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Bad Mechanics
Sanfam
I like clocks.
in Zocalo v2.0
Oy!
Why must there be so many of these people?
And why must they always have once worked on my car?
After tearing through the volvo today to change the spark plugs, I discovered a number of additional things that make me stop and ponder how they got to where they are.
The most obvious thing I discovered today was tha the spark gap on the old plugs was 0.062. The spec range for my car is 0.028-0.030. Who the hell put those plugs in? Hell, they weren't even of the right conductivity!
And being that the car has 152k miles, one would assume some parts would be swapped out as their wear and tear demonstrated, right?
Wrong. Upon my pulling out cylinder 3's spark cable, I noticed it was rather short. Turns out, this cable had rotted to the point of it breaking in half. Upon closer inspectioon, the last mechanic had used *HOT GLUE* to hold another part in place, which had apparently broken earlier. This is for the spark cable, also know as the ignition cable, a cable which is nearly in direct contact with the cylinders at all times.
Another fun discovery was with the parking brake. I knew it wasn't functional but didn't know why. Turns out, the mechanic disconnected it. Why? A sticky cable. This is a rediculous idea, as it removes the best possibility of emergency braking. At the very least, it should have been left connected. A sticky E-Brake is better than none at all. Oy!
So now I had to spend a grand total of $100 to buy new plugs, new cables, and a few other parts to fix a number of these stupid, stupid "fixes". I'm really bummed that I learned of the cable problem so late, as I missed out a chance to get the parts I needed for $80, including overnight shipping.
Things like this have been found all over the car. It really has me respecting Volvo's engineering, as much of this would result in a lesser engine/car having broken down much sooner. Very sturdy engineering! The current mechanic, a guy I know and trust, has been doing a great job, and also discovered a few of these on his own.
Anybody else have any interesting stories/discoveries of their own?
Also, If I find some interesting pictures of a few of the repairs done by the previous mechanics, I'll post 'em up.
Why must there be so many of these people?
And why must they always have once worked on my car?
After tearing through the volvo today to change the spark plugs, I discovered a number of additional things that make me stop and ponder how they got to where they are.
The most obvious thing I discovered today was tha the spark gap on the old plugs was 0.062. The spec range for my car is 0.028-0.030. Who the hell put those plugs in? Hell, they weren't even of the right conductivity!
And being that the car has 152k miles, one would assume some parts would be swapped out as their wear and tear demonstrated, right?
Wrong. Upon my pulling out cylinder 3's spark cable, I noticed it was rather short. Turns out, this cable had rotted to the point of it breaking in half. Upon closer inspectioon, the last mechanic had used *HOT GLUE* to hold another part in place, which had apparently broken earlier. This is for the spark cable, also know as the ignition cable, a cable which is nearly in direct contact with the cylinders at all times.
Another fun discovery was with the parking brake. I knew it wasn't functional but didn't know why. Turns out, the mechanic disconnected it. Why? A sticky cable. This is a rediculous idea, as it removes the best possibility of emergency braking. At the very least, it should have been left connected. A sticky E-Brake is better than none at all. Oy!
So now I had to spend a grand total of $100 to buy new plugs, new cables, and a few other parts to fix a number of these stupid, stupid "fixes". I'm really bummed that I learned of the cable problem so late, as I missed out a chance to get the parts I needed for $80, including overnight shipping.
Things like this have been found all over the car. It really has me respecting Volvo's engineering, as much of this would result in a lesser engine/car having broken down much sooner. Very sturdy engineering! The current mechanic, a guy I know and trust, has been doing a great job, and also discovered a few of these on his own.
Anybody else have any interesting stories/discoveries of their own?
Also, If I find some interesting pictures of a few of the repairs done by the previous mechanics, I'll post 'em up.
Comments
Simple things like oh the cars overheating, I'll just take the thermostat out, instead of checking to see if its building any pressure.
Anyway it sounds like you have a love of Volvos in the same way that I love my Merkur. Whoever designed the Ford Sierra chassis was pretty smart. Its as solid as they come, handles great and is very predictable.
Jake
:(
Gas tank replacement, seems to have sprung a seam, once, twice, three times, four, five, six..... 6 GOD DAMN GAS TANKS
We were getting pissed, we had to pay for 4 of them (first one was still under warenty, and they replaced the second one a month or so after the warenty ran out) finaly take it to a different dealership, It was something having to do with the gas cap that soon as the tank hit 1/4 there would be a vacume in the tank that would cause it to crease inwards, eventualy the flexing would cause a seam to go. We had our money refuneded by the other dealership.. 1500 dollars worth of gas tanks due to a 15 buck gas cap..
I was thinking how to do orbital bombardment on the first dealership