Even mechanics have a bad day

[GotSmart]

Ever since I let a "real" mechanic work on my van I have been having problems.  This is a guy with a shop, 6 lifts, and 5 employees. 

He screwed up the vacuum spiderweb on the TBI.   This had a cascade effect culminating in another blown head gasket.  

I rebuilt everything as well as I could, but it still had a air leak into the cooling system.  

Last week I found a shade tree mechanic that responded to my questions with the right answers.  I gave him all the parts, and dropped the van off on saturday... It would be done tuesday at noon.  Tuesday morning I get a frantic call from him. He had taken his wife to the ER with a stroke.  The van would not be ready at noon, but closer to 4 pm.  No problem.

At 2 pm, I get a call from him asking about an electrical problem.  It had no electrical problem when I dropped it off.  :huh: So I went there to see what was going on.  He could not get it started, the battery was drained, and the coil had no power to it.   :dodgy: He had never had this problem in the 40 years he worked on motors.   :exclamation:

I changed out the coil for a emergency spare I had in the parts bucket, and got a backfire out of the carb.   :huh:  That proved fuel and fire.  It was getting late, so I used my roadside insurance to get Old Grumpy back to the kids place.  

I started to look at pictures of the van motor from the last few times I had worked on it. ~~~  Sure enough he had replaced the wires wrong.  I moved them all one place back, cleaned the plugs, added another 2 1/2 gallons of coolant and Old Grumpy is purring like my cat sitting on Beth (Almost There) and blocking her from going online.

Now all I need is a release from my Dr. and I can hit the road again.

The mechanic was so worried about his wife that he missed a simple detail.  I really can't blame him one bit.

 

[cyndi]

Very frustrating but I love that you're ready to hit the road! That's wonderful and maybe worth the aggrivation???

 

[rvpopeye]

Glad it was something simple and you have it running well.

 

[sassypickins]

Wow, fortitude and photos to refer to. Good stuff.

 

[GotSmart]

That sure gave a boost to my confidence.  

The next warm day I will clean up the mess the new guy made of my wiring harness.  Nothing wrong with it, except it looks bad.  I have to unplug everything and run it in the channel.

 

[highdesertranger]

great news. does that mean with the docs ok you will be at RTR. highdesertranger

 

[GotSmart]

I still have a couple more months of sitting around letting my body recover from the last stroke.  

I am working on getting my kids situated in a place where I am not on the lease.  Things are in the works ~~~

 

[Gunny]

It's good to read you are doing better, best wishes....Rob

 

[BradKW]

He had taken his wife to the ER with a stroke.  The van would not be ready at noon, but closer to 4 pm. 

I feel like I used to be a normal person, but 16+ years in the transient subtropics has completely jaded me. I read the above quote and immediately assume it's a lie... wife has stroke and it adds, what, 4 hours to estimated time? 

I don't really like being this way. It sucks to be on the phone with someone telling you they won't be to work because a family member died, and instead of feeling compassion, all that runs through my head is "probably bullsh*t". 

Anyway...IMO your mechanic was lying  

 

[user 2252]

Good Job John!

 

[GotSmart]

I feel like I used to be a normal person, but 16+ years in the transient subtropics has completely jaded me. I read the above quote and immediately assume it's a lie... wife has stroke and it adds, what, 4 hours to estimated time? 

I don't really like being this way. It sucks to be on the phone with someone telling you they won't be to work because a family member died, and instead of feeling compassion, all that runs through my head is "probably bullsh*t". 

Anyway...IMO your mechanic was lying  

He had no reason to lie.  He was in the ER since the wee hours of the morning, and was getting ready to go out the door to take her home.   He knew that I did not need a reason for a delay.  NBD.  He was giving me a heads up to not expect it when promised.  I had not paid him, so the longer it took only hurt him. 

My first wife was Hawaiian, so I know about the "Maybe tomorra I will tink about doin de work"  attitude.  Not so with hillbillies.  If a working man makes you a promise, he will do everything to make it so.  There is a stubborn Scott pride that has been carried for many generations. 

I talked with about 15 mobile mechanics before I picked this one. 

He called this afternoon to check up on the van.  We both knew that something simple was being missed.  As long as the heavy work was done, I was happy.

 

[Almost There]

Glad it's now purring along like Tigger does!

And it can't be any too soon for you to get back out on the road!!

 

[rvpopeye]

I've got a mechanic like that.
The best part is he has two son's that he brought up right.
They are part owners as well as mechanics at the family garage!

 

[ccbreder]

Glad your wheels are back to running and you seem close to being back. I am in the process of "re-arranging" my vacuum controls. Could you detail how your vacuum mistake lead to a blown head gasket? I don't want to setup that condition.

 

[GotSmart]

I wish I knew.  

All the old time mechanics I have asked tell me that the two are connected, and I should sue the garage that screwed up the lines.  

If I completely understood it, I could justify legal action.  I just know that six (6) different lines were either moved, leaking, or completely disconnected. Hoses were switched on the TBI unit.  Parts were changed that were new. Plug wires were sliced, and the distributer was moved.  I made a 50 mile drive immediately after getting the van back, and it overheated.  It looks like the new kid was playing with it, and pissed off. 

Just follow the manual carefully, and make sure the lines are sealed.

 

[Goshawk]

This is kind of a good reminder to go in there while it is all running and put some labels on wires and tubes. How hard is that to do while its all running? labels are cheap too.

1) label all the distributor wires and which cylinder they go to. use the numbering scheme that the manufacturer uses.
2) use alphabetical labels on the vacuum tubes and create an index for yourself on your smartphone. email it to yourself and your storage.
3) take pictures of everything with the cellphone.
4) use colored electrical tape and place strategic colors around certain device systems.

this should be an RTR service. hell I would pay someone for an hour to do this for me. $20 to $30. just labels and index

 

[GotSmart]

This is kind of a good reminder to go in there while it is all running and put some labels on wires and tubes.  How hard is that to do while its all running?  labels are cheap too.  

1)  label all the distributor wires and which cylinder they go to.  use the numbering scheme that the manufacturer uses.
2)  use alphabetical labels on the vacuum tubes and create an index for yourself on your smartphone.  email it to yourself and your storage.
3)  take pictures of everything with the cellphone.
4)  use colored electrical tape and place strategic colors around certain device systems.

this should be an RTR service.  hell I would pay someone for an hour to do this for me.  $20 to $30.  just labels and index

Taking pictures is the only thing that saved me.  

When VonBrown helped me with my blown head gasket in 2015, all the vacuum lines were brittle and snapped off.  I had to piece them together from the photos and the Hanes manual.  I am glad I had a roll of vacuum hose and fittings in my parts bin.

Take a picture, then move over a few inches and take another.  The little details make a huge difference.  Especially on the older vehicles that are not factory supported.  When dodge "restructured" during the first "economic crisis" a lot of old parts and information was tossed to make way for "improvement". 

I tried to find a manual for my TBI system, and even the state library system had nothing.  

Most fittings have unique plugs, so that was not a problem.  I spent an hour looking for where a unused plug went, then I remembered I had removed the AC system.

 

[GotSmart]

UPDATE

Taking care of te details now.  today I got in a new oil sender switch.  The old one was leaking oil out the top.  I also received a new radiator.  There was a wet spot under the van, with no obvious leak. Upon closer inspection the base of the radiator was wet.  Change it now, or tow it later.

Too bad it is 26* outside, with a sheet of ice on everything.  Tomorrow a warm 39, so maby.  

 

[B and C]

Too bad it is 26* outside, with a sheet of ice on everything.  Tomorrow a warm 39, so maby.  

Let's hope for a balmy 40+!

 

[GotSmart]

Today it got to a tropical 49*  So I went out to change my radiator.  

I start digging in my tools, and immediately see I am missing half of my metric wrenches.  

No proof, but the last place this box was without me was at the mechanics.  If someone at the apartments took them, they just would have taken the whole tool box.  

No big deal having to buy $30 worth of new wrenches, I just hate not having the proper tool when needed. 

I pull the old radiator without much trouble, then find that the mounting holes for the fan shroud are slightly too large.   This is where buying extra hardware comes in handy.     Nice new bolts and lock nuts.  PRICELESS!