedures. When something fails an inspection, the key is removed and put in a lock box and a do not operate tag is put on the machine. In some cases, equipment uses a corporate key so a key from another unit will fit. In those cases, the battery cable is removed and put in a lock box with the mechanic's lock on it. The locks have a tage with the person's name and picture on it. The machine can't be operated without contacting the person who locked it. So we knew it was never operated or checked.

 

Lockout tags and devices started because of lax oversight and idiots, for example using unsafe damaged equipment or, maybe powering equipment back up while not realizing maintenance was being performed on it. Some really tragic, gruesome and unnecessary industrial accidents stuff you don't want to know about.

 

My folks still use a shop that does unnecessary and sometimes crap work.

I bought a beater van at a state auction and it developed some strange electrical issues, wouldn't run right (barely ran at all); it needed a state inspection anyways so I took it there for the diagnosis. It had a little fluid drip and some other minor things.

It needed a computer, being on the inner fender it was corroded and became full of water (thanks GM and NYS road salt). Okay, had them do it since a replacement has to be programmed with the VIN and all that crap. Ask the guy specifically about the fluid leak, what was it, was told "its old, old cars leak" that it was no big deal.

The first screw up is they fix the computer and don't inspect. Tech says something about driving it to get the computer situated. Not with it screaming for a $200 ticket, state scrapes the stickers when they auction them. So back in for the inspection and the main reason it fails? That leak. Needs a pump. Another at least $300. Lady on the phone incredibly rude and unprofessional when I question it.

I was pissed, I never would have ok'ed the other work if I'd seen this additional work coming. I had to go out of town for work for the weekend so I said "we'll deal with this Monday" because I was too angry to deal with it then. Come home to find they changed the pump and put wipers on it and inspected it. But even that they didn't do right, despite the woman on the phone's moaning about it. I'm stuck with it now, may as well drive my money back out of it.

By the next fall the rotors developed a big warp. I picked up a used pair and swapped them out and found deep wide rusted pits in the set on it, that had eaten one pad down to the metal. Never should have passed an inspection, they're supposed to take a wheel off and inspect and apparently did not. I know they didn't pull a rear because when I finally had to pull a drum the shoes had to be cranked in to clear it.

Just a clown show down there, they hit my folks for some questionable things too but they still go back. Sometimes for crap I could do for them for the cost of the parts.


The lesson for me was the next time I need to diagnose OBD-II I'm just going to buy a damn scanner at Harbor Freight and do it myself.

 

just finished a week of wire wheeling a layer of spray foam insulation covered by a layer of bondo from '57 floor pan... car was "restored" by a big name body shop.....some are bad out of lack of skill and over enthusiasm some are bad for profit...those are the ones I hate!!
also remember that almost every car enthusiast is a bit mechanical but it doesn't go the other way around 75% of mechanics are 9 to 5ers and couldn't give a shit about cars/trucks the rest of the time...they haven't learned much since school get through their day get in their Jettas and go home