333
03-17-2010, 08:05 AM
Peace,
I guess I should not be surprised anymore at the immoral behavior of people but, then again what is or is not moral is the philosophy of the individual. I grew up in the last of an era when the used cars you purchased as a teen were already 15 years old and still going strong. All one needed was a little mechanical inclination and the vehicle would go on running well. A good manual from the auto store and one was provided every thing one needed to maintain their auto. Plugs , wires, condenser, cap , rotor, fuel filter, oil filter, a timing light, maybe a compression gauge, but then we start to get a little past basic maintenance.
Carburetors could be learned by the willing, imho the most complicated/ tedious part on the vehicle other than the electrics. So one needed fuel, spark, compression and their vehicle would run. Simple. Maybe not to some but overall any one could willingly keep the cars going with a little attention.
Today however, I found it very difficult to even locate the oil filter on one of these new eco engines. The manual is a cd rom, and very difficult to keep the grease off your computer in mid repair/ maintenance. Now the cars are pretty much all electronics, and the only way to really diagnose anything is to plug it into a computer, which spits out some codes, that indicate, one of several possible problems, then the process of trial and error in replacing/ repairing the issue.
The problem here in lies with the fact that now we must take our vehicles to some one who has this hand held computer, and of course trust in the fact they issue us the truth of what ails our vehicle. Recently our main daily 30 MPG car puked out its "coil pack" and failed to fire two of its four cylinders. The warranty covered the $600 plus bill, but when I drove the vehicle away, the dreaded engine light came on ...again. New to this process being I still own work vehicles that are "old school" , and knowing that an engine light would fail the yearly inspection, combined with the fact once plugged in for inspection the car reports directly to the state.
I decided to investigate and took the car to the local corporate auto store who I discovered offers free plug in diagnostics. A service that the dealer charges $100 for if you refuse the repair they recommend. The fella at the store walked out with me turned the key, plugged in the the car, and with in 30 seconds, told me the possibilities of which there were three. Two of those were relatively inexpensive repairs, but of course the third was not. You see the raw fuel put into the platinum filter in the exhaust called a converter did not react well with the magic engine light.
Back to the dealer....of which we had an hour wait, a hundred dollar charge, and of course the shop manager informs me that it is in fact the converter, and it will cost approximately $800 to repair, and it is not under warranty by 500 miles. He failed to mention the other options I knew it could possibly be, a large whole in the exhaust, (not likely) or two oxygen sensors at around $50 a piece (more likely), but instead of course he chose to inform me of the whopper, and reminded me it would fail inspection if we did not repair, and if the magic engine light was on.
Well to the chase, I have made some valuable friends here in the last year, one of which is and old time mechanic, a Ford man bless him, he has resurrected, my work vehicles and assures me that the next 250,000 miles will be as good as the last. Amazing what a couple loads of fire wood can accomplish. I talked to him about this issue and he said "come here junior" ...he plugged it in, pressed a button, and the magic engine light went out, and has stayed out. The converter was not damaged, it only need time to evaporate the raw fuel, and the engine light only need to be reset.
So where does that leave us, the philosophy of a "backwoods" mechanic living in the truth of what is right, best for me and my wallet, his reputation saved me thousands of dollars because the philosophy of the dealership and its manager out only to soak the ignorant of every thing they can.
Folks I encourage all of us to do due diligence, and home work with issues like this, it ails my heart to think of all the folks who trust these sub human professionals, and get soaked for thousands of dollars that may not be required, out of fear, ignorance and a little magic omnipotent engine light.
333
I guess I should not be surprised anymore at the immoral behavior of people but, then again what is or is not moral is the philosophy of the individual. I grew up in the last of an era when the used cars you purchased as a teen were already 15 years old and still going strong. All one needed was a little mechanical inclination and the vehicle would go on running well. A good manual from the auto store and one was provided every thing one needed to maintain their auto. Plugs , wires, condenser, cap , rotor, fuel filter, oil filter, a timing light, maybe a compression gauge, but then we start to get a little past basic maintenance.
Carburetors could be learned by the willing, imho the most complicated/ tedious part on the vehicle other than the electrics. So one needed fuel, spark, compression and their vehicle would run. Simple. Maybe not to some but overall any one could willingly keep the cars going with a little attention.
Today however, I found it very difficult to even locate the oil filter on one of these new eco engines. The manual is a cd rom, and very difficult to keep the grease off your computer in mid repair/ maintenance. Now the cars are pretty much all electronics, and the only way to really diagnose anything is to plug it into a computer, which spits out some codes, that indicate, one of several possible problems, then the process of trial and error in replacing/ repairing the issue.
The problem here in lies with the fact that now we must take our vehicles to some one who has this hand held computer, and of course trust in the fact they issue us the truth of what ails our vehicle. Recently our main daily 30 MPG car puked out its "coil pack" and failed to fire two of its four cylinders. The warranty covered the $600 plus bill, but when I drove the vehicle away, the dreaded engine light came on ...again. New to this process being I still own work vehicles that are "old school" , and knowing that an engine light would fail the yearly inspection, combined with the fact once plugged in for inspection the car reports directly to the state.
I decided to investigate and took the car to the local corporate auto store who I discovered offers free plug in diagnostics. A service that the dealer charges $100 for if you refuse the repair they recommend. The fella at the store walked out with me turned the key, plugged in the the car, and with in 30 seconds, told me the possibilities of which there were three. Two of those were relatively inexpensive repairs, but of course the third was not. You see the raw fuel put into the platinum filter in the exhaust called a converter did not react well with the magic engine light.
Back to the dealer....of which we had an hour wait, a hundred dollar charge, and of course the shop manager informs me that it is in fact the converter, and it will cost approximately $800 to repair, and it is not under warranty by 500 miles. He failed to mention the other options I knew it could possibly be, a large whole in the exhaust, (not likely) or two oxygen sensors at around $50 a piece (more likely), but instead of course he chose to inform me of the whopper, and reminded me it would fail inspection if we did not repair, and if the magic engine light was on.
Well to the chase, I have made some valuable friends here in the last year, one of which is and old time mechanic, a Ford man bless him, he has resurrected, my work vehicles and assures me that the next 250,000 miles will be as good as the last. Amazing what a couple loads of fire wood can accomplish. I talked to him about this issue and he said "come here junior" ...he plugged it in, pressed a button, and the magic engine light went out, and has stayed out. The converter was not damaged, it only need time to evaporate the raw fuel, and the engine light only need to be reset.
So where does that leave us, the philosophy of a "backwoods" mechanic living in the truth of what is right, best for me and my wallet, his reputation saved me thousands of dollars because the philosophy of the dealership and its manager out only to soak the ignorant of every thing they can.
Folks I encourage all of us to do due diligence, and home work with issues like this, it ails my heart to think of all the folks who trust these sub human professionals, and get soaked for thousands of dollars that may not be required, out of fear, ignorance and a little magic omnipotent engine light.
333