kenk

Gonzo: yep, you got to use a rental for a trip like that! What did you say to the rental company because they usually ask where you going to be driving it? some restrict usage to in state only!

Gonzo: Some customers will for what ever reason, feel they are entitled to get a free repair and will keep trying to achieve this, whatever it takes!

Gonzo: I would say that lot's of public schools don't even offer auto mechanics classes and even electronics which is what I took up. Probably because it's just not practical or too expensive to do such!

rust never rests, so the war goes on and on!

it's amazing what folks go through just thinking they might save a few dollars. If they approached it from a different point of view, like what could go wrong by doing it this way, they be making better decisions and saving money in the long run!

gonzo: this might surprise you, but after they replace the drivers with electronically controlled devices they wil lbe working on replacing pit crews with the like. I don't see any end to what can be replaced with electronics!

Gonzo: you didn't mention the one's that get dropped off without any story, and you have to figure out what's wrong or what the customer wants you to do!

Once I heard an engineer say why they make car so difficult to work on. He said they are built from the standpoint of assembly, so that they are built to keep assembly and part cost down. Repairing them is not a concern, at least not initially!

gonzo: I wish intermittent problems would be as simple as diagnosing a refrigerator light that does not come on all the time!

gonzo: Over the years one of my considerations in owning a vehicle was how easy it is to change spark plugs. One thing they have improved on that you did not mention is on newer vehicles you see "Iridium" type plugs being used, good for over 100,000 miles, at least that's the claim! So you don't have to do it as much. If your in the business of reparing cars, I don't know if that's a good thing, but for the automobile owner I guess it is.

Also, what about the vehicles that used "wasted spark" This meant you had to change two spark plugs per cylinder. Gonzo, I bet you could come up with stories just on this one , trying to explain this to customers why a 4 cylinder needs 8 spark plugs replaced!

gonzo: well said and let's hope we will be in demand, else some of us will have to find another career!

gonzo: good story, we all can relate to.

Gonzo: is that why shops have come up with an answer to this. can't have you in the shop because our insurance does not allow it!

Wonder that they would say if you told them I will look at your vehicle tell you what's wrong for free. Would you allow me to do that, without questioning me?

Reminds me of those signs you see in small towns "Mechanic on duty" Oh is that so and how good are you!anyone can put up a sign like that!

Gonzo: I remember this story because of the word "Release". Misprints can be funny or make you think a lot more then you should!

gonzo: I guess your talking about "snake oils" and such. Yes, you can only buy them on late night tv. I did at one time see them in the back of magazines like popular science. Remember Slick 50?

Gonzo: A technician should be paid for his time regardless of how much time it takes to either diagnosis and or repair. Anything else is marketing or selling and should be considered advertising to justify the cost!

gonzo: that's pretty much how most of us got started in our field of work. Hobbies lead to interest and we decided maybe I could do this for a living and in my case I did. That was a time when electronics really came on strong in the industry. It was just before personal computers came on and just after the first micro chip the 8080 cpu was born!

Speaking of talent, I can say there were many in my place of work that had it. Most are gone now for various reasons,(retirement, moving on to other more challenging jobs,etc) the business changed over the years, which I am sorry to say. Boy,I can say we had some talent back in the day. There were guys that could take a piece of crappy working equipment, modify it and make it work much better. Yes that was in the day when the company designed their own equipment, now everything is pretty much bought off the shelf!

We have some DIY'rr's in electronics repair. The worse ones try to strip down some piece of equipment and do what I call is an "autopsy" of the thing and just send back the parts, when they give up! They are looking for something they just can't find!

maybe if they used old fashion email they would not abbreviate so much or something older like a phone they would not have to abbreviate!

There is still some sanity in the things i still repair, mainly because most of insanity items we used to work on (the stuff that drives you crazy) is gone and I no longer have to work on them.

Gonzo: the same could be said of some of the early computers and line printers, and disk drives, I worked on over 20 years ago. They made distinctive sounds as you powered them up. today most computers are very quiet and you just don't hear much and like in autos much of the stuff has gone away!

It's definitely more replace then repair today with respect to electronics. This does not mean you need to know less about how it works. With modules controlling lot's in most cases you end up getting to the bad part that much sooner and in the long run a faster repair!