It’s been a really really really really really really really crappy day.
It started out with me getting a late start, and then I went to the Rogers autozone, and they took absolutely forever to get me my parts, and then we went to the first job. And they didn’t order the parts properly, so I didn’t even get one of the parts that I needed, so I couldn’t do the first job when I needed to, and the first job ended up having lots more problems than we were prepared for with such a busy schedule, but she was a long long long time customer, one of my first ever, and she is getting ready for a trip, so I didn’t want to let her down. So instead of scheduling to come back another day, I’m still here, and it’s 11:12 p.m., and we’re still working on it.
And that was just how the day began.
The second job, after going to the dealer to pick up the part, I realized I didn’t have everything that I needed (the new part didn’t come with the crush washer that’s required), so I went back to the dealer to get a crush washer. Then I went all the way back to the job. After working on the car for another little bit, I realized there was something else I was missing, another crush washer for a different bolt, so it was all the way back out to the dealer. After getting back to the car, I believe there was yet a third thing, which I’m not remembering right now, that I realized I was missing. In all, including the first trip to get parts, I think I had four total trips to the dealer just for that little CR-V.
After that, it was a relatively easy one that was just a blown fuse. That was nice after a really really crappy morning and early afternoon. Then there was another one that was relatively easy that just needed an oxygen sensor.
Then came the nightmare. What I thought was going to be a relatively easy job with replacing the radiator fan assembly on a 2016 Ford focus, turned out to be potentially one of the biggest nightmares of my entire mechanic career.
We installed the new radiator fan relatively quickly, but then it didn’t work. Exactly the same symptoms as the old one. So I started to troubleshoot further, and I found that there was not enough voltage coming through the radiator fan relay slots in the fuse box. So I tried to trace that down, falling instructions from Identifix on which wires to test, and eventually, I found that there was a blown fuse. It was one of the mega fuses that’s attached to the outside of the battery housing on those Ford focuses. But it was only partially blown. I’ve run into that once before, if you remember. Having a fuse that was blown, but still sort of touching, so sometimes it had power and sometimes not.
After figuring out that there was a blown fuse, I tried to insert another fuse to solve the issue, different style of fuse but the same amperage. The fan still wouldn’t work. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the proper voltages. Then we went to try and start the car again, and it wouldn’t start. The car that was running just fine when we got there, just not turning the fan on, now suddenly wouldn’t start. I put my scan tool on it, and suddenly it was having communication issues with the main computer of the car. I spent I don’t even know how long trying to troubleshoot what on Earth might have happened, but in the end, I had to give up. I’m terrified that there’s a problem with the PCM, but nothing that I did should have blown the pcm.
The purple wire that goes to the fan was the wire that was having troubles, and that one’s controlled by the pcm, so potentially, there was a problem with the PCM to begin with, but how on Earth do you expect a customer to believe that when the car was running fine before you started working on it and isn’t anymore.
I’ll probably end up eating a couple thousand dollars even though it probably wasn’t my fault. But it’s either that or get a reputation for doing crap work. I understand where the customers coming from. Their car was running fine. Just overheating. Now it won’t start, and it can’t even connect to a scan tool because there’s no communication for some reason. They didn’t touch it. I’m the only one who touched it. So I must have screwed it up, right? Seems pretty cut and dried.
So I’m paying for it to be towed to my friend Miguel’s shop, and he is doing me the huge favor of taking time out of his day to put me first when he’s already got a slammed schedule. I’m just praying that somehow there’s a way to prove that it wasn’t my fault so that I’m not on the hook for a couple thousand dollars, but I don’t think that even that’s going to fly with the customer, because they know Miguel is a friend of mine, so if he says that it’s not my fault, there’s a big bill, it’s going to be easy enough for them to just think that it’s the good old boy club covering each other’s butts.
Really crappy situation.
So I’ve got to call the tow truck in the morning, try and get that whole thing figured out.
I’m also on the hook for taking care of my trainee because I’m… A sucker or something or whatever it is.
He’s not ready to be a mechanic on his own, but he turned down other jobs to work with me, and he thinks he’s ready to work on his own, but he’s not at all. He’s making mistakes constantly, and when I give him space, he’s still making mistakes.
But I feel bad because I’m leaving, and now he has no income for his family. And I promised him I’d get him work while I’m gone to make sure his family’s taken care of.
I’m really tired. I’m really discouraged. There’s so much left I have to do. I’m letting so many people down right now.
And there’s so much more…
😕
Heading back to Utah tomorrow.
Interest rates went up again.
I’m so burned out.
Love and hugs to all y’all.
Lift the World
~ stephen
Lift the World 