Pulling my hair out???

Topic: Pulling my hair out??? (Read 1315 times) previous topic - next topic

Pulling my hair out???

September 22, 2012, 11:34:50 AM

As usual i come across some interesting things in the 47 years in this business and this is no exception. I built an LT1 Engine for a fellow a few months ago and it was a nasty one at that. The customer seemed fairly knowledgeable on installing it and out the door it went to his house for instillation. With that i got a call from a mechanic a few town away and to be honest i did not know the fellow. He laid in to me like a SLANT SIX WITH A ROD KNOCK!!! Seems he was trouble shooting a random miss fire on the engine i just built. He called me every name in the book and said his client the guy i built the engine for wanted a complete refund. With that this EINSTEIN said the valves were floating and the cam was out of time. With that i wanted to talk to the owner of the car that i built the engine for. I explained to him i did not install the engine nor did i wire it ETC. So i convinced him to have me look at the car. With that we ran the car on the DYNE and with my trusty scope pinned the issue out in ONE SECOND. INTERMITTENT SPARK. With that i knew this engine had an OPTI SPARK SYSTEM. Anyone having this knows exactly how much of a piece of junk it is. S0 i replaced it with a spare i had and no difference. Same thing. With that i removed the next culprit. The coil and controller. BINGO their it was the coil had a carbon cross over. Installed a new coil and control module fixed the LT1 and off the FIREBIRD WENT. Miss free and a happy customer. I sat down at my desk and took a photo of the tracking on the coil to share with you guys. I know this is a FORD site but trouble shooting is trouble shooting. By the way the other shop called me and apologized. Just another day in the CAR BUSINESS. Thanks for listening.

Coil Photo shows the tracking on the coil

:burnout:

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #1 – September 22, 2012, 12:44:53 PM

Awkward situations like that always seem to pop up from people in our business trying to throw one another under the bus.
Also, when you use a digicam to take a photo that tight, you need to set it to the setting represented by a little flower icon. Your closeups will be much better focused. Just sayin.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #2 – September 22, 2012, 02:39:19 PM

You and I both know that's not just another in business. My question is why didn't he figure it out? I spent the last 26 years at the same company where 11,000 people worked. I retired almost 5 months ago. I don't miss them. My house, my girl, my dogs, and my cars, I like it.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #3 – September 22, 2012, 07:07:37 PM

86 i have no clue why people point fingers and or their ability to trouble shoot problems. Not to say i dont make mistakes . I do fore sure. But i dont blame the last person that worked on the car or it's components. Who knows what was in this guys mind or should what was not in his mind!!!

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #4 – September 22, 2012, 07:08:49 PM

FOE not very good with electronic devices. This cammera was given to me by my GIRLS. I do not have the foggiest idea how it works. Please explain this flower thing???

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #5 – September 22, 2012, 07:10:35 PM

Truth is the whole situation was probably making him look bad.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #6 – September 22, 2012, 08:17:17 PM

I here you 86. You would not believe the things i have seen and fixed in 47 years. Including people that have lost their minds over a car repair. THANKS!!

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #7 – September 22, 2012, 08:53:28 PM

I hear ya Tom.
I found a good one yesterday on my wife's Benz. Long story short, I had the local starter shop rebuild the starter. The first time, the solenoid was defective so I took it out again and had him replace it. I put it back in, used it a few times and the same thing happened so I had CAA (AAA) flat bed it back to the guy and told him I'm done yankin. He replaced the solenoid two more times and finally threw his hands up in the air and said to get a starter from MB. I found a low mileage one from a wreck 40+ miles away. I was going to take the car out to the other shop where I have the pit and when I started it it hung up for a sec....no big deal UNTIL I placed it in R and the starter energized ....WTF!.....put it in any other gear and no problem. Apparently he used a screwdriver to check the starter while it was still on the hoist and messed up the programing of one of the computers. Now it's going to the MB dealer.....I'm done.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #8 – September 22, 2012, 10:12:20 PM

You cant do things like that any more. cars are to complicated and computer controlled. JR deals with this at times when jump starting. One of his new guys installed a battery backwards on a RANGE ROVER. Off to the dealer. 2500.00 Bucks later. OOPS!!!!

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #9 – September 22, 2012, 10:48:33 PM

I had a reverse polarity jump come in about 3 weeks ago, battery exploded. there were chunks of case and plate shrapnel everywhere. I had to hose it all down before putting hands on it. Never seen that before. Car was fine otherwise, only had to give it a new battery. I figure the water in the cells had to be low, the electrodes were exposed in the battery above the water line. Polarity reversal, spark + h2 and BOOM. If I was the guy that pulled that one, I think I would have shiznit my pants.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #10 – September 22, 2012, 11:03:16 PM

Foe the battery is the most dangerous part of a car. And the most disrespected component when it comes to safety. I have seen 4 battery explosions in the shop. And that is to many take my word for it. My INTERSTATE guy came in one day with one of those WIFE BEATER T SHIRTS. You can see the burns on his body clearly. I asked him what happened. He said he took a battery off the shelf to bring to a customer and it EXPLODED all over him. It burnt the hell out of the guy. I have written several articles on this issue. And some BEATERS still disconnect battery's from running engines to supposedly test alternators. Talk about DUMBER THAN shiznit!!!

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #11 – September 23, 2012, 04:16:28 PM

Here in the hotter climates it seems that the jell cells last longer and seem to be safer than batteries with electrolyte. A red top Optima battery will last me an average of 7 years. That's seven summers over 105 degrees with no problems. I also really like the no maintenance. I've tried a lot of batteries here, what I would like to know is what the difference is between the red top, yellow top, and the blue (marine) top batteries are. Yellow is a deep cycle battery, but I don't understand what the benefits are. Please type slow, I have a real steeep learning curve when it comes to electronics (lol). Please let me know if you think I'm hijacking your thread and I will gladly start a new one.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #12 – September 24, 2012, 11:17:15 AM

oops

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #13 – September 24, 2012, 12:50:13 PM

My bad.

Pulling my hair out???

Reply #14 – September 24, 2012, 04:33:42 PM

Quote from: TOM Renzo;398941

You cant do things like that any more. cars are to complicated and computer controlled. JR deals with this at times when jump starting. One of his new guys installed a battery backwards on a RANGE ROVER. Off to the dealer. 2500.00 Bucks later. OOPS!!!!

He got off easy. Parts are crazy expensive for those heaps. I put rear shocks on one a few years ago. $1500. EACH.