Did I mention that now that it’s May, the sun is waking me up at like 6, even though I’m exhausted? Sometimes it’s not so great to be an insanely light sleeper. 🙃
Up early, working early, long day… six cars.
First car was… oh yeah, belt that came off. Turned out to be a broken alternator bolt, snapped off inside the block because whoever replaced the alternator the last time didn’t tighten the alternator bolts, so the shook so hard that the smaller bolt eventually snapped.
The also had a coolant leak at the lower radiator hose where it connects to the thermostat housing.
I referred them to an actual shop, as I don’t do bolt extractions as a mobile mechanic. Nope. Don’t need that kind of stuff.
Second car was a 2004 Mazda 6 that wouldn’t start. He’d replaced the alternator a month ago, but when I got there, the alternator was bad again. I replaced it, and it started charging fine, but then I noticed an overheating smell from the alternator. I checked voltages and resistance and found that there was significant resistance in the negative cable, but only when the car was running. I spent probably an hour trying to track it down before I threw up the white flag and recommended a nearby shop. My day was far too full to have to track down a whacky electrical issue.
Third car was a 2005 Subaru Outback with a shredded belt. I’d chatted with him last night, walking him through how to look at everything himself to see if it was something other than just an old belt was the issue. He couldn’t find anything wrong. He was just going to tow it, but since he couldn’t find anything, he decided to have me come.
So I came.
😕
After all that effort and him having me come out because it looked like just a belt issue, it turned out to be a busted harmonic balancer… a job I don’t do as a mobile mechanic.
Quite the theme for the day. Three cars up, three cars referred to other shops.
Good gravy.
At least I was able to help all three of them significantly; but it kind of stinks to have to send them elsewhere to get fully taken care of.
Car number four was a 2008 Dodge Avenger that needed a fender put on. That was a bit of a challenge because the new fender, fresh from being painted, was bent, so I had to very carefully bend it into place to make all the body lines and gaps match up.
Turned out relatively decently. The cheap paint job flaked off in a few places, so I had to touch it up a bit, but it looked pretty good when done, especially since the rest of the car is super-faded, flaky paint.
Fifth job was a pre-purchase inspection on a Toyota FJ Cruiser. That went fine. Pre-purchase inspections are nice and not so nice at the same time. It’s guaranteed money–billable hour. But it’s also guaranteed time. I can’t do it faster if I’m good because I’m billing for an hour-long inspection.
Good stuff, though.
Sixth job was a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado that was cranking but not starting. I didn’t realize the V6 engine in 2005 still used a distributor, but it did, and that’s what the issue was, bad cap and rotor, so I replaced that, noticed a coolant leak that he had, explained to him how to fix it himself to save money, and finished up for the night, getting home after dark but not too crazy.
Had some good money days the last few days, which is nice, given my trading losses.
I miss trading. I feel like I proved I can succeed, but I also proved that I’m not ready to succeed–if that makes sense. I know how to do well; but I can’t discipline myself to only trade when the setups I’m looking for are there. I just… keep trading even when there aren’t really good setups.
Solid theory. Poor execution.
Anyway, it’s 1:25 a.m. Time for bed.
Love to all.
Lift the World
~ stephen
Lift the World 