Well last week I promised more excitement for this week-sorry folks, something happened:it got cold.
Here is my truck's thermometer showing the outside temperature(note the decal on my back window!). At this time of the year in Saskatoon it is dark on the way to work and it's dark again for the drive home. Ugh.
There has been no shortage of frozen cars being towed in for a 'no start' diagnoses.
Most of the 'no starts' have damaged block heater cord ends. Usually a simple replacement of the cord end and a charge of the battery is all that is needed.
There were 2 rare 'no starts' that I had to figure out, this Kia would not start after a basic battery replacement. I found an immobillizer under the hood that was not the problem. A lot of high interest car loans come with an immobilozer installed at the car lot that can be triggered with a cell phone. Even though it wasn't the problem I had my apprentice remove it.
With the car still being a 'no start' I decided to remove the remote starter from inside(the owner said they dont even have the remote for the system). Surprise! I found a second immobilizer under the dash and it was faulty.
Here are the 2 immobilizers once removed, the owner is happy again.
Here is the other rare 'no start' I had towed in this last week. A remote starter that failed causing the truck to not start with the key or the remote. It's not worth diagnosing what is wrong with an old obsolete remote start system, so simply removing it is the solution.
Kind of ironic isn't it?
We see it all in the auto repair industry, this poor Honda was towed into town a couple of weeks ago for repairs. Fast forward to last week when the owner started to complain about it feeling unsafe while steering. It turns out that the tow truck somehow managed to bend the tie rods on both sides which caused the front wheels to both point out(toed out).
It may be diffucult to see in the picture, but the front tires are worn at an angle from scrubbing due to the bent parts. Wowzers! New tie rods, an alignment and 2 new tires(all paid for by the towing company) and this car is back in service.
This one really needs to be put out of service! There is a metal chunk screwed to the seat to hold it up(if you can fit in the seat!) because there isn't much metal holding it in anymore.
The entire contents of the trunk are being held up with bbq tongs😲.
Don't worry though-it passed a saftey in 1978. This window may just fall out from the rust.
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I hope everyone is enjoying their time at work and staying warm. Until next weeks #shopshots stay safe out there and hug(or tip) your auto service technician!
Let me know if you have any interest in #thealliance, our Gamma syndicate is growing into a strong family.