Gonzo

There's no doubt that the environmental issues are a big concern, but I see even more on the financial side. With the tax incentives depleted, and the resale low....and most owners who have one now will not buy a second one. (According a national report) I only see failure for the electric car industry. We will need new forms of energy, electric, solar, wind, and wave are all good choices. Fossil fuel can't last forever... In the last 100 years or so the world has become dependent on oil, and I think these attempts with today's technology are just stepping stones to the future. Until the day comes that the cost and maintenance on the electric vehicle becomes as common and cost effective as the combustion engine I really don't see anything else but failure for the electric car. Early attempts of electric vehicles never worked either... maybe we are just taking baby steps to the eventual transportation needs... but...a form of the electric vehicle probably IS still the eventual future of the transportation issues. Now - not - later ... before we make a bigger mess out of world... I hope the engineers and environmentalist work on the production AND the recycling of the materials in these cars. Depleting and making a bigger mess out of the ONLY world we have is nothing I want to leave to the next generation to fix. It's something to think about before we rush out there with that "tree hugger" attitude.... just to save a buck at the pump.

I don't think I've ever made it out of the dentist office with nothing more than a 39.00 bill...........

A few years ago I wrote an article called, "Diagnostics Fee or Diagnostics Free" (an article about charging for diagnostics - here's the link to the article (http://www.gonzostoo...icFee-Free.html) Yesterday I got this email from a dentist. I'd like your opinion on it. I know what I think...but what do you think? Dr. Gonzo, I read through your 'two cents' on engine diagnostics and I could not agree more. However, I do have a bone to pick. Charging for a diagnostic is fine but where do you draw the line? I am a general dentist. For a new patient I charge $39 for an exam (cleanings from a hygienist are $60). I take roughly 25 minutes to complete an exam on a patient. Some patients take longer as they have a more difficult case and sometimes they just have more questions. I have spent 9 years in college, at a cost of over 200k, and roughly 600K on my practice (I have lots of fancy equipment too, even more expensive than the 'diagnostic computer') AND I am dealing with the actual health and wellbeing of mankind (screenings for head neck cancer, dental caries, oral path., etc., etc.) If I used your kind of math I guess I should charge more in the neighborhood of $500 for an exam (my education alone was probably more than 20 times yours so the math is still WAY low). But I don't charge that much. A true professional would realize when a charge is ridiculous and when it is not. A diagnostic charge from a mechanic should be in the neighborhood of $20. If you are charging in the near $100 range I would consider removing the self titled "professional" from your website. Which I found funny that you brought it up anyway.Your computer is a one time purchase. You don't throw it away when you are done so quit trying to factor in the computer cost like it is a consumable. A mechanic's pay at best is $35 an hour. A $20 diagnostic over 5 minutes is more than enough for that and even overhead. Actually, you just gave me an idea. I am going to tell my patients I now have a "parts, labor, and supplies" fee. That would be great. Imagine the next time you come into my office and I say that my labor fee is over $500 an hour. My patients would leave. I can't believe a mechanic thinks charging $100 an hour for labor is reasonable when everything else is also marked up 300% PLUS!!!! ... it is laughable. Anyway, I agree....but lets get realistic.

ROFL... TWICE!! Yup, been there. One of the bodyshops I work with has a huge cabinet full of hardware and body clips, and like ya said... half the time they can't find the correct ones. Wires ties... the "duct tape" of fasteners. LOL good one Joe... made my day

Yea, those quirky safety clips (CPA's) and fasteners can really try my patience at times. Forgot to mention some of the other popular connections and about ordering them... I can always add or remove sections. As long as I stay within my word count for the editors I can do just about anything... well...almost... still have to figure out those darn CPA connections. LOL

Clips and Fasteners Almost every procedure you run across on a car is going to include some sort of clip or fastener that needs to be disconnected. I sometimes wonder why the engineers design some of these unbelievable multi-clipping-overly-complicated fasteners. They'll take a simple project and turn it into a test of my patience and reasoning abilities. Sometimes I think they're only trying to find some way to make my tasks even more difficult than it needs to be. Maybe it's job security, and without making a few subtle changes to an already existing fastener they'd be out on the street with the rest of us. I'll bet in those "Towers of Powers" there's a group of engineers whose sole purpose for collecting a paycheck is to design some sort of new "Rube Goldberg" contraption to hold two pieces of wire, hose,or some body part together. Now, it's my job to figure out how to remove them. You can actually date cars by the type of fasteners used during its production. The straight or slotted screw head came first, then around 1908 the Robertson screw (square headed fastener) was invented and was used widely on Ford's model T's. By 1930 the Phillips (named after its creator Henry Phillips) came into use on production cars. Let's not forget about the Allen head type fastener either, date unknown. (Oh, those are a whole lot of fun to deal with. Anyone who has ever taken the bolts out of an old VW CV shaft will know what I'm talking about.) The Allen head inventor is presumably an American named Gilbert Heublein, but no one knows for sure. Just as well, if I knew who it was, I'd probably want a few words with him; maybe even show him where he can put his inventive idea to better use. Somebody had to invent the first wooden screws and pegs, and as with most inventions somebody always tries to improve on it. Soon, the industrial age brought the metal screws and various other fasteners as the standard. For a longtime, many years mind you, bolts, clamps, and other fasteners remained pretty much the same. Oh, there were the occasional engineering attempts of reverse threads and odd sizes, but for the most part connectors and fasteners were basically the same for many years. Then around 1967 the Camcar Textron Corporation introduced the "Torx" bit type fasteners. It wasn't long before they started showing up under the hood of a car. Now every mechanic had to rush out and purchase a whole new set of tools to remove them. Similar to the Allen head, but with more surface area (more or less like a star shape) they could be difficult to work with at times. I know I'm not the first one to see one of those Torx bits round off while trying to remove it, and I'm definitely not the first one who had more than a few "profound"comments about them. Especially after the head would rust shut or the size of the Torx bit was one size too small for the bolt but, you only found that out after it stripped the remaining head off the fastener. These days clips and fasteners have even more variations than ever before. We've gone to using plastic. Plastic, plastic, plastic... big, small, colored, smooth, rough, tight fitting and loose fitting plastic fasteners. Old Rube Goldberg would be proud of these fiddly connections mechanics have to deal with these days. Some you push, some you pull, and some you do both at the same time. There are fasteners you push the center section in, and others you pull the center section out. Some you flip up a section and then push down another section… The variations are endless. I just don't get it, all this effort to make something stay in place. I understand the little CPA connector("connection position assurance"), I think of these little plastic holders like the safety pin on a grenade. The CPA holds the main connection in place, so the main connection can't be accidentally removed ...but...really... do ya have to make some of them so friggin' complicated?!?!? Some are easy,you just pop it up and off comes the main connector, others, well... not so easy. You might have to scratch your head a few times, and figure out how the darn thing comes off. Read most R&R procedures for a fender trim, a fuel pump, a radio or for that matter just about any component,and you'll find it starts out with the basic instructions, "Remove connector"or "Remove CPA". Hey, wait a minute...how the heck do you that? I hardly ever see any of the instructions detail the exact method of undoing some of these wacky fasteners. If they do, the directions aren't always clear. I know I'll have to read it over and over again just so I understand what in the world they meant. I swear Rube Goldberg has influenced those engineers to design some of these diabolical connections. Then there are those clips that you release with your thumb, and it slides almost completely off, and then hangs on for dear life. You tug and you pull, you push it back on all the way, and try it again, only to get it stuck in the exact same spot as the last time. After a bit of coarse vocabulary and another tug or two, it finally comes off. But, when you put it back on it falls off with the slightest twitch. Oh come on...enough already!! Try as you may, these new plastic connections can get the best of you. I'll never understand why they keep coming up with new and different fasteners when some of the older ones worked perfectly well. Maybe I should send a box of Chinese finger traps to these engineers. Yea,see how they like it when they get stuck. They might be so busy trying to remove their fingers from these little torture devices that they'll take a break from creating new torture clips for me to deal with. I guess it's all in a day's work for a mechanic, though. Every detail has to be figured out right down to the lonely plastic connector to get the job done. Frustrating at times and aggravating at others, it's just part of the job. The engineers design this stuff, the factories build it, and the mechanics fix it. Simple would be better, but that's not the Rube Goldberg School of Engineering way of doing things. Idon't design em', I don't build em' … I just fix em'. View full article

Welcome and good luck on your shop

When i got into the business no one told me about all the problems associated with being a mechanic. I'm like you... anymore my goal is to stand up and be proud of the profession and help tell all about it. Maybe even inspire a youngster to get into the field.

I hear ya... sometimes people think I'm Einstein and other times the hunch back of Norte Dame. Just never know. LOL

"So, you're a Mechanic" As the title "mechanic" implies, we work on, maintain, and service cars, trucks, boats, or just about anything with a motor. But, sometimes the title or the term "mechanic" can have different connotations attributed to it. Like having a conversation with someone and they mention, "Oh yea, my cousin is a mechanic". They actually meant to say, "While I was at his house, I saw him under the hood of his car with a bunch of tools." Or to the other extreme, "Oh, so you're a mechanic". As if to say, "You're one of those guys who take advantage of the unsuspecting public". (A box of wrenches doesn't make you anymore a mechanic than a stethoscope makes you a doctor.) As far as professional trades go, being a mechanic isn't always on the top of the list of aspiring career choices. It might be because there's still that stigma in some circles that the word "mechanic" denotes a derogatory response or a mental image of an overalls wearing redneck, covered in grease with a wrench hanging out of his back pocket. If that's your stereotypical mechanic, you've been catering to the wrong kind of repair shops. Today, a mechanic has to have a background in electronics, hydraulics, fluid dynamics, computer systems,as well as the mechanical systems. Sure, the grease is still there, but a mechanic these days is a highly educated field. Maintaining a car has nothing to do with being a mechanic, although knowing a good mechanic certainly can add to the life of your car. Understandably, the longevity of any car depends on how well you maintain it. I personally have an old rusted ride that I take back and forth on my daily commute. I affectionately call the old beast,"Gerdie". It's a 1984 Toyota 4x4 pickup. No lift kit, no huge woofer behind the seat, no big giant growling tires... nope... just a plain old pickup with the 22R engine. It's not going to win any beauty prizes, but it purrs like new, shifts like new, and still has cold air. If you were traveling down the road and saw this hunk of scrap iron, you'd swear this relic should run and drive the way it looks... well... "Don't judge a book by its cover", it's owned by a mechanic. Once in a while a prospective customer may have some concerns about putting a lot of time and money into their rust bucket. I'll point to the parking lot and mention old Gerdie. The usual response, "Oh, but you're a mechanic; you don't have to pay for the labor. That's why it's still running." Ok, ya got me there, but it just goes show that an old, out of date car can still be kept on the road if you want it to. Of course,the statement that gets me riled up the most is, "You're a mechanic, and you guys know how to make it last just long enough for the warranty to run out." Really? I'd like to know how you've figured that out. Is this based on some sort of mythical knowledge that I'm supposed to have? You know, if I could make a car breakdown at a specific point in time I would be standing at your front door with tools in hand just waiting for my chance to fix it. There's even the flip side of this whole"mechanic" conundrum. A customer will bring in some sort of weird project, say an ancient motor of eons ago, or some off the wall mechanical device and expect me to know all about it. How's that possible? I don't know everything about every mechanical thing ever made… Oh, wait… that's right, "I'm a mechanic". Just like everything else these days, car repair costs are on the rise. Although, I have to admit the types of repairs I'm doing these days is nothing like the repairs from years past. In some respects the manufacturers are creating cars that give the average consumer a false sense of comfort that their vehicle will be trouble free for as long as they own it. Which is exactly the opposite of what the average consumer should be thinking. General maintenance on wearable items still has to be addressed, and that means an occasional trip to repair shop to seethe mechanic. We're not quite so sophisticated that a vehicle can spot trouble before it is trouble. Not yet anyway. There are a few new technologies that are leading in that direction. Things like "Telematics". (A GPS system that can inform the manufacturers of your location and the condition of your car automatically and possibly, without your knowledge.) This sort of technology is going to bring on a whole new meaning to the word "mechanic". Every mechanic has probably experienced a customer who comes in and tells them all about what the last mechanic has told them. The mechanic has to diagnose the problem all over again, but instead of another "mechanic" it's now the car itself that will be telling the customer what's wrong. Leave it to the new technology to make it better and worse at the same time. Now,as the mechanic, do I accept the self-diagnosis as the final answer, or should I diagnose it and compare the results? I can just imagine these future complications. The consumer will say, "Oh but the car already told me what's wrong; you're "just"the mechanic, so fix it." And, if the car is wrong... what then? That's a whole new problem to deal with. In the meantime, service work and the upkeep of the family jalopy is still something the consumer and the mechanic have to deal with. In the field of automotive repair you'll find the younger techs are up to the challenges of this ever changing electronic wizardry in today's cars. Sure, they're kind of green, but they also possess the same enthusiasm we older techs had when we first started in the trade. The thing is, they have grown up with computers and the internet. The older crowd of mechanics thought in cams, carburetors, and coils. There was a lot of testosterone driven brute strength put into getting a muscle car screaming down the road. That's still true today, but today's modern tech accomplishes a lot of the same things with a laptop and a bit of electronics. And there's no doubt the next generation of up and coming mechanics will follow along the same route with even better technology. In the meantime, I guess I'll keep at this car repair thing for a few more years. I still have a few tricks to teach those youngsters. These new mechanics are our future, and what a future it's going to be! With those changes so does the impression of the local mechanic. Maybe, with a little luck the next time someone says to that next generation,"So, you're a mechanic?" Then they'll offer a hand shake and say with admiration... "Thank you... thank you for being a mechanic". View full article

I played that same game with my dentist. After he did a root canal I had about 3 or 4 weeks of bliss then the pain started back up. Turns out he didn't kill all the nerves on that particular tooth. And YES... he charged me AGAIN. They really don't think it's funny when I compare their efforts to ours. LOL... actually... I don't care what they think. Those guys spend 10 plus years learning a trade where I spend a lifetime and quite frankly never master it... (Neither do they) Grammar? (spell check - "grammer" in your post) I wouldn't ask me about that. I write it down, I don't punctuate, my wife proof reads ALL my stories. LOL

Nobody's Perfect Who - Who - Who's perfect? Not me... We're all human. We all make mistakes or poor judgments. I know I'm not perfect. I'm probably my worst critic, and the best example of not being perfect. As a mechanic, perfection is something every customer wants me to obtain when I'm working on their car. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes things just don't go as planned. A few days ago I was talking with a mechanic from another shop about this very subject. His shop has a steep parking lot in front of it. It's great for getting a dead car into a service bay, but sometimes can be a challenge getting one out. He told me about a customer who came in a few weeks ago with an emergency brake problem. The service writer wrote the work order up and asked the customer where the car was parked. "I parked it on the top of the incline in front of your shop," the customer tells him. Just as the service writer looked up from his paper work a red driver-less car was slowly moving down the steep drive towards the service bays. The service writer asked the customer, "What color did you say your car is?" The shocked customer ran out of the lobby only to watch the car smash into the yellow barriers between two of the shop doors. The hood, the bumper, the grill, and the windshield all need mending. "I guess I should have left it in gear," the bewildered owner tells the service writer. Nobody's perfect, things happen. A moment of lost concentration or poor judgment is all it takes. Even with the best of intentions, there's no guarantee things won't come crashing down. Just a few weeks ago another shop owner and I were discussing some of the antics we've seen over the years of car repair. He mentioned to me about a guy he had working for him who liked to move his entire tool box to a job site. The mechanic was finishing up replacing tie rods on a car when he started to let the car down off the lift. While lowering the car another tech asked him a question. Totally forgetting that he had left his roll-around tool box under the lift, it came down on top of it with a loud "Crash" and "Smash" as the tool drawers popped open spewing their contents across the floor. The car was undamaged but the tool box, well, it didn't fare as well. When someone brings parts or components into the shop for me to install I often wonder if they are fully aware of the pitfalls of self-diagnostics, or that what they are attempting to do may not be what they anticipated. Sometimes they find out the results they were told by the person selling the part isn't "exactly" what they expected. One time I had a customer come with an aftermarket horn he purchased at a discount parts store that he wanted me to install. It was styled like an old model T "ah-ooga" horn. The guy asks me, "Can you install this for me, and set it up so I can use my factory horn button with it?" "Sure, no problem," I said. "Should we see how it sounds first?" "No, that's OK. I heard one very similar to it in the store, it was shaped a little different than this one, but he said it sounds exactly the same." Alrightly then, suit yourself... I guess I'll find a place to fit it in. There's not a lot of spare room under the hood of newer cars, and this thing was huge. The only place I could find to put it was just below and behind the headlight assembly on the passenger side. It barely fit in the space, but with a lot of maneuvering I gave it its new home. Of course, I've gotta hear this new tooter toot for myself. Uh, oh... I don't think this is what he expected. It wasn't exactly a perfect "AH- OOGAH" … more like a sick cow mooing. There weren't any adjustments or anything else that could be done to it... what ya got...is what ya got. "I don't think this is what you were after, sir," I told the new horn recipient, "What now? You want me to take it back off?" "It's perfect!" he tells me, "I like this sound better." (Eww?!? - sounded awful to me. Well, then... one sick cow horn it is...). There again, just because I don't think it's perfect doesn't matter... the customer liked it, and that's all that really matters. It's not a perfect world out there and things can and will go awry. If it was a perfect world out there, who would need a plumber, a doctor, or a mechanic? Nothing would break, nothing would wear out, and nothing would go wrong. There wouldn't be cars gliding down steep hills with bad emergency brakes or horns that sounded like a sick cows. Of course, in the repair business, there's always the problems generated by missed diagnosis or a faulty new part that adds to the frustration. I've had numerous occasions where several parts in a row are faulty right out of the box. Only to find out that an entire shipment was manufactured wrong. This brings me back to that ultimate issue... perfection. The ultimate goal. Life isn't perfect; it has its ups and downs just like everything else. If you're not feeling "perfect", you might need to see a doctor. They're a busy bunch of professionals, those doctors are. We as humans are far from perfect, so it's not long before we all might have to go see the old "saw bones" for some repair. At the doctor's office you wait... sometimes for hours just for that fifteen minutes of office time with the doc. In a perfect world you wouldn't need to wait, but we all have to get in line with the rest of the human race when it comes to seeing most professional help with something. (I always wondered how some people can sit at a doctor's office for several hours for their fifteen minutes with the doctor and never complain... but, at the repair shop they can't wait fifteen minutes to get their car in the shop for a several hour repair.) In a perfect world all car parts would be treated like the different organs a doctor would transplant. Everything is checked, double checked, then and only then, would we use those components. But, that's not how things are in the real world. Some people prefer the bargain priced parts for their car. There's a good chance those imperfect choices for the road missile we speed down the highway in (affectionately known as the family car) could lead to an even bigger problem later on. I doubt you're going to hear anyone at the accident scene say, "Well, he would have made it, if he wouldn't have used those cheap car parts from that fly-by night repair shop." Let's face it...nobody's perfect. View full article

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this is "should" is a big deal, and the running to Indentifix only makes the tech able to read and follow directions. Thus they are becoming subservient to the computer, while us old dogs still look at a problem without going there first. Excellent point Joe. I'm afraid there is no way except to head to the "should" way of things. I just hope when the generation now is our age they have some old school capabilities left, or they may be looking into the archives of Identifix and IATN for answers. (Laughing now... but only because I can just imagine the problems in the future....)

Good one Joe... and yes, I have run across the same thing myself. It is about the cost, it is about the frustrations of daily life, and yes it is about the car. So many jobs are sent back out the door due to the lack of cash. I read an article the other day that stated "The cost of a repair is not the issue" are you kidding me??? Of course it's the issue, if it was free then they would have it done. dah!?!?! The economy is a long way from getting back to the way it was in the 90's, and it may take some time before that ever happens. But, in the mean time letting the customer know that we understand their frustrations is the best thing we can do.

that's a scary thought... it's starting to sound almost "Terminatorish" LOL

Brain Damage Throughout the evaluation of the modern car there have been an increasing number of duties taken over by computers. These computers have not only made the engine more fuel efficient, but also more environmentally friendly. Nowadays, these systems are starting to think for themselves and make decisions for the driver. Things like parking the car, keeping a safe distance from the car in front of you, or avoiding accidents are just a small part of the capabilities of the modern computer driven automobile. In some ways the car has become a thinking, reasoning, and quite capable robotic apparatus. You're not sure of that? Really? Let's define robotic function and a robot's task. A robot is a device that manipulates its surroundings by way of certain inputs, which are dictated by the software or information instructions set into its protocol. In a sense the information in its brain. Not all "robots" are in a form of the walking, talking version; a robot can be stationary and perform one task over and over again. Take for example ABS (Anti-lock Brake System). This can be considered a robotic function. The ABS module (or brain) is given a task by way of its programming, and in turn watches for certain input signals from various sources such as the wheel speed sensors, brake pedal application, and engine and transmission inputs. It's a stationary robot in a non-stationary setting. If the system fails to follow the preset instructions it gives the human an indication of its condition by way of a service light. The repair needed is still left up to the technician. I'm kind of glad for that, as I don't know if I'm up to dealing with the "Terminator" mentality of a walking, talking robotic device that inevitability figures out it's smarter than its creator. These days a modern technician uses a computer to talk to the vehicle's computer. That makes it three "brains" involved in determining the reason for the service light: two cyber brains and one human brain. Each one of them has to do their job correctly. When one or more of these "brains" malfunctions, (and yes, I do mean the technician's too.), the whole process of figuring out the problem becomes a lesson in futility. I recently had a car in the shop that wasn't communicating with any of my scanners. As the technician, aka "The Human Brain", it was my task to figure out why and where the lack of communication was emanating from. It wasn't long before I tracked down the culprit. Not only was the main PCM in the car dead, but so were several other processors as well. Looks like a case of brain damage to me. All the usual suspects for this type of problem, such as powers, grounds and communication lines checked out to be in good condition. The test results showed that the car had been struck by lightning. Looks like this little robotic wonder of modern technology had been done in by Mother Nature herself. Even in the electronic age…Mother Nature still rules. But among the variations of problems a technician can run across there are those occasions where the car is fine, but its second brain (the "scanner") is damaged in some way. On occasions I've had to deal with an uncooperative scanner. After countless times of getting in and out of a car, the endless twisting and manipulating of the cords and connections, the scanner can come down with its own form of brain damage. Sometimes it's the service cord at fault, and other times it's the scanner itself. (I keep the shipping boxes just in case I have to send one in for repair.) The big problem for the consumer these days is the modern car can't function without these computers, nor can the modern technician diagnose or repair a lot of the functions without a computer to talk to the car. We've become so dependent on the electronic wizardry of these modern conveniences that our world today couldn't function as we know it without them. Sometimes I feel like I've got brain damage myself when I'm trying to figure out the multitude of problems brought on by all these electronic components. There are many numerous problems that only exist in today's cars because of all these technical advancements. You wouldn't see some of these problems in a car without a computer under the hood. In years past a lot of car components were rebuilt right in the shop,and most everything was a "hands-on" repair. A mechanic removed a part, and would take it down to its individual components, then replace one or more parts of the original component and reassemble it. Not so today; most parts are electronic or have been manufactured in a way that the individual parts can't be taken apart. A good example of this is the HVAC systems. It used to be cables and levers that operated the doors and temperature flow. Nowadays, it's sensors, drive motors and processors. Computers and these robotic functions have literally taken over our everyday life right down to the point of turning on the A/C in the car. You're not moving a lever or turning on the compressor, instead you're asking permission from the computer. It determines whether or not all the required systems are functioning properly. If they are…then "it" (the computer) will allow you to have the air conditioning on. You don't decide… the computer decides for you. For the most part, today's automotive repairs require a high degree of understanding of electronics, as well as mechanical aptitude. You really need both to be a good tech these days. The stereotypical view of the local mechanic as some brain damaged, misbegotten youth with a rag sticking out of his pocket is all but gone; he's more of a brain surgeon than a grease monkey these days. Our technical advancements and electronic world is moving closer and closer to a place our forefathers of just one generation ago would never recognize. It won't be long before the automatous car is the norm (which is nothing more than a robot on wheels.) These innovations are enough to give me brain damage if I ever get a chance to stop and think about them long enough. As it has always been in this field… change is constant and dealing with those changes is what the technician has to deal with. I'll admit I do find all these modern conveniences fascinating, as well as totally plausible…they make our lives physically and mentally less stressful, but I gotta draw the line somewhere. Some people like to bike, others like to hunt or fish, while my favorite pastime is golf. I do like using the GPS to show the yardage…but I'm not using a "Terminator" to hit the golf ball for me… Besides… it would probably keep score better than I do anyway. Even in this modern technical world there are still a few things this old, brain damaged tech would rather do without a computer involved. View full article