The shop of today

well there are a lot of new things in modern shops. there are computerized tools newer wrenches and all sorts of cutting and grinding equipment.

The lifts
The lifts in a modern shop have some along way from the single post lift all the way too the newer 2 poster. which is in most shops. in between these are the roll on and the front back two post there innovation has caused the industry to revolutionize the safety and the mobilization of technicians around the vehicles on the lifts themselves. in the early days the lifts were just a single poster with one post that operated between hydraulics and pneumatics to lift the vehicle. after that there were the 2 post front/back. where the vehicle was lifted by the front of the engine cradle and the rear axle. still i a little unsteady, however there was more versatility in the lift. you could lift the front to work on the front wheels while the rear stayed on the ground. and vise versa. after the revolution of the computerized alignment the roll-on lift was developed, it was way safer and more affordable, but harder to work around. next in the line of longing was the 2 post lift/hoist which used the frame, like the single post, to lift cars and was completely stable. in fact there are less 'dropped' cars in the industry because of this little gem now from left to right.

Computers
since the late 80's there have been all kinds of revelations in the car industry. there have been carburetors, fuel injection, sensors, and computers. from all the systems in the car there had to be a way to talk to these machines and find out why they were not running right.from the Genisys II to the Snap-on Modus these machines run anywhere from 12,000 to 30,000 dollars. yeah thats a lot.not only that but when you bring your car to a shop and ask for them to turn 'off' the check engine light it takes time to do that and some of these machines take a while to do that. so there is a lot of time involved. however if your shop is charging for this service you should at least get an oil change and maybe they will do it while its in the shop foe that reason.

Equipment
There are lots of tools that the mechanic is expected to have in there arsenal, and by arsenal its just what i mean, we as technicians don't list what tools we have expressively, we mention what we own in gross weight. that's right weight. i my self own about 500lbs which as any one can tell you isn't a lot. i know some technicians that own closer to 13,000lbs. just to give you an idea of what we are faced with and this includes all the nifty stuff like ratcheting box wrenches/ spanners and the odd ball sockets for different, but almost frequently single jobs. an average wrench set from like Home Depot, or Lowe's is like $60, my first truck wrench set was $264 and i never needed to replace them once. ever. so there is quality in these wrenches and if one breaks i get a new one just like Sears. so i get a higher quality tool and you get a reliable mechanic, problem solved.
Now wrenches, which used to be called 'spanners' were of low quality steel and would "spread" from time to time. which made them useless after an indecent like that because the spanner would just continue to do that under stress. after the "box end" wrench came out the spanner pretty much lost its legacy as the 'go to' wrench. now a days there isn't a wrench out there that isn't for some specific purpose. i my self own at least 6-7 different wrenches in the same Metric or SAE size equivalent. just to give you an idea of what i am talking about.

Education
Did you know being a technician is a lot like being a doctor? well this is how we as technicians are similar to doctors, we spend our time getting things back together and make sure that the client is healthy when it is not healthy it comes to see us. also as a technician i have to keep up on all the latest things like hybrid technology and hydrogen fuel cells, aside from that i attend classes and seminars at hotels that are payed for by...
... you guessed it ME! that's right i pay for them out of my pocket. and i get to learn all the new stuff and the nifty gadgetry that always breaks in your BMW, Chevy, Audi, Toyota. i don't just visit seminars and attend update classes for certification but i also read magazines all the time and make sure that all the common problems can be diagnoses easily. i mean would you want to spend hours trying top figure out that this was a common problem and that there were at least 25 people that were aware of it? me either. That;s why i do it, because i like cars and trucks. and i care about my clientèle. so in a nut shell that is what you don't see in the every day shop of tomorrow.
I don't like going on with several topics so i will have to re-thread this on so i can go into depth on he equipment...

The Reason I'm A Mechanic....

hello to all,
This is my new blog. I like to write and i like cars so i am starting a blog here about them. in this i will do reviews and also DIY tips for all the common problems that can be done in the simplest amount of time.
If i get enough readers i may even get into larger projects like camming motors and doing modifications. this is new for me and i am a horrible English student. So you will have to bear with me as i remember things from high school. if you have any questions i can do an entire blog just for your Q&As.
In this first installment i am going to talk about Auto shops and some of the newer scams that are running around. Personally i think this is deplorable,but there are a few shops in my home town here that i can't work for and have quit over the debate of service legitimacy. now i am not talking about needing stuff like "turn signal fluid" or having a "loose nut behind the wheel". There are far more serious things like the "fungal"/ Bacterial" sprays. this is the kind of thing i am going to cover. along with there legitimacy and how they work and IF there even a good deal.

• The Modern Shop Services You Can Trust
• The Latest Fads and Trends
• The Future of Auto Mechanics

• The Modern Shop

In today's shop it's way different then when your parents and grand parents were driving and getting services done to there vehicles. Yesterdays shop the alignment rack was a couple of turntables and some string. Today there are several machines that do a fairly accurate job and do it well. In fact five years ago there was now machine to vacuum out the transmission fluid and replace it with just the right amount of new fluid. you had to drop the transmission pan and fill it (after a new filter of course). Now there are some transmissions that don't ever require servicing. which takes the load of your wallet. Even more so with saying that some of the coolants and such are so well mixed that they are not as corrosive to your vehicle. the Chrysler(DEX-A-COOL) as well as Chevrolet use it and it is good for as long as you have the vehicle basically, but the older 'green' coolant is only good for about four years or so.

• Services You Can Trust

My girl friend (this is before she met me I am a certified auto mechanic in PA) paid a shop $745 for a brake service (new Pads and rotors) the removal of her A/C belt (to "fix" the A/C) and the water pump. on top of that they charged her $30 for standard green coolant when it should have been Dex-a-cool. when she went to pay this bill i saw it and was dumbfounded. i charge $100 for front brakes and i charge about $200 for water pumps, on the bill there was a "charge" for 'moving accessories' to get to the water pump. I had to think for a minute and thought well that's the labor for removing it. Nope! it was an extra charge aside the water pumps R&R (that's 'remove and replace') now that was the most outrageous thing i ever heard of, but that's not all. Earlier that year they charged her mother $350 for a set of brake pads! "Man, WTF!" i thought, so i told her parents if you need ANYTHING for your car call me or her, and i can fix it. They said no problem and they would call me, a few days later I come to hear that her mother was trading in the T-Bird for a new car because she couldn't afford to fix it. Didn't i.... I did tell them?.... OK fine by me.
My mother She is my biggest fan (or at least until my son was born) she took her car to the shop up the street ( a totally different place that my girlfriends parents take there cars) and the Mechanic there said you need brakes. Pads, rotors, and a couple of bulbs and quoted her $900 for the inspection and emissions and the brakes. After i looked at her car, and i don't play favorites when it comes down to my inspections licenses, i found that while it needed brake pads it did not need anything else like the rotors he said it needed or the front left tire and so on. these are the things i am talking about.
So the moral to the story? Check out what your mechanic is up too, compare labor rates and part prices, most of the time you can actually save money by getting the part from a parts store or at least mention that you can get a better price on the part, remember You are the customer, he is there to service your car!

• The Latest Fads and Trends

When i heard that GM and Toyota announced that they were going to release there new hybrid technology, i to stifle a laugh. No, really i did, these cars weigh as much as the old Buick's there was really no reason to go out and get one the weight to power distribution completely screwed up the fuel economy that every one thought they were getting, people i worked for Toyota and i have used these hybrids for weeks as a personal vehicle (they're not that impressive). if you own one fess up and tell the truth you were lied to about these farces of economic savings and the only hush money you have seen for it is the bullshit tax exemption that you get while you have the leased vehicle. it's pitiful that car makers would do this.... ...well i half expected this crap from GM but Toyota has no excuse! Now BMW on the other hand was into the H^2O or Hydrogen hybrids, this i was shocked to see so soon while they have the 'potential' to be a great hybrid source they really do lack the availability. Meaning that you would have to start training gas attendants to do a job that anyone can do for them selves. ??? OK get it the oil companies and the franchisee do NOT want to train gas attendants, why don't we want that? because the price of gas would go up? i doubt it they do not want to invest in there out put sources. that's enough of that.
The latest fad i have seen are these CAI (or Cold Air Induction), these are quite fashionable today. the reason? well the idea of motors, is this MORE IN= MORE OUT, that's the theory but the reality of it is this the modern motor relies on back pressure to generate the right resonance to create a "turbo" effect on the motor it's actually done with what is called a resonator on some cars. Like early 90's BMWs and Later80's VWs. neat stuff i know. So why do i give it the Ebert thumb's down seal of disapproval? Simple you need that back pressure to keep in some of the gases so that your cylinder heads don't over heat and make the knock sensor or the crank sensor over work itself to death.
the next thing i really want to dive into (and i am going to have to write a separate blog on). but here's the idea you put this propeller styled fan in your air intake and wallah it "turbo charges" your engine. PFFFT!!! that's a joke, this little fan thing is a scam and when i do the write up I'll provide actual web source of claims on this piece of junk. As I am positive they're out there.
Fuel boosters are good if you don't over use them I have seem all kinds of things from Lucas Oil Stabilizer and STP Octane Booster do damage to motors and they're all in there own world. These things CAN help an old motor get a few thousand miles out of old Bessy but if used wrong they are sure for eminent doom.

• The Future of Auto Mechanics

The recent betrayal of the American car companies has led then down a road to the benevolent. It seem that the "Big Three" have painted them selves into a corner. while the rise in gas prices has offset there agenda, the speculation of the foreign encroachment of the American work force and the massive out sourcing of all the tech support leaves us the American out in the cold and no where to turn but our government. it seems that fate is not without a sense of irony. There have been massive lay offs in the last seven months and they are continuing every day. while i feel for the current president. having a pile of garbage poured into what could have been a historic moment in history. will turn out into the folly of the century. i say this because even Reagan didn't fuck this up that bad. I know Bush Jr. is solely at the blame on this one it will unfortunately fall on Obama's head.
The recent exchange with the "employee pricing", and 1million mile warranty, and now with the newest scheme to get the poor into debt "CASH FOR CLUNKERS!!!!!". gimme a f*ck*n break! Really I'm gonna buy a car and you take the old one that is paid off and all i have to do is keep up the maintenance? PFFFT! Right i ain't going for that, i drive a 91' Toyota 4Runner, and it doesn't owe mew a GD thing. and NO Toyota you can't have it back MINE!!!
All Our lives we have had some corporate deal thrown in our lap as this is the deal of the century!!!! but they never were, I'm 34 and i remember my mother buying her first import a 1988 Subaru Brat. I drove that car to high school my freshman year bought it for almost what she paid for it! but after that summer i owned a Brat, and not too many people can say that my age. it ran till i was 22 and joined the ARMY. i never owned a new car and i don't ever want to (my choice).
This is the problem with the car companies and the indie jobber or your local mechanic. he has to wait til the warranty is up on most cars because well, who wants to pay for something that is free somewhere else? but what most people don;t know is that most local mechanics got MOST of THERE experience FROM the DEALER! LOL it's 6 to a half dozen. if you really research your local area you will see that most of the older mechanics in the local shops worked at one time or another at the dealership or A dealership. so where's the savings? and meanwhile the local mechanic is waiting to SEE first hand the 'newest' cars (don't get me wrong we read and research and look at new cars all the time). but we really don't see the newer cars for at least 3 years or so. and that can complicate things some times when you get a new car in and all you've done is read about it, i mean yeah it's still a car but it's new you may not have the known facts about the car and have to go to the computer in the middle of the shop to read up on the latest thing WHILE its in the shop,man what a drag, so consider your local shop for all you work, if your from out of town you may even be able to get a reimbursement in some cases.

These are the topics i will be covering in the next few weeks hope you enjoyed this time, an now for a "Zen moment"

If you put your conditioned intellect to rest for a long time, suddenly it will be like the bottom fallin out of a bucket -- then you will naturally be happy and at peace.
- Yaunwu