Meeting people as a mechanic.

[Chas_svo]

lol. I once had a lady tell me "I take CARE a MY car. I change the oil EVERY year!"

QOTM...or how talking tells car people you are dumb as a box of rocks?

[Chili]

lol. I once had a lady tell me "I take CARE a MY car. I change the oil EVERY year!"

Whether it needs it or not!

[Baron Von Crowder]

I had a chick and her boyfriend come in, tell us the low coolant light was on, so they pumped 6 cans of 134 into it.

[Whiteboy]

I had a chick and her boyfriend come in, tell us the low coolant light was on, so they pumped 6 cans of 134 into it.

wow

[cool cat]

I had a chick and her boyfriend come in, tell us the low coolant light was on, so they pumped 6 cans of 134 into it.

Did they use the proper orifice?

[LaserSVT]

Ugh. I get people that mix up refrigerant and coolant all the time. People always come in asking for Freeon as well and I explain that Freeon is a name brand and I only carry Dupont. People storm off so I don't correct that one any more.
They then only want me to charge the system and I explain AC does not work like that and if its low/empty that there is a reason for it and I have to find that reason. Be surprised how often the AC is not working because some ass hat tried to shove 3lbs in a 14 oz system.

[Jose]

So grandma calls me on Monday saying her trucks light is on. I tell her close the door (this has worked before due to an open door). "Its not that light" she says. "Its on the thing that says stuff (gauges)." "Is it the light that says '00 OHH?'" I ask.(she once kept hitting the OD OFF button and told me that's what the light said) "No, its the check list." Ah, check engine. Go get it scanned (shes 60 miles away) at Autozone and have them write down the codes so I know what tools to bring. So she does. She calls me back to say "There is something wrong with church and it needs a big black T that's mechanical but not important." I don't know if I have that tool. I asked for the codes and she asks "What codes?" The codes I said to get. Of course she didnt get any codes. So I ask for clarification of what she was told. "I dont know, its a black t shaped thing about this big (like I can see the hand gesture on the phone) and its mechanical and the girl at Autozone said its not important but it needs it to run and that it knows I havent gone to church." Argh. I am utterly lost at this point. I tell her go back and get the codes. She does. She also stops at a local shop that wanted $500+ to fix it. At least she remembers to write the code down. Of course the code is B4H6E.......... I explain that's impossible but realize this is not going to help in any way.
Screw it, I go out with the scanner and random tools and make the drive. The "Big black T" is the TPS (voltage all over the place) and the "Somethings wrong with the church" was the Mass Air Flow Meter that was dirty. Mass. Church. Took a moment.
So $29 latter and the truck runs like new again. I reminded her its almost time for an oil change and she said shes never had one. Now I am worried as it gets done regularly and always has the stickers up to date for them. I think I am gonna have to get a care giver for her.

That's funny but sad. Reminds me of my mom sometimes

[Baba Ganoush]

I just read this whole thread and I am glad I'm not in the business at all, especially the retail parts side. This one post made me laugh so damn hard!

Had a guy call on Monday and say that his truck got broken into and that they stole his battery. He wanted to get a new one from us because his battery was still under warranty. I had to, in great detail, explain the difference between a warranty and an insurance policy.

[Probie]

Also, a huge thanks to LaserSVT. I really appreciate the help man.

[LaserSVT]

No problem Ben. Glad we got her fixed up. No brakes are dangerrous.

[helosailor]

Caller: "Yes, I need an alternator for my 07 High-uhn-dah"
Me: "Is that a Honda, or Hyundai sir?"
Caller: "It's an 07 High-uhn-dah"
Me: "Ok, well, what model is it?"
Caller: "I don't know. Can you just give the price?"
Me: "Well, without knowing the model, I would only be guessing."
Caller: "So how much is the alternator?"
Me: "Somewhere between $100 and $500."
Caller: "Ok, thank you."

---Fast forward five minutes---
Caller calls back and speaks to coworker...
Caller: "How much is an alternator for and 07 High-uhn-dah EEElaaantruh?"
Coworker: "$199 exchange."


Good lawd.

[inline 6]

Ugh. I get people that mix up refrigerant and coolant all the time. People always come in asking for Freeon as well and I explain that Freeon is a name brand and I only carry Dupont. People storm off so I don't correct that one any more.
They then only want me to charge the system and I explain AC does not work like that and if its low/empty that there is a reason for it and I have to find that reason. Be surprised how often the AC is not working because some ass hat tried to shove 3lbs in a 14 oz system.

I hear this one all the time. I do some a/c stuff for friends and family and they always ask me to put a little more in. Explaining that will actually hurt the performance of the system is like trying to tell a retard how to do brain surgery over the phone.

[stephen4785]

Iv started working on heavy equipment the last few months and every operator I run into tops the next. I thought truck drivers were odd but equipment operators take the cake. First of all most equipment operator are former truck drivers. A lot of them have lost their license apparently so they can only drive off road equipment.
I was on a job a few weeks ago and was talking to an operator. As were talking I see this guy hop out of a moving bull dozer in order to run over to his truck and get some cigarettes. Now there is no such thing as just "hopping out" of a bull dozer. You have to walk down the tracks to get down. So this guy just leaves the thing plowing, walks down the moving tracks, hops off then crawls his way back into the cab. Iv stopped talking at this point to watch the potential impending doom and the other operator says "what"? I said that guy was an idiot and the operator I was talking to thought I was dumb for criticizing him. This is the machine he left running http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/file...and_Ripper.jpg
Iv found a lot of rigged crap on these machines so far. The shut down solenoid on one was rigged so that the machine never shuts off until you close a ball valve on the fuel line that someone installed. But they said its fine. All you have to do is pump the hand pump and spray a can of starting fluid in the intake to get the air out of the system. I was wondering why there was an entire case of starting fluid in the cab. A new shut down solenoid is $100. Hope it never has low oil pressure. I find random pieces of metal shoved in between battery cables all the time. Fuel filters completely bypassed and owners wondering how come it needs injectors/pumps. Machines with no air filters. And all sorts of interesting wiring. Im gonna start taking pictures of the odd things I find and post them.

[bard]

Does the owner of said rigs/company care more about them running today vs the added expenses and injury liabilities?

[jefehbk]

Does the owner of said rigs/company care more about them running today vs the added expenses and injury liabilities?

People/companies never seem to look at short term expenses for long term gains. why spend 1k today for a problem not realizing it may cost 10k down the road to fix the original 1k problem.