Mechanic's tidbits of advice
 

A recent post in Wayner's thread about getting a 928 (about the cut off switch in RKD 's 928) got me thinking about bits of advice I have gotten over the years about cars. THE most helpful piece of advice I got was from Mustang Bill, a guy who worked on Mustangs in Short Pump Va, long before the area became a big shopping mall.

One day, I took a high school friend's mustang in for advice. The heat didn't work. Mustang's Bill's words of wisdom were "Mustangs generally work. First thing to do is look for what the previous owner modified that screwed*** things up. Then, you will have found your solution.

In the case of my classmate's Mustang, the heater didn't work. Mustang Bill walked over to the car, and pointed to the aftermarket stereo. "That stereo is not original- look there first " he indicated with yoda like wisdom.

As a 16 year old, confused as to why a car stereo would mess up heating, I wiggled under the dash, where, sure enough, whoever installed the stereo had knocked the leads off the heat fan control knob.

Best piece of advice I have heard to date, and I use it on a daily basis for everything. I think there have been similar threads here on PPOT, but like a memory challenged old geezer, who's shared this many time before but can't remember, I wanted to share again for the sake of improving the world. You are welcome!:D

***screwed = "f#$%'d up"

I've told my two boys, from a very young age, that no matter what it is they have in front of them that does not work, look at the last thing they "fixed" first.

Sometimes, when fustrated, and nothing is working out correctly, just walk away. Go inside, wash your hands, sit down, have a drink, and most times the solution will come to you as an epiphany.......sometimes it takes coming back to the project the next day after sleeping on it.

I have had the most difficult,impossible situations seem simple the following day with a clear head.

If there's a new problem, look at where the last pair of hands have been - even if it was yours......

Had a new 2001 BoxsterS. After about a year and a half it didn't start on the first key turn. I thought a car only 1-1/2 years old should. Took it in and they replaced the MAF. That fixed the starting. But then it started voilently backfiring out the exhaust on deceleration. Violent enough that it blew the welds out of the muffler. Over another year and a half it took Porsche 3 sets of catalitic converters, two more mufflers, and an entire engine that threw a rod bearing and it still had the problem. Then they discovered they had replaced the MAF with the wrong one causing all the problems. The new engine did not include the MAF.

Frustrated me because I kept telling them the real problem started when they replaced the MAF. They even replaced it again. But instead of ordering the MAF that goes for that make, model, serial, they replaced it with the same wrong part number they took off.

Look for the easy stuff first.

Friend had a 1980 Mustang with the turbo 4-cylinder. Called me up, asked if I'd help trace down a turbo problem.
Popped the hood. Found a small-diameter hose that was partially broken at the nipple. Clip off the torn end, push it back on the nipple, and get to work.
Looking down, it's obvious the turbo controller must come out from the bottom. Get under the car, and it's obvious the turbo controller must come out the top. Grrrr..

After two hours, us two idiots had the turbo controller out. Now to figger out how it works.

Hmmm... A little vacuum hose attaches here. Where does the little vacuum hose go? trace it to the other end, and...... Yup. We fixed the problem in the first five minutes. Broken vacuum hose.

Lesson lernt. Sorta. I'm still an idiot pretty often.

If you're working on a 30+ year old car you can pretty much guarantee that during that car's life someone worked on it that had absolutely no clue what they were doing.

One of my previous employers (mechanic and shop owner) would ask mechanics applying for a job if they could do any tricks with their hand tools.

If they could, my old boss wouldn't hire them thinking that they spent too much time in the past screwing around instead of working....

With an electrical issue, cut the system in half so you know which half the issue is in.

I unplug harnesses until the problem circuit shuts off :) Quick and dirty.

rjp

:eek:

That's a good idea.

My mechanic told me if I hear a horrible noise while driving, I should shut off the engine and assess the situation. Works like a charm..but the gf isn't happy when I tell her to shut up. lol

Before you spin the wrench or haul on the ratchet handle, take good look at what your knuckles will encounter if you slip. Then change your hand position.

That and dont buy cheap tools.

So true, and great advice.

We see cars all the time where we need to undo what was previously done to hide problems, so then we can actually diagnose what the real issue is.

When was a teenager was visiting a friend. He had some sort of socket set. Just messing around and yakking about something had picked up the socket wrench with a socket on it and started spinning it around. Low and behold the neighbor across the street's garage door started opening and closing.

We rode our bikes around the neighborhood and at least two houses on each block the ratcheting socket wrench would open and close the door.

That's the only tool trick I know besides getting the broken thing on the car to work.

It is always easier to do it right the first time , than to do it again. It seems as if I have to re- teach myself this lesson periodically .

^^^ Wrench/socket trick. Weird.

I'm not a mechanic but the advice I give is "Change the oil often and don't thrash 'em when they're cold."

Advice I gave to my young niece "Buy a Toyota. Spend the extra cash and buy a really nice one. One that hasn't been messed about with. One that hasn't been owned by someone like me."

If you are working outside, especially if it is freezing cold, put a pan of old, gunky oil under the area where you are working. If you drop a nut, socket - any small item - will inevitably land in the goop, instead of getting lost in the grass/gravel/mud, etc.

The worse thing you can do to a car is not use it.

A few years ago I was changing front lower control arms on the missus' LR3 and accidentally damaged the threads on the drive shaft. No way the nut was going back on. I finally just called it a day and left the thing up on jack stands over night.

Following day, after sleeping on it and figuring out how to fix, I went out and cut off the first thread and a half. The driveshaft was shortened by a mm or two but the nut would now go on and thread. Proper torque was achieved and the thing is still that way today.

So yes, walk away when necessary.

Funny- now I remember another story.
A coworker had a pristine international scout. The thing worked perfectly. Wanting to keep it running, she took it to a mechanic, who suggested new spark plug wires. She agreed, and then the problems started. It ran rough. Later, it wouldn't run at all. Turns out the shop had put in wrong wires/and/or not inserted them all the way into the distributor cap, so the spark was having to jump, and that burnt up the ignition.

I spent a whole summer working on that car for her!!!!

First thing to do is look for what the previous owner modified that screwed*** things up. Then, you will have found your solution.

git blame

Plenty of truth here. I remember once some very cranky old mechanic saying about some schit box, "this thing has been worked on by everybody and nobody good!" :mad:

I often remember that. :D

I specialize in restoring old stuff and I can't over emphasize how much value there is on originality, i.e. not having been "improved" by some jackwad over the years. People often wrongly disparage super low mileage vehicles and it's true that they often need a lot of attention but I'd rather have something built by Germans 40-50 years ago than "built" by some pissed-off moron in Arizona or Kansas any day of the week.

I was salivating over Grady's '68 911 and should have bought it for $80k or whatever it went for. Just to have that car that had only been touched by the factory and him...sigh. :(

My SC keeps teaching me this :rolleyes:

One thing I learned while working on computer hardware, OS issues, and networking is to keep a log book.

When I started on doing some stuff on the 356 (electric contacts needed love, throw out bearing, generator) I started keeping a log book of what I had done, where what it looked like, etc (thank god for digital photos). Came in handy a few times.

The other thing I've learned from computing that applies very well to working on a 50+ year old car (and probably a much younger one as well) is the value of Good Documentation. And no, the factory isn't always the source of good docs, nor is a common publisher (I have a Haynes/Chilton type manual for "Porsche 356/912/911" that shows a radiator on 'em....). The older and more specialized you get, the more likely you'll find good/great documentation from the community - in the case of the 356, Harry Pellow's books, Joe Leoni's wiring diagrams, etc.

So true! There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but there is always enough time (and $$$) to do it over.

righty tighty lefty loosie unless working on Mopar wheels.

Was anyone able to understand this?
He used to turn a socket wrench in the air and it would open garage doors?
Sounds like a serious LSD trip to me!

Exactly.....1966 dodge Polara station wagon.....

I started working in a service station garage 7 days a week at age 15.....If my boss said it once, he said it 1000 times; especially to my buddies that had no money:

THROW THE WHOLE GOD DAMMED Chit IN THE BAY AND START OVER......

Definition of hack mechanic is --- anyone who has previously worked on what you are currently working on.

Attention to detail. EVERYTHING is important.

I like the above thoughts about originality too. Period mods are Ok. I'm sure Grady put a few personal touches on his 68'.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1496800149.jpg


On the wall at Singer......

most of the time butchery is in the interest of saving money. Duct tape VS. replacing the part in question. Some of the times is aftermarket trash people are conditioned to believe are better than OEM.

I see it like cleaning a wound, rip it all apart, start over, and only if it's manageable. I see any hack, I generally don't buy. Life's too short for that.

rjp

The first color TV my dad bought used a remote that worked on sound.
When you clicked the channel button a hammer would strike a rod inside the remote and the sound it made would change the channel.
The volume button would also strike a different length rod and that would change the volume. Sounds ridiculous but it worked and the remote used no batteries.

Maybe garage door were the same at some point?

An ex g/f had a TV with this remote...it made clanky-springy sound.
Many moons ago.

I've had to do quite a few repairs out in the field, in the dirt, cold, dark, etc. My rule is to never work in the dirt, cold, dark, etc if you don't have to. The reason is you want everything to be clean. You want to have good light, and you want to keep yourself as clean as possible too. If it's immobile, then I bring light, water, and a box of disposable towels to the repair site unless I'm deep in the field. I try to avoid those as much as possible.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1496807111.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1496807111.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1496807111.jpg

Stupid little things by a PO :mad:

I took the door trim off my W140 to check a soft close issue... And guess what. No vapor barrier!
The door card has been softened & deformed by the moisture so I've had to buy a second hand door card from a breaking yard!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1496810264.jpg

Keep your work area clean.

I worked in a shop where the owner (and lead mechanic), when faced with trouble shooting, would spend the first 20 minutes "putting the car back into factory spec." So....checking to see the number of places in timing, carburetion, etc., that some mechanic felt he knew more than the factory and created his/her own specs for tuning. Seemed to work well for him (and also seemed to cure a number of issues that people hadn't even told him about yet....)