I got called yesterday by a customer with a JD 450C. He said he had a water pump failure and the fan had got into the shroud and lower radiator hose. Then, which I really hate, told me his guys were taking it apart enough to see what needed to be ordered for the repair. This is what I found when I showed up...……………. We know you want to help, and the thought is greatly appreciated.....BUT, we have our own system of doing things and for you to do this isn't part of that. You make the cost higher because..... 1. Now I have to find everything that your guys took off. 2. You didn't order near enough parts because your guys missed ALOT (rotten hoses, radiator support mounts that are missing.....etc...) 3. You didn't give me the opportunity to say " I really need to do all this myself so I can give you a proper repair and not waste time."
That's TOOO Funny !!! I got an in-line pump last week or so that "the guys" rebuilt.. Holy **** was it a mess.. It had been sitting unused for 3 years, so the guys decided to tackle it.. Home made gaskets of the wrong thickness.. which throws off the camshaft end play.. The segment were so far off it wouldn't shut off EVEN IF they got it to start.. There were MISSING parts in the governor.. the shut off link, to be exact.. ALL the centering pins in the housing were sheared.. Luckily the pumping plungers, delivery valves, cam shaft & bearings were in reusable condition.. OH & one of the injectors was stuck closed.. Everything that could be wrong, WAS.. I hate it when they help.!!! When I quote a pump site unseen, I tell'm, this price is only good if U HAVENT taken it apart or worked on the pump.. Good Luck my friend & u better allow for about 300.00 for nuts, bolts & washers.. Lol
Had a boss like that ,would help by taking machine apart . Didn’t mark anything ,wire ,bolts ,parts ,hoses. Didn’t take photos and then say “what took you so long ,it didn’t take me that long to take it apart”
Customers, Heck, I had my cross shift at one company do stuff like this to me all the time. Got sent out one night to " just finish up" Track had split, he had it all ready to go. Get to the machine. The machine is in one ditch, the track is in the other and the idler is sort of started into the frame. It was a 400 MK IV kobelco with a highwalker undercarrige, the idler only went one way and he had it upside down so would not slide into place so just walked away and told the boss was just about done. Every day when he was on shift you had one of his messes to clean up.
When “helpers” want to help I tell them “if you want to help DON’T”.
Saw a sign in a shop once years ago. I don't remember the actual hourly rate, but you get the idea. Hourly rate is X, if you watch it's 2X, if you help it's 3X
If you worked on it before 4x
I'll usually take off simple stuff if I can before having a machine worked on but I'll also be the one putting it back on. Things likes belly pans or side panels that are in the way and have to come off. If I'm not sure or something has to go a certain way I'll leave it alone. I usually have enough discipline to know what I should be tackling and what I should leave to someone experienced. I pulled the engine and trans. out of my Cat following the procedure in the book but I'll let the experienced mechanics tear into the engine.
I did a lot of work for an outfit like that- almost 10 years. The owner was a bazillonaire but do an internet search for "Cheap SOB" and he comes up #1. Didn't matter what it was, he'd try and shave the cost. He'd choke when I'd give him my bills (literally hand to his neck "gaack! That's OUTRAGEOUS!" ). He'd have his guys "help" to "reduce my billable hours". I tried to explain [one time only, I hate repeating myself] that wasn't a good plan and did the opposite of what he intended. He wasn't having any of it because he's a millionaire and really really smart and I'm, well, not. The more he had his guys "help" the higher my bills got. The higher my bills got the more he'd have his guys help. Win-Win.
A little off topic, but how about the customer that wants to save money and provides his own parts. Then is suprised when you tell him that he will have to pay you again to replace it if the part fails or isn't any good.
I'm with ya Paul.. I tellm no warranty..& mark it .. "customer supplied parts".. Unless of course they were the same as the ones I would be putting in.. THAT doesn't happen to often in my line of work tho, but it does happen.. Once they get that kit & it has 100 tiny seals & gaskets.. its an eye opener.. Lol
I always tell folks, "look man, you wouldn't take your own hamburger meat to McDonald's and ask them to fry it up for you, why are you bringing me this stuff? I can't stand behind it. " They usually sit there slack jawed like I shot their dog and pi$$ed on its corpse. I really dislike folks like that.
Had basket cases like that show up, these people are EVERYWHERE!! Try to convince them they are doing themselves NO Favors money wise as I would have to find and fix everything they boogered up doing it wrong, Would ask for estimate flat answer a Grand sometimes 3 grand. They would step back and go "WHAT? Tried to explain a hundred times leave it alone will be cheaper than if I have to fix a dozen OTHER things that were not broke until they laid hands on it. Fell on deaf ears, got to where I would just say NO. IF they left me alone and have at it from square one would give them a list of pieces, tell them where to buy and if didn't made them Sign they understood any failure was due to THEIR parts supplier choice, a few got the point after a second or third repeat failure of junk, and NO I would not install used unless I knew was no reman or new available. I was NOT Responsible for parts failure warranty, same work same cost.
Sounds like a guy I know... owns a timber company still drives one of his own log trucks and has rooms full of old junk.... 100's of cb radios.....
Had one of those customers, I was doing the steering clutches in their Terex 82-40 crawler. They just couldn't handle the fact that new plates were $185 apiece. So... they got together and found "good used plates" for half new cost. Some of the "good used" plates miked out worse than their worn out junk. I put it together and told them they were idiots and DO NOT EVER CALL ME AGAIN. Sure enough they called crying that it wasn't working. I cant even print what I said to them.
I won’t warranty parts that I don’t supply. Too many people nowadays are buying cheap stuff from China or look a likes on the internet. If their part fails I charge them to fix it again with my own parts.
Parts were ordered today and the radiator was dropped off for a recore job. I should be back on this job late next week. Hopefully it won’t rain before I get there.
I owned/operated an auto repair shop for 10 years. I only diagnosed and repaired cars so I could sell the parts at my price
Everyday story of my life. I work 7 on, 7 off shift so I'm always thrown into the middle of something someone else tore to pieces.
The hard work is done. I've got all the parts and I just need you to put it back together for me.
^^ LOL!!!!
^^That IS Funny!! Crummy.
When I was doing a lot of repair work I gave my customers options on the fix. You supply the parts and it will probably take this long for the repair and last maybe this long. You provide good help and it should be running again in this amount of time and I'll train them so they could do the same fix by themselves. The cost is the cost and I don't negotiate anything after the work is done. I had one guy ask if it would be cheaper if I used his tools for the repair instead of mine. I explained to him that anyone that cheap probably was a high risk of not paying the bill and I left at that point.
Seems like here lately I get called in to build a motor than was torn apart and the guy that did it fired after it’s completely spread over a shop or even a farm. If they complain about the price or the time it took to play where’s Waldo I tell them to let me take it apart next time
Turned two of those down less than 15 years ago. Guy had two Cummins 350 engines take outs from road tractors and had another guy tear them down for overhaul. The tear down guy died. Engines sat in a dirt floor shop for three years then I get a call guy has parts(REAL Cummins) and needs a couple engines built so I go to look. Cranks and cams rusted, Blocks were rusted so bad could NOT see the distortions on the block deck from years of head movement I KNEW was there, three of six cam boxes were frozen up with rust. All the new parts were still in the factory boxes along with the bugs and mouse poop of allowing the critters at them much of the parts corroded or worse. Did not make an offer, told him most was scrap and would need ALL machined to start with, cams and cranks reground rods blasted, was a Crapshoot at best. I said NO really loud and told him need to find someone else with time to throw away. As far as I know they went to a scrap yard when iron hit the Chinese high.
I'll bet I get 75-100 emails A WEEK & a lot of them are>> "I rebuilt my pump & it doesn't pump fuel anymore." & the kicker is> "can u tell me what I did wrong"? Not from here I cant. Lol
Lol Yeah you can, tell them they rebuilt there own pump thats why it doesnt work rite.
Nimrod next to our old farm had a D6 pony start Cable unit, had fuel Leaks ALL OVER the injection pump, decided HE could fix those then set to pulling barrel retainers and popping off covers, he never did get it running adequately and asked me how much thousandths in a eighth inch as was using a piece of folding ruler to set plunger heights. Ended up calling a mechanic in Rolla who charged him $500 to set it all then found he smoked two pistons, maybe just rings. Could not catch a break as three weeks later wife left him and the crawler got sold for $1000 by HER. Three months later HE was in the Fulton MO Prison Reception Center for Child abuse, was sexually abusing his Grand daughter. After that have no clue where ended up.
I have 1 RIGHT NOW.. who watched a video online & now it wont work.. I gave him A LIST of things to check.. THEN he sends me a link to the video he watched after I made mention of the one by Bundy Bear.. I don't think there could be a worse video than the BB one.. BOY WAS I WRONG.!!! The one he found was THE WORST example of pump rebuilding I've ever seen by a "professional".. {It really should be taken down.}
I walked into a big cam stc this winter. All parts fresh from the machine shop. When I asked where the old cam follower shims for a starting point the said we scrapped those gaskets off. And no cpl number either. Out came the Sweeney tool and up went the bill
Well I'd have said "I can't use your tools, they're not experienced enough for the job"
I was triing to find a vid on my 5 cylinder mercedes pump for turning it up just a little couldnt find any , prolly a good thing i thought to myself i will just send it to you when i get around to it
No Thank You.. That pump is the BIGGEST Pain in the Azz that was ever made.!! Its amazing the technology that went into it tho.. Dam thing doesn't weight 12lbs but will make a grown man cry.. Lol
WOW Mbar.. I'll bet THAT was fun.?? We always tied the shims to the covers..& stamped the cyl # on it.. THAT made for quick work.. & NO CPL.??!!! dam, that hadta suk..
Had to call Cummins and give them the serial number and go from there. Set up the tool and took a guess judging by the book and add and subtract. Had two dead on and one was one thousand off. Ran like a top
Hmmmm.... how bout' if walkerv does all the hard work and then maybe you could just put it back together????? pretty please ?????......
Heck no , runs perfect i just want to turn it up some . I know better then to touch anything but the mounting bolts lol
LOL.... you know how it goes.... "as long as I was turning it up I figgered I'd clean the insides too"
You wouldnt think it would be that bad i mean its missing a plunger that means discount rite lol
I never liked doing them WHEN I HAD TO.. I'd do just about anything to get around it.. But I was the only one that knew how to do them, so I was stuck w/ it..
who made them, mercedes or bosch?
Bosch..
Saw this in a meme that said, “I found someone to do it cheaper.”