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If you're buying car parts, know what the f#$%K you drive and want.

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  • #31
    Quoth Dave in MD View Post
    What bothers me is when people want me to diagnose their car, not just get a code read. .
    There are places that do that and they get paid far more for it.

    -or-
    You do just that and still don't listen.

    Check eng light on, comes in. I read it - Coolant temp sense low.
    (these are simple thermo reactive resistor devise that rarely fail you can even check them in the kitchen buy heating them in a pot of water and reading the resistance BTW the pins.)
    Anywho it was Canada cold that day and week. Other major issue and why Diag cost $$- you got to figure out is that code the fault or a symptom of the problem.
    (20 years of fixing radar jammers and detectors on Navy A/C diag is a big skill)
    So a stuck open thermostat can make the eng run cold and make the temp senase "low" well cause it is. 160F-vs-205F. Now the gauges on your dash are "approx" but if you pay attn you can see that it's not getting to the 12 O'clock position but only the 9. I ask about it, he swears thats norm. Go back and forth repeating stat fail in this weather is common and sense is never. NOPE gets the sense.
    Comes back next day swearing up a storm, our parts are shit and lots of other CS standard shit. Poor kid on the counter is struggling and I see who it is so I come up to fix this guys attitude. I grab the IR thermo we had for checking battery temps, take him back to his truck, and show him the temp on the code reader says the sensor is reading 170 and this is showing the brass base of it and coolant tap is 168. Truck has a 205 thermostat, truck cold cause it's broke LIKE I SAID yesterday. But you wanted it so no refund, it's working,installed. He does not like our call outs go to the people who are paid to do it.
    AkaiKitsune
    Sarcasm dear, sarcasm. I’m well aware that dealing with civilians in any capacity will skin your faith in humanity alive, then pickle anything that remains so as to watch it shrivel up into an immortal husk thus reminding you of how dead inside you now are.

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    • #32
      Quoth Seanette View Post
      At least you got the donut. My 2016 Dodge, which DOES have space for a real spare, came with a odd device that can either dispense air or Fix-a-Flat.
      Cars come with the fix-a-flat by default now. I had to specially request and pay for the spare, and even then I only took it because they said it wasn't possible to fit a full-size wheel/tyre in the spare cavity (yes, I checked, and yes, they were correct).
      "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

      Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

      The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

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      • #33
        Quoth Jay 2K Winger View Post
        I feel like a lot of kids would benefit from mathematics if they minimized the quadratic equation stuff and emphasized instead math that can be applied to finances, y'know like "Here's how to balance a checkbook," and "this is how interest rates work."
        Yes! This was called consumer math in my day and it was way more useful to me than algebra. That and typing. Well typing was on an IBM selectric typewriter, which dates me horribly I know. But still it was a useful skill I still use today!
        https://www.youtube.com/user/HedgeTV
        Great YouTube channel check it out!

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        • #34
          Quoth Buzzard View Post
          ... Those little donut spares aren't that much cheaper than a real tire for the vehicle, but multiplied by 100k units, it's a nice little round of bonuses for someone.
          It isn't only the cost of the tire and wheel. Leaving the weight out helps improve the fuel economy by some exceedingly small amount, but together with a whole bunch of other measures it helps them meet the CAFE fuel standards.

          And there is packaging. The spare, especially a full-sized one of the immense wheels and tires that even economy cars use, takes up a ton of volume. In one chunk, which is even more inconvenient. Under most circumstances, the spare is just wasted space, which could better be used by fuel tankage, or more engine, or larger cargo room, or some aerodynamic tweak to help improve fuel economy, or ....

          Mind you, I don't really like that we don't get real spares any more myself. But I do understand why they are rapidly disappearing.
          “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
          One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
          The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

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          • #35
            Not to mention that the tires themselves are a lot more reliable these days than many decades ago.
            "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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            • #36
              Heh, and we mostly have cell phones now that can call for assistance, whether AAA or our friend Mike who can take the wheel and us to get it fixed...
              “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
              One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
              The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

              Comment


              • #37
                Quoth Rosco the Iroc View Post
                PREACH IT BROTHER!!!!!!

                Hood release should have a code lock, you only get the code after passing a test.
                This should apply to genitals too....
                The Copyright Monster has made me tell you that my avatar is courtesy of the wonderful Alice XZ.And you don't want to annoy the Copyright Monster.

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                • #38
                  Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
                  This should apply to genitals too....
                  That is an old idea on this forum.
                  "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Quoth Ironclad Alibi View Post
                    Not to mention that the tires themselves are a lot more reliable these days than many decades ago.
                    Quoted for truth. Once upon a time budget tyres performed horribly, but nowadays there's not really a noticeable difference in performance, the difference is in how long the tyres will last before needing replacing.

                    Before my current car (which has the stupid doughnut tyre thing) I always bought either a good reconditioned tyre or a budget tyre to keep as my spare, and I would just swap it back out once I'd bought a new tyre.
                    "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

                    Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

                    The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Quoth Rosco the Iroc View Post
                      Fine what kind of car do you have?
                      a Jeep.
                      Want to narrow that down a bit?
                      huh
                      When I had been at the gas station about a year:

                      "Ten dollars on the Jeep."
                      I peer at the pumps.
                      "Nothing at the pumps in a Jeep."*

                      Turns out it was a Dodge Durango.

                      *I would have excused the loose use of the trademark. Suzuki Samurais, Izuzu Amigos, some Toyota Land Cruisers, really old Broncos - those all look enough like a Jeep Wrangler or CJ that a lot of people call them "jeeps", in the same way that in some parts of the US call any carbonated drink a "coke". Those people are wrong, but I can deal.
                      But if you have broadened it to where anything with 4wd, or that might have been offered with 4wd, is a "jeep", expect to be treated like you aren't speaking English, because you aren't.

                      And for god's sake how hard is it to check the number on the pump as you get out of the car?

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                      • #41
                        Quoth AkaiKitsune View Post
                        Why don’t they teach general maintenance in school? Like how often do you actually use the quadratic equation (despite the 4 years of being taught it), yet they consider that a “valuable life skill” over how to change your tire (so you don’t have to spend a huge amount of money to have someone do it for you or rely on the possible creep who pulls over and wants to know if you need help) or basic fist aid. I’d much rather have those skills then get another lecture on how Henry the whatsit likes to off his wives.
                        At a guess, they expect your parents to teach you basic maintenance, but they expect your parents to have forgotten what a quadratic equation is.
                        For what it is worth, 30 years ago when I was in high school they not only taught us first aid, but CPR certification was part of gym class.

                        My father had grown up on a farm, so he was a big fan of giving his kids gradualy increasing responsibilities.

                        When my brothers were about 11 and 9, we moved to a house with about an acre of lawn. Dad bought a big lawn tractor and said, "The deal is, you can use the tractor to mow other people's lawns. You buy the gas, my lawn gets mowed for free." Big jobs like sharpening the blades were "help me load the mover in the van so I can take it to the shop", but changing sparkplugs was "here's the parts, my tools, and a manual. Good luck."

                        In a few years, he had them changing sparkplugs on his car, too.
                        And when they were a bit older, and worried the cheap used car they'd bought wasn't reliable enough to take on a date, the answer to "can I borrow your car for my date" was "I dunno, when was the last time my oil was changed?'

                        And that's how he raised three boys to become adults who can go "I've never replaced a wheel bearing before, but I have a good manual. Worst case I ruin the car, which is pretty much where it is now, so ..."

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                        • #42
                          Quoth SpyOne View Post
                          And for god's sake how hard is it to check the number on the pump as you get out of the car?
                          You actually expect them to read?
                          "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Quoth SpyOne View Post
                            And for god's sake how hard is it to check the number on the pump as you get out of the car?
                            I have been known to walk into the lobby of a service station, wait in line to get to the cashier, and then walk back out again with a look of consternation on my face to go stare at the pump number so I can remember it for the whole forty-foot journey back to the counter....

                            ...I refuse to state how many times this may have happened over the years...
                            “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged.
                            One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world.
                            The other, of course, involves orcs." -- John Rogers

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Quoth Nunavut Pants View Post
                              If you want that, buy a Mercedes. They have a policy of being able to provide every part for any Benz ever made. Sometimes it takes a long time to get them, as they may be stored overseas or might even have to be manufactured again, but they'll evidently do it!!

                              But you pay for that. The car, the parts, and the labor are almost always much more than the equivalents from Dodge...
                              I used to know someone who ran a Mercedes restoration business, and I can vouch for this. Anything but the most obscure part, for anything made since 1935, he could get in a week or less.

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Quoth telecom_goddess View Post
                                And people this freaking dumb are DRIVING!!! Kill me now.

                                This is one of the many reasons I've been putting off getting my license for so long!


                                I have recently learned that I can search for items for my particular vehicle on Amazon just by entering the year, make and model. Even so, I can always do a double check if I'm in doubt before I buy anything online for a vehicle.


                                I mean, if I could buy a gasket set online for the 1992 Corolla sedan when we were having the motor rebuilt, I think I'd have the good sense to either run it by VIN or go to my local auto store and let them find it for me.
                                Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

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