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What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?



 
 
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  #381  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
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Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

wrote:

> You paid $90 to find that out. Consider it money well spent and move
> on with your life.


Actually, I paid $100 to watch him and ask questions where I watched
EVERYTHING he did, since I want to do the job myself, some day.

I'll probably NEVER do it ... but I want to.
Ads
  #382  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
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Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

Xeno wrote:

> Up to a point, I agree with you. Where I disagree is that most people
> use them incorrectly (backwards) or size them inappropriately. They are
> no different to an open end spanner when used correctly and, need it be
> said, they are of a decent quality. When working on earthmoving
> equipment, the most common adjustables I used were 15". 18" and 24". You
> have no idea how many different spanners those three adjustables
> replaced. In field work you need to cart *all your tools* with you. You
> always look to minimise that load.


I should have made it clear that I was just kidding about making them
illegal.

I fully understand the *need* for the adustable wrenches, and I have a
Craftsman 3-piece set myself, which I almost never use.

I've probably used one about twenty times in forty years.

My beef is when people use them on "my stuff" when they have a perfectly
good socket wrench in the truck just 100 feet away.
  #383  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
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Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

wrote:

> There are things the dealer KNOWS about the car that the average
> mechanic may NEVER know - things to look for to prevent problems from
> ocurring. - like making sure the diff vent valves on RWD Toyotas are
> free every time the car is on the hoist - meaning you virtualkly NEVER
> need to replace axle bearings and seals - which will leak quickly if
> the vent sticks.


The problem I've had with dealers is they lie like a rug.

I'm sure Indys lie like a rug too, but dealers don't know *more* because
they lie just as much.

More than a few times I brought cars to the dealer under warranty where
they said there was nothing wrong when, years later, I find out that it's a
common problem.

It has happened so many times, in fact, that I assume now that the dealer
is lying to me every time I go there.

If you want examples, I'll tell them to you, but my main point is that it
doesn't matter if the dealer knows more because they lie just as much or,
what they know doesn't trickle down to the guy who tests the vehicle.

This is Toyota and BMW and Infiniti and Nissan mostly though as when I had
American cars, they were used and therefore not under factory warranty.

I went to the Toyota dealership last week for a part and I was dismayed
totally at the lack of knowledge of the guy behind the counter.

So I UNDERSTAND you that the dealer *SHOULD* know better.
My experience is that they're worse than the Indy in terms of knowledge.

>>I have nothing against the dealer except one thing, which is why they're
>>called the 'stealer'. But that's a biggie.

>
> Some are - some are not. I had the highest customer retention of any
> Toyota dealer in Canada - usually well over 100% - which meant we
> regularly serviced more cars than we sold - even after they were out
> of warranty.


I'm not saying the dealer doesn't do a booming business.
I'm just saying that their prices are twice those of everyone else.
And their work is no better than anyone elses and the parts are the same.

>>The only other reason you go to the dealer is to buy parts that they might
>>stock where you need them now (e.g., you broke a bolt or forget a gasket
>>and you're in the middle of the job) but expect to pay more than double for
>>those parts than anywhere else.

> Not always true. I've found many parts are the same price or cheaper
> at the dealer than at the local jobber - and cheaper than buying from
> Rock Auto and payinf shipping and brokerage.


Never gonna happen. Never. I can *always* find parts at Camelback online
for example, for my Toyotas that are about half the price of the local
dealer every single time.

For my bimmers, autohauzax and Max in Texas are always half the dealer's
prices for the exact same parts.

The dealer is NEVER the place to go for anything, other than something you
need out of inventory. Most of the time when I call ahead, they don't stock
the part, and then I give them a lecture to the tune of "how you gonna sell
anything if your prices are double and you don't even stock the part?".

They tell me they sell plenty of parts at their prices (just not to me).

  #384  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
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Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

wrote:

> They only need to warrant it to the last converter and sensor.


That would be just after the cat, right?
I wonder why then, they made the last half of the system SS too?
  #385  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
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Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

wrote:

> Never seen 30W40 and 0W30 is a synthetic, so MUCH more coke resistant
> than any conventional oil.


I was just making up numbers to show what I had meant by the spread, but
your point is perfectly valid that it can only be applied against the same
type of oil.

> Use the oil recomended by the manufacturer
> - in the case of my Fords and my daughter's Hyundai that is a 5w20 or
> 0W20 synthetic oil - which I change twice a year, which is less than
> 10,000KM per change


We've all seen the never-ending "what oil" threads, where, in the end, the
oil change interval matters more than what oil.

>>If we agree on that concept of coking:spread, then the question is how much
>>does coking actually matter and under what conditions does coking matter?

> No - "spread" does not cause coking. Heat and time does. The
> "spread" in conventional oil means the viscosity index will break down
> faster than a narrow spread - it will loose it's ability to maintain
> viscosity at temperature due to "shearing" of the long-chain polymers
> used in VI improvers.


This is logically tenable.

> High spread synthetic oils suffer a LOT less from this problem - and
> in the vast majority of "coking" problems, the simple expediency of
> changing the oil on the "severe service" schedule will totally
> eliminate the ptoblem.


Also tenable in that changing the oil is more important than what oil.

> Also, the use of the much more chemically
> stable synthetic oil virtually eliminates the problem.


When I have a choice, which is usually at Costco, I take the dino juice
with the lowest spread but I agree that synthetic juice would be better
(for a couple of things) but in the end, the same cost since basically it
lasts twice as long and costs twice as much.

So it's a wash on cost, and on slipperiness, the dino juice works fine.

> Even the "viscosity shear" is NOT a problem with 3000 mile or 5000km
> oil changes.


Yup. Oil changes matter more than what oil we use.
  #386  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
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Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

Xeno wrote:

> Fractionally more than you. I watch the news on TV. That's it.


I get my news off the net.

But someone must be watching TV or cable (I don't have cable either).

My point is only that people spend time watching TV so they can't say that
taking your sweet time doing an oil change is wasted time if they're
wasting time watching "As the World Turns" all day.
  #387  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

Xeno wrote:

> Just add gear to your list and delete pushrod. We are talking about
> driving the *camshaft*. gear, chain, belt. There are a few varieties of
> chain in use; single row, double row, hyvo.


Thanks. Had I done the job even once, I'd know more than I do, so I will
gladly take your word for it that there are three choices and we must pick
one of the three.
1. Gear
2. Belt
3. Chain

We have to pick one.
Which is the most reliable?
  #388  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

wrote:

> You are not drinking the coolade, but you are certainly falling for
> the bull****.


As I said with my lawnmower example, if someone makes a cheaper tool and
passes on the savings to me, I'm all for that.

I buy Craftsman and not SnapOn.
Is SnapOn better? Probably. Almost certainly. Right?
But I don't pay SnapOn prices. I pay Craftsman prices.

However, if someone sells me a cheaper hammer and then tells me it works
better in the snow at breaking ice, I'm gonna call him out on his marketing
bull****.

I get it that a hammer can be made cheaper. I do.
I get it that a hammer's main job has nothing to do with breaking ice in
the snow, but that 10 days out of the year, the snow is deep enough when I
need to get to work that I have to break the ice with that hammer.

But for 355 days of the 365 day year, I'm stuck with that crappy handling
hammer. That's OK if the REASON I bought that crappy handling hammer was
because it was cheap.

It's not ok if I say that the crappy handling hammer handles better than my
hammer in the snow because losing handling 355 days of the year to gain a
smidge of handling in *deep* snow on the 10 days of the year that you have
to drive in it - is just not logical thought processes.

It's OK to admit FWD is cheaper.
It's not OK to lie about what it can do.

That's marketing's job.
  #389  
Old November 6th 17, 04:20 PM posted to alt.home.repair,rec.autos.tech,sci.electronics.repair
RS Wood[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 191
Default What are some car-repair jobs you always wished you could do but have never done?

Xeno wrote:

>> I remember $1000 but they didn't pass that on to the consumer in toto.

>
> Cars are cheaper now than they were when I was a boy.


It would be interesting to look at the normalized price.

A car then, was $5K, and now is $50K so 10x doesn't seem too much off from
even given inflation.

>> I posit they lose handling.

>
> They gain handling as long as they understand it's *different handling*.


Spoken like a true Marketing person!

My RWD car has never seen snow in 20 years except a few runs to Tahoe where
they legally required chains to get there.

Even when I lived in the snow belt ... deep snow was only on the road when
I needed the road for 1 or 2 days of the year, and at max, 10 days out of
365.

Think of that. Lousy handling for 355 days and just barely ok handling in
deep snow for the other 10 days.

The real FWD tradeoff was *never* handling.
It was profits.

>> Maybe FWD is better now ... but I think I'll have to go to my deathbed
>> before owning a FWD car... simply because I don't want to fall for the
>> marketing trap that everyone else easily falls into.
>>

> FWD works for me.


I have nothing against a cheaper tool. Nothing.
A car is a tool.
A FWD is a cheaper tool.

I just have something against someone seriously trying to tell me that his
cheaper lawnmower works better in the snow than does my more expensive
lawnmower.

I work off of logic.
Not marketing bull****.

I never said I was always right though ... so if someone can show me fwd in
the best handling cars on the planet and at a cheap price ... count me in.
 




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