Bakin Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 So I’m in Miami staying at my folks condo with my kids... my brother came last week and had some issues with the car. So he took it to a mechanic who fixed the gear box shifter. I drove the car for 2 days - no problem. Then on on the way to the beach, I’m driving down Ocean Dr and all of the sudden, I’m stepping on the brake and the accelerator revs up. I’m pushing down on the brake AND THE CAR IS GOING FORWARD!!! i turn the car ignition off and back on. I step on the gas and it moves a bit but then step on the brakes and Zooooooom. I figure the first mechanic screwed up and or there is something new wrong with the car. I somehow am am able to pull into a driveway. I call a tow truck who takes me to a mechanic. Mechanic takes a look at the brake and accelerator and says ‘how nice of a tip will you give me?’ He pulls out a long screwdriver type instrument that the previous mechanic LEFT in the car and it somehow shimmied it’s way between the brake and gas (so that when I stepped on the brake it was pushing down the gas). Felt pretty stupid that I didn’t notice it (even the tow truck driver said he didn’t notice it!). Thank god it didn’t happen on the I95 with all the crazies here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoTom Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 I'm glad that mechanic didn't become a surgeon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinceThe70s Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Foreign Object Debris (F.O.D.) in a car? I thought that was an airplane thing. Glad it turned out OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Earlier this week, one of the guys at work called in that he was having car problems and would be late to work. When he finally shows up he tells us about his almost $1000 car repair because his alternator died. A grand for an alternator and a battery In his description of what happened, car wouldn't start, clicked when he turned the key. Tried jumping it but still wouldn't start so he called a tow truck. Tow truck had a portable charging station that was able to get his car started He was already distraught over the bill so I felt bad explaining if the charging station was able to jump start it, the alternator was fine and the battery was dead. It's like $100 at Autozone and they'll even change out the battery for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 3 hours ago, WhoTom said: I'm glad that mechanic didn't become a surgeon. As I was reading this I remembered a college friend (back in the 70's) that was in constant pain after an operation. After a couple weeks they finally did an x-ray and saw a clamp hadn't been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 2 hours ago, /dev/null said: Earlier this week, one of the guys at work called in that he was having car problems and would be late to work. When he finally shows up he tells us about his almost $1000 car repair because his alternator died. A grand for an alternator and a battery In his description of what happened, car wouldn't start, clicked when he turned the key. Tried jumping it but still wouldn't start so he called a tow truck. Tow truck had a portable charging station that was able to get his car started He was already distraught over the bill so I felt bad explaining if the charging station was able to jump start it, the alternator was fine and the battery was dead. It's like $100 at Autozone and they'll even change out the battery for free. You can actually get a car with a bad alternator to start and run with enough of a charge to the battery. But it will only run until the battery dies again (because it'll lose spark). I actually drove 12 miles home from work once in a car with a bad alternator. I was surprised I made it, but I did! lol The way I know to check an alternator is to use a voltmeter meter to check the battery when the car is running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 One time a mechanice left a screwdriver in the engine compartment of my sister's car. The screwdriver must have caught the fan and shot up towards the hood. Put a nice dent and little hole in hood. Speaking of doctor's, of course they have to be OCD... I am glad the nurse found the 14th and 15th gauze pad before closing my wife up after her c-section. Man was the doctor getting perturbed with the surgical nurse when they couldn't resolve the count on what was being used. That would suck, closing something up inside a person. Be thankful it was a car and they caught it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, /dev/null said: Earlier this week, one of the guys at work called in that he was having car problems and would be late to work. When he finally shows up he tells us about his almost $1000 car repair because his alternator died. A grand for an alternator and a battery In his description of what happened, car wouldn't start, clicked when he turned the key. Tried jumping it but still wouldn't start so he called a tow truck. Tow truck had a portable charging station that was able to get his car started He was already distraught over the bill so I felt bad explaining if the charging station was able to jump start it, the alternator was fine and the battery was dead. It's like $100 at Autozone and they'll even change out the battery for free. This is wrong in so many ways. What kinda car, year... How old was the battery that was "bad?" ??? Huh? The alternator can still be bad. His battery was not that dead OR the attempted jump was crappy... Not good ground, etc... etc... Tow truck came along and charged it properly, jumped it. I am pretty sure that tow truck charging station doesn't need a working alternator. But, who knows. A co-worker was driving around with a bad alternator and new battery... For weeks in his crappy '99 Honda. He'd get to work and home and put battery on charge or jump the vehicle. Until we told him to stop and please put a new alternator in. Damn Millennial. Now he had a puked new battery from being boosted so many times. Lead acid car batteries don't like to be taken deep into discharge (Hence, that is what deep cycle batteries are for) too many times. The alternator charges the battery. Tow truck was charging it separately. With a bad alternator, you can still start vehicle, just make sure you have a fresh battery. The vehicle will run on the battery till battery dies. You can still charge battery with bad alternator, just not with that alternator. The car will jump or charge separately with a bad alternator. Driving around will just discharge the battery. He gets a new battery and has a bad alternator, the car will run.... Until battery goes dead. Now he has puked new battery and needs to hook it up to a separate charging system. Not a good way to test. But... Once they got battery charged and car started, he could have disco'd the negative terminal and seen if the engine stayed running. But that's bad with a newer vehicle: "If you're tempted to test an alternator by disconnecting the negative battery cable, don't do it. A good alternator.may indeed keep the engine running, but it was never a good test. In the pre-computer days, you could pull it off without damaging anything. Today, you risk frying every electrical device in your vehicle." Figure: Alternator is about $200-300, maybe less on crappy old car, more on newer one. Battery, $100 low to $200 high, say AGM even more, etc... That's easily $500 there... NOW: Labor, something desk jockeys don't do ... Factor in more than parts. Grand is a bit high, but not knowing the vehicle and how hard it is to get to that alternator, belts, what needs to be pulled off, etc... Probably in ballpark. EDIT: Oh, and don't forget to tithe your Gubermint Overloads and factor in tax. On 800 bucks... That can bring bill to around $900. Diagnostic charge was probably $75-$100 too... Edited March 26, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 8 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: You can actually get a car with a bad alternator to start and run with enough of a charge to the battery. But it will only run until the battery dies again (because it'll lose spark). I actually drove 12 miles home from work once in a car with a bad alternator. I was surprised I made it, but I did! lol The way I know to check an alternator is to use a voltmeter meter to check the battery when the car is running. Co-worker noted above in my post was making it to work 40 miles one way. Of course he took the /dev/null approach & put a brand spanking new battery in. In his mind, it was everthing else but the alternator! You'd be surprised how far you can get on a bad alternator, maybe even if it is hit or miss. Bad diode, charges sometimes, not other times. Heck, you don't need that alternator... Just use work's shop charger. Put battery on charge after you come beebopping in to start your 12 hour shift. Older vehicles dont have self tensioning belts... Put that baby on wrong, too loose, etc... Not good either /smh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 1 hour ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Co-worker noted above in my post was making it to work 40 miles one way. Of course he took the /dev/null approach & put a brand spanking new battery in. In his mind, it was everthing else but the alternator! You'd be surprised how far you can get on a bad alternator, maybe even if it is hit or miss. Bad diode, charges sometimes, not other times. Heck, you don't need that alternator... Just use work's shop charger. Put battery on charge after you come beebopping in to start your 12 hour shift. Older vehicles dont have self tensioning belts... Put that baby on wrong, too loose, etc... Not good either /smh... I've gone 60 miles on a non-functional alternator (bad belt - same ultimate situation, car running off battery.) Just managed to get the car to a parts store, and hitting the hazard lights stalled it. Ah, to be young and stupid and driving POS cars again... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 2 minutes ago, DC Tom said: I've gone 60 miles on a non-functional alternator (bad belt - same ultimate situation, car running off battery.) Just managed to get the car to a parts store, and hitting the hazard lights stalled it. Ah, to be young and stupid and driving POS cars again... I changed my wife's alternator belt on her 1990 Hyundai and the battery went dead two weeks later. I found out how to tension the belt correctly the hard way. Oh? You just can't put the belt on and tighten to whatever. And no, this wasn't last week. Whipper snappers have self-tension belts now. Yet, said Dude at work's '99 was was still non-self adjusting. For a while there, I was having my doubts that the thing was on tight enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 We had a car that was bought with the first 75k of maintenance as part of the deal. My wife took it in for one of the appointments and then went and picked it back up. She got to work and the car was running very hot (temp light came on). They had flushed the radiator and not put the cap back on. When I called them, they said they didn't have one in stock. I called corporate and they ended up sending a technician to an auto parts store, purchasing one, and driving out to put it on the car. I hate most car dealerships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 3 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said: We had a car that was bought with the first 75k of maintenance as part of the deal. My wife took it in for one of the appointments and then went and picked it back up. She got to work and the car was running very hot (temp light came on). They had flushed the radiator and not put the cap back on. When I called them, they said they didn't have one in stock. I called corporate and they ended up sending a technician to an auto parts store, purchasing one, and driving out to put it on the car. I hate most car dealerships. Do what most people do now a days... Drive it around, watch it blow up and they will give you a new motor. But you are up in Alaska... It would take weeks for the temp to get too hot and destroy the motor. Probably why the dealer didn't have any in stock. The new Tacoma I have had a recall on its rear axle diff/pumpkin... "It could leak, drain all out, lock up and cause a crash." They had to inspect it and make a determination if I needed a repair or new one... Which I did not need anything done. I said... You gotta be kidding! People don't notice a pool of oil under their vehicle before taking off? Not exactly a smaller amount of oil that is leaking out for that thing to run dry. Yet, it is Toyota, they learned their lesson what idiots and how inattentive people can be to their vehicles! /smh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 A friend decided to change the serpentine belt on his early 90s F-150 w/ 302 engine, I was in coveralls so I crawled under the front to make sure the new belt seated on the pulleys the same way the old did. When we agreed we were done and satisfied as to the belt routing, he started the truck. The belt jumped out from under the still open hood, and landed a good six feet away. Never 'tag team' certain auto maintenance tasks. Also look for the decal on the fan shroud, the drawing there will save you from a case of 'serpentine belt Alzheimer's'. If it's missing, take a picture or draw the belt path in the dust on the fan shroud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) Shortly after I moved here, I needed new tires for my car. At that point, I didn't know the area and wound up buying them at the local Hyundai dealership while getting an oil change. Fast-forward about 10 months and I caught a nail in one of the tires. At that point I had found a mechanic. But anyway, I took the car to Costco for service on the tire. The nail was in the unpatchable area, so I needed a new tire. Now usually with such young tires they'd be fine with selling just one, but the Costco guy informed me that they would not be allowed to do that and would instead only sell me 4 new ones. As it turned out, when I had bought the new ones from the dealership, they put on tires that were smaller than what was required for the vehicle. The damn Hyundai dealership put the wrong damn tires on a Hyundai car! So as you can imagine, I wasn't too thrilled. I immediately went to the dealership which luckily right down the street from Costco. All they were willing to do was sell me 4 brand new ones at their normal price. They made up a long list of reasons why it was my fault, even trying to claim that they never sold me tires, and then that they only put on the wrong ones because the previous ones were also wrong. I had the paperwork from the previous tires, so that theory was shot down quickly. The mechanic I use now gave me a good tire education and told me exactly how to push them to take care of it. The dealership was one of those big corporate entities and he even gave me the phone number of their CEO's secretary. That woman was awesome and they wound up replacing the tires for free (as they should have). I know next to nothing about cars, but that whole ordeal taught me a good lesson about those weasels. I've always kept all the paperwork for any maintenance, but I now also keep a little notebook in the glove box of each car where I log the date and mileage of every single thing done to both the wife's car and mine. Those places tend to shut up very quickly if you can immediately tell them exactly what they did and when they did it. Edited March 26, 2018 by shrader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffalo Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) We were in South Carolina picking up my daughter at the end of Junior year. I had my F 150 and near the apartment she was in, was a crater size pothole, I hit it while turning, and did some damage, real bad sound when you made a turn, not too bad when driving straight, but I knew it wasn't going to go 12 hours back to NY. I rolled into Goodyear in Columbia SC. and the guy looked at the plates, put it on the lift and made me wait like an expectant father.... When he comes back in, he goes into a list of parts that have to be replaced, bearings, tie rod, shocks (gotta do both!) and a bunch of other stuff. He said he could get it done for $1700. He figured I had no choice. I called a guy from here on TBD (NH Billsfan) who works for the parts department at a Ford dealership in New England, he said "no way the parts match up with what you described, they are trying to screw you". So I thanked the guy and walked out without a plan. I drove it for another day, but the wife and daughter were driving it home and I was scheduled to fly. They stayed for the next day and I just randomly picked a name out of the hat in a town we had recently bought a home. The woman listened to the issue, asked us to bring it in. Since we had some of the issue already diagnosed she gave a ballpark figure, but said she couldn't be sure till her guys looked it over. The ladies take the truck over and drop it off, the woman calls back and says she can do it for $225, it needed a tie rod. I said go for it. She called me back an hour later and said it was only $188 since the mechanic didn't take as long as they figured. I almost dropped the phone. It turns out, they were transplants from the Green Bay area, just wanted to get out of the cold and work till retirement. I just pray they are still down there when we eventually move! Edited March 27, 2018 by Guffalo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 Two stories 1) When I had my Toyota MR2, I’d have problems with some shops not knowing how to work on it, so I started going to the local dealer. One time I had problems with one of the rear calipers not releasing. Took it in and they quoted me $1200 using Toyota parts or $900 using aftermarket parts. Said thanks but no thanks. Talked with a guy I worked with and to and he said he’s done brakes, so get him a case of beer and the parts and he’ll show me how to do it. End up costing me less than $400. 2) My Ford Ranger exhaust system needed a complete replacement. Went to a chain muffler place aand nd they quoted me over $1000. Went to my regular mechanic and he did everything the muffler shop said was needed for under $300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 I know little about cars, I’ve never felt I’ve been ripped off Those who know cars in my life would tell me I got ripped off no matter what happened, so they have no credibility ”they replaced all 4 tires with an upgrade and did my brakes and gave me $500 and cured me of my lupus” ”oh you got ripped off!!!!” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterRob Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 On March 25, 2018 at 10:17 AM, WhoTom said: I'm glad that mechanic didn't become a surgeon. Dr. Nick (The Simpson's) "Inflammable means flammable?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted April 9, 2018 Share Posted April 9, 2018 5 hours ago, Just Jack said: Two stories 1) When I had my Toyota MR2, I’d have problems with some shops not knowing how to work on it, so I started going to the local dealer. One time I had problems with one of the rear calipers not releasing. Took it in and they quoted me $1200 using Toyota parts or $900 using aftermarket parts. Said thanks but no thanks. Talked with a guy I worked with and to and he said he’s done brakes, so get him a case of beer and the parts and he’ll show me how to do it. End up costing me less than $400. 2) My Ford Ranger exhaust system needed a complete replacement. Went to a chain muffler place aand nd they quoted me over $1000. Went to my regular mechanic and he did everything the muffler shop said was needed for under $300 Oh, you (still) got ripped off!!!! But, the eczema is cured! [If you don't get it, look two posts up ^^^] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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