Well its confirmed. I no longer wish to do automechanic work

[DREDIOCK]

Not on my van. Not on my wife's car.
Not on my mothers car.

Screw dat. cept for very minor stuff.
I'll leave it to the pros.

Decided to try and save some money and change the waterpump and front brakes on my work Van
Dodge Ram 2500 8cylinder with Air.

Had the help of one of my sons friends who is a year out of mechanics school.
He was a great help. And I'm glad I had his help but I'm also  glad I didn't leave him alone with it.

Only took 9 firkin hours and 3 separate trips to the auto parts store.
One because we decided I needed a new belt and the kid never bothered to check to make sure the new one was the same size.
Brakes were a PIA but went pretty smooth.

the Waterpump...oy oy oy.
They don't do it like they used to.
Separating the fan from the waterpump used to be 4 bolts bada bing and its off.
NOT ANY MORE.

Man what an over engineered joke.
One big nut between the fan and the pump that acts as if it were welded in place.
Supposed to have a special tool for it.
Back to the parts store for either A a New fan assembly ( a route I would have been willing to go if they had it) or the tool to get it off.

They rent me the tool. Well actually the rental was free once I brought it back.
Got home. Next to useless. I dont know what the hell the tool set was that they gave me but it sure as hell wasn't to take this fan off the waterpump.
In the end it was just a good ol bench vise some penetrating oil and good ol muscle that got it done.

Taking it apart everything was in the way.
Putting it back together everything was in the way.
Thank god the kid brought his air gun and ratchet with him or I would still be trying to turn firkin bolts.

Then to top it off. in the middle of it a thunderstorm complete with loud bolts of lightning started going off.
By this time I was not in the mood. Promting me to look into the heavens and shake my fist in profound anger and mutter some not very nice words.
The big guy must have seen I wasn't in the mood and we only got a few drops as it passed on by

Back in the day even with air, and even on a van. This was easy stuff I could do in a couple of hours.

NOT ANYMORE.

Screw it

I learned my own lesson about when I say the pros can do it better and faster.
I'm no martar.

This crap isn't worth my time.
From now on I just drop it off at the mechanic and say "Fix it"

I coulda worked today and paid for it instead.
It woulda been worth it.

the hell with this. Busting up knuckles.getting covered in grease that wont wash out of my hands.
Layind down in and getting my head all covered in antifreeze from the puddle that formed when some of it missed the container I had under it (%(#*@# Rube goldberg designed bolt and line layouts that seem to be specifically placed to either be in the way or next to unreachable cept for those with triple jointed limbs.

You can keep it.

I COULDA BEEN AT A BBQ!!!!

[Sandman]

I change fluids. Other than that, I won't touch a vehicle anymore. Welcome to the club.

[Yeager]

My first car was a 76 honda accord that had been overhauled at 130k.  Every bit of non essential engine gear was removed at the overhaul.  Had a weber carb and racer headers installed and it was the dreamiest car EVAR to work on.  I likened it to a lawnmower engine.  Easy to work on, hell....even the tranny was a dream.  I could actually crawl into the engine compartment with elbow room, ankle room......stretch out.  The oil filter was right out there for God and everybody to see.  I miss that car.  Today I lift the hood on my subaru legacy and its packed to the gills...I cant even see the damned engine.  I take it to a local mechanic.

[FiLtH]

   I put gas in mine. Thats about it.

[nirvana]

That's what I said, then I promptly joined the military.

[bcadoo]

changing the fan motor on my old saturn cured me.  I take it to the pros now.

[DiabloTX]

Give and take, really.

Changing a cam on an LSX engine is a simple ordeal compared to how it is with a Gen1 or Gen2 small block.  Some things are easy, other things not so much.

[SD67]

Heh, come back to me after changing a timing chain on a 3SFE in a Celica.

[Excel1]

the Waterpump...oy oy oy.
They don't do it like they used to.
Separating the fan from the waterpump used to be 4 bolts bada bing and its off.
NOT ANY MORE.

Man what an over engineered joke.
One big nut between the fan and the pump that acts as if it were welded in place.
Supposed to have a special tool for it.
Back to the parts store for either A a New fan assembly ( a route I would have been willing to go if they had it) or the tool to get it off.

i had the same problem recently, getting the fan of a '96 v6 ford explorer so i could get at the water pump. i didn't have the factory tool to lock the waterpump pulley, but judging by the pic of it in a workshop manual it word have been useless anyway as that fan retaining bolt was freaking tight. i bent up a few home made tools trying to lock the pulley to get the bloody thing off. in the end i ended up using a length of 2 inch wide , 1/4 inch thick flat steel and bolted one end of it to the pump using 2 of the pulley bolts with the other end of the steel resting on the concrete floor to solidly lock the pulley while i undid the bolt. that worked, but jeez what a lot messing around just to get a fan off to get at a waterpump. that explorer had other problems that were even more frustration and time consuming to fix, but that's modern vehicles for you. i know a few mechanics that don't get much pleasure out of working on em, and they get paid to do it.

i'm all for the kiss theory when it comes to cars, even if the results of that are considered antiquated these days.

there's no problems working on this. the thing cold be stripped back to the short block in under an hour if ever there was a need to do it and i was in a hurry.

[john9001]

new auto engineers should have to work as a auto technician for a few years before they are allowed to design anything.

[SD67]

ohhh hell yeah

[DREDIOCK]

new auto engineers should have to work as a auto technician for a few years before they are allowed to design anything.

Engineers and architects should BOTH be forced to work on the things they will be designing for a few years before they are allowed to design anything. LOL

Did a job a couple of months ago for a customer who's father was visiting.
We got to chatting about various things then he revealed he was a retired electrical engineer.

"I was an engineer for 35 years before I retired.
then I decided to work in rapairs where I learned everything I was doing wrong for those 35 years"

True story

[lasersailor184]

Engineers and architects should BOTH be forced to work on the things they will be designing for a few years before they are allowed to design anything. LOL

Did a job a couple of months ago for a customer who's father was visiting.
We got to chatting about various things then he revealed he was a retired electrical engineer.

"I was an engineer for 35 years before I retired.
then I decided to work in rapairs where I learned everything I was doing wrong for those 35 years"

True story

 

I personally feel the opposite way.  My radiator on the Wrangler TJ was shot.  So I purchased a new one, and put it in.  Sure it was hard, but it wouldn't have been as satisfying if it were easy.  I'll be doing anything that only has a 3/4 difficulty myself from now on.  The Radiator and hoses were $250, having it done in the shop would have cost me an extra 500-750 bucks.


To be honest, the hardest part about the whole process was getting the correct piece in.  I ordered 2 manual trans radiators from Autozone.  Both times the correct box and part number showed up, but there was an Automatic trans radiator in the box.  After that, we had one sent in to Advanced, and it was perfect.  3-4 hours to remove and replace the radiator and hoses.  1 Week to order the correct radiator.

[CAP1]

Not on my van. Not on my wife's car.
Not on my mothers car.

Screw dat. cept for very minor stuff.
I'll leave it to the pros.

Decided to try and save some money and change the waterpump and front brakes on my work Van
Dodge Ram 2500 8cylinder with Air.

Had the help of one of my sons friends who is a year out of mechanics school.
He was a great help. And I'm glad I had his help but I'm also  glad I didn't leave him alone with it.

Only took 9 firkin hours and 3 separate trips to the auto parts store.
One because we decided I needed a new belt and the kid never bothered to check to make sure the new one was the same size.
Brakes were a PIA but went pretty smooth.

the Waterpump...oy oy oy.
They don't do it like they used to.
Separating the fan from the waterpump used to be 4 bolts bada bing and its off.
NOT ANY MORE.

Man what an over engineered joke.
One big nut between the fan and the pump that acts as if it were welded in place.
Supposed to have a special tool for it.
Back to the parts store for either A a New fan assembly ( a route I would have been willing to go if they had it) or the tool to get it off.

They rent me the tool. Well actually the rental was free once I brought it back.
Got home. Next to useless. I dont know what the hell the tool set was that they gave me but it sure as hell wasn't to take this fan off the waterpump.
In the end it was just a good ol bench vise some penetrating oil and good ol muscle that got it done.

Taking it apart everything was in the way.
Putting it back together everything was in the way.
Thank god the kid brought his air gun and ratchet with him or I would still be trying to turn firkin bolts.

Then to top it off. in the middle of it a thunderstorm complete with loud bolts of lightning started going off.
By this time I was not in the mood. Promting me to look into the heavens and shake my fist in profound anger and mutter some not very nice words.
The big guy must have seen I wasn't in the mood and we only got a few drops as it passed on by

Back in the day even with air, and even on a van. This was easy stuff I could do in a couple of hours.

NOT ANYMORE.

Screw it

I learned my own lesson about when I say the pros can do it better and faster.
I'm no martar.

This crap isn't worth my time.
From now on I just drop it off at the mechanic and say "Fix it"

I coulda worked today and paid for it instead.
It woulda been worth it.

the hell with this. Busting up knuckles.getting covered in grease that wont wash out of my hands.
Layind down in and getting my head all covered in antifreeze from the puddle that formed when some of it missed the container I had under it (%(#*@# Rube goldberg designed bolt and line layouts that seem to be specifically placed to either be in the way or next to unreachable cept for those with triple jointed limbs.

You can keep it.

I COULDA BEEN AT A BBQ!!!!

ya...we're underpaid too
that pump shoulda been easy though. i agree with ya on the nut thing. ford trucks do that too. i have tools especially for that. i even have one that connects to my air hammer. takes em off in about 3 minutes or less. next time invest in latex gloves. i wear em all the time, and you'd never know i turn wrenches all day long.

 or better yet...next time bring it to me, and i'll fix it for ya

<<S>>

[CAP1]

My first car was a 76 honda accord that had been overhauled at 130k.  Every bit of non essential engine gear was removed at the overhaul.  Had a weber carb and racer headers installed and it was the dreamiest car EVAR to work on.  I likened it to a lawnmower engine.  Easy to work on, hell....even the tranny was a dream.  I could actually crawl into the engine compartment with elbow room, ankle room......stretch out.  The oil filter was right out there for God and everybody to see.  I miss that car.  Today I lift the hood on my subaru legacy and its packed to the gills...I cant even see the damned engine.  I take it to a local mechanic.

you sure it wasn't a civic? i didn't think honda had an accord back in the 70's? thought only the 2 cylinder civics, but i could be wrong.

<<S>>