Tales From Tech Support - Mechanics Edition #2

welcome to tales from tech support mechanics edition that's right even the mechanics deal with some crazy mistakes and blunders so let's head from the office into the garage and see what these crazy kids are up to I'm up already and if I got some stories for you never hustle a hustler this literally happened to me this week a little back story before we get to the juicy parts last week I was running errands and came back to the car which had unashamedly urinated itself in the car park I took a quick peek under the car and established that it was my car that had some incontinence issues against all health care advice and warning labels I dipped my finger into the puddle and tasted it tasted sweet so I knew it was cool it was cool it still left in the expansion tank so I drove it home and let it sit for a few hours I then checked the expansion tank for signs of oily residues that would indicate it has a head gasket issue thankfully there was none I've had pressure tested the system and it seemed the whole pressure so that led me to believe it was a leaky radiator normally I would do repairs by myself but changing a radiator is a bear so I elected to take it to a garage my normal mechanicals away but there was someone there I presume filling in for him I thought him what the issue was and left it with him now the juicy part he calls me back soon after to tell me that I need a head gasket changed much more expensive than a radiator change and I showed him that it does not but he insists so I go down to the garage where he condescendingly explains there is oily residue in the expansion tank I tell him that I checks for that and that it was not he pops the bonnet and lo and behold there's all your residue in the tank but also oily residue all over the cat I start the car and rev it high to check if there was any smoke and whitish tint thankfully there was none outright told him if he was gonna try to calm me he should have at least washed his hands before touching the cap to add a little oil words cannot describe how the color drained from his face never try to hustle a hustler from the other side this happened many years ago when I was working as a commissioned technician at an independent tire shop a customer asked for a brake inspection on his 1970 ish station wagon we did free brake inspections so that meant all the time it took me to test drive rack up the vehicle inspect and estimate the job was unpaid normally this would take about 15 minutes so it wasn't a big deal but if the car needed a lot of work we can kill 30 to 60 minutes just coming up with an estimate to repair when I climbed in I could tell the guy was living in the car it was packed with clothes and everything the guy owned as I pulled the car out of the parking space the brakes were grinding badly so a test drive was out of the question when I pulled the car under the rack I heard something fall I got out and looked under the car and found a big puddle of gas I thought maybe I had ripped out the fuel line so I racked the car and started my brake inspection by looking at the fuel line this car had a metal fuel line that ran from the tank to the engine it was so rusty and corroded that fuel was leaking out several points along the line so the customer had tied tin cans to the fuel line and we collect the fuel I immediately went and talked to the customer he was ticked that I had spilled his gas what the heck you're driving around in the fire trap and you're mad at me the poor guy was so down on his luck that he would collect the leaking fuel so he could pour it back into the tank this whole situation was so dangerous that I was speechless I had no idea what to say to the guy so I went back to finish inspecting the car at this point I knew the guy wouldn't be able to repair his vehicle just from the bad grinding noise I heard he was looking at at least several hundred dollars to repair the brakes and we still had to address the fuel leaks I felt really bad for the guy everything I looked at was completely worn out front and rear brakes were metal on metal none of the rotors or drums could be saved brake hose were badly cracked wheel cylinders were leaking the whole fuel line needed replacing it all came to a couple thousand dollars just to make it safe when I presented the estimate the guy got pretty mad at first I thought he was mad at me but he was mad at himself for not being able to get out of the whole life adult him I was pretty young at the time and it never really struggled in life I had never been fired and could always find enough work to get by I could always make rent and buy food this was a side of life I had not really seen close up it reminded me of when we studied the Great Depression in school this guy wanted to work but couldn't find a job now his car was broken down so finding work just got harder the customer wanted to drive the car but we told him it was too unsafe he would have to tow it away he told us he needed to sleep in it tonight but would have it towed the next day so we pushed it out into the parking lot we knew he would just drive away as soon as we closed but felt so bad for the guy we didn't call the police to report it I hope he was finally able to get back on his feet I never saw him again yep sometimes life can be a real kicking of teeth you try to do what you can to help people sometimes there's nothing you can do except to like you did just not give him a hard time and let him go on his way and do what he has to do we know it I had bought a brand-new 2007 Silverado and it was a super nice truck about a year after purchase after a cold rainy day the truck was almost dead the only thing that happened when the ignition key was turned was that the alarm went off nothing else worked no starter lights radio nothing later on that day the truck started and worked just as if nothing had happened during the next year it was 210 times to the shop after it rained and they had no idea what was wrong because every time they had it after a short while it would suddenly start and be perfectly normal this happened many times before my wife called the regional manager and complained about the inability of Chevy that fixed their own truck one of the times that it had been dead at the shop the mechanic said he had never seen anything like it because of all the 22 computers in the truck were unresponsive until they all came online and worked after her call to the regional manager we were quickly contacted by the dealer who told us to bring in the truck and it would give us a loaner vehicle until the truck was repaired we dropped off the truck for the 13th time in about three days later I got a call to come in they had fixed the truck they had changed out the ignition switch the computer and several other things all at no charge under warranty during the last year I asked that they were sure and he said absolutely the problem was found and fixed we went over to pick up the truck and asked what the problem was he explained that while they were looking at the truck they noticed that one of the lights in the fixture over the truck bed was out so they were gonna fix that when they took the light fixture out they noticed that there was some water inside the liner of the cab they noticed that it had run down over on the driver's side so they pulled out the liner and in the space between the cab shell and the liner was a little receiver module that monitored the rear tire pressure from the tires when a mechanic touched it it was hot he immediately realized that the water was shorting it out they replaced the module and the light fixture and that fixed the issue the you've got to be kidding me moment came when he explained to me that the basic problem came because the gasket around the light fixture on the back of the cab over the truck bed had shrunk and allowed water in though all the problems in the whole truck came from a leaking gasket he said that when the water entered the module it shorted out the computer system and the truck went dead when enough water had leaked out of the module module quit shorting the computer system and the truck was back to normal PS I kept an eye on that new gasket and about a year later notice to hit shrunk so I got some black silicone and potted the fixture and have never had another bit of trouble with it sorry about that got a delivery right in the middle of recording yep electrical gremlins therap ain but at least once they told you what the problem was and where it started you were with it enough to keep an eye on it and fix the issue before it became another issue mm over I took my truck to a mechanic shop because when I stepped on the clutch it made a grinding noise I thought it would be a throwout bearing but I had no time to take it apart because I was working out of town a week later when I came to pick up my truck the shop told me it was still making a noise but it was a different noise it wasn't any different I left the truck there another week after two weeks I came back to pick up the truck they told me they had changed the clutch and pressure plate throw out bearing clutch pivot and clutch arm but it was still making the same noise they kept it another week when I came back the third week to pick up my truck the mechanic that worked there told me a lock washer had come loose from the starter and lodged between the clutch and pressure plate when they removed the lock washer it stop making noise I told him that the shop told me they replaced the clutch and pressure plate the first week how could the new clutch and pressure plate have a noise if it were replaced he just rolled his eyes I told the supervisor about the lock washer story and that I want to buy old parts as a state law he told me the old parts were thrown out and would not release my truck back to me I called the Better Business Bureau and they told me I only had to pay for the parts that were returned to me and if I had to rent a vehicle to commute to work I could sue the mechanic shop they also called the shot to get the other side of the story and called me back to say the shop would release my truck and negotiate a new bill the bill I agreed to was $300 as I left the supervisor said don't ever bring your vehicles back it also sold tires and there was a crowd in the display area I replied well you lied to me to charge me for work you didn't do you're not the only shop in town and you're not any good I would never come back if I didn't call the Better Business Bureau you would have stolen more from me the shop closed two months later yeah mechanics rates are you know they're not horrible honestly the shops charge well most shops that are worth anything charge enough labor rate that they can cover their rent the mechanics wages and so on without having to play these games I don't understand why people think it's easier just to pad a bill by making things up and claiming you did certain things when you didn't and I never understood that I mean I've run into that in other industries too but that's just that just sucks man don't claim you did something and then try to charge people more what do you guys think let me know in the comments down below ain't too proud I grew up in a garage and seen many things through the years but the best you've got to be kidding me moment came when I worked as an admissions coordinator at a skilled nursing facility an elderly man came into my office asking for a coat hanger because he had locked his keys in his car I was busy so I couldn't help him but I did give him a hanger to attempt to unlock his doors of his station wagon the man was parked right in front of my office windows so I watched the old guy struggle for a good 45 minutes trying to unlock his door with that hanger I felt sorry for the man and guilty I hadn't gone out to help him I went outside and offered to try it's not the first war I've ever had to unlock for somebody I wiggle the wire twisting and turning trying to get the tip around the door animal but I couldn't quite get it if the wire was bent slightly different I could make it work I had pliers in my truck about six parking spaces away I told the man that I could grab my pliers to reshape the bend and I would have him unlocked in just a few minutes he announced oh I've got pliers he went to the back door opened it picked up his pliers off the back seat close the door and handed me the tool huh you've got to be kidding me I fought it but I didn't say it I hope in his back door reached up and lifted the lock closed the back door and opened his driver's door I handed him back his pliers and he said thank you I stood back watched him get in and drive away Wow oh boy I don't think I've ever run across that one before that's amazing alignment I was busy at work and had no time to work on the wife's car so I took it to the local dealer for a brake job and to tighten the steering wheel and had tilt and telescoping features and the bolts had come loose takes two special tools to fix it I didn't have and I was working 60 hours a week plus the dealer tells me they must do a front-end alignment anytime they repair any steering part steering wheel being a steering part it had been a while and just had new tires put on so what the hell do it it took them ten days to do the work I went to get it and it had brake fluid dripping off the wheels and fender and the tires squeal Dazz I turned onto the pavement I turned around and went back the service manager told me I must have hit something and knocked it out of alignment oh and it pulled hard to one side when I hit the brakes they wanted to charge me again to fix it they tried to baffle me with front end jargon stopped when I correct the Demel on what tow in camber and caster were I explained for two years I did their front-end alignment at a different shop seems there a GM certified guy couldn't pull off an alignment then I took it to another shop they had almost a half inch of total on the Camaro they did not have a vacuum brake bleeder so just let the fluid drool on the rotors and wheels which then blew down the lower fenders a short piece of hose and a beer can would have prevented that I would have learned in my bleeder if I would have known problem with the brakes was one side had OAM pads the other had high-performance pads both sides being soaked in fluid didn't help I cleaned everything up replaced the pads took it to another shop for an alignment had them print out before and after specs went back to the dealer and demanded I get at least the cost of my alignment back and offered to train their mechanics I got their check for the alignment oh and they cracked the steering column when they fixed it yup hire cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap charge top dollar rate because you're a dealership or a mechanic shop and pay your mechanic squat and then people try to get away with not fixing the job or they just don't know what they're doing and end up breaking stuff Oh amazing hey if you enjoyed this video do me a favor click that like and subscribe button down below and if you get a chance check out these videos up above

Channel: Story Time with Uncle Reddit

Views: 6,259

Rating: 4.9359999 out of 5

Keywords: uncle reddit, reddit, reddit stories, funny reddit stories, r/idontworkherelady, r/prorevenge, r/entitledparents, entitled parents, funny reddit stories 2020, rslash, subreddit, best of reddit, reddit top posts, top posts, top posts of all times, comedy, funny reddit posts, funny reddit, fails, cringe, entitledparents, entitledparents fails, entitled parents fail, malicious compliance reddit, malicious compliance, tech support, tales from tech support reddit, one click only, facepalm

Id: 8rBLl0N2fhU

Length: 15min 25sec (925 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 29 2020