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Posted: 8/3/2008 3:11:34 AM EDT
[#1]
Yeah, that customer sure out-smarted you thieving technicians.  $1500+$300 shipping, plus fluids, plus paying your labor TWICE, plus $2800 for the part he needed all along, plus being without their truck for a while- that sounds much cheaper than just paying to get it done once. 
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Posted: 8/4/2008 5:21:33 PM EDT
[#2]
15 hour day. Nothing too spectacular, some services and such. Some cheap bastard with a waiting oil change.
I may have an SLR come in for a service. It would be a new client for me. 
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Posted: 8/4/2008 7:21:19 PM EDT
[#3]
Today was another meh kinda day. We're still frighteningly slow given the time of the year, we should have several cars carrying over from the previous day, but we're consistently running out of work at 3-4:00. Everyone else in town is in the same boat though, so I'm glad that it ain't just us.
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Posted: 8/5/2008 8:38:59 AM EDT
[#4]
Thats odd, our doors are full all day. Our Truck shop is loaded as well, not with just 6.0L work either.
I sure could use some experienced techs up here..........(hint...hint) anyone ever see a 6.4L with a blown oil cooler? just a quick question..... Gary |
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Posted: 8/5/2008 5:03:15 PM EDT
[#5]
Today was the kind of day that I could have choked a motherfucker.
Rather than going in to great detail about it, I'll just say one of our mentally retarded service advisors did a lovely job completely fucking up my morning. I vented on the boss a bit, then later we had a pleasant sit down. In the end my point was made and driven home. I didn't even bother to check my hours today. I didn't make shit, and I wasted a lot of time. I left early because we ran out of work. The numbers are showing large increases in wholesale parts sales but shop numbers are way down. That means the independants are taking the work. The boss man is looking in to ways to reverse this trend and get us up to speed again. |
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Posted: 8/5/2008 7:44:05 PM EDT
[#6]
It was blistering hot today. Damn, it was hot, nasty, humid, horrible. And very slow.
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Posted: 8/6/2008 5:05:50 PM EDT
[#7]
Pic says it all:
 I worked on three cars today. A misdiagnosed car from an independant with a new strut and an Airmatic problem. It needed a compressor, and once I got that on I found another blown strut. I had a left over car from yesterday for an auxillary battery, and I did a PDI. We had a Maybach drop by for a key. We don't service Maybachs, but I guess we can order keys.   Note dual brake calipers:  My buddy Shawn got lucky and drew the PDI for an SL63 AMG  If you see this badge, don't fuck with it. 
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Posted: 8/6/2008 7:21:49 PM EDT
[#8]
Today was yet another mediocre day. The highlight came just as I was leaving. A former regular customer of ours (hadn't seen him in a while) brought his '04 F150 in. Apparently, he took it to Goodyear and they sold him a slew of services, to the tune of about $800. Shocks, hoses, belts, etc. They went to do the tune up and broke the #5 plug off in the cylinder head. The Goodyear goons then told the owner, "Oh yeah, that's a common problem, happens all the time. There's nothing we can do with it, you have to go to the dealer now."
 They also used the wrong coolant when refilling the cooling system, and I somehow doubt they thoroughly flushed the cooling system before refilling it with the incorrect coolant. They replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses, but left the heater hoses alone - I guess those were too hard to do. Yet another one to unfuck for someone else. |
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Posted: 8/6/2008 8:19:28 PM EDT
[#9]
I didn't do SHIT today (although we have been fairly busy, and had a record month last month) as 4 of my 6 tech have class all week and we scheduled kinda light (although those two were working their asses off).
I had a customer drop off that has been complaining about the gas mileage on his 06 Tribeca since day one (now has 11,000 on it). He swears it won't get over 15mpg, and I've been telling him....since day one that "It will, there is nothing wrong with it, the problem is you".....he didn't believe me So since I wasn't doing anything anyways, and I am sick of hearing this guys shit, I decided to take his car on a Looooonnnnngggg drive, to finally end the bullshit. I took it to the gas station, filled it up, took it on a 91 mile journey down 95 and back, filled it up again, and did the math. Just as I suspected.........25.87mpg..... I win! So, I called him expecting a huge blowup fight, that I was ready for, that I was hoping for. And what did I get? "Really.... wow, I must be doing something wrong, I guess you were right all along. Tell me how I should drive it to get mileage like that?" Took the wind from my sails, no fight, no yelling and two hours of pumping my self up to say "I told you so" wasted.  Oh well, he's a good guy, spends money, and is actually pretty easy to deal with. I'm just happy we won't have that discussion again. hehehe. Mike |
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Posted: 8/6/2008 9:02:14 PM EDT
[#10]
Why in the hell are they replacing radiator hoses that are 4 years old? Is it a Ford thing? Seriously, we don't. Ever. |
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Posted: 8/6/2008 9:21:06 PM EDT
[#11]
I didn't mention this before, but I'll give it a go now since someone's new tool box arrived today.
Matco is offering a FREE accessory with a new toolbox. You can get a locker, hutch, or some other stuff... Guy had a three bay matco (shallow version) that was 7 years old or so. He wanted a locker. The locker alone is $3800. (I paid $7K for two) He was able to purchase a new 5S series box, the deep version with the two really big drawers, and it came with a free locker. I think he paid $4000 less the trade in, and for just $200 difference got a brand new and larger box than just the locker would have cost by itself. The tool man threw in a free locker adapter since all he had is the rollaway. I don't much care for how they mount with the adapter, I like my hutch! More solid and secure. I need to reorganize too. I'm running out of room. 
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Posted: 8/6/2008 9:23:32 PM EDT
[#12]
I guess someone needed some extra hours for the day. I normally don't start trying for hoses until about 10 years or 200,000 miles, or if the oil cooler blew up or I'm installing a new engine, something goofy like that. They got burnt when they broke a plug off in the head though. |
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Posted: 8/7/2008 6:38:29 PM EDT
[#13]
2.7
I got my toolbox all cleaned up and looking nice. I got rid of a lot of clutter. |
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Posted: 8/7/2008 7:56:46 PM EDT
[#14]
I seen the tools that are out to fix both the plug breaking and the threads stripping out problems on the tool truck last week. Man that is some crazy shit
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Posted: 8/7/2008 9:39:20 PM EDT
[#15]
You should see the hokey apparatus and procedure to remove the porcelain from the center of plug should it break flush with the insert. Five broke in this particular truck. I was seeing red by the end of the day, God what a piss poor design. 
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Posted: 8/7/2008 10:53:08 PM EDT
[#16]
The ford dealers around here price plugs at 1 hour each, that includes extraction. More if they have to drill and install the insert. How do yall price it? |
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Posted: 8/7/2008 10:56:47 PM EDT
[#17]
I normally go half an hour to an hour per broken plug, depending on how hard they are to pull. Once in a blue moon, I can cheat and use the engine's compression to blow the porcelain out, it just takes a while.
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Posted: 8/8/2008 1:46:03 AM EDT
[#18]
That is an extremely f'd design. What's the fault though? Faulty plugs, head material, lack of antiseize? |
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Posted: 8/8/2008 7:07:38 AM EDT
[#19]
Ever removed prechambers or glowplugs from a diesel? Same scenario. There is a long, unthreaded "shell" that protrudes in to the combustion chamber. It gets covered in carbon and siezes the plug in place IIRC.
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Posted: 8/8/2008 9:55:57 AM EDT
[#20]
100K plug intervals if you ask me
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Posted: 8/8/2008 5:36:34 PM EDT
[#21]
Very slow day. It started out well enough.... but we ran out quickly and it stayed empty. I did two PDI's and a crankcase ventilation hose replacement. I also replaced an audio gateway I had previously diagnosed and had declined.
I spent much of the day rearranging my tools to make them more "logical" in their placement. I have just been finding a hole and sticking my new purchases in there, rather than shifting less relevant tools to other areas. Of course now I won't be able to find anything.... |
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Posted: 8/8/2008 6:44:54 PM EDT
[#22]
I spent most of the frickin' day trying to dig those broken plugs out.
I'm tired. And I'm drinking. |
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Posted: 8/9/2008 8:20:38 PM EDT
[#23]
Bought a tool from the tool guy last week
Its a Lysle (?? spelling) tool it works better than the POS tool FORD has for removing the Porcelain cores. Removed 2 in 5 minutes. Just a note here.......... I spoke with a tech in the shop who just got back from STST and he told me another tech told him that he removes 5.4L spark plugs with a 3/8 impact, has for over a year with no problems. I shook my head and said yeah and doing that will get your ass fired here.....last week I had a 195K f-150. I said to myself "self, Its time for a new job" I used my Snap-on 3/8 drive impact..........I'll be dipped in a barrel of Fuck......all 8, no breaks, no damage. Go fuckin' figure. I don't recommend or endorse this method, but damn if it didn't work. hit the plug at full power until its all the way out. 16.7yesterday btw |
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Posted: 8/9/2008 8:30:16 PM EDT
[#24]
I went in this morning and played around with the F150 a little. Got another plug out, now I only have three left. I'm not exactly sure how I'm gonna get the last three out, I guess I'll figure out something Monday.
I talked to the guy that owns the truck, who's been extremely understanding and decent, all things being equal. I would not be happy if this were my truck, and he ain't, but he's basically telling me just do what I can. I've already decided that pulling the cylinder heads isn't an option. I'm thinking maybe I can get down in there with a punch while the engine is running, whack the porcelain and see if I can crack it and allow the engine's compression to blow any pieces out. |
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USA
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Posted: 8/9/2008 9:07:21 PM EDT
[#25]
LMAO at the Nissan rear-end saga...people are idiots....sometimes I wonder how they get money....
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Posted: 8/10/2008 11:19:48 AM EDT
[#26]
Cornwell comes tomorrow and if he has the tools on the truck I'll take a pic of them. He said he was told that his work better than the ford tools. He knew I was not going buy them so he had no reason to bs me (chevy mech).
The impact probally jars the plugs and breaks the carbon or whatever. Some GM's have problems with head bolts pulling the threads out of blocks and our engine guy hits them with a hammer before turning them. That might help, I don't know. |
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Posted: 8/11/2008 5:02:54 PM EDT
[#27]
I saw some of those tools on the snap on truck today. One of the sets came with inserts you were supposed to drill out the head, and JB weld these inserts in place. Sounded pretty ghey.
Today = dead. I kept pulling piddly shit in the morning, and only had one decent upsell for four hours. I think I made 8 total today.
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Posted: 8/11/2008 7:21:18 PM EDT
[Last Edit: jeep450]
[#28]
This one, you remove the porcilin. Take the tap and thread the inside of the spark plug. Then you take the bottom tube and insert in down the hole until it hits the plug. Then take the center bolt and screw it into the plug that you tapped out. Then put one of the nuts on it and tighten it up against the tube. Then remove the plug with the center hex.
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Posted: 8/11/2008 7:26:04 PM EDT
[#29]
This one, you drill out the plug threads and tap new threads. Then install the new insert on the new plug and tighten in up.
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Posted: 8/11/2008 7:27:40 PM EDT
[#30]
I have the first one. Using that set to get the ground shield out is a walk in the park, nothing to it.
Getting the porcelain out is the tricky part. |
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Posted: 8/11/2008 7:29:01 PM EDT
[#31]
He had both.
I am genuinely surprised that using air tools on spark plugs is a big deal. Thats how I roll... never a problem. |
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Posted: 8/11/2008 10:08:21 PM EDT
[#32]
What the hell happened to your avatar?!?! And I've used the little 3/8" impact on taking them out in a lot of cars. |
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Posted: 8/11/2008 10:57:45 PM EDT
[#33]
I know lots of guys who have done it that way for decades on cast iron heads. Never a problem. How does it work on aluminum heads? |
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Posted: 8/11/2008 10:59:25 PM EDT
[#34]
Our resident Mitsubishi guy spins plugs out with a 3/8" air ratchet, with no ill effects.
After the beating I've taken on this truck, I'm gonna give the impact a whirl next time. I figure I got nothing to lose. |
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Posted: 8/12/2008 6:59:58 AM EDT
[#35]
I'm feeling less absorbent, yellow and porous. So I decided to go with a "Heat" theme.
I guess air tools work just fine on spark plugs that are properly designed when they are installed in aluminum heads that are also properly designed. It has simply never been an issue for me. |
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Posted: 8/12/2008 10:13:00 AM EDT
[#36]
Well, crazy stuff has been going on here at work ever since we were bought out by another owner. Everyone here has been talking and looking for other work. I got a call this morning telling me I have been approved to be a Cornwell tool dealer. Looks like I am going to be through turning wrenches. I just had to tell someone about it, I can't say anything here right now.
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Posted: 8/12/2008 5:08:14 PM EDT
[#37]
I want discounts. I stopped buying cornwell pretty much after our new dealer is selling everything at MSRP. Fuck that. The guy before him was practically giving away tools.
I might have made 6 or 7 hours today. I stood around a LOT. Most of the shop was empty all day. I had a waiting oil change on an S class with 176K miles on it. It was a total pile of shit, yet was "accesorized" with all the latest chrome plated plastic stick on bullshit. Well the oil filter cap wouldn't come off. The customer demanded to see it, and went on about how he only gets his oil changed here so it must be our fault. I just said with that kind of mileage, the cap it worn out. It needs to be replaced... He bought it finally and started some bullshit about getting "400K miles out of this car" and I said "Unless you start doing services instead of oil changes, that will never happen". I mentioned that all I was going to do was change the oil and filter. He relented and bought a dust filter... Made my .4 job in to a .9 job. The big "project" was a 2008 CL550 with a "Lorinser" body kit. The parktronic system wasn't working since they had that tacky looking shit put on the car. I investigated, and needed to take the front bumper off to check things out. I got approval late in the day, and removed the bumper. The sensors cannot be mounted properly or securely in this aftermarket bumper. Two of the sensors were mounted backwards. I reinstalled them and the system works, but I put a huge disclaimer on it regarding how I don't guarantee aftermarket stuff and the accuracy could be affected etc.... |
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Posted: 8/12/2008 7:19:44 PM EDT
[#38]
I got one more plug out of the F150 this morning. At this rate, it should be ready to roll by about Monday.
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Posted: 8/12/2008 7:39:46 PM EDT
[#39]
I know they made thousands of those things. Lets say conservatively 200,000 engines. 8 plugs each, if only most, but not all plugs break off you can get to do this same task ONE MILLION TIMES!!!!
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Posted: 8/13/2008 5:44:53 PM EDT
[#40]
Something like 12 hours today. I was busy all day long for a change. I expected it to be completely dead, especially with rain all day.
I got in a couple PDI's, some services, and some bullshit jobs. |
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Posted: 8/14/2008 5:30:22 PM EDT
[#41]
Today sucked. Was busy until about 3pm... Nothing but shit jobs all day though. I'm sick of never having work, and when we do have work, I bust my ass for 4 tenths at a time. This shit is rediculous. I have all this training and money tied up in tools and it seems I do fucking oil changes and inspections all damn day.
I think my jump box is dead. Has 13 volts but won't jump off a car. I need to load test it. I did a service on my own car, (just so I would remember how to do one  ) and that ate up my afternoon. I didn't have enough money to buy all the oil for it, but I had some left over from last time and I scrounged a quart in the shop. 2 bottles of STP, about 6 quarts of Rotella 15w40 and another quart of 5w40 Mobil1. Then I had to buy a new radiator cap, so I had to hit the lottery fund up for $15. After eighteen years, the cap wasn't holding pressure anymore.  I've got a bad control arm bushing and a bad idler arm. They will have to wait. It only used a quart in 3,000 miles. My leaks have slowed down a lot too. I flushed out the brake fluid and rotated the tires also. This thing runs so much better after an oil change. After 281,000 miles its probably got a little piston ring wear. |
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Posted: 8/14/2008 9:44:22 PM EDT
[#42]
Rather than spend the $100+ that a good jump box seems to cost anymore, pull it open and see what type of battery is in it. Most of the ones I've seen use one of these. They're pretty common in electric scooters and UPS's, so there's loads of online vendors that have them for relatively cheap. |
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Posted: 8/14/2008 9:55:46 PM EDT
[#43]
What the hell you drive, I know it is not a trailblazer with that many miles. |
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Posted: 8/14/2008 10:12:46 PM EDT
[#44]
Very bad idea. What if that cylinder is on the intake stroke?
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Posted: 8/14/2008 11:36:46 PM EDT
[#45]
Then it will suck air in through the open intake valve...........  Air, like most things, will take the path of lease resistance.
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Posted: 8/15/2008 7:06:08 AM EDT
[#46]
  Her name is Feeble. I got her for $1,000 and sank another $1500 in it fixing it enough to be driveable. Its been my DD since november. She gets onery some times but she still gets around. |
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Posted: 8/15/2008 5:54:48 PM EDT
[#47]
Killer day. I broke 21 hours and still had a four hour job left to do. I absolutely kicked ass on installing some parts I ordered, and I had two good paying services. Is someone reading my posts?
One of the sales guys needed some work done on his S-10, and paid me cash. I set aside another four hours worth of work until monday so I could change his oil and throw on a set of shocks. I made sixty bucks cash. I also took apart my jump box after I load tested it. It failed miserably. Its got a HR22-12 battery. Unfortunately most of the ones I've found cost nearly as much as I paid for the jump box.
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Posted: 8/15/2008 7:07:44 PM EDT
[#48]
I kicked ass Wednesday, had a so-so day Thursday and today. I finally dug the last plug out of the F150 Wednesday afternoon. I'm going in tomorrow to finish up a job left over from this evening, and then going to a co-worker's house to help him with some side work. The slow season is approaching, I gotta get my acorns gathered for the winter, so to speak.
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Posted: 8/15/2008 7:10:53 PM EDT
[Last Edit: mr_camera_man]
[#49]
What little info I can find shows that the battery you have cross-references with the one I linked earlier. Grab a ruler and check the measurements against the website to be sure. All of this reminds me that I need to find an inexpensive jump start box / compressor for my wife's trunk... |
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Posted: 8/15/2008 7:26:42 PM EDT
[Last Edit: saturnstyl]
[#50]
The original link you gave was for an 18 amp hour battery.
I opened the box and came up with a BBHR22-12 which is a 22 amp hour battery. Its $24 more than the 18 amp hour version. I've been looking around online and It seems to be a popular size. I'll let you know what I settle on. I found one on ebay for $60 shipped. |
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