so called "mechanic" at my work.
#51
PT's Slowest Truck
iTrader: (19)
I always find it funny too, that many of these know-it-alls who aren't currently mechanics or technicians always claim that they " used to be a mechanic"...the guy who drove the coffee truck who came to one of the dealerships that I worked at always would try and interject when he overheard some of us talking...he had no idea what he was talking about but he " used to be a mechanic"
#53
You guys should try living in toronto... although I do not consider myself a mechanic or a technician, I am decent with all aspects of a vehicle as I've torn apart a few cars and put a camaro back together 100% by myself. Worked on a few old small blocks as well. A 305, 350 and a 383.
I learned through books, the internet and old retired guys who had nice muscle cars back home in nova-scotia.
What scares the crap out of me is how I haven't found a single shop worker who has been able to tell me more than I already know here in toronto.
Amongst the worst was:
When I needed to have my truck inspected, I was standing next to the young mechanic so he started saying how he liked my truck and asked me how I found the fuel economy. I told him approx 17city/22highway. He was all amazed and said "wow, don't these things normally do 6-8 MPG." I was surprise someone who worked on cars said such a thing. He then asked me how much the truck could tow with the the small mods I had on. I said, approx 7500 - 8500lb is the recommended. He then laughed and said "What? These are suppose to pull close to 60 000lb aren't they? I then told him that you'd be lucky to find a dually with a diesel that can tow 20 000lb. He then looked at me and said that I was a bit confused. I was shocked, but didn't want to say anything because he was inspecting my truck and didn't want to **** him off.
Last year, my White collared Indian friend had problems with his 2006 mitsubishi crossover. His tires were wearing out very quickly on the inside. I told him it could be the camber that may be off for some reason and since he was under warranty to simply have them adjust the tires and verify why the cambers were off to begin with. He took my advice and went. They told him that the reason his camber had been off to begin with was because he was carrying loads that were too heavy for his vehicle!!! To start with...these things are made to tow approx 3500lb. He has a small wife, two young boys and doesn't tow a thing. So even if this was a possible answer, they were full of ****. They didn't believe him when he said that he didn't have much weight on the vehicle and that he'd be charged next time due to negligence.
Then when I installed my LPP headers, it took me at least a dozen calls for anyone to understand what band clamps were. The only person who knew about them was a performance shop owner living out of the city who had to tell me where to get them. The shop he directed me to didn't even know what band clamps were, had to find them in the proper isle myself and point it out to the owner.
When I needed to have my oil pan on my 1993 Saturn replaced, one saturn dealership told me they were no longer qualified to work on those year saturns and the other said the job could cost close to 1200$ as they needed to remove the engine. I ended up doing it myself by simply removing an engine mount and swapping the pan in a period of 3 hours with the help of a forum.
It kills me as well when I have small parts that need replacing like TPS sensors, IAC valves, header studs, etc because no one anywhere at any shop have been able to understand what these things were or did.
This whole city is full of "mechanics" who know nothing. Perhaps because 90% of them are immigrants who only obtained knowledge from crappy schools? It's a huge difference from smaller city mechanics. This is why I do everything myself. A technician from small cities who have experience such as most of you guys would make a killing out here if people knew the difference.
I learned through books, the internet and old retired guys who had nice muscle cars back home in nova-scotia.
What scares the crap out of me is how I haven't found a single shop worker who has been able to tell me more than I already know here in toronto.
Amongst the worst was:
When I needed to have my truck inspected, I was standing next to the young mechanic so he started saying how he liked my truck and asked me how I found the fuel economy. I told him approx 17city/22highway. He was all amazed and said "wow, don't these things normally do 6-8 MPG." I was surprise someone who worked on cars said such a thing. He then asked me how much the truck could tow with the the small mods I had on. I said, approx 7500 - 8500lb is the recommended. He then laughed and said "What? These are suppose to pull close to 60 000lb aren't they? I then told him that you'd be lucky to find a dually with a diesel that can tow 20 000lb. He then looked at me and said that I was a bit confused. I was shocked, but didn't want to say anything because he was inspecting my truck and didn't want to **** him off.
Last year, my White collared Indian friend had problems with his 2006 mitsubishi crossover. His tires were wearing out very quickly on the inside. I told him it could be the camber that may be off for some reason and since he was under warranty to simply have them adjust the tires and verify why the cambers were off to begin with. He took my advice and went. They told him that the reason his camber had been off to begin with was because he was carrying loads that were too heavy for his vehicle!!! To start with...these things are made to tow approx 3500lb. He has a small wife, two young boys and doesn't tow a thing. So even if this was a possible answer, they were full of ****. They didn't believe him when he said that he didn't have much weight on the vehicle and that he'd be charged next time due to negligence.
Then when I installed my LPP headers, it took me at least a dozen calls for anyone to understand what band clamps were. The only person who knew about them was a performance shop owner living out of the city who had to tell me where to get them. The shop he directed me to didn't even know what band clamps were, had to find them in the proper isle myself and point it out to the owner.
When I needed to have my oil pan on my 1993 Saturn replaced, one saturn dealership told me they were no longer qualified to work on those year saturns and the other said the job could cost close to 1200$ as they needed to remove the engine. I ended up doing it myself by simply removing an engine mount and swapping the pan in a period of 3 hours with the help of a forum.
It kills me as well when I have small parts that need replacing like TPS sensors, IAC valves, header studs, etc because no one anywhere at any shop have been able to understand what these things were or did.
This whole city is full of "mechanics" who know nothing. Perhaps because 90% of them are immigrants who only obtained knowledge from crappy schools? It's a huge difference from smaller city mechanics. This is why I do everything myself. A technician from small cities who have experience such as most of you guys would make a killing out here if people knew the difference.
Last edited by SUPERCHARGE; 02-17-2010 at 07:32 PM.
#54
On The Tree
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Battle Creek or Marshall, MI
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I work at a chevy dealer and our last service writer told a customer to cut off his catylitic convertor and his car would run better, then he told another customer that the new camaros had the big V8, you know, the 350, he constantly told customers that they should go to Auto Zone for parts, which figured, since he was previously fired from Auto Zone for being incompetent
#55
PT's Slowest Truck
iTrader: (19)
Yessir, my role has changed over the last few years, but I still work in the shop. I was a Toyota Master Diagnostic technician for a few different dealerships here in Jersey, and one in New York, and I had a short stint as a Toyota training instructor also. I now work for Lexus but I'm no longer flat rate. I do a lot of interior work such as removing dash pads, headliners, etc., while trying to combat our ever-present rattles that our Lexus customers will not tolerate. I also tackle pretty much all of our hard electrical problems (which there aren't many of unfortunately...I love electrical), and in-between all that I'm on call from 9 to 5 for our roadside assistance...I like those calls, that's when I get my coffee with whatever tip money I make lol. I've been with Toyota/Lexus since 92, and worked for a bunch of different dealerships in high school, after college, etc. Before settling in with this manufacturer, I worked for a Pontiac/Hyundai/Suzuki store, Chevy, PDI'd Cadillacs, mounted tires and slung oil at Firestone and Goodyear...and worked in my dad's machine shop where he builds race engines. I was younger when I worked for my pop, and spent many many hours glass beading cylinder heads, and once in a while got to assemble those heads The automotive thing kinda runs in the family.
#57
...
One of my buddy's had a SBC replace in his full size blazer. The thing was leaking oil like crazy about a week later. He took it back to the shop and the oil pan was about to fall OFF!. They saw the new tires he had just put on and said "oh, you just out those tires on? The old tires must have been out of balance and shook the oil pan bolts loose"
One of my buddy's had a SBC replace in his full size blazer. The thing was leaking oil like crazy about a week later. He took it back to the shop and the oil pan was about to fall OFF!. They saw the new tires he had just put on and said "oh, you just out those tires on? The old tires must have been out of balance and shook the oil pan bolts loose"
I work at a chevy dealer and our last service writer told a customer to cut off his catalytic convertor and his car would run better, then he told another customer that the new camaros had the big V8, you know, the 350, he constantly told customers that they should go to Auto Zone for parts, which figured, since he was previously fired from Auto Zone for being incompetent
#58
Launching!
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Zachary,Louisiana
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ok ok my turn, i was told that putting headers on a car,truck etc makes them unreliable and they will just have problems,
i also have a buddy who has a cammmed ls1 in a tahoe and a guy came up to him and said that his stock z71 is faster cause he has 120 on the speedo while my buddy has 100 knowing that my friend has a "vette" motor,lol....
i also have a buddy who has a cammmed ls1 in a tahoe and a guy came up to him and said that his stock z71 is faster cause he has 120 on the speedo while my buddy has 100 knowing that my friend has a "vette" motor,lol....
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