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| Tales from the Shop; Post your work tales | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 21 2008, 01:25 PM (7,582 Views) | |
| Johnny Mullet | Oct 4 2008, 08:58 PM Post #16 |
"Geo Whisperer"
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Well, I finished up working on the ugly green Metro and got the car inspected. Here is what it looks like..............  Wednesday is when the local car auction is held and we usually get some real winners come in  A 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan was out front and I was told to replace both front tires with the 2 tires in the back seat. I got in the van and knew instantly this vehicle had major issues. Turning the steering revealed a horrible noise and the transmission did not want to engage right away  As I pulled into my bay, I hit the brake and something made a really loud clunk and it felt like the front end was falling out. One of my fellow techs was watching when I came in and his eyes lit up and his jaw dropped when that happened. After racking the van up I looked and seen the lower control arm bushing was completely gone causing the right front wheel to shift when the brake was applied. The upper strut towers were rotted out causing the strut to bust through the top, so basically, I am glad I did not open the hood since that is probably whats holding them in. I got the tires out and I was really blown away when I noticed a nail in the one tire. It was not only one nail though! The sad part is that the customer asked if we can just plug them  We told him "How can you sleep at night knowing you sold a vehicle with all those plugs in a tire?" He then asked if we could put some used tires on. Here is the tire. Count the holes................    That's right! 5 holes 
Edited by Johnny Mullet, Oct 4 2008, 09:01 PM.
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| Will | Oct 5 2008, 01:37 AM Post #17 |
Victory is mine!!!!
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Boy the guy with the van was a real  head!Well, I was at the tire store today getting back tires put on my wife's Buick, and saw a Crown Vic come in for some 24 or 26 in rims. They complimented the yellow plates inside of his wheels. What was even more funny about this nasty hunk of junk was the plug in the A pillar covering the hole where the police spot light was. Yes, this big wheeled bright blues thugged out ride was bought from a police auction.  It was funny the "G" driving this wanna be monster truck came out looking all "hard" and told me he liked my Buick and suggested I put some 20s on it. I politely thanked him and told him I would think about it. There was nothing else I could say 
Edited by Will, Oct 5 2008, 01:38 AM.
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| Johnny Mullet | Oct 7 2008, 08:19 PM Post #18 |
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"Geo Whisperer"
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I had a pretty big job ahead of me, but got it done this week. A 1997 Chevy 3500 needed an engine. The truck was rust free, but had a bad engine and the guy got it pretty cheap, so he wanted a new Jasper engine put in it.............. He also wanted the trans serviced, but we found large chunks of metal in the pan, so I yanked out the transmission and we sent it off for a rebuild. Here is the nice, new engine installed..............    Just like a new truck, but much cheaper 
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| white.hand | Oct 15 2008, 12:13 PM Post #19 |
New Member
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a farmer comes in to the local firestone shop with transmission trouble, the guys lift the pickup and remove the trans. the guy comes back and is told the tranny will need to go to the tranny shop for rebuild and then can be reinstalled in the pickup. to save a little money the guy wants to haul the trans himself, he says "throw it in the back of the truck and i'll haul it to certified transmission". yeah this guy was serious.  ...true story...the names have been omited to protect the innocent. (or stupid as the case may be)
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| Johnny Mullet | Oct 27 2008, 08:36 AM Post #20 |
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"Geo Whisperer"
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Wow I got a phone call at work and it was the Volvo Tech I worked with at my previous job at the Ford/Volvo Dealership in Erie, PA. He said that the boss and my old Service Adviser want to talk to me. Them bastards fired me well over a year ago! Lemme fill you in................... I worked for this dealer for 6 years. The last 2 years I was there we took on the Volvo line and only me and one other guy wanted to work on them, so I was a Volvo tech there. This Volvo V70 wagon comes in for a no-start condition and the customer said he just bought the car from a used car lot and wanted it checked over after fixing it. I recommended a timing belt since these engines must have regular timing belt changes since the engine is an "Interference Engine". The customer agreed and I got all the work done. He asked me to save his old timing belt so I did. Well, 2 days later, this guy comes in bitching that we ripped him off. He took his old timing belt to 5 other mechanics and they all said it was fine. He also found the maint records for the car and the timing belt was replaced 18,000 miles ago, but it was 4 years old. The Shop manager was on vacation that week, so the business owner was in charge. This irate customer was becoming a problem so the owner cut him a check for the entire repair bill including the tow. and then called me into the office. Not knowing who the fuck I was, this dumbass fired me on the spot  Well, it seems like this dealership is wanting me back since they have gone through 8 techs and none of them can work on Volvo. They also may lose their Volvo dealership standings if they do not have 2 Volvo certified mechanics. Maybe that is why they offered me my job back with more pay and all my vacation time returned. This dealership has also been taking on Medium Duty truck repairs (my specialty) since the local RV/Truck dealer closed up. I talked to the manager and told him I was staying where I am and it's not about the money. He wanted to offer me even more money and I still declined. I told him my new job is only 19 miles from home compared to 48 miles and I get an hourly wage, medical benefits, and a retirement plan. I am also a part of the local community since our shop is involved with Dirt Track Racing, local fairs, etc. I also told him that the owner made a huge mistake to fire me like that and I would never forgive that place for bending me over  From what I hear, the Dealerships are all hurting and a few local Dealerships closed down already. I am happy with the decision I made and told my boss about it. He told me that I was not going anywhere if he can help it 
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| woodman | Oct 28 2008, 06:06 AM Post #21 |
 
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My wife bought this 92 Cad. Deville frome a friend a few yrs ago. Well we took it in to get inspected at a family owned shop we new and they had one of the boys inspect and it pased. Well a few days later I'm driving this car on a windy 35mph back road and going arround a curve, I forget which direction, The front of the car feels like it shifts sideways and then back again after coming out of the turn. You know you can only say wtf... So I get the car home and rais the front up on that heavy beast and one of the ball joints is really bad. I don't understand how some one could miss that? |
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| woodman | Oct 28 2008, 06:29 AM Post #22 |
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What about cabinet shop stories. I was at a suplier yrs ago getting some hardware and what-not and this guy comes in with his hand all bandaged up. Well he is wearing really nice clothes and just dosent look like the well seasoned wood worker, you know ,just some thing didn't fit. Well anyway I asked him what hapened and he said( it was cold and he was wearing gloves and the table saw cought the glove pulling his hand into the blade (duh)and cut off 3 fingers). I will never forget that story. Oh another one ...........I used to work at a waterbed shop yrs ago 1975-80. Anyway one process in cutting the plywood decking, from 4x8 sheets, was to first cross cut it then rip and stack it. Then a fork lift would take it away. But while on the fork lift the ware house guy would notch the corners,1-1/2''x1-1/2'',down 2 corners of the ply with a skill saw (for the heater cord). Well this ware house guy had some meat on him ,I mean realy chunky. Anyway the guard was sticking, not fliping back, on that saw and he rested that thing on his thigh and it cut a deep ol gash. Well he was walking arround showing everyone ,and it looked like it was 1+ deep and wasent even bleading yet. (Chunky insulation or what). |
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| metroschultz | Oct 28 2008, 11:39 AM Post #23 |
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NHRA N E 1
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So I am changing the wheel seal on one of our Macks last night when the boss calls me to the office.  Along the way up front I here a lot of "OOH you're in trouble"  "to the principals office with you" etc. As I come through the door he looks at me with one of those looks  you know the one I mean and says "Have I got a job for you" What? I ask. We have a trailer in Newport News that the door has become stuck. ? Stuck? Yeah stuck, the driver can't get it to go up or down. It is half closed right now. I punch off the wheel seal job and onto a fresh work order for the trailer and away I go. Newport News is 40 miles from the shop across two bridge tunnels and takes 1.5 hours to get there.  Traffic was stupid and we had tornado force winds coming across the bay from a storm front rolling through.The door was just installed by one of our tech about a week ago. However he cut the panels too short (measure twice, cut once?)  and it got wedged sideways in the tracks. One panel is now useless as it got torn to shreds in the process of freeing it and several of the hinges are broken as well. Now I get back to the shop and they expect me to put finish this wheel seal job in forty minutes. I did,  but now my back is killing me and I think I pulled something in my right hip area.  any way that was my night at work, how was yours? S. |
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| Johnny Mullet | Oct 28 2008, 07:16 PM Post #24 |
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"Geo Whisperer"
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Gotta love heavy truck work! Mack? Ewwwwwww I always hated roll-up doors. We don't get them very often, but when we do, it's a mess. I got my hand caught in one one and that hurt like hell. Today was "Dirtbag Day" at the shop. I don't mean mechanic dirty, but just downright dirty people. My first job was a Septic truck for Inspection and a complete service. The inside of the cab of this Freightliner was just disgusting. The entire dash, seats, floor, steering wheel, etc was horrible! It even smelled like shit. I have to do some electrical work and 2 drive tires on it tomorrow. In the meantime, it will sit in the shop all night and get nice and warm The next "Dirtbag of the Day" was unbelievable! A 2006 Pontiac Bonneville comes in for an IM test and when the car rolled it, I was caught by it's beauty. It was black and sleek and had really nice factory rims on it. As I went to get the mileage, I was struck with awe The inside of this car looked like the trash and anything that has been spilled, smeared, dropped, or splattered inside the car has been there since it was purchased. I literally started to feel myself getting ready to vomit from the odor creeping from the dark depths which lay beneath the rotting piles of trash and filth
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| metrojoe | Oct 28 2008, 07:23 PM Post #25 |
smokin'
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lol so this forum has at least 3 heavy truck mechanics who drive metros 
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| Hacksaw | Oct 28 2008, 09:01 PM Post #26 |
Disciple of Johnny Mullet
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Nice fat joke!!! HaHaHa! |
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| New2metros | Oct 28 2008, 10:00 PM Post #27 |
Member
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Well I got a good from where I used to work. Lady bought an 2001 dodge dakota v6 4x4 during the summer months. Well the first snow storm came around and it heavier in town then out on the highway. Well she put it in 4x4 to get out of town then went on the 4 lanes at 65+ still in 4x4. Well she got towed into our shop complaning that her driveshaft fell out. I look at my friend and he both went out the door. Well her transfer case exploded on the highway. The person who towed her in was called out becuase the metal chunks on the highway that someone got a flat tire from. I surprise of all the damage that was caused. Even put a hole in the floor pan and destroyed the one skid plate. Also surprise the Id tag hanged in there. Picture below.    
Edited by New2metros, Oct 28 2008, 10:01 PM.
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| Johnny Mullet | Oct 31 2008, 10:25 PM Post #28 |
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"Geo Whisperer"
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New2Metros, I have seen that before on a Ford F-150 and the damage from an exploding transfer case can be horrific  Today was Halloween and the first job I got was a trailer service. It was the only trailer on the fleet we service that I have yet to be introduced to. Notice the number.................  This trailer was actually nice to me and needed nothing  The job I got after lunch was pretty strange though. A van came in for an emissions test. The lady who was driving it was like a heavyset Daisy Duke with a "Face by Fisher, Body by Mack" look to her. If she could drop 50 puonds, I would totally hit it  Anyway, this redneck girl needed her test done and I pulled the vehicle in knowing it was a Ford Windstar, but this country girl was no fan of Ford I tell ya! This "Heavy Duty Cutie" liked her Chevys and denied what her waitressin' wages could afford...............................  That aint no Ford dammit
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| Bon2000 | Nov 8 2008, 04:03 AM Post #29 |
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i worked at a g.m dealer before i moved here,we had a seventy year old guy come in and buy a fully loaded ssr,he got in it,started it,and drove across the street into a telephone pole,didnt hurt him at all but totalled the front end of the ssr,they didnt even have body parts available yet...... Another one,wife's uncle goes to a ford dealer to pick up his new expedition,its a standard and he gets in it to drive away,one of the sales people pull it up to the door for him and puts the emergency brake on. he gets in,put it in first and cant find the e brake release,so in his genius,he puts the truck in neutral,get out and starts looking for the release,finds it, and pull the handle,the truck is of course on a hill,and it rolls,he triesd to hold on to it,but cant and gets dragged for a good fifteen feet,all the while picking up speed,he falls and scrapes himself up bad,and the truck rolls another twenty feet into a pile of dumpsters,of course this demolishes much of the trucks side and front and blows out the rad,best part of this story is he is an insurance agent,this is the gods honest ruth, LMAO 
Edited by Bon2000, Nov 8 2008, 02:43 PM.
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| DebSol | Nov 11 2008, 09:21 AM Post #30 |
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New Member
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I put an engine in a guy's Neon that was "good when I pulled it", according to him. Find out that was 3 years ago, and it's been sitting in the elements. Even though I pulled the pan and got out all of the crap that used to be oil, I didn't have a good feeling about this motor. Sure enough, I get it started and it's knocking like crazy. Lasted about 5 minutes before locking up. His old motor he let the timing belt break, but I don't think it's an interference motor, so I'm going to see if I can put that one back in. |
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