Hola, folkses. 🙂
Happy… Tuesday? I think it’s Tuesday.
Was up late again… I think? Gosh… it’s all flowing together.
I seriously thought about taking the day off. I actually made a small effort to do that, having only one job I’d promised for today, but I was so worn out (I think the heat taking its toll) that I reached out to see if they’d want to take it to another shop. I knew they’d gotten quotes from other shops, so I thought I’d ask and see if it wouldn’t be too much of an issue just to take it to the other guys. I also told him I’d go, no worries. And he still wanted me to go. He’s been a customer of mine a few times over the last couple years or so. So… exhausted, hands swollen from… dehydration? I finally set out to work on cars about 1 p.m.
Didn’t get to my first car until about 1:45, going to AutoZone in Bentonville prior to going to the first car. I returned some parts, bought some others, and prepared a little bit for the workday.
It’s hard to start long days later in the day when I’m already tired. Gonna try and correct that for tomorrow, trying to get up earlier tomorrow… and not be up so late.
Anyway, first job was supposed to be a 2011 Avalanche no start, and it was the 2011 Avalanche, but it started just fine and never gave me any troubles. It was a few quarts-ish low on oil, so I added oil, and it started every time for me.
So I taught the lady how to diagnose the issue should it happen again, and I taught her how to replace the starter if that’s what it turned out to be.
One car down.
Second car was one that had a rattling noise, and the owner mentioned zip ties holding things together. So I got there, saw that the under-engine splash shield was not attached well, so I replaced a bunch of clips, so that it was solid, and then I sent the owner on a test drive to make sure the issue was resolved.
Nope, when she pulled back in, I heard the clanking and realized her issue wasn’t what she’d first mentioned: It was a lot more. Her lower control arm bushings were wearing out. The torque strut, I think, was shot. One CV axle was leaking, and the other was about to leak.
I suggested she take it to a shop because… well… honestly, aftermarket suspension parts are often junk, in my experience, and she was going to likely need an alignment after getting the repairs done, so I suggested she take it to a shop that could do the repairs and the alignment.
Oh, this was a 2009 Nissan Rogue.
Third car was a 2007 Honda Fit that died while driving. The owner was told it was in need of an alternator. Well, nope. Battery good. Alternator good. Problem? No belt. Can’t drive the car very long without a belt. What else was wrong? Very low on coolant, so it was overheating.
So… I put a belt on, left him with coolant, and instructed him to fill up the coolant when the car cooled down and to watch the levels in the coming weeks.
Fourth car was… a 2019 Honda Civic that needed the under-engine splash shield replaced–or so he thought. He’d been driving down the freeway, only to have that shield start coming off. He thought he needed to have the car towed, so he did. Sadly, that was a waste of money. Sure, it’s good to have the splash shield, but it’s not necessary at all.
So he wasted the tow bill. And then he spent nearly $400 at the Honda dealer for the replacement shield. When I jacked up the car to put the new parts on, that’s when I realized the only thing that was missing was the aluminum part of the under shield, the part that has to be removed every time the oil is changed.
So what happened? Almost certainly, an oil change place didn’t properly fasten down the shield after doing an oil change, causing it to come apart while driving down the freeway. Then the customer gets hosed for hundreds of dollars for that oil-change place’s error.
Seeing the issue, I let the customer know that he was missing just the one part and not the whole assembly. I suggested he return the multi-hundred dollar part back to the dealer and look for just the needed piece. I found an aftermarket version of it for him for $50 online, so I suggested he buy one and give it to the oil change people the next time, as they’d put it back on as part of the oil-change job because they would have to do that normally, anyway.
So… that was car number 4. Nice to save him several hundred dollars.
5th and final car was the original car that I was hoping to get out of so I could take the day off. It was a 2012 Lexus LX 460 that he wanted front and rear brake pads put on.
I hate brake jobs. Everyone loves them because they are so quick and easy.
They never are for me, but that’s because I bust my butt to make them right. Maybe I don’t need to. It takes so. much. time to do it right. So much time. And few jobs get me as dirty as a brake job, all the brake dust all over me, black hands, black legs, dirty everything.
Anyway, I got done around… 9:30? Don’t remember. It’s… late. Almost 1 a.m. Gosh. Thought I was going to get to bed earlier.
Crazy that I ended up fixing five cars when I was trying to get out of working today altogether.
Hope y’all had a beautiful day. I’m really struggling. Each day is getting harder and harder, it seems. But I’m still kicking.
Loves and hugs.
Lift the World
~ stephen
Lift the World 