Daily carnage thread

[Peter Drouin]

Never trust a dealer. I always check stuff like that myself.
They call them technicians, today all they're good for is to swap out parts and charge you a lot of $$$$$.
No more mechanics. I hope things work out for you, good luck.

[Crusarius]

I am going to hold off on the dealer name and hope they treat me right. If they do not, I will share the name.

The shop I am at can get me a used tcase with 1 year warranty for 575 and they are going by book time to change it which is 4 hours at 105/hr. plus I live in an area that uses straight road salt, so I am expecting the full 4 hours to change it. Honestly, I thought 1100 was a pretty fair price for everything.

I need to call the dealer today and have a chat with them. unfortunately I am the nice guy and we all know where those guys finish. I am really hoping the dealer will actually work with me. Unfortunately, I am expecting them to tell me its not their problem.

I love this truck but it has had 4 catastrophic failures that have left me stranded at only 104k miles. I have a 97 wrangler that has 180k hard miles on it that has never left me stranded.

[Resonator]

If it was the Jeep it would have broke wheels up on a boulder runnin' aired down beadlocker baja's rock crawlin'. ;D

[Crusarius]

Thats for sure . 

The only reason I even am getting the dealer involved is the fact they lied to me. otherwise, I would just swallow it and move on.

[chevytaHOE5674]

If the book says 4 hours they should be able to do it in 2. I also live in the salt belt and did one myself in 2.5 hours (and I'm no organized tech so I have to hunt down tools all the time hahaha).

[Crusarius]

yea, I understand completely. That was a quote they gave me so we will see what the actual cost ends up. or if the ford dealer will be willing to work with me.

[Crusarius]

so unfortunately, the ford dealer was not able to work with me. He basically told me that ford will not even take their calls if the vehicle is over 5 years or 60k miles.

The service manager was very nice though and wanted to help but was not able to give me a new case. so he offered me new ford case for $1075 when normal price was $1800. They actually had one in stock.  I ended up deciding to go with the junkyard case for $575 because I am just not in a financial position to get the new one. If I was working I would have bought the new one.

The dealer was Van Bortel Ford in east rochester ny. the lies about the tcase not leaking is the only bad service I have had from them. So from now on if I get any work done I will double check everything.

[Ed_K]

 All the dealers around here for bills they charge what ever the parts cost is what the time cost. I won't even deal with dealers. I have a couple of private garages that I use if I can't do it myself. 

[Crusarius]

I worked on cars for plenty of years. I will only do stuff I want to do unless its my jeep then I do everything. Right now the transmission is in pieces on the bench.

My favorite way to work on cars is by signing the check.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Most shops bill by the hours listed in their computer. If it takes less (often does) the shop wins, if they run into issues (rusted bolts, seized parts, etc) and it takes longer then the shop loses out.

I just charge the hourly rate that it actually takes me though I dont work on many passenger vehicles for people other than friends and family. I prefer working on heavy equipment any day of the week.

Having a lift in a heated shop is the only way for me to work on things anymore. Spent lots of my teenage years bench pressing transmissions in a gravel driveway, or swapping broken axle shafts in the middle of the woods that my body doesn't like that much anymore. Lol

[Peter Drouin]

That's the only way I work on stuff now.


My 06 the last of the 5 speeds. 

[thecfarm]

I use to get 2-3 trucks, some for just hauling them off or almost nothing and make one.  :
Boy that took some late nights and weekends. That was when I had time and no money.
And yes a gravel driveway too.

[barbender]

I'm 47 and still working on a gravel driveway. I must've made some poor life decisions🤔 I actually like it when the ground freezes, it's much smoother and a toboggan makes a good creeper😁

[Resonator]

I'm 47 and take my stuff in to get fixed. I had plenty of "fun" crawling on my back trying to fix stuff when I was younger. The dealer has a 50 point checklist they go through each time. They can spot or fix problems up on the lift in their heated garage, 1000 piece tool cart, and scan tools way easier than I can laying in the snow with wrench and a flashlight. Some easy stuff I will do, but I've learned the hard way a 15 minute job is only 1 broken bolt away from a 3 day ordeal.

[Crusarius]

I do have a small ghetto concrete slab with large pieces of slate set into the concrete. was just a nice patio but it has turned into the place I work on stuff. Not ideal by any means and currently there is 4" of snow covering it and my jeep that has no transmission in it.

One day I will have a shop with enough space for a lift. But even after that point not sure if I will get one. If I were to get one I would want it inset into the floor and raise up. then I would not lose any space.

I have always thought about having the lift then making tables I can put on the arms and have an adjustable work bench. Be nice for some big welding jobs.

[barbender]

I have my wife take her newer vehicle in for everything. My old woods rigs are so patched together I'm ashamed to bring those into a real shop🤦‍♂️😂

[chevytaHOE5674]

I have a steel plate I put on the lift arms and use it for my welding table. Can lower it to the ground to put heavy stuff on then raise it to whatever height I want for working. Works slick.

[Crusarius]

I have delusions of grandeur to make a bunch of scissor tables for my shop for just such a purpose. especially after the last sawmill build. using a highlift and c-clamps to hold it up was scary.

[mudfarmer]

Carnage... Prevention!

Getting closer to test firing 4-53 that has been sitting for 20yrs.

Got the E flap cable nice and smooth, replaced broken fuel shutoff and spent a bit this morning with a can of PB and got the rack unstuck and working smooth as silk



 

If I would have fired it up without checking and fixing this stuff it would have been a wild ride  air_plane

[barbender]

I hear the rack mentioned on Detroits all the time, but I've never been inside one so I don't understand what it is. Detroit 2 strokes have unit injectors, right?

[mudfarmer]

I might not know or use all the right terms, this is my second vacation to the beautiful motor city. That large tube running top to bottom on right side of the head is connected to the governor and also to each injector via a push rod type kerjigger. I am calling the whole apparatus "The Rack" as I have heard it used.

Detroits (sample size:2, 53 series and 71 series) go to full fuel when shut down. That means the next time you crank it is at full fuel setting. If say The Rack is stuck at full fuel as it was here and will not move it can lead to a runaway condition which there are neat youtube vids and scary campfire stories about.




 

Governor in bottom right.

I did not have to do anything except spray penetrating oil, wait 10min and wiggle. Messing with anything in here comes with disclaimers about reading the service manual! And likely "timing the injectors/timing the rack" Simple inside but there is a lot to be screwed up and cause future carnage for the thread

[barbender]

Thanks mudfarmer, that's a good description. It's actually pretty similar to my Lombardini diesel, which also has unit injectors. The Lombardini has an overhead cam and iirc there are rockers that operate plungers on the injectors. Anyways, just trying to relate it to what I see in the Detroit because even though I've broken a lot of stuff, that Lombardini is the only diesel I've really been inside😁

 I have a Detroit 3-35 powered skidder I haven't fired up in 2 years and I intend to have a rag handy to stuff the intake in case of a runaway. It doesn't have an emergency shut off🤷‍♂️

[so il logger]

That's the only way I work on stuff now.


My 06 the last of the 5 speeds.

I'm just in awe of the shop construction. Beautiful building

[kanoak]

I borrowed and blew a 6v-71 in a big vibratory roller and rebuilt it a couple years ago. Governor is the most difficult and critical component. Download a manual. When you test it, per the manual, have a piece of plywood to block the air intake in case of runaway. Thick plywood; those roots blowers can suck real hard.

[doc henderson]

I have my wife take her newer vehicle in for everything. My old woods rigs are so patched together I'm ashamed to bring those into a real shop🤦‍♂️😂

well, the new tech would prob. ask where to plug the laptop in.   :P