Meeting people as a mechanic.

[LaserSVT]

Long read but worth it.

Its Monday and I have a million things to do on Mondays so I am getting organized for a morning of paperwork when I see a Saturn Aura pull in. Oh shit. Look at my friend and say "$100 he has an electrical problem." He comes in the office and says he has a Saturn that needs some work. I politely say we do not work on Saturn Auras. He asks why and I tell him because they are Saturn Auras. They are electrical nightmare cars and repairs never last due to poor design. He says "But I only have a small electrical problem." No shit. "Its stuck in limp mode, please can you fix it and how much is it?" Who the fuck knows!? Could be anything from an ignition switch to the damn weird band in the transmission that takes out solenoids. I dont say this out loud mind you. I explain that diagnostics is $65 BUT in the case of the Aura its normal labor rate of $75 an hour and I charge for every minute I am on the car just due to past experiences and knowing how bad their electrical is. He agrees so I go ahead and take the job.
Read the codes and it has a dozen or so. The EVAP and O2 codes dont concern me. I see a trans code and a low ignition voltage code. Well hell that means it is either the ignition switch or the band in the transmission. Called that bitch, or so I thought. So I swap the ignition switch with my known good one and there is no change. Also notice his looks pretty new. Codes come back instantly so I swap bcak in his ignition. I then take the car around the block to see if the trans is making that noise they make when failing and its perfectly quiet, just in safe mode. Go back and figure fuses. Damn fuse box lid is gone so no diagram. Screw it, new Matco toy and may as well use it. Test all fuses and all are good. Spend another hour or so tracing wires and using the scanner to fire off relays.... cant figure it out.
I hate Saturn Auras.
As luck would have it something shiny caught my eye when my flashlight hit the fuse box. An empty socket that should have a fuse in it. Pull up the diagram in Alldata and see its fuse 4, trans fuse. Ahhhhhh! Put a 10 amp back in, reset codes and car runs/drives like a champ. Yay!
Call dude tell him come get the car because its done. Hes happy because two other shops couldnt figure it out and he paid for a new ignition switch (thanks for telling me this earlier sir) and the dealer wouldn't work on it because they said they didn't have Saturn techs any more. Tell him its fine now and his bill is $375. Hes happy and makes it to the shop in like 5 minutes. Hand him his $375 bill and he goes from joy to anger. "$375 for a fuse!?" I explained once again what the labor rate was and what I had to do and that the fuse was missing. You could see the light go on in his head. "Oh crap. I asked my brother to look at it and he said it had a bad fuse. I thought he replaced it but I guess not. Im sorry."
No problem but its still $375. 4.9 hours and shop fee, no charge for the fuse. At least he laughed.

As he walks out I hear him mutter "I spent almost $1000 for a fuse.... im gonna kill him." LOL

[snacksnack]

I'm shocked you don't check fuses first.

[JC316]

I'm shocked you don't check fuses first.

When you get used to looking for the complex problem, a lot of times the simple ones will slip right by you. It's happened to me on more than one occasion.

[snacksnack]

Complex problems cause fuses to blow.

[LaserSVT]

I'm shocked you don't check fuses first.

I do lots of shocking things. Really I have no excuse other than experience. You see this platform has several common issues and is shared with many other GM cars. The first thing I do is read codes. I know from many Olds Auroras (the baby Aurora), 88's, Malibus, Impalas, Regals and a few other GM cars that the 2534 code is 80% of the time a faulty ignition switch. Now when you add the 0700 code it does point to a blown fuse for the trans on the 4 and 5 speed cars. On Auras they have a 6 speed and when they have a 0700 code that usually means that retainer (may not be a retainer, not a trans guy) that holds the bands in place is usually at fault (taking out solenoid pack) assuming you have 1-3 ohms at a few test points on the TCU which I did.

Now had i been told the car was at two other shops AND that he had a family member look at it (I get more money from family member repairs than anything else) then my diagnostics procedure would have been different and the very FIRST thing I would have went to was the fuse box. People LOVE to remove fuses and not put them back or put them in the wrong spot. Usually people that have no buisiness under a hood at all. Also had the fuse box cover been there I would have seen the diagram and seen the fuse was missing.

Now I know what you are thinking but let me cut you off. The owners manual was not in the car and believe it or not but for some cars its near impossible to get a correct fuse layout without the specific repair manual for that car. Mitchel1 has a better fuse box data base than Alldata but I like Alldatas customer tracking package better.

This is one of the other reasons I hate Auras. I have a mechanics data base that helps with unusual stuff but has almost nothing for Auras because they were a short run and a throw away fast kinda car.

But it is what it is. He spent $600 someplace else for a $300 job and the part didnt need to be replaced. This is a case where i dont feel bad for charging that much. My shop is slammed and its hours I had to take to diagnose a notoriously bad car and go behind people that messed it up. Its MUCH easier to fix a car that fails than it is to fix a car that someone else fucked with and had no buisiness being in there.

[ceyko]

Same in every field, often times we'll spend a few hours before just replacing an ethernet cable (sometimes we've been told this has been done already) that fixes the issue.

[akfodysvn]

When you get used to looking for the complex problem, a lot of times the simple ones will slip right by you. It's happened to me on more than one occasion.

Same thing working avionics on jets. Sometimes the new guy has the right answer because they are able to think simple and not dive in all the way off the bat.

[mstng86]

When you get used to looking for the complex problem, a lot of times the simple ones will slip right by you. It's happened to me on more than one occasion.

Same thing working avionics on jets. Sometimes the new guy has the right answer because they are able to think simple and not dive in all the way off the bat.

This can pretty much be applied to any troubleshooting veteran. If you are used to troubleshooting the same products, equipment, or brand you pick up on trends on stick with the "90% of the time it is _____". You try to get through things quick and just go straight to what you have experienced.

[BP]

When I was a GM tech they liked to randomly send test vehicles through service with manufactured problems. Breaking one blade off of a fuse was about the most common thing they'd do so it's the first thing I'd look for.

They weren't hard to figure out though. They always had manufacturer plates, were never waiters and never had a rental car.

Now right before the UAW guys went on strike we'd have tons of sabotage on new cars. Those guys are just dicks. I've had a truck where someone specifically went and removed a 4wd fuse, loosened the chassis ground and unplugged the connector under the fusebox. I figured out the unplugged connector and fuse pretty quick but the intermittent ground connection kicked my ass for a while.

[4king]

The thing that kills me every time is people coming in after driving all day and asking me to take off their radiator cap and check their coolant because their car is running hot.

Lady rolled her eyes at me when I told her I could get third degree burns doing that, I usually don't have a trigger but it set me off a little bit. I asked her if she ever boiled water before and if I dropped a spoon in the water would she put her hand in the water to get it? She quickly dropped her attitude

My ac isn't working can you come look at it?
My car is running hot can you check the coolant for me

I haven't had any rediculous ones lately. Just typical ones. 2015 Chevy crude diesel wouldn't connect to the obd2 machine and gave a bunch oF random numerical codes. Tried to explain that it is probably a problem with the cars computer: customers response: can I use the USB port in the car to connect to the computer, or can I restart the computer. Is it running windows? No clue you should take it to the dealer. Not worth explaining

[LaserSVT]

Some days..... some days I just wanna scream. I have this customer, disabled veteran and just a real nice guy. Many times I have done work for free like install his new headlight housings or replace the brake fuse etc etc. Well last month he finally had the cash for me to fix his AC. Needed a compressor and drier and orifice tube. I hook him up and do the whole job for $400. He comes in yesterday after I was already closed but finishing up paperwork. Said AC didn't work. No problem, first thing in the morning I will get right on it. You have warranty so don't worry.
Well he comes back with his "mechanic" friend that starts off telling me how to do everything. He then says it just needs freeon. Whatever, I ignore him. Hook the gauges up, pressure is great. Start the truck and have a steady 40-41psi on the low and 200-225 on the high side with no air flow (I am inside and standing in front of the condenser) and I reach inside, nice and cold. So I go in and ask my customer more questions to get a full picture and his African American "mechanic" friend keeps interrupting me, asks how much Freon I put in, can low oil cause it, is he under warranty and yada yada yada.
I go back outside and the AC is off and I see the water temp is pegged. I was just inside asking if the truck was getting hot to which they both said no. Then the "mechanic" starts giving me the dumbest options like is it because of the exhaust leak...... I said "Excuse me, is it your truck or his?" He shuts up. I tell my customer let me give it some time to cool down and I will check the coolant. I let it cool down and sure enough system is bone dry. I go back inside and tell him its dry and its going to be about $70. $35 (cause I am nice) for the diagnostics, coolant is $15 a gallon and then tax. Black dude jumps up and loudly says "You said it has warranty!" Yes sir, I told your friend HE has warranty on HIS trucks AC components. This is a different issue and needs to be addressed now. He tells me I am full of it and they are going somewhere else and $70 to add coolant is a ripoff and I don't know what I am doing....... just STFU and leave. I ask my customer if he wants me to add the coolant. He said he better listen to his friend and they are just going to go. No water, no coolant, just leave. I said there is still the $35 diagnostics (which I informed him before I started if the AC is okay and I have to find another issue I will charge that). His friend got all belligerent and said they will just go someplace else and he aint paying.

I wished my customer good luck. He apologized for his friend. I apologized for telling him he is no longer a customer here. I will handle warranty issues on the AC but that is it. No more free oil changes, no more free air (he always has a flat) and no more work done at 1/3 what anyone else will charge.

Don't bring big schmucks with big mouths in my shop. I don't and wont deal wih it.

[prostock1]

Hand him his $375 bill and he goes from joy to anger. "$375 for a fuse!?" I explained once again what the labor rate was and what I had to do and that the fuse was missing. You could see the light go on in his head. "Oh crap. I asked my brother to look at it and he said it had a bad fuse. I thought he replaced it but I guess not. Im sorry."
No problem but its still $375. 4.9 hours and shop fee, no charge for the fuse.

I had a similar situation, mine was a 2009 Mini Countryman. Doors would lock and unlock with the remote, ( it has push button start ), When you push the start button, the odometer would light up, and nothing else.
So I'm thinking ignition switch is faulty. You can actually do a scan test on most vehicles even with the ignition not turned on. Nothing abnormal with the scan test.
Before I try to sell the guy a special order ignition switch, I ask him if he's got a extra key/remote.

He brings his spare key and the car starts fine.

Mini's have so of the same electrical systems as BMW, but on a BMW when you have a faulty key, the ignition will turn on, but the starter will not engaged.

anyway, after we tell the guy he needs a new key, he proceeds to bitch about paying the 1.0 diag. fee for it just being a defective key.

I explained that you're paying the diag. fee because we didn't try and sell you 1500.00 dollars worth of parts that weren't needed, and then tell you it has a defective key.

Easy to troubleshoot cars once the cause of the problem is known.

[line-em-up]

Same in every field, often times we'll spend a few hours before just replacing an ethernet cable (sometimes we've been told this has been done already) that fixes the issue.

Been there, done that. Or an hour troubleshooting only to find that a simple reboot would have fixed it. I have to remind myself to check the basic, easy, quick stuff first.

[lowthreeohz]

I have to remind myself to check the basic, easy, quick stuff first.

100% agreed. I troubleshoot stuff for a living, and often times the engineers i am working with have gone wayyyy off into the weeds trying to figure out a problem when many times it's a soft configuration setting that isn't right. KISS really is relevant in many instances.

[Craizie]

100% agreed. I troubleshoot stuff for a living, and often times the engineers i am working with have gone wayyyy off into the weeds trying to figure out a problem when many times it's a soft configuration setting that isn't right. KISS really is relevant in many instances.

You listen to KISS when you trouble shoot? I don't see how that could help anything??