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Post by swi66 on Mar 29, 2007 11:20:17 GMT -5
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Post by OneTreedCat on Mar 29, 2007 13:32:29 GMT -5
Yikes! Possibly the same, at least at some garages and at least to some extent. Scary - who drops a tank in their driveway to see if the work was done? Tranny oil change? Except for possibly noting a slight change in color or smell, and other than lab testing, how do you know? [Never mind tranny oil cleaning or "restoring" - if the oil needs changing change the oil.]
There was an independent garage up my way that was caught charging for engine oil and filter change but not doing the work. They apparently would wipe the existing filter clean on the outside and call the job done - until they got caught and lost a major customer. I understand that lately they may have again picked up their bad habits. Some people never learn.
All this suggests that if you can do the work yourself you are better off. The problem is of course that everyone cannot, because of physical limitations, lack of facility or tools, lack of time, lack of the necessary knowledge or experience, do the work themselves. Some folks simply have no business under a car while trying to perform their own maintenance: I've had to lecture several guys over the years because they were working under a car while it was up on a bumper jack.
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Post by swi66 on Mar 29, 2007 14:00:51 GMT -5
years ago I remember watching a mid 60's ford in this guys driveway.
he changed a tranny while using 2 bumper jacks and 2x4s under the front tires........
can you imagine?
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Post by swi66 on Mar 29, 2007 14:09:14 GMT -5
Actually had a used car dealer in Akron on Rt. 5. Used to offer rebuilt motors $99 and up.
his rebuilds were a trip to the car wash and a poof can of paint. Maybe some STP to quiet the motor. He did it one time when it was supposed to be a replacement motor, problem was the serial number on the motor matched the one on the car...........never even loosened anything.
Some people brought their car in to him, and he would sell it using a similar cars title, then tell the guy he figured he changed his mind and picked the car up, or it must have been stolen............
Dumped all his oil waste, tranny fluid, anti freeze, paint residue on the ground.........when he had too many tires out back he would burn them and make it so the fire department couldn't get to them.
Did illegal inspections till he lost his license for that.
When I worked at a nearby garage he brought cars to us to inspect. I failed one and told him to weld up the broken frame. He slapped bondo and undercoating on it and sent it back..........I still failed it and he was PO'd.
After over 25 years of screwing people over they finally sent him to jail.............for about 6 months. Got out, went to work for a used car dealer, sold a car and switched a junker for the good car he sold. Did another 6 months.......................will never learn.
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Post by oldschoolcruiser on Mar 29, 2007 20:34:16 GMT -5
The way some of these cars are made today, it's nearly impossible to remove the oil filter while laying on your back without spilling oil all over the darned place. I save cardboard from boxes to lay on the ground for when I do this to protect the floor. At an oil change place, you're just lucky to get your car back in one piece. I forgot where I heard this story, but someone I know went to one, and the "mechanic" (for lack of a better word) damaged the car in the parking lot. So the store manager went to a collision shop with it to get an estimate for repairs while the customer was waiting, all without even notifying the customer, and then returned. I would have been LIVID to say the least.  I use synthetic oil and change it myself annually in our cars. With that stuff you can go 10,000 miles at a time without having to worry as long as you use a good filter. ;D One thing to be careful of......I hear that many of the new motor oils don't have zinc in them. If you use it in motors that don't have roller lifters, particularly in older cars, you can wear out the camshaft lobes. I guess the zinc screws up the emissions on the new cars somehow so they are taking it out of the oil. That's why I like Valvoline synthetic, it supposedly still has zinc in it. I hear oil needs something like .01% min. zinc in order to withstand the pressure of lifters on the camshaft that are not the roller type. Or something like that.  |
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Post by benny on Mar 30, 2007 6:32:42 GMT -5
we use oil with high zinc content when breaking in new motors/cams. The chevy cams can be eaten very easilly in less than 20 minutes on a break in if not used.
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