Gonzo

I might just slip that line in this story anyway... it does fit the theme of the article.

Dang it... forgot that one... Oh well, I'll fit it into another story. LOL

Myths and Rumors Rumor has it that all mechanics are alike. That's a myth, an all-out rumor started by uneducated, misinformed, and quick to judge vehicle owners. Information and the ability to interpret that information is what separates rumors from facts. A lot of it depends on where the information is coming from. There's the manufacturers websites or the many independent companies that offer the same quality information either on the internet or in book form. There's also some really great information found in the automotive trade magazines with some of the top pros in the business. Of course, there are manuals that offer less accurate information to the consumer, and if that's still not in the budget there's always "he said – she said", rumor central as I like to call it. (For as long as I can remember there has always been cheap repair manuals out there...and as it always is… cheap sells first and often, quality sells… … after all the cheap stuff has been tried. Nothing has changed since the first production cars rolled off the assembly line, and I doubt it will ever change.) There are plenty of myths and rumors for all kinds of car problems. From how to remove tie rod ends, ball joints, and steering wheels, to diagnosing an electrical short with a potato... (No kidding...) (Ridiculous, to say the least.) Some of these home remedies really do work, (Never tried the potato myself.) but, most are just the type of thing that makes most decent techs just shake their heads. Now, I don't want to leave out some of those crazy apparatuses people will create just to take care of a problem without repairing it correctly. From screw drivers jammed in the steering column for a turn signal handle to bathroom faucet handles for radio knobs. It's the ingenuity of some of these wacky folks that just makes me laugh out loud. I just can't imagine how or what possesses some of these creative minds to do the things they do. It comes down to the rumors that are started that some repairs are going to be so expensive that they will try to find a way around it. Even though, they probably have never had it tested correctly in the first place. Some of these "weekend bumper jack operators" think it's a myth that you don't need a whole lot of training to work on cars these days. They'll get a cheap car repair manual or watch a video on how to install brake pads and then head out to their car and attempt the job themselves. Only to end up bringing the car into the repair shop because of a horrible grinding noise coming from one of the wheels. And, of course, their cheap manual will be neatly left on the passenger seat opened to the appropriate page for the tech to see. (Rumor has it the owner found their book tossed in the backseat like a rag doll. Hmm, I wonder how that happened. My bad...) So is it a myth that car repair is easy? It's a myth all right, but the answer is actually complicated. My hats off to anyone that can come home from the office and tackle a car repair without any background in automotive diagnostics or previous mechanical experience. (Those are few and far between I might add). But if they fail, I'll get the typical questions asked at the service counter, "Is this something I could do myself? Or "Is this fairly easy for me to fix?" Well, yes... and no. First off, "Is it easy", well, yes...it's probably easy for me... but then I've got years of hands on experience. Secondly, "Can you do it yourself", sure you can... and if you had the years of hands on experience to go along with it you could probably get it done quickly and efficiently without any mistakes. Honestly, how would I know if it's easy for you? You brought the car to the shop to have it fixed not to have your mechanical aptitude analyzed. Generally, it really doesn't matter what I say, if they want to try it themselves, they're going to try it themselves. The next usual question is; "Ok, can ya show me how to do it?" My answer to that is, "Does the baker at your local bakery teach you how to bake a cake? Does the guy who sells you your lawnmower teach you how to mow the lawn?" I don't think so. I'm probably not going to give you a detail by detail instructional lecture on how to fix your car. So if your neighbor or the shop down the street told you that I would be ever so happy to help you out... ah, that's a myth too.... ain't happenin'. But, my all-time favorite myth, When a customer says to me, "You do have that machine that tells you exaclty what's wrong with the car, don't you"? Right, that machine... sure I do... I keep it next to the muffler bearings and turn signal fluid. Let's face it, the skills each and every one of us have acquired is part of our earning capacity. Not to say there are not times when a little extra help given to someone isn't appropriate it's just not the kind of thing that keeps my shop in the black. I've heard rumors that in order to have a profitable shop you need to charge for your services. (Dah, ya think?!) There are so many cars out there and so many people with different ideas and opinions as to what it takes, that it's no wonder so many rumors and myths get started. Along with all the half-truths and false information floating around it doesn't take long before one of those rumors gets to be part of our everyday culture. There have even been entire cars and manufacturers of cars that have gotten a bad rap because of some of those rumors. There's no doubt that public conceptions about some cars has a lot to do with the total sales and or longevity of certain models. The Edsel and the Corvair are two examples of bad publicity and poor acceptance that are forever more associated with rumors and exaggerated stories. Sure, they had problems, but honestly some of the stories I've heard over the years are just too hard to believe. (Then again, a lot of it could have been brought on by poor maintenance practices too.) I've worked on both and it may be true that some of the technology developed for them might have needed a bit more improvement, but what car doesn't have a bug or two in it. If you take a hard look into the history of the automotive world you'll find examples of cars that had either the same flaws or even more faults than these two examples. I wouldn't call them bad cars... I'd say they were unique cars… but then, if I started telling people that ... I'd be starting another rumor wouldn't I? Best leave it be, and just take care of the cars in the best way possible. Rumors and myths are great for the arm chair mechanic. Makes for great conversation with the other gear heads, but as a professional... I'll stick to the facts. View full article

Agree. I find that more people believe only what someone else tells them and hardly what the mechanic tells them. Unless, like you've stated you have those types of customers that take pride in their car and are more than interested in what the professional mechanic is telling them. It's the myths and rumors of how to maintian a car that get thrown into everyday conversation as if its facts. Like I've said before, print "Avoids Trees" on a golf ball and some dummy will buy it thinking he'll never hit a tree ... ever again.

Never under estimate the power of stupidity... as they say... don't argue with an idiot, they'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. Hillarious videos... been there, got the t shirt... and now.. I've seen the movie.

thanks Joe, means a lot coming from a pro like yourself. If you want a real treat... try this. Read the entire article paragraph by paragraph backwards, last paragraph first and end at the top. It's ironic that the message in this story rings out every time. Thanks again Joe. U are truly one of the best.

it never ceases to amaze me... to funny.

Challenges and Rewards Did you ever get the feeling all the effort you put forth out in the shop or at the office doesn't amount to a whole lot of gratification from the people you're trying to help? Sure, we've all had those moments. You work your tail off diagnosing some weird problem, only to have the customer decide it's going to be too involved or too expensive to repair. A lot of times the total hours spent on the job doesn't even begin to equal the effort you've put into it. Then there are those days the smile on the customer's face is the greatest reward you could have ever wanted. Sometimes I'll make comparisons with other "blue collar" trades. There are so many different skilled professions out there that don't have as many changes or diversification as the automotive repair business. Of course, a lot of trades have equipment they use, or skills they need that hardly ever change. In some of those trades, once you've mastered the tools or the techniques of the trade, your skill level only increases with every new job you take on. In the automotive repair business there are those times you can step back a bit and see your handy work in front of you. You can admire that beautiful paint job, or listen to the purr of a well-tuned engine. But, there are times when what you've done is hidden under a dash or below a valve cover, completely out of sight from you or the customer. Still, there are those times when what you've done does make an impressionable difference. Such as a car that has a severe miss in it, and you've managed to bring it back to a smooth running engine again, or those squeaky brakes are now silenced. I wish I could say that is true in every case, however, things like putting in a new timing belt, or changing the oil doesn't have the same outward reward as hanging a new shiny fender. More times than not, as a technician, your efforts can end up as part of the criticism or scrutiny of the vehicles owner. Some of the typical responses range from: "It cost more than it should have."… "It took too long."… "I found out that another shop would have done the same job cheaper than you."…. "I found the same part on the internet at half of what you quoted me." …. So on, and so on. After the countless hours I've spent under a hood I sure have heard a few. Then there are those responses like: "This is awesome; it's never run so good." … "I knew you could take care of it."…. "Boy, they told me you were good… now I'm sure of it." …"Thank you so much… you've been a great help." Yes, it is a challenge, and yes it has its rewards. It's all part of the job. But for those people who tend to complain about things, I find that they tend to be the kind of people that complain about everything. I wouldn't doubt it if these types of people that challenge the technician's results or prices are the same ones that would question how much the plumber, the HVAC guy or the carpenter charged them too. (Some days my reward is not having to deal with people like that.) Then again, unlike some of the trades we all use from time to time, the product an automotive technician services is constantly changing. Which means constant studying, more information, new tools, new equipment, and new techniques to be learned and mastered. (Only to see those techniques and tools become obsolete with the next new production models.) I've been around long enough to have seen the change from points and condensers to solid state, to computerized engine controls. No doubt more changes are on the way, which only means more challenges for every technician out there. One of these days I'll have to sit down and add up all the tools, training, and dollars I spend each year to do the same job I did the year before. (I'd probably be in shock at the amount.) Customers who stop by your shop on a regular basis are the ones most of us are grateful for. They show their appreciation by coming back time and time again. Even some of those once in a while customers' have a place in the shop, and are extremely grateful for all that you do. But, as seems to be the norm, we tend to dwell on the customers with poor judgment, or even worse behavior at the service counter. It's a challenge to keep it all in check, that's for sure. Facing the challenges in this crazy world of automotive repair is a huge challenge, to say the least. Between the cars, the components, and the people it's a wonder how any one of us ever make it to a ripe old age and retire from it all. For now, I think I'll keep accepting those new challenges; I'm not ready to retire just yet. I've always been one to learn something new and take on those new challenges. The reward for me is meeting those challenges, and meeting some really great people from both sides of the counter. Yes, there are challenges, and yes there are even more challenges on the way. The rewards are few and the challenges are many. No matter what trade you're in or what challenges you're facing, try and take that step back and view your accomplishments and take pride in what you've done... you deserve it. View full article

another short story... long problem... same old. same old. Thanx for the comments Joe. Ur the best!

I told a guy the other day that came by about 5 minutes before I was about to go home. "You'll need to bring it back tomorrow" I told him. My bad... I automatically put him on the list of tomorrow cars. Never seen him again. Seriously though... you show up 5 minutes before the resturaunt closes I'll bet you're not going to get served either.

Where do they go? I've often wondered where all these "always in a hurry" people go when I'm too busy at the repair shop to get to their car the minute they show up at my door. At least once a day if not twice, I'll have a call or someone will stop by wanting me to drop everything and take care of their car the very second they show up at the service counter. Just the other day it was a Honda Odyssey. "I need my SRS light turned off," he says in a very diplomatic voice. "It will be about 30 minutes until I can get to you," I told him. "I just need it turned off. I don't need it diagnosed. I'm on a tight schedule today." "Everyone is busy right at the moment but it won't be very long until I can get to you sir." He couldn't wait, instead he headed back out the same door he came in. "I'll be back tomorrow," he said as he pushed the lobby door open. Tomorrow never comes... I suppose somewhere in the infinite number of "tomorrows" people like this guy are lined up to get their cars fixed. Oh, never mind that, sorry…, these kinds of folks don't want to wait, my bad. I find it peculiar that someone would take the time to drive across town and expect some sort of service the second they showed up. What do they think this is an NASCAR pit stop? It's not like they are the only person with a broken car on the planet. I'm not saying it's not possible to take on a new project at a moment's notice but there are those occasions when there just isn't enough time or man power to accommodate everyone every time. Let's take a look at it from a different perspective, say you're going out to dinner and when you reach your destination the maître d' tells you, "It's going to be about a 30 minute wait for a table.". Do you say, "I'm not waiting I've got a schedule to keep. I want a table now!" or do you wait? I would think waiting would be appropriate. You're at the restaurant so… wait, just like everyone else. Maybe I need to invest in some of those little pagers that vibrate and have those blinking lights on them. That way when someone wants "NOW" service I could take their name down, hand them a pager, and then I tell them, "It will be about 30 minutes for a service bay sir." I guess I'm just not fast enough for some of them. Could it be their time crunch is too critical to wait? Was it my attitude or my laid back greeting "How ya doin', can I help ya with somethin'?" Could it be their general pace of life moves so fast that a mere 30 minutes would disrupt the rest of their natural life? Can't figure it out myself. Maybe I came off a little rude, I know I've been to a few restaurants that I would put in the "rude" category and quite frankly the size of the tip would indicate that. Then I'm reminded of an episode of Seinfeld from several years ago about the so called "Soup Nazi". The guy behind the counter had such a horrible disposition that everyone was scared to say anything to him, but his soup was so good that people would tolerate his abusive personality just to sample his wares. I'm not that bad (Well, on occasions I probably am.) but I do take my job pretty serious. Serious enough that I want to make sure that I'm doing the best job for my customers, and doing something quickly usually means mistakes will happen, and often do. It never fails if somebody wants something done in a hurry there's more to the story than just turning off a service light. This old quote fits these situations: "If the explanation of the problem is short, the problem is probably long and involved." - but- "If the explanation is long, the problem is probably small and quick to repair." Case in point: A customer who was in too much of a hurry to leave his 94 Grand Am for me wanted to know what a couple of the "usual" problems were on them. I gave him a couple of the typical problems I've seen over the years on those 3.1 engine electronics. He hurriedly jotted them down and then shot out the front door and headed home to try them out. Several weeks later a tow truck showed up with his car on the hook. The entire interior was completely taken apart with the dash panels hanging by their wires. Looking under the hood I could see all kinds of new parts, coil, cam sensor, TPS, spark plugs, wires, etc.... But it still wouldn't start. By now he had given up on it and decided it was time to "wait" and see what I found out. His novel of what he had done got rather lengthy. I had a pretty good hunch he's over looked something rather simple in his quest to diagnose this car. I turned the key on... hmmm, no service light, no gauge activity either, interesting... (Doesn't look like that new ECM lying on the passenger floor boards did him a lot of good either.) I'll check some fuses first. Wasn't hard to find the fuse box, it's on the end of the dash with the panels in the back seat. I checked the gauge fuse first... dead. No voltage. With all the other panels dangling around my feet the ignition switch wires were easy to find. Well what do ya know... a bad ignition switch. If this guy would have waited for me to check it out a few weeks ago I could have diagnosed it then and saved him from buying all those components and tearing his car apart, but I guess that's what you get for being in a hurry. Just imagine how much leisure time this guy turned into a futile effort of car repair. I'd say he wasted a lot of his own time on this one. As with most repair shops there are those days that it does get slow but even then there's still going to be some "wait-time" involved with any repair. It's not like a tech jumps in the car, pulls it in the service bay, opens the hood, tweaks a screw or two and you're down the road again. Things take time, It doesn't matter how much you'd like to hurry things up even an oil change takes time... you still gotta wait for the oil to drain before you can put the new oil in. So where do they go? They must be still out there driving around trying to find somebody that can do it now for them. Maybe they are waiting for that special day to show up that they can get right in the shop without any delay. I still think the restaurant beeper thing would be a hilarious idea; I'm just not convinced the "hurry-uppers" would get the joke though. Maybe I could start a new policy at the shop that might get them to at least bring their cars in. I'll make up whole new calendar with my own days of the week. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Nowday. So anything you want done NOW... here's the day to do it on. Nah, what's the rush... just wait for tomorrow. View full article

Thanks joe

Sometimes You Meet the Nicest People at the Repair Shop A referral came in the other day with a battery drain issue on a 95 Chevy truck. I was busy zooming back and forth from the office to the computer, and then to the shop with diagrams in hand for the project I was working on. The service counter and the phones were both busy as well, but an elderly couple maintained their steady pace towards the service counter, and didn't seemed to be fazed by all the commotion from the phones and bells ringing. My daughter Katie was at the front counter. She greeted them with a big smile, along with a "Hello, how can I help you?" and eagerly took down their information. I was out in the shop when Katie came up to me with the keys and the work order. "Dad, they say they have a battery drain. The other shop didn't touch it, but sent them directly to us instead. They'd like to wait on it if they could," Katie tells me. "OK, not a problem, I'll take a look at it in just a minute," I told her as I was just about to finish up with the latest job. "The old guy had to tell me all about what he had done to the truck. He had quite a story, and wanted to make sure I heard and understood every detail." "Anything important about his story?" I asked. "The only thing that I thought you should know is he hooked up his charger to the truck, and noticed his little meter was bouncing back and forth rather quickly. That's when he noticed he put the positive and negative on the battery backwards." "Not to worry kiddo, those little chargers most people have are only trickle chargers, and if you hooked it up backwards on a car battery it would probably do more damage to his charger than it would to the car. Those things aren't strong enough to affect it. Unless his battery had an absolute "0" voltage level then I might be concerned. Well, even then.... it would be remotely impossible to charge the battery backwards with one of those type chargers. It could happen I guess, but I don't think under normal circumstances there's much chance of that happening this day and age." With that bit of information jotted down, she handed me the keys and the paperwork and headed back to the front office to explain things to the old gent, while I pulled his truck into the service bay. As with most of the "seasoned" drivers out there, the condition of the truck was very clean, neat and orderly. It hardly had any miles on it considering the age of the vehicle, and obviously it was garage kept for most of its life. All I needed to do was run a couple of checks on the alternator output, battery load test, and condition of all the connections. Everything was great except for the load test. The battery failed miserably. I checked the date on the battery... OMG... it's ten years old. Unbelievable... how did it ever last that long? I wrote up the results of the tests and printed out the alternator results and battery status from the scanner and headed up to the front office. Katie then took the information out to the customer lobby and read back what I had written down. The elderly couple was very pleased that it only needed a new battery, and thanked her for all the printed information that she provided for them. When Katie came out I had already had pulled a new battery off the shelf waiting for her to tell me to install it. "Go ahead Dad, it's a go on the battery." "Way ahead of ya girl. I'll have it in, in just a sec." I rechecked the results of the charge output and battery after the new one was installed to confirm the findings, and then pulled the truck back out to the customer parking area. As I came through the front door, there at the service counter was the elderly couple paying for battery. The old man turned around and reached out his hand, "I want to thank you for the quick service, young man. Oh, and did the little lady tell you what I did?" "Yes she did, you hooked up one of those trickle chargers backwards I take it?" The old timer began to tell me his entire story even though I said I already knew what had happened. I might as well get comfortable, because no matter how many times I nod my head, or make any kind of understanding "uh-huh's" I'm still going to hear his story... the whole story...with every detail right to the bitter end. The old gentlemen's bride took a seat at one of the service counter bar stools. She put her elbow on the counter and rested her head in her hand, and sat there with a big grin on her face, while her man told his story of the backwards trickle charger. I got the impression that this is not the first time she's sat through one of his tale of tales. As the he told his story about his little charger that could... his bride would interject just enough to keep him from missing any details. (Actually, I was having more fun listening to her than I was to his story... it was quite comical I might add.) I can see my wife doing the same thing when I get to that age. Then again, she has a way of doing the very same thing now. When he finished his story they both gave me a firm handshake and another thank you as they headed out the door to their truck. Katie was still on the other side of the counter, with a big smile herself. "Dad, that old guy told me exactly the same thing he just told you." "Kinda figured that, but that's OK with me. You know, I'll probably be doing the same thing when I get to his age." I really get a kick out of listening to the older generation myself. The real admiration I had was the way this old couple walked out to their truck arm and arm. He held the car door open for his bride, and closed it behind her. As he hoped in the truck he waved goodbye to me as I waved back at him. The old truck started up and off they went down the road. Ah, yes... Nice to have a relaxing type of job for a change, not the hectic "get it done, get it done… let's go, let's go… I'm running late" type of jobs. There are those occasions when things happen at the shop that really make you appreciate people and the business you're in. I've got to admit, once in a while you really do meet some of the nicest people at the repair shop, very true indeed After the typical day to day attitudes, grumpy, or just plain ticked off because they have to pay for car repair. It's a nice change of pace to see folks that really show a little gratitude to automechanic. Just needed a smile once in a while... keeps my attitude adjusted too. View full article

Zombie service writers... I can see the movie trailer now... LOL I had about the same reaction when I was looking at new bikes. The staff at one store totally ignored me. I soon left the place and bought elsewhere. Maybe it wasn't feeding time, ... I'll never know.

I know what ya mean. The hardest part for any tech... good or bad... is to even "think" the part they just installed is bad. That's were test and retest comes into play. Pays not to second guess yourself and keep testing even though it comes back as the same part failure. Been there...done that...and yes... wrote the book... ROFL

Another version of the same old thing... cheap parts and a cheap shop equals cheap results.

Second Rate Parts When it comes to diagnosing a problem one of the biggest mistakes is the notion that once a new part is installed the problem that you were experiencing should be a thing of the past. Countless times I’ve had vehicles brought in that have the same old story attached to them. They’ll tell me: “I’ve change this part, and that part and this one over there, along with this part under the dash.” Only to still have their original problem. The latest was a “No A/C” problem on a 97 Chevy pickup. It came in from another repair shop that I deal with on a regular basis. Out of desperation they had tried the “swap-parts-till-it-works” approach but could never get the A/C to come on. A typical system of the day where the PCM energizes the compressor relay and controls the idle once the signal is sent from the control head. A couple of simple tests led to a faulty control head, so I gave the repair shop a call. “We changed it twice already,” the guy on the other end of the phone told me. They had some doubt about sending me another control head but, at this point they were desperate enough to try anything. Later that afternoon I had the replacement control head in hand, and wouldn’t you know it… the replacement piece was faulty too. The big surprise was it was doing exactly the same thing as the previous control head. This seemed to be the point where the other shop stopped testing and started stuffing parts under the hood and dash. Now I’m back to calling the shop and see what they wanted to do next. This was not going well at all. After three different control heads in the same car the shop was not buying my diagnosis. “There’s something else wrong with this. You’re missing something. I think you should go back and check it again because it can’t be the control head,” the now frustrated shop tech tells me. Granted, it does seem inconceivable that the same part could be faulty three times in a row, but the test results were spot on. My biggest hurdle wasn’t the testing, and it wasn’t the diagnosis, it’s the other shops lack of trust in my results. Even their parts warehouse wasn’t keen on sending them another part. Somehow I had to convince them that we needed another one. Since I wasn’t involved in the original diagnosis or the eventual parts juggling I wasn’t aware about the issues with the parts warehouse. They didn’t want to send another part without somebody paying for it first. The warehouse was fed up with the whole idea of it, the repair shop was out of patience and I was the guy stuck with the test results that couldn’t be changed. So convincing somebody to do something took a little more than the average phone call. The guy from the warehouse came by to check out my shop and to see how I could have possibly come up with two new parts straight out of the box that were bad. I’ve never dealt with this place before so it was a new experience for me as well. I showed him how the test was done and the wiring diagrams. He seemed to understand, but was still not buying that three control heads could be bad. “Where are you getting your parts from?” I asked. “I think they come in from China,” the warehouse guy tells me. “I’ve seen a lot parts come from all over the world, but by far China is the most likely place to have bad parts right out of the box. Do you have a different source we could try?” I asked. By the next afternoon I had another part, delivered no less, by the same guy from the warehouse. He wanted to watch me install it in the truck, because the warehouse had their own ideas as to what was the problem… and it wasn’t the part. So where did the part come from this time? Straight from the dealership. The warehouse guy’s boss didn’t buy the story I was telling him and wanted to prove that his parts suppliers were not sending him faulty parts. Of course, I must be wrong, and obviously… as a lot of general practitioners of “All mechanics are alike” school of thought, he wanted to prove that I needed to be on that list of idiot technicians prowling the countryside. The warehouse guy climbed in on the passenger side while I installed the new control head. One simple turn of the key was all it took to either prove me wrong or prove me right. As the engine came to life I pushed the A/C button. “CLICK” went the compressor, and the cold air came blasting out of the center vents. Well, what do you know? The darn thing works. Just to prove a point, I disconnected the working control head and reinstalled the first one. We’re back to no A/C again… Imagine that…. “I suppose you’ll be sending this part back to China then?” I laughingly told the warehouse guy. He was quite impressed and had a lot to tell his boss when he got back to the store. I called the other repair shop that originally sent me the job to tell them I was done with it. They were relieved that it was finally solved and was going to send the customer over to me directly to pay me instead of through their shop. About then the customer came through the front door. Nice older guy, very talkative, and wanted to know what I had found out. The owner never knew his car had been taken to another shop and was quite surprised. (It wouldn’t be the first time that an owner of a vehicle found out their car was at another shop rather than at the one they originally took it to.) All said and done, the big issue here was testing, and retesting. The other shop had thrown their hands up after several attempts and some very expensive parts that didn’t get anywhere. Then there’s the matter of the part store not willing to budge after they had sent so many components back and forth. A diligent effort and solid test results won out over parts swapping. All in all, I think I gained a little more respect from the other repair shop as well as a new customer. This parts warehouse, I don’t know… cheap parts just mean cheap results and this job was no exception. “We certainly can set up an account for ya,” the warehouse guy tells me. I might pass on that. After this repair I don’t think I want to deal with some second rate parts while trying to do a first rate repair. Just ask the other shop how much they made on the job and how much time they spent on it. Just goes to show, test it correctly and trust the results. And when it doesn’t seem to work out… retest it again. You know, I might have an idea for a story and then I may just write about what has happened in the last week or two. If you have any ideas I'd love to hear from ya. Coming up with new stories each week is a real challenge... glad ya like the stories... comments welcomed. View full article

You're truly in the "zone" Joe. LOL If we could take a little "Pep" out of some of these boys ... we might be able to see a difference in the action taken well in "Advance" of a customer being told the wrong information, or at least get all these parts stores to certify that their "code readers" are qualified to even operate a code reader properly. Diagnosing a problem is so far from code reading that it's hard for me to understand how anyone would even think that reading a code is the answer to a problem. Thanks for the comments Joe. keep those comments coming. good stuff buddy!