[Chris]

Yep. adjusted the valves for the 7th time only to know they are not at spec. watched every video on youtube seems like and also hit every forum. No help. not to mention my ac needed topping off and the gauge that I was using pulled air into the system. well yea imagine that.
what did you do this week that just didn’t line up?

[Chris]

[quote=”451Mopar” post=167998]No problem. I get it, and I don’t disagree.
I guess I’m just searching for a way to get the customer to understand that Time, Training, and Tools are expensive, but there are some people you can never please.
What upsets me, I take a perfectly running car into the dealership for recall work, or warranty work and get it back with more problems than when it went in.
Stuff like half-way slit vacuum hoses, body/paint damage, damaged spark plug wires, loose connections, etc.[/quote]
This is a very interesting topic I would love Eric to reply to honestly but just seeing the two of you build on it is pretty interesting in its own. Here is my honest opinion on as many points as I can recall from memory. I am not a technician by any means. I did not go to school for what I know but I did take an apprenticeship from a good friend of mine who is a master mechanic. I know a lot of the basics. I have taken engines apart and bore them out and put them back together. I have adjusted valves most recently and yes it is all trial and error at this point. I have not completed my apprenticeship and I don’t think I will until my master mechanic has gotten me through every situation he believes will get me to learn everything I need to know. I have taken jobs on my own where I have forgotten to connect a sensor and the vehicle runs worse than before. I had to spend hours trying to find the issue and could not pin point it to save my life and when my master mechanic had to come and fix my problem, it took him two seconds to connect the connector that was loose. I did not do anything wrong when it came to the actual job just missed a step. I lost a customer at that point. I lost money as well because I had to cover gas for my master mechanic as well. I admit my wrong doings but if I had said the job just took a little longer than I had anticipated to the customer instead of telling him that I had missed a step and everything mentioned above, I would still be getting calls from him to try and fix his vehicles. It would not have been a bad lie because I do not cut corners in a car but take pride in having the issue resolved and resolve whatever caused the issue in the first place. Whether or not I would have forgotten something down the road on one of the vehicles well that I can’t say because mistakes do happen. Here is a theory on the shops that get these cars back out and do not work better or even worse than before. Eric mentioned this in several of his videos. Test drive. Every time that you do a job, test drive. The shops that charge a few dollars as opposed to those that charge an arm and a leg can’t afford the time to thoroughly go through all the checks to make sure the car is fixed. I have seen it where they do the job right in front of you and you see what they do and you believe that everything is right. these guys will charge cheap and because of that people will go and use them more readily that they would a good technician shop. more lines, more work, more money type thing. It is because of the pressure of time efficiency that they will cut corners. “you get what you pay for” type thing. now when it comes to lying about a job as I have seen some of these places do well that is something else because this will happen as well. I had a inner tie rod that was loose on my car once. I didn’t inspect it before I put the whole new rack into the car. I cut corners to save time as I am a full time student and work full time and only had a spare vehicle to use for only a few days. When I took the car to get it aligned, the technician told me I had it loose and because of that, they could not do the work without charging me. I took it to this mom and pop shop near my house that many people liked for tire and suspension service. Told them of the situation and what was needed on the car and left it there and got a friend to pick me up to go to school. I got back and started driving home to feel the car jerk like it was when the tie rod was loose. I got home and inspected it before going to work and noticed not only had they not tightened the tie rod (or they did a horrible job) but had forgotten to tighten down one of the bolts holding in the rack itself on the body and messed up the threads driving it like that. I taped the threads again and bolted new bolt as well as tightened the tie rod later when I got a chance after going to get a rental. some lies are ok depending on situation. Don’t lie about something on the car that could be major. Lives are at stake or could be.

[Chris]

[quote=”Hockeyclark” post=171334]This is a great video. It takes all the guesswork out of topping off your A/C system. Now all I need is a set of gauges. You said that the Harbor Freight Gauges are junk, right? I will avoid those.[/quote]
yes can you please supply links to good products? I have seen so many out there that I am unsure which ones are trust worthy at this point. Also I read on there that two stage vacuums are more efficient at vacuuming a system than single stage and that they wont even take out air in the system. Is that true?

[Chris]

[quote=”jakeh” post=171078]Hello everyone,

I am having some issues with my A/C. It does not work at low speeds. On the high way it works reasonably well, though it is not super cold. I inspected the condenser fan relay and fuse and both were fine. Upon inspecting the condenser and fan assembly, I noticed that the condenser was bent and the fan was seized. About 10 years ago I rear ended someone. I guess the people who did the repairs did not address the AC :blink:

I am pretty certain that this is the main cause of my issues. The compressor seems to work
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxpxHbB5TS0[/video]

What are your opinions on this issue? Do you think I will be able to get buy with replacing the fan and condenser? If so would the process look something like this:
– Reclaim refrigerant
-Remove old condenser and fan
-Install new condenser and fan
-recharge system

Thanks in advance for your input![/quote]
You mentioned that the fan was seized is this due to the shape of the condenser? is so try going to lowes or home depot, getting a bolt that is longer but with the same thread size and getting some spacers to get the fan away from the condenser. You said that for ten years this has been going on and the ac just now started acting up well I am willing to bet you are just a little low on Freon. take care of that second. if you find a leak you will have to empty the system might as well do the repairs then.

[Chris]

[quote=”AaronTrip316″ post=170291]Sounds like you have it all pretty much checked out.

You check MAF, plugs, wires, injectors?[/quote]
So since this has happened I have checked everything even maf sensor again. Since then it has been fixed but the crazy thing it I never found out what was wrong with it. What fixed it: I let my cousin drive it as he has never driven a manual before. He stalled it out because he thought he was in first when really he was in third. From there, it ahs run extremely well. Who would have thought?

[Chris]

[quote=”random” post=170218]My daughter is now of age to learn to drive and her older brother is taking a break from Uni and would also like to get his license (never found the time before). I was thinking of trading in my old family Acura 3.2TL (1999) for something more learner friendly like a Honda Fit maybe 2008/2009 vintage. Any thoughts on learner cars? My other choices are very similar types, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, etc… but I thought the Fit would then make a great car for my son when he returns to Uni next year (he is 6’1″ so small cars are a tight fit… haha).[/quote] get something that wont break your bank. Buy a used car that has many miles on it that is a couple grand and not something like 5 or 6k either something that is like 3 or 4k would be nice. Just make sure that you know what problems the car has so that it doesn’t cost a fortune to fix up either should it need it. Good cars to learn in I would say go for a Nissan sentra or Altima. They are roomy inside so you wont need to worry about that. I have seen tall people fit in a civic before and those are small cars. Really though it is just a matter of getting a car for them to learn in. After they learn they can get a nice car that fits their personality

[Chris]

[quote=”Rob781″ post=170214]it could also be a head gasket leaking in the cylinder cuasing the spark pug to get wet…
I owuld check the oil and coolent to see if you have oil in the coolent and antifreeze in the oil…. also might want to do a compression test
but as long as it is normal tempure I dont think it would be causing the ruff ride..[/quote]
There is no antifreeze or oil where it is not supposed to. I know the engine is solid because I have just replaced all the gaskets on it. I will start running the fan by bypassing the relay as it is the only way to ensure it is cooling properly. A compression test would be good thank you for the suggestion AaronTrip316 I do not believe the exhaust or catalytic converter would be an issue as these are all new as well. The fuel filter has been changed, the EGR passages have been cleaned, the brake system redone, the clutch slave cylinder and liquid replaced. new cv axels and tie rods. this car has had a lot of work done as you can imagine. No vaccum leaks either that I know of. Ill have to test for that too. Maybe a dirty MAF. Anything I may have missed? thanks for your help

[Chris]

It can actually still be a good number of things. Start with the basics and check spark plugs, fuel filter, air filter, etc. If the basics do the job then great. If it doesn’t move to the next things to check which are the idle air control valve, cleaning the maf sensor, checking the o2 sensors, egr passages, pcv valve (should be part of the initial things actually). Check for white smoke in the exhaust and things like that as well. Let me know what you find and we can go from there.

[Chris]

[quote=”Alexa12″ post=170010]Hey i have a 1974 datsun and have taken off the thermostat, and i can see down into where it sits and the passages going into the engine block and it is very dirty(almost looks like rust), and the same around the and in the radiator, I am going to replace the radiator anyway, But can anyone recommend the best possible way to clean out the channels going into the block?. I don’t have a big budget so a do it at home would be the best.
Thanks, Alex[/quote]
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=chrisfix+coolant
This search should have everything you need. If it takes you to just chrisfix’s channel then you may want to search “chrisfix coolant” he goes in depth making the system like new and makes videos on it that are very thorough. It will answer all your questions.

[Chris]

[quote=”clayton beck” post=169497]I know this is common problem but I am getting no fix. Rough upshifting. station wagon( fb22b)?, boya trans[/quote] if im correct that is a drain fill transmission and not filter (that is removable at least) drain out two quarts and run it for a week then if you feel it is better do it again and again 3 times over to have new fluid in there. if you feel comfortable to change out one at a time until you feel it getting slightly worse then stop there keep in mind though new fluid will stop wear from happening (at least abnormal kind) so having new fluid in there is always good. if you plan to rebuild it later on then keep the fluid in until it wont run. it depends what you do from that point but the fluid should not be messed with especially with Honda transmissions where they are easy to mess up if not taken care of correctly.

[Chris]

[quote=”stiv625″ post=169517]Pull the dipstick and check the condition of the fluid in the junkyard transmission. If it’s red or pink that’s a good sign, brown is fine but if it’s too dark or smells burnt, don’t bother. If possible you can also pull the transmission oil pan and check for excessive metal shavings or debris inside and on the pan magnet. Some is normal but again if the fluid or inside of the pan is shiny from metal filings it’s not a good sign. Keep in mind that if the transmission failed on the original vehicle, this may be a common failure for that model, meaning there’s a higher chance another used unit will have problems as well.[/quote] Keep in mind that most junk yards drain all of the fluid out of the transmissions

[Chris]

Yes I had to get my mechanic that I was studying under. We never really had that many vehicles that we could practice on so I never learned them. Guess who ended up with one…. lol thank you for your help

[Chris]

[quote=”wafrederick” post=169080]Car alarms don’t work,most people ignore them and I seen this on a TV show.A gun is choice if caught in the act.A customer of my dad’s is this way,has guns all around his house and thieves won’t come out alive shot dead.[/quote]
Definitely look up gun laws before even trying this approach. I live in Texas so I know the importance of guns and using them to protect your home and property (yes it is legal to use deadly force in last resort situations for property) remember though certain criteria need to be met for you to use such methods. Stay safe

[Chris]

Fitment I am not sure but I assume it would if it comes off the same engine. Check for that first. Another thing to look for is the vehicle you are getting it off of’s service history. If the car was neglected and run with old dirty fluid most of its life it is probably not a good buy

[Chris]

Welcome! I myself am a Honda lover (say what you will) but I enjoy learning about other vehicles jus the same and have worked on many other vehicles jus the same. If you like to read and learn about things in forums this is a good place to be.

[Author]

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