Gonzo

Well, I'm not 45 but I damm near dropped dead from a heart attack. My shop is officially up for sale. I priced it pretty low so it would go, but if I don't see any action in the next month or so it's going to get liquidated. I've got other pans in the fire and can easily maintain my lifestyle with next to no change at all... even without the shop income. So, if you're looking to buy a turn key shop, I've got one. If you'd like to drive to Tulsa with a big truck and load the whole place up and move it... by all means come get it.

Good one, now that's one I've never run across... or is that a bad pun? LOL Actually, I was avoiding rodents, deer, and other mammal or marsupials in this story. I'm saving that for a later story. This was strictly on the bug infestation side of the nastiness. I forgot about the lice... or how many times after being in one of those bug infested cars all you wanted to do was shower. LOL

Bugs In The Rugs Ants, moths, bees, flies, wasps, spiders, scorpions, roaches, yellow jackets, fireflies, centipedes, silver fish, lady bugs, katydids, mosquitos, termites, fleas, mites, and fly larvae (maggots). No, that’s not a list of insects on the back of a can of insecticide. That’s just about every type of creepy, crawly nasty little bug I have encountered in a car at one time or another. It’s enough to make your skin crawl. Sometimes it’s not so much what you run into, but where. For instance, I was working on a little foreign car, checking out a faulty turn signal. I diagnosed a bad lead on the front turn signal socket, and had already pulled the lens off and supplied a ground to the bulb, so I knew what I needed to do. Just sling under the car and reattach the ground lead that was hanging there. The car was low to the ground, but I managed to wedge myself under there just enough to make the repair. As I managed to turn my head to see the turn signal housing, there… just a ¼” from my nose was a large nest of red wasps. They were all darting around working on their nest totally oblivious to me. I didn’t stick around long enough to introduce myself. Something I’ve learned after being at this for a few years: If you get one of those carpet cleaning trucks in the shop for repair, make sure you have plenty of roach spray handy. It’s not uncommon to pop the lid off of the fuse box to find hundreds of those nasty little critters trying to find a new hiding place. I’ve even seen a few behind the lens of the instrument cluster just minding their own business as they walked over the gauge needles. They tend to eat wires, leave their acidic droppings on circuit boards, and their dead relatives laying in the vents. Nothings worse than getting “bug sprayed”… with bugs when you turn on the blower motor. Now when you’re trying to find an odor, or some reeking smell that has literally chased the owners out of their car, don’t be surprised if you’ll eventually find a dead mouse or some other strange varmint carcass in the duct work, trunk, or under the carpet. The worst is when the flies have found it and started laying eggs on it. For the investigative type mechanic, the fly larvae is a good way to determine how long whatever it was has been decomposing in the customer’s car. You see, a fly can lay more than 100 eggs on a warm moist body and in 8 to 24 hours the larvae will begin to hatch. Those wormy, wriggly, crawly little ugly, nasty things stick around for about 5 days and then start to pupate into an adult fly. A capital “G” for gross. Knowing all of that will allow you to inform your customer when their little friend became post mortem in their cabin filter or wherever it was you found it, although at this point they’re too grossed out to really care about your CSI skills! Spiders can bring out the heebeegeebees in the biggest, baddest mechanic on the planet. I once worked with a guy who was completely petrified of spiders. We were tearing down an old car that was in for restoration when he removed the door panel and a large tarantula came crawling out from the bottom corner of this old rusted door. Honestly, I’ve never seen or heard such a big fella scream like a little girl. He not only came up with his own high pitched language that only he could understand, but managed to dart across the shop and up onto the top of his tool box so fast he didn’t have time to let go of the door panel. He stayed up there perched on his tool box talking some sort of gibberish only he could understand, as he was kicking tools out of the open drawers. The tarantula had to go, or he wasn’t coming down. I got elected to shoo the little critter out the door. We literally had to pry the door panel out of his hands and coax him down with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. His tool box needed a bit of straightening after all was said and done. Ants for the most part are pretty harmless. I’ve never ran across fire ants in a car, but I can only imagine what that would have been like. The ones I’ve run across are just the busy little ant type doing busy little ant things. Sometimes the hardest part is finding where they’re coming from. Half the time you’ll see these little guys marching along one after another in single file heading to another part of the car. If it’s a car that’s been sitting in one spot for a long time chances are they’ve built an elaborate home somewhere in the car and it’s your job to find out where. Good luck with that. Sometimes you wonder how some of these insects find their way into a car in the first place. Like pulling a spare tire out of an old car and find a scorpion staring at you. Or mud dauber wasp nests all over the engine compartment. They sure do find some of the oddest places to build their little nests. One time I’ve even found them on the carburetor choke plate on a car that was only sitting for a few days. The owner tried to start it, but had no luck with it. He then had it dragged into the shop to have the no start problem checked out. After a bit of carburetor spray to dissolve the mud it started right up. The owner being the kind of a jokester he was, now had a new story to tell about his old car. He started his little tale with, “Guess wasp up with my car?” Whether it is a family of arachnids or any other family of insects invading your car, somewhere some mechanic has probably already experienced it. As they say, “There are more bugs in the world than there are people.” So there’s a good chance you’ll run across a bug in a rug or one in the trunk of that very car you’re working on. Just work on some fast reflexes, a few nerves of steel, and it wouldn’t hurt to keep a can of bug spray handy either. View full article

There's room for more Joe.... Always more. LOL

The Rules of Physics There’s something to be said about having rules. There are some rules we follow because they’re laws, and rules we all follow out of respect, because it’s the polite thing to do. While other rules are just common sense. However, as they say, “Rules are made to be broken”. That may apply to most rules, but the rules of physics are not something that can be tampered with, although some people think they can. Here’s my list of customer antics that definitely require a refresher course in basic physics. Rotational differences in an arc A customer asks for an oil change and a tire rotation. After the tire rotation the customer is out in the parking lot examining their car. He motions for the mechanic to come out and look at the car. For some reason he is livid about the valve stems and white lettering on his tires. Apparently the letter or the valve stems aren’t in perfect sync as they were when he arrived. Obviously, the mechanic is at fault and needs to correct it. Somebody contact my physics teacher. Gravity and the defrost duct In the haste to get ready for a special dinner party a diamond ring was laid on top of the dash. In a flash the diamond ring slid down into the defrost duct and was gone, completely out of sight. The next day the mechanic was told to gently tip the car over and shake the diamond ring out. Yep, just lift the car up, toss it upside down, and that little ring will just fall out, and since gravity is your friend the ring should just fall out. I’m just wondering whose holding the car upside down… the mechanic? Coolant can be hot, and don’t let the pressure get to you Even with a temperature gauge showing the actual water temp. It’s virtually impossible to get through to some people that you shouldn’t take the radiator cap off a hot engine. Even in this modern era with plenty of warning labels clearly visible, somebody is going to twist the cap off and get a face full of hot coolant. Of course, it’s even harder for some people to understand the physic behind how pressure and the coolant mix affects the boiling point of water, or the fact that the radiator is under pressure for quite some time after you shut the car off. Oh, and by the way, water boils at 212° and most car coolant systems run at a much higher temperature than that. All brake pads are the same Have you ever wondered how much time the engineers and scientists spend on developing brake pad materials? Did you ever stop and think that some of their attempts weren’t the best, but still had some merit? There’s a lot of physic involved. I’m sure there were a few awesome ideas that still failed to be considered as the top notch part. So, where do those ideas go? Especially the pads that don’t last as long, or squeal, or chatter, or just plain aren’t that great. They usually end up as the discount store’s cheaper line of brake pads. You know the ones, the ones that have poor heat coefficient, or a glue that breaks down and causes the pad to slide off the backing. Somebody had to wholesale them, somebody had to market them and somebody had to price them to sell. Never fear, Mr. Discount is here! He’ll buy them up and sell them to the DIY’r market and tell them how wonderful they are. Not to worry, it’s pretty clear no one in the store knows how to read those DOT edge codes anyway. They’ll find somebody else to blame for their early brake pad failure, it’s surely has nothing to do with their decision to buy the cheapest part. Increasing mileage by decreasing fuel Has there ever been a time that the first thing people wanted to know about their new car wasn’t the gas mileage? When I was a kid, and muscle cars could be purchased right from the showroom there was still that sticker on the window with the miles per gallon clearly visible. I’m not sure if gas mileage was the big concern, but every crackpot inventor since the beginning of the internal combustion engine thinks they’ve come up with the holy grail of mileage-increasing-fuel-saving device that is going to turn even the biggest gas guzzling muscle car into the next fuel economy giant. From adding magnets to the fuel lines, to some sort of wind turbulence device stuffed into the cold air inlet. The physics dictates the impossibilities that at some point the return on the energy consumed surpasses the rate of energy produced, but on we go with the next grandiose idea to save fuel by some superific idea maker who got it approved by 9 out of 10 experts. You know the ones, “those experts” ya know. The same experts you hear about on all those TV commercials. I’ve often wondered who the 10th expert was and why in the world didn’t they just say 9 out of 9 experts and skip the 10th guy all together. Too presumptuous I suppose. Have ya ever noticed these mileage ideas only show when the price per gallon goes up? I guess were all too busy driving around and can’t think up any new fuel saving ideas when the price is low, or we were listening to that 10th expert, and momentarily forgot about the other 9. For every reaction . . . One of the laws of physics states that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. Now it’s not likely if we all stood on a chair and jumped off at the same time that we could disrupt the earth’s rotation or knock it out of alignment with the other planets, but ya know, somebody has probably thought about doing it…. besides myself. Car crash studies have known about this action reaction thing for a long time, and have found a way to lessen the sudden impact by dissipating the force with crumple zones strategically placed in the body panels and components. This also means that in the event of a minor collision you may actually have damage in other areas of the car that were not directly involved with the actual collision. However, there’s a limit to this “inclusion to my collision”. Hardly a day goes by that somebody at some body shop will try to slide an extra dent or two from an unreported accident in with their latest fender bender. Some are very subtle, while others are noticeably and blatantly trying to take advantage of the situation. Anything to get somebody else to pay for their lack of watching out for the neighbor’s mailbox which was sticking out from the curb, or the telephone pole that jumped out and creased the side of the car after a late night at the bar. There’s one for the automatous car theory. If you’ve had too many, who’s the designated driver now? And, whose reaction and actions dictate who’s allowed behind the wheel… if there is one? We’ve only scratched the surface of what physics can tell us about our cars. It never fails to amaze me how some people make it from one day to the next without a basic understanding of the world around them. They just seem lost in their own little made up world in which gravity doesn’t work, or where two objects can occupy the exact same spot on planet earth. Am I surprised? No, not hardly. Some people will believe anything. It all comes down to physics and your interpretation of the rules, and as we all know, the rules of physics doesn’t apply to some people out there. Just hope they’re not stopping by the shop anytime soon. I need a break from the last one who wanted 13” tires on 15” rims. View full article

Mechanic for Life A lot of us mechanics may not have started out with the ambitions of being one. It’s just how things worked out. You might have started out with a college education or military background, and it turned out to be something that didn’t suit you at all. Others might have grown up in the business and were handling wrenches long before they were out of diapers. Still others started by fixing their own car, because they couldn’t afford to pay someone else to do it, and found it was something that suited them more than an office cubicle. Whatever the method that got you into the business, you’re probably hooked. Most likely, just like me, you’re a mechanic for life now. I’ve been turning wrenches for as long as I can remember. Maybe not always for a paycheck, but no matter what I was doing there always seemed to be a wrench close by. Eventually, all that tinkering led to a chance to be a mechanic at a real shop. Actual diagnostics took a lot longer to learn, but it’s fair to say most all of us started off doing minor repairs or on the lube rack. Back when I started, my diagnostic skills and tools weren’t all that special. Usually nothing more more than a rubber hose held up to my ear to listen for knocks or taps, or whatever pieces of equipment the repair shop had on hand. It took time to learn how to diagnose a problem correctly, but even then, I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of those mechanical marvels that travel up and down the highway. Tools and techniques have changed over the years, and every mechanic has had to change with each new technical innovation. These days, the new technology seems to change even faster than a person can imagine. It used to be the hand tools that changed as rapidly as the new models were introduced, now it’s the laptop requirements and the software that are constantly changing more than the hand tools. I’m seeing components such as the power steering pump, water pump and even the air conditioning compressors slowly being replaced by electronics. I’ve got a lifetime of tools and techniques I’ve learned to take care of all those fluids, belts, and hoses, as well as how to replace all those components. But, being a mechanic for life you have to expect changes like that. I’ve got drawers full of specialty sockets for timing gears, distributors and that odd looking soup bowl for removing those Northstar water pumps. Now, they’re just another one of those tools that will end up in a lower corner of the tool box along with an ever increasing pile of outdated scanners that are gathering dust. For me, I’m still amazed at how many tools and techniques for repairing cars I’ve used for so many years are now just a lifetime of memories. The computers and data lines have taken over the automotive world, and the state-of-the-art electronics can be overwhelming to anyone unfamiliar with the modern car. Making a lifelong career as a mechanic means you’ll experience a lot of these changes in your tools, as well as the cars. It is a new and different automotive world than ever before, but even with all these changes, and the years that I’ve been at this, I’m still amazed and in awe of the mechanical wonders we drive down the road. It’s that fascination of searching for a problem, the latest technology, and the mechanical nature of the modern automobile that gets to a person whose life revolves around maintaining them. With all these changes it takes years to get familiar with the systems and to actually get good at this job. You’ll make a few mistakes, a few discoveries, but all in all, you’ll learn from them both. This learning process goes along with my favorite saying, “Experience comes from yesterday’s mistakes. Knowledge comes from not making the same mistake tomorrow.” That says it all. Then, you might branch out of the service bay into other forms of mechanic work. Maybe as a service writer, working in the parts department, maybe owning and running your own shop, or perhaps as an instructor bringing up the next generation of mechanics. Deep down we’re all still a mechanic just in a different way. No matter what direction your future holds, you’re still a mechanic for life, and that’s just the way we like it. View full article

HOME Hoarders Watching television these days you’ll find a lot of so called reality shows on the air waves. I sat thru one of these hoarding shows, and quite frankly I wasn’t surprised at all. I’ve seen this same thing in cars, trucks, and vans. Junk, trash, and just about anything you could think of piled up inside the car and/or in the bed of the truck. The one thing that seems to be common with every one of them is the mess. It’s not so much the piles of crap that they keep in their vehicles, but how they keep their stuff. It’s always a disorganized mess with no rhyme or reason of organization. I can’t work like that myself. Now, I’m not all that neat with my tool box. But it’s at least it’s an organized chaos. Sockets and extensions of the same ratchet size in one area, cutting tools in another, screw drivers and pliers all have their own place. I actually use several tool boxes to store my 30+ years of variety of tools. Even with the tool boxes, I still have to have other tools that come in their own protective plastic molded boxes on shelves neatly labeled as to what is in each box, in order to retrieve them when needed. Older, out of date tools seem to always end up in lower and lower drawers. I can’t even tell you where my dwell meters are these days… haven’t seen them in years. Now I see the same trend in old scanners. The pile is getting larger and larger. I still have an old MatCo 4000E and a few other ones on one of the lower shelves. I don’t think I’ve turned them on in years, but all the cards and cords are there. It’s almost funny, (in a weird way) that each time you update a scanner, the new scanner generally will do all the older systems. So instead of pulling out your old scanner I’ll reach for the new one every time. So what happens to that old scanner? It will end up with that old dwell meter somewhere out of sight and forgotten. These days I find myself “hoarding” some of these new tools, and wait for a chance to use some of them. Now, I’ve got a collection of so called “new” tools that I haven’t found much use for yet. Special headlamp assembly removal tools, belt tools, shocks wrenches, front end disassembly tools, suspension tools, and so much more. Most of which I may only see use for only once in a great while. For example, I’ve done several of the water pumps on the “North Star” engines, and with the right tool it’s an easy job. I wouldn’t even begin to think of doing it without it. The tool wasn’t cheap, but I’m sure at some point in time it too will end up in the bottom of the box. I don’t think of myself as a tool hoarder, or a collector… I just want the right tool for the right job. As a tech the expense of these tools can be costly, keeping them clean and well kept helps me maintain them for a long time. Without the right tool, the job isn’t as easy as it could be. So anytime I can get the correct tool I will. Then there are those homemade tools that I have a tougher time sending to the deep dark pockets of the lower drawers. At the time I needed that certain cut down tool or a socket I ground an edge off of… they made sense. Looking in the drawer at some of these old handmade marvels I have to wonder… why I did do “that” to this tool? Obviously, I’ve forgotten what it was for… so it now becomes the next tool that will get “re-made” into the next handmade tool. These tools I’ll “hoard” for a long time, just can’t part with them so easily. I’ve also seen guys who have huge boxes of tools that have every single socket and screw driver so perfectly placed in their tool boxes that they resemble museum pieces. I’ve even seen a guy who had a huge, and I mean huge, selection of hammers… of various sizes and lengths. All these hammers were lined up on overhead racks equally spaced apart, and put into a pattern from small to large, and by handle length. A thing of beauty to a tool guy like myself. Not that practical in my point of view though. I mean, really, how many hammers do ya need? A hoarder? No not really. I think it actually falls under the category of collector. Collectors take pride in what they have, and are proud to display them in an orderly fashion. One thing that goes along with those hoarders’ cars and trucks is the stench… OMG… always, always, always it smells like something died in there. I’ll bet doctors could tell some horror stories dealing with people and their hygiene, and I’m sure I’m not the only tech who has dealt with the smelly car from hell. Nasty, is the only way to say it… putrid, awful, and disgusting. YUK! Well, then again, it’s work… not pleasant work, but it is work. I think the worst one that I can remember getting into was a Chevy van with a heater core leak. The van was stacked level with the windows front to back with the most horrendous conglomeration of junk I’ve ever had to deal with. There was only enough room for the driver and barely any room to move the gear shift lever. Totally disgusting, and even more to the point that smell, that awful unforgettable smell! Papers, fast food bags, clothes, shoes, and anything else you can think of. I always try to put things back in order that I take things out of a glove box or trunk, but, there was no way to “re-stack” everything back in on this “hoarder-mobile”… it was an intertwined hap-hazard pile of putrid junk. All I could do was grab handfuls of this stuff and throw it on the shop floor. In fact, I gave the lady the estimate based on book time… then I crossed out the book time, and told her that the book time doesn’t apply due to the conditions I’m working in. She still said go for it… so I did. With an aspirator, plastic gloves and a long sleeve jacket that I planned to throw out as soon as I was done. I “dove” right into my work on this reeking pile of refuse, and finished it as quickly as I could. You know, I really should have done this job outside, because the stench lingered in the shop for weeks. These people have a serious mental problem, but most of them don’t see it as a problem. I’m no doctor, so I probably shouldn’t make diagnostic claims on things I know nothing about, I’m just a mechanic. I’ll try to deal with junk and the smell, get the job done, and move on to the next one. (Hopefully a more pleasant one). When you finish with one of these jobs, don’t forget to wipe your tools down before you neatly place them back into your tool box. Messy tools and a messy shop aren’t very presentable, but for some customers it’s not a concern of theirs how their vehicle looks or smells, they just want the car fixed. Even though I’ll fix the car, the smell and the sight of these trash cans on 4 wheels sure does get to me. Yuk! View full article

As I told a student in my class the other day, "Experience comes from yesterdays mistakes. Knowledge is not making the same mistake tomorrow." I appreciate every day anymore . . . .and I'm not done making mistakes yet.

After the month I've had... I'm definitely an antique.

Somehow, someway, I don't think I'll ever not feel like I still own a shop. It's been a part of my life for so long it's hard to believe it's just sitting there waiting to be sold or liquidated (which ever comes first). But, there's no doubt at my age and of course this little operation I had... pretty much says I'm not crawling under a dash anytime soon. I'll write instead...

How Accurate Are Reviews? According to some surveys over 80 percent of the buying public rely on reviews as a way to determine if a product or service is suitable for them. That being said, are those reviews a true depiction of the business or product, or can those reviews be skewed by a person’s attitude or ego coming through? That’s the problem with these reviews. They’re often written by an individual with something to say, who only has half the facts but a whole lot of fiction. A lot of times they’re writing a review, but don’t fully understand the product or the service. Sometimes they’re upset for various other reasons that aren’t related to the product or service at all; it’s more of two egos colliding together, but write a review they do. Automotive service seems to be one of those services on the chopping block with the average consumer. It doesn’t matter if it’s a dealership repair facility or an independent shop, somebody is going to have an opinion about something good or bad. Although typically, the disgruntled person who is going to write a less than desirable review is usually the same type who goes to a restaurant, eats their entire entrée, then complains to the manager they found a hair in their soup and want the whole meal removed from their bill. I’m always open to suggestions from the business experts who tell repair shop owners to put themselves in their customer’s shoes and ask themselves what they would want in customer service if they were the customer. It’s a good way to look at things, but I also tend to wonder what is going through the minds of some of these people who make the decision to go to a rundown repair shop in an old building with their hand painted sign dangling by a rusty nail, only to complain that the service and repair was substandard. I mean, what did you expect? What’s more disturbing are those who leave a comment, but don’t even have the nerve to leave their real name, nor have ambition to confront the repair shop before confirming their complaint. I had one who left a comment with the name “Chris P. Bacon”. Now, I’m not knocking the fact that your mother and father with the last name Bacon decided upon Chris P. as your first name. I’m just not sure you’re who you say you are. Besides, you’d think I’d remember a name like that on a RO. The name, and the complaint….sounds a little… too crispy. But like any of these reviews, the big problem comes in trying to right the wrong by removing these posts. It can be a bigger ordeal than you can imagine. Is there a cure? So, what to do? Well, it’s pretty simple. Ask all your customers to leave a comment every time they have any type of service work done at your shop, and not wait for a problem and let that be the only review. Start using the digital world as a billboard to let everyone know what you do and how well you do it, not just as a complaint department for those disgruntled irritants who seem to use the internet to voice their opinions on subjects they don’t really understand. Are you part of the problem? As usual, your tone of voice and off color sarcasms may not be for everyone. Of course, that may be just the way you talk and act, and not necessarily an attitude, it’s just you. For some people, that’s not acceptable, which means from the get-go you’re not going to have a very successful relationship with them. For me, I’ve never been one to think I was going to make personal friends with everyone that came in the door I always figured you get what you give. You come in with an insulting attitude about my trade and profession you’re going to get the similar type of attitude back at ya. This is where as a shop owner, or head mechanic, you’ve got to take a step back and realize the service counter may not be the best place for you. If your expertise is diagnosing the various systems in today’s vehicles and not in holding a meaningful conversation with a soccer mom, even if they came in to the shop telling you her van is overheating because of a faulty tail light. You know there’s no way that could happen, but you can’t keep your mouth shut or think you’re going to correct the situation by telling them, “Nope, that can’t happen ma’am”, maybe you don’t belong behind the service counter. You might be turning into your own worst enemy. Doing the work is one thing, getting the work in the door is another. That’s where hiring a service writer or taking some business coaching classes to become more aware of your personally fault, and yes… we all have faults. It’s just sometimes hard to admit it or recognize that we have them at all. Grasping at the reasons why The big thing to consider is whether or not these reviews are justified from your approach to the repair, results of the repair, or perhaps your reactions at the service counter. You have to ask yourself, “Are these reviews worth the time to worry about, or are they a real representation of the shop?” Either way, if 80 percent of the buying public refer to them, whether they are good or bad reviews, that’s still a lot of potential customers reading them. Digital reviews are here to stay, and I would say they are important to the future jobs you may or may not get into your shop. Maybe you shouldn’t put a lot of faith in the accuracy of some of these reviews if you know deep down they’re not true. It’s also good to keep in mind that most sensible people reading can see through those crackpot type reviews, and if plenty of your good customers are saying something positive in a review it will offset those wacky responses. It’s all in the perspective other people have that’s important. It’s a reflection of your abilities you want to shine through. The accuracy of these reviews is important, and sensible people as well as yourself, know the real story. Now, make sure everyone else knows too. View full article

I'm doing better every day. Still not allowed to lift more than ten pounds.... but I've only got another week before that should change. Walking about 2 or 3 miles a day with the mrs. Lost 20 lbs so far... no beer...that'll do it. Lol. Hey, it's all about life changes at this point. Hopefully I can play golf in a few months. Anyway, working from home on a few manuals and service info for haynes, it's keeping me busy...for now. Next week I'm substitute teaching at a tech school for a week or so. So, I may not be turning wrenches... I'm still in the biz. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Deal Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Well, I'm on my 3rd week after surgery. I've had some great days and some not so great days. Had to go back to the ER a few days ago because the pain on the incision was just too much. They gave me some pain pills which allowed me to sleep. Now, I'm off the pain pills... again...and only on Tylenol. The pain, which is better described as a nagging pressure is made worse by lifting your arms over your head or trying to twist or pick something up heavier than a gallon of milk. Each day it does get better, but now and then it does like to sneak up and remind you how much work was needed to crack this old mechanics chest open. According to the doctors I'm not allowed to drive for 2 more weeks, and no golf for another 6 weeks. Luckily, I've got a manual to write and my usual column to write, and in 2 weeks I'll be substitute teaching at the local tech college. I'll be teaching A/C diag. easy stuff...no lifting required. As things progress, I do believe I'll be ready to get back at it in about 2 more months. Although, I've decided to sell my shop. I just can't imagine crawling under a dash after this. So, it either sells quickly, or I'll sell things piece by piece. I'll give it a few months or when ever the cash flow gets too tight. Anyway, things are progressing as well as to be expected. Guys, gals... if you feel like your slowing down, a bit of chest pains...even if it seems minor (like mine did)... get a stress test and find out for sure. I'm telling ya from experience... this open heart surgery stuff.... ain't fun... ain't fun at all.

I'm sure they'll be more than one story about this. So much of it is related to what we do every day. Thanx for reading my stories and yes, I sincerely hope I can help others with these stories.

PM Importance The mere idea of an intermittent problem that can’t be reproduced is a diagnostic situation that comes up way too often for mechanics. Another is the car that comes in that has had absolutely no preventative maintenance performed, and we all know how that’s going to end up. After decades of being behind the service counter, as well as under the hood, I do get a bit frustrated that people won’t do any preventive maintenance, or neglect to tell me about an intermittent problem they’ve had forever, because they feel it has obviously nothing to do with the reason they’re here today. I can only do so much, and without some prior history of any symptoms or what work that has been done, it makes it rather difficult to do my job as a mechanic to the best of my abilities. Information is the key when it comes to just about any subject, and preventive maintenance can lead to a lot of information, which is by far the cheapest and best way to prevent even larger problems. I found out the hard way a PM doesn’t just apply to the family car. Your internal engine needs some maintenance once in a while, too. Neglecting the early signs of an intermittent problem with a car may not have as devastating effect as neglecting your body’s own advanced warnings. Let’s face it, a car drops a valve or burns out a PCM, all your friends and family don’t send flowers or come visit you in the service bay. This is one of those times when the sure footed mechanic with all of his snarky comments about people who don’t listen to their car and won’t relay the pertinent information to their mechanic is now the patient, not the repair guy. Hardly a car will make it for its entire life without clogging the EGR passages, blocking the VVT ports, or have the occasional reduced air flow from of a dirty air filter. It’s inevitable that some sort of maintenance procedure will need to be performed to maintain that “as new” drivability. Me, the mechanic, well… I don’t have a check engine light to forewarn my impending doom. If I’m feeling a bit down, maybe a bit slow, or a slight tightness in the chest I’m likely to shrug it off and get back to work. Until the pain literally throws me to the floor, while clenching my favorite ratchet to the chest, this stubborn old guy won’t realize I’m about to cash in on that life time warranty I thought I had. You know the type: the “A” personality, all knowing, self-assured, and can take care of any problem on my own mechanic guy.” Well, age and time, diet, stress, and my family medical history have done me in. You’ve met your match, Buster. You’re about to throw a rod. The mechanic with “A” personality traits, and the “I’m the guy with the answers, and I’m right so often it’s a shock when I’m not”, as well as the, “Large and in charge” attitude usually means they’re (I’m talking about myself of course) not likely to listen to anyone else. They tell themselves those chest pains felt off and on are from some bad pastrami, but it’s a heart attack and it’s only going to get worse. And, it did. I can still hear all the times my wife and kids harped at me as I was being wheeled down the hospital hallways on the gurney, watching the neon lights zip by as I was rushed into Triage. I hate to say it, but that’s me to a “T”. I often wondered why the surgeons were held to such high esteems, and why they all seemed to have an air of confidence about them. I believe it’s a result of the years of training, the years of answering questions, and the years of listening to halfwit, poorly conceived ideas of what ails a person from people who have no idea what they’re talking about. Which is not that different than what the trained mechanic goes through on a daily basis. People ask questions and expect educated answers. Basically, if you’re one of those guys who pushes himself all day and night, works from sun up to sun down, or tells the wife that my job comes first and we’ll go on that big vacation when I retire, are fooling themselves and their families. Most of the time you’re so busy you forget to PM yourself. You overlook the obvious signs of an impending failure from those intermittent chest pains or backaches, etc. Life’s too short to say, “I’ll wait until later to get checked out.” Imagine what the surgeon is thinking when he props your chest open, looks in there and sees obvious lack of PM. Don’t be the mechanic in every situation. Don’t assume that you can fix everything. There are other people out there who are just as professional in their field as you are in yours. Hopefully you’ll get a second chance as I’ve been given. Don’t waste it on working until you die. The customer cars will wait. Follow your body’s PM schedule, and you’ll get to live a little more. View full article