What are you working on today?

Heck even cooling system stuff I'm not comfortable releasing until I've driven a few miles. Even if I can verify the t-stat is opening while idling at my shop I still want to get it on the road and just have the vehicle experience actual driving conditions.

Maybe I'm wasting time but it's my name on the repair and I look incompetent if there's an immediate problem
 
mattd said:
Finally got around to putting this 1.6 ecoboost fusion together. For those that don’t remember this one was a man made issue/error that damaged several valves and guides. The timing locks and tools are a must as there are no keys for any cam or crank gears/balancer. Just about guaranteed to not get it right without them. Sorry no more photos was under alot of time pressure.
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I vividly remember the first time I ran into keyless timing components.....2.3L DOHC in a Ford Ranger.

Edit, I take that back.....The GM DOHC 3.4L was the first, But we had the tools & had a lot of factory training before I ever touched one.
 
D60 said:
Heck even cooling system stuff I'm not comfortable releasing until I've driven a few miles. Even if I can verify the t-stat is opening while idling at my shop I still want to get it on the road and just have the vehicle experience actual driving conditions.

Maybe I'm wasting time but it's my name on the repair and I look incompetent if there's an immediate problem
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Yes sir....Everyone makes mistakes & rarely are things perfect in the automotive repair industry especially the aftermarket parts side.

I also make a habit of test driving (If Possible) before diag/repairs.
 
It was raining today, I didn’t feel like going into the office and/or yoga.

Pulled the Ranger into the garage, it fits. I’m not planning on doing the mechanical work until Saturday(soggy weekend, Rock has shipped half the parts), but I pulled the radio, bezel and the HVAC panel. Put in new 194 bulbs in. That thing was driving me nuts.
 
nthach said:
It was raining today, I didn’t feel like going into the office and/or yoga.

Pulled the Ranger into the garage, it fits. I’m not planning on doing the mechanical work until Saturday(soggy weekend, Rock has shipped half the parts), but I pulled the radio, bezel and the HVAC panel. Put in new 194 bulbs in. That thing was driving me nuts.
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My first car was an '80 Audi 5k. The HVAC illumination bulb would fail and getting at it was an extraordinary ordeal of lying on your back and contorting your hand to reach up there.

Even as an extremely durable teen I was only able to do it with the front seats removed
 
D60 said:
My first car was an '80 Audi 5k. The HVAC illumination bulb would fail and getting at it was an extraordinary ordeal of lying on your back and contorting your hand to reach up there.

Even as an extremely durable teen I was only able to do it with the front seats removed
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Just when I thought torture was installing aftermarket alarms or servicing the intermediate steering shaft.
 
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clinebarger said:
Test driving a vehicle after repairs is a basic responsibility of the mechanic that performed the repairs....It's part of the job!!

Sure....Certain things like Batteries, Bulbs, Oil changes (Express Lane) doesn't require it, But Brake & Suspension work definitely requires it.

Who supervises these people? Do y'all not have a Shop Foreman/Manager?
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We do. We had two but one moved to a different position in the company. The other one sits in his office all day and you rarely see him unless you mess something up. The guy who done it has been there since the 80s and they don’t bother him. They let him get away with a lot of stuff. Same for just about all the flat rate guys. It took him 3 hours to do the front brakes like it typically does. Not judging on time as he is almost 80 years old but you would think taking that long should result in an error free brake job. But yes I’m one of the few who tests drives vehicles after repair.
 
clinebarger said:
Test driving a vehicle after repairs is a basic responsibility of the mechanic that performed the repairs....It's part of the job!!

Sure....Certain things like Batteries, Bulbs, Oil changes (Express Lane) doesn't require it, But Brake & Suspension work definitely requires it.

Who supervises these people? Do y'all not have a Shop Foreman/Manager?
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🤣🤣
 
Put new batteries in my '19 JL 3.6. I'm really beginning to despise the stupid dual battery system -- the additional tiny AUX14 seems to do nothing meaningful.

I'm tempted to just defeat the system and run on a single battery like most everything on the planet.

Also I found the black JK fender clips work fine on the JL with a tiny bit of trimming to the fender
 
I changed the water heater anode, and flushed the beast

I assembled/fabbed the Harbor Fright mobile base for my planer. Wow. The hardware took standard wrenches, but the the threads were neither standard or metric! Plus they shorted three bolts and the instructions were worse than terrible. I've had and expect just a bit better from HF. Yeah I know.
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clinebarger said:
I vividly remember the first time I ran into keyless timing components.....2.3L DOHC in a Ford Ranger.

Edit, I take that back.....The GM DOHC 3.4L was the first, But we had the tools & had a lot of factory training before I ever touched one.
Click to expand...

You could probably get away with not pinning the cams (at the belt) when just doing a belt but I wasn’t taking any chances. Definitely need to fit a flat bar in the back of the cams and use the cam gear locks when installing the VVT sprockets on the cams. The crankshaft is the biggest thing to keep still. The guy who was working on it before me cranked the engine by the starter with the TDC pin in the block and blew the threads out and bent the tool then proceeded to shove an M10 bolt in the hole while drawing a line on the bolt so you know how far to thread it in, but also stripped the hole out larger rendering that hole useless. So I found true TDC with a dial indicator, marked the crank against the block, and pinned the flywheel. Only way to keep it still that way. It WILL move when you tighten the balancer if it’s not pinned.
 
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Yesterday I did some tidying up around the shop. Then checked out a "real bad vibration" on a 97 f-150. Inside of the front wheels were packed with mud. Took them off and washed it all out, no more vibration.
 
Tire rotation time for the wife's car... only thing is... I put the snows onto my car. Which means I need to jack my car up, steal one wheel, then I can do the rotation on her car. Doah! that's what, 6 wheels off and on?

[My old car has 14" wheels, but it turns out, the 16" set I have bolts on just fine. I had an old set of snows that needed to be used up, so... on they went.]
 
A brutal cold snap a few weeks ago must of taken its toll, water must be getting in again. The chimney cap was smooth and crack free when I checked last Summer. Did a temporary Bondex Cement patch job until I can get some used bricks and mortar.

Tough getting the 26' ladder up and climbing onto the roof in the Winter with snow and ice.

I hope there is a brick-and-mortar store still open near me! :)

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Kennedy01 said:
Yesterday I did some tidying up around the shop. Then checked out a "real bad vibration" on a 97 f-150. Inside of the front wheels were packed with mud. Took them off and washed it all out, no more vibration.
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During the winter and spring this is needed at least 3x per vehicle around here! I scrape 'em out with plastic "mudding" scrapers from HD
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This weekend:
  • Diagnose sister in law's Jeep (think it will be a bad CV shaft)
  • Oil change and replace side mirror on wife's Expedition
  • Install axle seal on Dana 35 (Grand Cherokee) and full rear brake job (rotors, parking brake shoes, calipers and pads)
  • Trip to auto license place to buy tabs
  • Replace kitchen sink faucet in RV
Then back to the real job on Monday. Sigh.
 
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