There are just some days I wish I didn't turn wrenches

[Fless]

I guess I will understand what you mean by "pull down the rod to take the slack out of it". When I get there.

Pulling down rod does what?

There can be a little slack in the connection to the outside handle especially if the handle spring is a little weak, so pulling down or putting downward pressure on the rod as you close the hinge will take up that slack. Before you close up everything, check the outside handle to make sure there's no slack -- or just a little -- when you pull up on it.

 

[OR VietVet]

Received the "intake air resonator" today for the 2010 F150 job. Had to cut the old spring clamp off because in the previous pics you can see the broken part and to try and dig it off of there would likely cause the plastic snorkel to break on snout of the reusable section that fits on top of the throttle body. Installed everything and then wiped down the area to look better.

 

[OR VietVet]

Big as I am, I might still be able to get away with this.

 

[justchecking]

The final special tool I need for the widow of an AL friend that passed, 2005 Tahoe driver's door hinge pins work, is here. Now I can pick a sunny day and schedule the work. Gonna be doing a door latch actuator on the same door and a new blower motor and resistor, as well. Gonna be a busy day, in my driveway, when I do that work. I always like to do the harder job first, so that will be the hinge pins. As before, pics and a write up to follow.

View attachment 449793

View attachment 449794

I need to thank the German railroad (Deutchesbahn) for helping fix my Opel Rekord 1700 back in 1980. I friend of mine worked there and he made essentially that tool on Deutchesbahn time so we could replace my door.

 

[OR VietVet]

Every now and then, I check at Indeed for service writer/advisor positions and have been called in to 3 different local shops for interviews and hired at all 3, BUT, 2 were in sections of town with lots of homeless in the area and 1 had an owner that was a turd and his other advisor was a guy that had a rep in town as a rip off. I do fine at home and would go back to running shops but only for the right money and shop and owner and neighborhood.....etc. Had 3 other dealers reach out but I said no without even an interview.

I have another hit on my resume at a shop that is in an adjoining town that has different/way stricter homeless laws and you just do not see homeless in that town. Got the notice today and will see what happens after weekend.

 

[OR VietVet]

Being retired, the position and pay would have to be a great fit. Their pay range is $55k to $80K. With my experience and certifications, there is no way I work 5 days a week for less than $70k to $75k a year. One of the shops that close to the homeless population had a range of $45k to $70k and he thought I should be at $45k to $50k to start. I walked.

The thing about this shop that is now looking, is that they had an ad at Indeed and at CL for the same position and then the ad was gone and this was about 5 months ago. Now the ad is up again. Guy either told them to screw off or he did not have the ability.

 

[OR VietVet]

It was a standard "pep talk" interview and there will be another after they send me a questionnaire to fill out and send back. The questions were mainly, "Tell me 3 things about yourself, that other people do not know". How did I get started in the business? Tell me something good your friends would say about you and something bad they would say about you. What is the salary I would be willing to start at? Able to work 5 days a week and when can I start.

What do I know about the shop? What have I heard about the shop?

All this took place over a 15 minute period. I was not impressed, really. I am wanting to write service at a light truck/auto repair shop, not talk about my feelings and desires.

It was an independent company out of Colorado doing this.

 

[Fless]

It was a standard "pep talk" interview and there will be another after they send me a questionnaire to fill out and send back. The questions were mainly, "Tell me 3 things about yourself, that other people do not know". How did I get started in the business? Tell me something good your friends would say about you and something bad they would say about you. What is the salary I would be willing to start at? Able to work 5 days a week and when can I start.

What do I know about the shop? What have I heard about the shop?

All this took place over a 15 minute period. I was not impressed, really. I am wanting to write service at a light truck/auto repair shop, not talk about my feelings and desires.

It was an independent company out of Colorado doing this.

We're all about your feelings, here in the People's Republic of Colorado.

Don't hold back now, Ron, tell us how you really feel! Oops, there are those feelings again...

 

[TollKeeper]

It was a standard "pep talk" interview and there will be another after they send me a questionnaire to fill out and send back. The questions were mainly, "Tell me 3 things about yourself, that other people do not know". How did I get started in the business? Tell me something good your friends would say about you and something bad they would say about you. What is the salary I would be willing to start at? Able to work 5 days a week and when can I start.

What do I know about the shop? What have I heard about the shop?

All this took place over a 15 minute period. I was not impressed, really. I am wanting to write service at a light truck/auto repair shop, not talk about my feelings and desires.

It was an independent company out of Colorado doing this.

Sounds like Christian Brothers?

 

[OR VietVet]

That is the kind of interview that will end up being done with the person they hire. Will work for the lowest wage of $55k a year, I told them no less than $70k a year.

Will have maybe 2 years experience and will kiss everyone's ass and will not know how to handle a belligerent tech. If I ever had a tech that gave me grief, we did not talk in the shop. We went where no one could see us. I would ask if he/she was having a hard day, something wrong at home, personal problems.....etc. I would try to find out what was going on and just try to understand. I would not try to fix it. You let a tech do crap like that and get away with it, then the shop will go to hell. Seen it happen. If the guy/girl needs to take a day or two off, all good.

After being in shops for 40+ years, I have literally seen it all.

 

[Tahoe14]

What the hell kind of questions are those. Boy are things different when interviewing for a job now. Glad I am past all that. I don’t think I could give them what they want to hear whatever that may be. I think hard pass on that company. I like the way described that you would handle an employee having an issue. When I worked at the Sheriffs Office as a Supervisor that is almost text book on how we dealt with subordinates. Getting into a screaming match accomplishes absolutely nothing and is not professional. We are suppose to be setting an example. I think something will come up that will be a good fit for you.

 

[OR VietVet]

Perfect for me would be a mom and pop shop with 9 to 5 hours that does good work and does not push unneeded work all the time. I have no problem recommending maintenance work at the scheduled intervals and selling needed repairs and warning that we may find more during disassembly or the recommendation of replacing something while in there or because it came off to reach the problem part. I like the pics convenience for the customer too. I hate high pressure sales and I have a feeling this shop may do that.

I, 1.5 years ago, had an 80 year old female member from my American Legion, take her Lexus car to a shop owned by an American Legion member's son and she had a surging problem at highway speed and the shop diagnosed as needing the transmission replaced. The word got back to me about it. The woman is a widow of American Legion long time member and a saint. Great cook too. I looked at it and looked at the shop paperwork. It did not show they added any transmission fluid and when I checked the fluid level, it was 2 quarts low. I added 2 quarts and took her for a test drive. The transmission performed normally. She was amazed. I dropped her at her house and took it to my house and found a very steady drip leak at the pan. I went and got a filter kit and did the repair and refilled and delivered back. 1.5 years later, is still driving fine.

This scenario really pissed me off. I confronted the American Legion father of shop owner and he made excuses for the son. I then went to shop and confronted the tech and the son. I was pissed for 2 reasons. The sales tactic and sending her out of the shop 2 quarts low on transmission fluid. They had excuse after excuse. I told them that I would spread the word at the American Legion. I did. I also said that because of driving the vehicle 2 quarts low, there could eventually be transmission problems, as I told the father and son and tech, but I told them the fluid is getting her by and that warning should have been told to her instead of the $8k estimate for a new transmission.

The other part of the story that I have not told yet, is this, The father owned the shop when I moved here in 1995 and he was the first shop I worked at as a service advisor. I left the shop after 9 months because of pressure selling tactics. The shop owner now son, I watched that kid grow up. His father turned him that way.

 

[Tahoe14]

That’s a damn shame. I don’t blame you for confronting them. No excuse for that crap and taking advantage of people. We just had a shop here get busted and the business shut done for pulling the same crap. It made the local news so everyone got to see it. Hopefully if they open back up no one will go there for repairs. Greedy bastards ripping people off.

 

[Tonyrodz]

That’s a damn shame. I don’t blame you for confronting them. No excuse for that crap and taking advantage of people. We just had a shop here get busted and the business shut done for pulling the same crap. It made the local news so everyone got to see it. Hopefully if they open back up no one will go there for repairs. Greedy bastards ripping people off.

I'm glad that shop was exposed.

 

[OR VietVet]

That’s a damn shame. I don’t blame you for confronting them. No excuse for that crap and taking advantage of people. We just had a shop here get busted and the business shut done for pulling the same crap. It made the local news so everyone got to see it. Hopefully if they open back up no one will go there for repairs. Greedy bastards ripping people off.

When they reopen, they may be the most honest shop in town. Hell, if they were close, I would want to write service there.

 

[OR VietVet]

The 2005 Tahoe LS got dropped off at 3 today and then I took her home and came back and removed the door step sill, the kick panel cover and the side dash fuse cover. Located the ONE connector and harness that plugs in at the fuse box, right behind the cover, and then feeds down behind kick panel cover and then thru the hole where from the outside, the rubber boot/umbilical cord attaches. Disconnected and fed it all the way thru and then plugged back in for the night. I will remove hinge bolts and limiting strap bolt and lift the door straight up and off the hinge pins. Then I will be grinding off the swelled bottoms of the pins, 4 of them, use my special press tool to push the old pins out and then bolt in the new hinge pins and rehang the door and feed the wire harness back in and install the kick panel cover, step sill cover and the fuse box cover.

Be aware, if you tackle this job, it is a base LS vehicle. If you are working on an LS with more options, and LT or a Z71, you could have up to 3 harnesses that feed thru that umbilical cord rubber boot.

Then I will be doing the door lock actuator/latch assembly on the same door. These pics are all I did when I got back from dropping her off and spent about 30 minutes on where I am at now. You should notice the harness connector is plugged back in till in the morning.

 

[OR VietVet]

Well today was just fun fun fun. Unbolted the drivers door from the hinges and then, with the help of my neighbor, lifted the door straight up and off the pins. Used my floor jack to lift it, using a special cup that is designed for pinch weld lifting. Cut the bottoms off of the 4 pins and used my special push tool to remove the old pins. Bolted in the new pins and set the door back on and all went well.

Moved on to the door lock actuator and that went pretty smooth except for water coming out of it. See the red water at the pin connector area. Found leaking water at the glass wipe seal. Repositioned that and fixed that.

Then went to the blower and resistor and found one of the attaching screws for the resistor was rusted and when dropped the resistor, found it rusted badly. Blower was dry.

Gonna remove cowling tomorrow and locate source of leak.

 

[OR VietVet]

 

[OR VietVet]

 

[OR VietVet]