- Joined
- Nov 13, 2011
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- 19,711
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- Socialist
Yep I have to gripe about them, Day after day my shop does a free initial checkout, and people come in get the diagnostic and the codes then never come back. No this is not my big gripe that they used the free diagnostic to go somewhere cheaper, but that them going somewhere cheaper made my job harder. Too often they take it to their brothers uncles cousins wifes brother who swears they are a master mechanic, butchers the car, then they end up back at me with a mess to fix. Often times they come back so bad I have to tell them to junk the vehicle and start over.
Let me start with the basics.
One the mechanic should have at least a proper scan tool, a code reader does not count or work beyond basic stuff and older vehicles, most vehicles in the last decade use adaptive learning and bidirectional controls, and need professional tools costing from 1600-10k in price to actually repair a modern vehicle. Modern scanners include high end otc, snapon, launch, autel, bosch etc.
Two- any decent mechanic requires tech references, these incluse all data, mitchel, motor etc, too often I see the master mechanic claim with no tech data, I had a chevy 5.7 cortec with the claim the rocker arms were torqued to spec, however there is no torque spec on those, they are adjusted for backlash, the end result was the pushrods were a z shape and the valves bent when trying to crank it.
Three- they lack tools, Seriously they do not need a 100k snapon setup to be a mechanic, but if they are offering to do high end work with a harbor freight discount set and no specialty tools, it is a safe bet you are going to be paying full price and then some to correct what they broke.
Four- lack of electrical test equipment, cars today are more electric than they are mechanical, not know electricity may have flown with a 72 chevy pickup but not with modern cars, if you leave a shop and go somewhere that does not have a multimeter or says they will not work on something too modern, time to walk away.
five- diagnostic skills, this goes back to the scanner argument, too many pull a code for something like a mass airflow sensor and change it, but never diagnose the problem, the code could be caused by a plugged air filter or even a faulty 5 volt reference from the pcm, if someone pulls a code and tries to sell you parts without verifying wiring or even doing basic tests this is a bad sign.
I can go on and on, but the premise is clear, if you do not know what you are doing do not do it, if you try to cut costs you will pay for it, and if you take it to shade tree jack who took your money and made your car more broke than when you brought it to him, I will not only charge extra to what he broke ontop of the original problem, I will charge an idiot tax for wasting my time with problems that never would have been there in the first place had a reputable shop worked on it.
Let me start with the basics.
One the mechanic should have at least a proper scan tool, a code reader does not count or work beyond basic stuff and older vehicles, most vehicles in the last decade use adaptive learning and bidirectional controls, and need professional tools costing from 1600-10k in price to actually repair a modern vehicle. Modern scanners include high end otc, snapon, launch, autel, bosch etc.
Two- any decent mechanic requires tech references, these incluse all data, mitchel, motor etc, too often I see the master mechanic claim with no tech data, I had a chevy 5.7 cortec with the claim the rocker arms were torqued to spec, however there is no torque spec on those, they are adjusted for backlash, the end result was the pushrods were a z shape and the valves bent when trying to crank it.
Three- they lack tools, Seriously they do not need a 100k snapon setup to be a mechanic, but if they are offering to do high end work with a harbor freight discount set and no specialty tools, it is a safe bet you are going to be paying full price and then some to correct what they broke.
Four- lack of electrical test equipment, cars today are more electric than they are mechanical, not know electricity may have flown with a 72 chevy pickup but not with modern cars, if you leave a shop and go somewhere that does not have a multimeter or says they will not work on something too modern, time to walk away.
five- diagnostic skills, this goes back to the scanner argument, too many pull a code for something like a mass airflow sensor and change it, but never diagnose the problem, the code could be caused by a plugged air filter or even a faulty 5 volt reference from the pcm, if someone pulls a code and tries to sell you parts without verifying wiring or even doing basic tests this is a bad sign.
I can go on and on, but the premise is clear, if you do not know what you are doing do not do it, if you try to cut costs you will pay for it, and if you take it to shade tree jack who took your money and made your car more broke than when you brought it to him, I will not only charge extra to what he broke ontop of the original problem, I will charge an idiot tax for wasting my time with problems that never would have been there in the first place had a reputable shop worked on it.