Meeting people as a mechanic.

[Nash B.]

LOL, as I was getting a '93 K2500 that I recently purchased ready for inspection, I found the horn only worked with the ignition on, and only about 2/3 of the time. It was a shitty air horn that sounded like it belonged in a Prius and probably wasn't loud enough to pass anyways. He had 3 all-purpose relays wired up in series going to the horn, after the horn relay in the fuse block under the dash. Luckily he used the original wiring (with T Taps), and the original horns were still behind the grille and functioned (but their were wires cut).

[BP]

. He had 3 all-purpose relays wired up in series going to the horn, after the horn relay in the fuse block under the dash. Luckily he used the original wiring (with T Taps), and the original horns were still behind the grille and functioned (but their were wires cut).

My 96 had a "fast flash" with the turn signals on and I never really worried about it since I only used it to haul 4 wheelers. Also the A/C never seemed to blow on the highest setting. Last time I tried to get it inspected though the tail lamps weren't working so I had to fix it.

What I found was that a previous owner hard wired in a trailer light kit and crimped the grounds together, then the wire wasn't long enough so they crimped on another lead and then screwed it into the frame. I had to drop the spare tire and rip out 10+ feet of wire that was taped into a ball to find it.

Of course in the process of diag I pulled out all of the tail lamp bulbs and being 15+ years old they were all melted into the sockets so I got to replace those as well.

[Nash B.]

I imagine I'm going to find something like that when I replace/rewire the brake controller. It gets hot when a trailer with brakes is connected and puts out 10 volts regardless of what it's set to.

[BP]

I forgot to mention the blower motor worked awesome after repairing the ground to the tail lamp ckt. I assumed the ducting was jacked up or the blend door was stuck. Glad I don't have to jack with it anymore.

[BP]

There are plenty of bad mechanics out there btw. Every day I'll get someone that forgets to replace a transmission filter, install a pump drive on a 5R55 or that didn't bother to even remove the spark plugs on a used engine and it's locked up due to water in the cylinders from pressure washing.

My favorite so far today was a guy with a 2005 Impala we sold a transmission to. It's shifting bad, just like his last one. I asked him what codes it had and he didn't know because he aint got no computer and aint gone pay nobody to check it out. He paid for a good transmission and wants it replaced.

So the guy spent $700 on a used transmission, probably $100 on fluid/filter and spent all day swapping it (8.8 hours book time) but didn't even bother diagnosing the problem on his last one. I know it's probably a pressure control or TCC solenoid related problem but it could be a shorted out O2 sensor as well.

We're sending a replacement anyway and I'm sure will end up giving him a refund eventually.

[Labora]

My favorite so far today was a guy with a 2005 Impala we sold a transmission to. It's shifting bad, just like his last one. I asked him what codes it had and he didn't know because he aint got no computer and aint gone pay nobody to check it out. He paid for a good transmission and wants it replaced.

So the guy spent $700 on a used transmission, probably $100 on fluid/filter and spent all day swapping it (8.8 hours book time) but didn't even bother diagnosing the problem on his last one. I know it's probably a pressure control or TCC solenoid related problem but it could be a shorted out O2 sensor as well.

We're sending a replacement anyway and I'm sure will end up giving him a refund eventually.

I had one almost exactly like that a few weeks ago. Customer gets a transmission from us, and it "is doing same thing as the one I bought from the other guys" so we must have been at least his 2nd one he tried to swap in. I ask him if it is throwing any codes or if it needs to go to dealer to get programed etc. "NO I'm not doing any of that stuff".

I'm sure it will come around for a return sooner or later.

[YALE]

I recently sold some hog traps to a guy that wanted to negotiate for an hour, and finally he just caved in and bought them (we generally don't negotiate on shit like that), then wanted them delivered, which we also don't generally do. He told us not to assemble them, because he was a welder, and would weld them up himself. These have two screws in the whole thing, and otherwise snap together. They don't even have a floor in them. They're just meant to be temporary. He got super mad and called us for a week and yelled at my manager. He wanted us to come assemble them.

[YALE]

Solid gold question of the day: "can I hunt dove with my Taurus Judge?"

Me: "I don't know. Can you?"

[Kart21]

Solid gold question of the day: "can I hunt dove with my Taurus Judge?"

Me: "I don't know. Can you?"

Sure, where ya hunting at??

[LaserSVT]

Had a customer last week ask me to install a new CD player in his Blazer. I told him its $30 for install and $15 for the harness/mount. He said he will come back. He does come back but its because he tried to install the stereo himself. He just went ahead and chopped the factory harness and then couldn't figure out the rest so he tapped all the wires up. Says his headlights don't work now. I pull the switch and see this:




He tapped the illumination wire to ground and it set the switch and harness on fire. He also blew up the new deck. So that $45 install turned into a $25 light switch, new $100 deck, stereo wire trace out ($70) and rewire of the headlight switch at $100. Only had to spend $340 to save $45.

[mstng86]

Can't blame a guy for trying, right?

[LaserSVT]

I can and will. He was told last time he set the electronics in that truck on fire that hes not allowed to play with it. LOL

[mstng86]

ouch, some people just don't learn to back away

[LaserSVT]

He got the bright idea to replace the AC relay and broke it to hell and shorted out its wires which in turn fried the blower motor and resistor pack. $20 repair turned into $240. I am just surprised he came back. I would have been too embarrassed to go back. LOL

[JC316]

Got this 00 lincoln towncar from the auction last night. You can tell that someone took really good care of it, then a special kind of dumb mother fucker got it.

First thing, there is a push button start that is attached to the column with bailing wire. It's a freaking 8AWG wire tapped directly off from the battery, non fused. Inside it's twisted together and has electrical tape over it.

Next up is the seat. It automatically slides back when the key is removed and then goes back to the number 1 setting. Well, he couldn't figure out how to set it, so he wrapped a coat hanger around the track and tied it off. The gears are now stripped.

Every panel on this car is screwed back on, because he couldn't figure out how to remove the clips from the door and put them back on the panel. I am scared to look at any more on this car...