[AT] OT modern computer controlls (please delete now if you don't like the topic)

Thomas O Mehrkam tmehrkam at sbcglobal.net
Sun Mar 26 07:41:17 PDT 2017


Every once in a while I forget why I keep doing my own Mechanic work. 
Then I take it to a shop and they remind me why.

The last time was my 6.8L 2001 F250 4x4.  Fuel pump went out. I was 
trying to live on a trip and things were busy at work
so I had it dropped off at a Ford Dealer.  I assumed It would be about 
$750.  This was a job I would have done for less than $100.
Three days and $1200 later I picked it up. At least they appeared to do 
an acceptable job this time.  Two years later i have not
had to do it over.

In this case it was just way over priced. Not crap over priced work.  I 
got lucky.


On 3/26/2017 8:42 AM, Cecil Bearden wrote:
> I took my TS110 New Holland to the New Holland dealer.  The engine had
> swallowed a valve, but I first thought the drive plate behind the
> flywheel had shattered.  $3200 later they called and told me I had a
> valve dropped through the piston.  I told them to bolt it back together
> and I would pick it up.  $4000 bill as it was $800 more to bolt on the
> manifolds and hood.  They lost my hood bracket ( $175)  and bolts ( hood
> only had 1 bolt holding it).   Broke the fuel inlet pipe in the fuel
> tank so I have to bleed the system every time I sit longer than 1 hour.
> Broke the sediment bowl ($48 glass bowl), and broke the windshield (
> $1100, they replaced it, but left glass in every crevice in the cab). I
> may have posted this before, but I will not pay a dealer to learn how to
> work on my equipment.
>
> I had a good mechanic for a while to work on my vehicles.  Last time he
> charged me $850 to replace a A/C compressor to stop a "click"when
> running, and it was the flywheel plate broken.  Some thing he should
> have caught when he changed engines for me 4 months earlier.  I would
> have been stranded if I had continued to drive it.  I cannot walk more
> than 50 ft at a time, so being stranded with a vehicle is not a good
> situation.  This guy was a disabled veteran appeared to do good work at
> first, and talked a very good game.  He just kept hiring additional
> mechanics and getting bigger.  I spent over $4000 with him on my 2000
> F-150 4wd.  The most expensive pickup I have ever owned.  I now work on
> my own vehicles again, if it takes 2 days to do a 2 hour job, so be it!
> When I retired I noticed that mechanic work took much longer.  It's
> because I now take the extra time to repair or replace instead of fixing
> it to get  going again.
>
> Cecil in OKla
>
>
> On 3/25/2017 6:23 PM, David Bruce wrote:
>> Yes that is a big issue. Mine is just a bit older than me and has been
>> established here for years. The good thing is he will be replaced by his
>> son (who is also quite good) once he retires. Not the cheapest but I
>> know if he works on something I can trust him. At one point he even came
>> to my home to deal with a balky car - finally found the problem
>> (farmer's favorite) and since then the car has done well - 2001 Malibu
>> that now has nearly 200K miles. He took care of my mom's car, takes care
>> of my brother's and several family members. That is something I did not
>> have until I returned here some years ago.
>>
>> I have been screwed over in the past with other mechanics - and yes
>> those at a dealer's operation so I understand your plight.
>>
>> Not exactly tractor related but in some ways it is.  I think the same
>> goes for tractor mechanics (who are often the same people here).
>>
>> David
>>
>> NW NC
>>
>>
>> On 3/25/2017 6:54 PM, charlie hill wrote:
>>> David,  I'm glad you have a good one.  Thinking back on my message
>>> it sounds like I'm indicting all mechanics and I am certainly not.  I just
>>> can't find many, if any, decent ones here.  There is a local franchise
>>> dealer
>>> for mid to high end cars who claims to have the most certified techs of
>>> any shop in the state.  4 times the number the factory requires him to have.
>>> A few years back I took a new car in for warranty work because the
>>> condensation
>>> in the A/C duct was backing up and running out in the floor when the car
>>> rounded
>>> curves.  The inside of this less than one year old car smelled like dirty
>>> socks.
>>> After 3 tries this best in the state shop had their service manager come out
>>> and
>>> explain to me that he had found a tech bulletin and had installed "a delay
>>> relay"
>>> to make my heater-A/C fan run after the car is shut off to dry out the duct.
>>>
>>> What he had actually done is take an old relay box from some GM car that had
>>> a
>>> relay that ran the radiator cooling fan after shut down.  He had screwed it
>>> to the fender
>>> well and stuck the wires into  the A/C housing under the hood.  It wasn't
>>> hooked to anything.
>>> I drove the car straddle a ditch, crawled under it and found that the drain
>>> nipple had somehow
>>> become inverted block the condensation from draining.  That is what I
>>> suspected when I took it
>>> to them but it was under warranty and a friends car, not mine.  Both of the
>>> owners of this dealership
>>> are personal friends of mine!
>>>
>>> Oh they also "instructed" me that the condensation I complained about inside
>>> the instrument panel
>>> was "Not Condensation"...... It was "Moisture".
>>>
>>> That was in the late 90's.  The service there is no better today despite
>>> their claims.
>>>
>>> Most of the independent shops here price your work based on what parts they
>>> need for their race car
>>> that week.
>>>
>>> Charlie
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