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A Mechanic's Life - Tales From Under the Hood

3515 messages,  Last post on Jun 18, 2013 at 2:06 PM

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Messages Page 21 of 352

#198 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [fintail] by lemko

Oct 04, 2012 (11:29 am)

Replying to: fintail (Oct 04, 2012 10:17 am)
My Cadillac DTS with the Northstar also takes 8 qts. I take it to the Cadillac dealer. I'm not reckless and self-destructive enough to risk taking it to Jiffy Lube!

#199 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [lemko] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 04, 2012 (11:47 am)

Replying to: lemko (Oct 04, 2012 11:29 am)
I'd go to a chain store if they would let me instruct them on how to do it--but they won't, so I don't. I also have a cartridge filter, and it requires a new gasket, and it's touchy, and I don't want oil all over my exhaust header.

#200 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [Mr_Shiftright] by thecardoc3

Oct 04, 2012 (1:38 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 04, 2012 8:19 am)
It's hard to screw up shocks on a Chevy pickup, but I would cringe to have them change the oil on a Mini Cooper or a Subaru (oh, sorry, we drained your transmission by mistake!).
 
So you apparently have never made such a mistake, is that a function of your superior technical talents, or is it simply that you haven't had enough chances to have fate catch up with you?
 
No major league pitcher ever managed to strike me out. That's a fact that is based along a similar vein as your (or anyone else's) having never drained the wrong fluid, or misconnected battery cables. Given enough chances it would eventually happen.
 
Frankly as I read the last several responses I asked myself if any of you were qualified to perform those tasks unsupervised in a chain store, or my shop. I think it's safe to say it would be a regrettable decision (for the shop) to try and find out.

#201 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [thecardoc3] by explorerx4

Oct 04, 2012 (5:34 pm)

Replying to: thecardoc3 (Oct 04, 2012 1:38 pm)
I think you are being a bit harsh on Shifty.
Check out his posts in some other forums and you will see he pretty savvy mechanically and in appraisals.

#203 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [thecardoc3] by fintail

Oct 04, 2012 (6:54 pm)

Replying to: thecardoc3 (Oct 04, 2012 1:38 pm)
I'm not paid to be qualified. But I wouldn't trust someone with modest skill and credentials who spends most of the day changing oil on Camrys and the like to have perfect luck with my higher maintenance and extremely uncommon vehicles. And it is a good thing for those mechanics who can specialize - the indy MB shop who I patronize does a huge volume.

#204 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [thecardoc3] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 04, 2012 (7:30 pm)

Replying to: thecardoc3 (Oct 04, 2012 1:38 pm)
I thought it was pretty funny actually.
 
No seriously I think if I can rebuild Porsche engines I could put shocks on a Chevy.
 
But what i really want to say to Doc is that I know what I don't know, and this keeps me out of trouble.

#205 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [lemko] by bolivar

Oct 05, 2012 (12:53 am)

Replying to: lemko (Oct 04, 2012 11:29 am)
Well, actually your Northstar takes 7 1/2 quarts. At 8 quarts it's overfilled by 1/2 quart.
 
But I've been told it will pretty quickly blow that unneeded 1/2 quart out of the engine thru the PCV valve circuit.
 
Also, all 3 of the Northstars we've owned, the dipstick is miss-marked. At the required 7 1/2 quarts, it shows about a half quart low. So, when 8 quarts are put in it, it shows about right on the full mark on the stick. I've never understood what is going on here with the Northstar motors and their dipsticks.

#206 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [Mr_Shiftright] by roadburner

Oct 06, 2012 (5:55 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 03, 2012 6:48 pm)
I wouldn't let a chain store lay a finger on my car.
 
That's my philosophy as well.

#207 of 3515 Re: Forty nine dollars for a tire, and a coupon that said buy one, get one [fintail] by roadburner

Oct 06, 2012 (6:27 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Oct 04, 2012 10:17 am)
I cringe at the thought of a chain place dealing with the ~8 quarts needed by the E55, or the fintail's cartridge/element style filter.
 
I recently changed the oil in an older friend's 2005 X3, and wound up having to rectify the mistakes made by the prior service "technician".
  
I had previously provided my friend with a contact at my dealer as well as at my indie BMW shop, recommending that he go to one or the other for everything but oil changes- and I had offered to perform the changes for just the cost of the oil and the filter.
  
Well, he didn't want to "impose" on me so instead he took it to a local shop for an oil change. Fast forward to a Saturday a while back, when he called and asked me if I could change the oil sometime that week as his local shop was busy. No problem; I stopped by my dealer and bought a filter and he brought the X3 over. However, once I got into the job I encountered a textbook example of why you NEVER take a BMW to "Bubba's Fix-It Emporium."
  
First off, the drain plug was extremely difficult to loosen; when I finally did break it loose I found that the plug was missing its copper sealing washer. Odds are that Bubba didn't see the washer fall off when he drained the oil; so when he reinstalled the plug without the washer it probably dripped- so he really cranked down on the drain plug to stop the leak. Idiot.
  
Next up was changing the filter. Bubba had used a Fram cartridge which had plastic end caps(which were crumbling) and a filter medium that had started to distort. The correct BMW filter -manufactured by Mann of Germany- cost me $10.85 while Fram's alleged "filter" costs $2.50 more. Such a deal...
  
The BMW filter also comes with a new drain plug sealing washer and a new o-ring for the oil filter housing cap. Anyway, I wiped out the filter housing as best I could, and I think I got 99.99% of the plastic bits from the worthless Fram piece.
  
Finally, I poured in the requisite amount of Mobil 1 0W-40 and proceeded to reset the Oil Service light. Of course Bubba hadn't done that either, probably because he thought it needed a special tool. Wrong again; the indicator is reset using only the ignition switch and the odometer reset button. And it's not exactly proprietary information, either- just type "BMW X3 SIA reset" into almost any search engine...
  
My friend kept trying to pay me for my labor, but for me, fixing everything Bubba screwed up was reward enough. It was a dead easy job- assuming that you have opposable thumbs, the correct parts, and the readily available reset information.

Messages Page 21 of 352

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