One thing I've...
One thing I’ve noticed about myself lately is that being cooped up from this COVID stuff has really taken a toll on me from a physical standpoint. I’ve never been one to go out and exercise just for the sake of exercising.
My philosophy on that has been there is no need to go and intentionally wear out body parts prematurely. During my normal daily activities I would do enough physical stuff in my daily work routine to satisfy the needs of staying in shape. I’ve got to tell you those four months now of basically working from my desk at home has had an effect on my complexion and muscle tone.
Seeing that my customers work outdoors I would spend a great deal of time with them on their jobsites in the hot sun and high humidity. That hasn’t happened and so my dark tanned skin from last year has slowly faded away. It wasn’t but just about year ago at a flea market down in the Rio Grande Valley I had someone mistook me for an old Mexican man and started speaking Spanish to me. Now I look just like any old white guy with a grey beard and grey hair.
I’m going somewhere with this so hang in here with me.
If I was...
If I was to compare myself to a car or truck I would definitely be an older model with high mileage. Up until this COVID shutdown crap started I would have considered me to be running on all 8 cylinders and shifting gears smoothly.
Well my pickup truck is feeling the COVID effects too. It had been running like a top up until this lock down started. I went from 300 to 500 miles in a week down to 5 miles a week or less. I’ve only made a couple of trips to Brenham, TX back in May and combined it was just over 200 miles. So the truck has just basically been sitting and I think that has taken a toll on it too.
Monday I headed for the post office and about two miles into the three mile trip to the post office the truck started acting up and wouldn’t shift gears. The dreaded “wrench” light came on the dash and so I pulled over into a parking lot and shut it off.
After a couple of minutes I decided to start it up and see what is was going to do. It started and sounded good so I went ahead and made the trip to the post office and then got back in it and headed home without an issue. That wrench light didn’t come back on when I had restarted the truck so I figured it might have just been a fluke or maybe some trash in the fuel line or fuel filter.
A few hours...
A few hours later I needed a couple cans of snuff so I headed up to the corner store and I’ll be damned if the truck didn’t do the same thing as it did on the way to the post office. I made it to the store and when I came out it ran fine on the way home.
I swear that the lack of use is probably the cause or at least a contributing factor. Stuff just doesn’t work right unless you keep working it. There is quote somewhere that includes the phrase “use it or lose it” and I think that goes for mechanical stuff as well. Cars & trucks were meant to be used and just sitting around can’t be of any benefit to them from a mechanical aspect.
So I started...
So I started checking out transmission shops Monday afternoon nearby. Several years ago I had the transmission replaced in the wife’s van and that shop is still in business but the ratings are now very low.
The original ownership family sold out about 10 years ago and the place now has an “F” rating with the BBB. I had taken a Dodge pickup to them back in the early 90’s and was expecting that it would need a complete rebuild of the transmission; to my surprise it ended up costing $50 for the part and labor to install the speed sensor. We never had any problems with the van they did either so needless to say I was very disappointed to find out they’ve gone downhill.
I have read the reviews and checked the BBB ratings on several shops and some things just don’t make sense. So I know I’m in for an experience no matter where I go. I don’t like the local Ford dealer so he’s out and the one in Tomball gave my son the run around on some warranty work he had done his car there recently.
I watched a ...
I watched a couple You Tube on this transmission and I could probably do it myself but I just don’t feel up to it. Automatic transmissions just have too many bits and pieces and I don’t like doing puzzles that are difficult to take in and out to work on them. If I had a shop with a lift and the proper tools I might give it a go; but I don’t, so I most likely won’t.
The only good news in all of this is that I don’t have to worry about missing work because the truck is on the injured list. Now I will have to start interviewing prospective repair shops.
I'm getting the feeling that honest + mechanic = -2 or like oil and water, they just don't mix well together.
Until next time,
Sult
Photo credits: Sult N Papper
There is a lot of that honest + mechanic = -2 business going on all over the place. One might suspect that it is a complication due to lockdown. Businesses have lost customers and money so need to make up before they have to close their doors for good. I used to go for long walks on the beach to clear my head (lots of stuff running around up there when you have 20 people underfoot) I haven't been able to go for almost three years and I really notice a difference in the older model body...
Historically car repair places have a bad reputation of taking advantage of folks who don't understand how things work in a vehicle. I used to know quite a bit about cars and trucks but now that everything on a car is computer driven, I am having to learn all over again.
I did figure out that it isn't the transmission by using my ODB scanner tool this morning and the code said it was a throttle body issue. I am pretty confident I can fix this one myself with no issues but we have rain setting in for a few days so it isn't like I need to work in the rain to get it done today.
Thanks for all the support,
Sult
Yeah. I hate to say it but most mechanics are scammers. They might do good enough work but will never miss a chance to sell you extra stuff that you don't really need.
Auto transmissions are a challenge to be sure, but there are a lot of things that you can change in the vehicle. You might want to check your vacuum lines and maybe amount of vacuum at the transmission. Soft goods fail in the sitting around process and vacuum lines are soft goods.
I've bought several motorcycles (and a few cars) that have been left sitting for a long time. All of them have been at least moderately problematic. The sellers always seem to point that out as if it's a good thing. Even bearings will develop a flat spot if they sit in one place long enough and seals are really likely to leak.
Good luck with the repair. Oh, and one more thing. That physical thing will get worse-I just happen to know :)
I decided to get my ODB scanner out and check for pending codes, I knew there wasn't any hard codes since the check engine light wasn't on, turns out there is a code pending for P2111 , when I looked it up it is a throttle body code. I am going to get some CRC Throttle Body Cleaner and see if that cleans up the condition.
Makes sense that sitting for such periods of time some of that carbon that is usually built up may have hardened on causing it not to close all the way.
My initial thought was transmission since the old Dodge van would go to limp mode and it was transmission related. I hate that vehicles are so computerized nowadays. Give me a Holley 4 barrel and 4 speed and I'm good.
I let you know how it turns out. But thanks for those reminders about the vacuum hoses, those do rot over time.
Sult
Great analogy. Just like the truck we have to move a little bit and get warm to run smooth for a long time. Very little physical movement and we get rusty. And at the other extreme hard exercise without warming up will give us damaged parts.
Changing a trans is a big job.
I've determined it is not a transmission problem. Looks to be a throttle body issue according to the scan I did this morning with my ODB scanner. Could very clean it up with some throttle body cleaner for less than $20 or even if I have to change it it shouldn't be over $200.
Glad you liked that analogy. I think the setting around let the carbon harden up on the throttle body not allowing the throttle disc to fully close.
Changing the trans is a bigger job than I wanted to tackle having to work without a lift and so I am excited that it doesn't appear to be that problem. I can work from the topside of the truck without issue, getting under and wrestling a trans is a different story.
Thanks for the support!
Sult
Glad to here this.^^
Thanks, me too.
In France there are repairs shops where you learn how to fix stuff and they give you tools . Those shops are honest , you can ask them to fix your car for much cheaper and it will be done nicely , maybe you have those in USA too ..look for it
Those haven't really caught on around here where I am but I have seen one or two in San Antonio and Dallas. I could see it being a good concept but I could see it also being a big liability risk for the building owner if someone gets injured or killed by some stupidity of a person not knowing what they are doing.
This country is law suit driven more than vehicle driven.
I'm sorry to hear about your truck! It's difficult to find an honest mechanic these days and you're smart for checking those online ratings. We loaded my old 2010 Honda Fit onto a flatbed and had it delivered to my parents a few years back. They got tangled up with a local mechanic who nearly ruined the car and they found something "wrong" with it during almost every oil change. How someone could take advantage of people in their 80's is beyond me. Thankfully there are still some good ones out there. We found an amazing guy here in St. Paul. He has a really small shop but is fair and trustworthy. Good luck!
Turned out that my truck needed just a little clean up of the throttle body. I decided that before I took it anywhere I would use my OBD scanner tool on it and see what it would tell me. P02111 was the code. I looked it up online and it said throttle stuck in open position.
So I looked up to see what the new throttle body would cost and they ranged from $88 up to $750 for that truck. I figured that worst case was I would need to replace it but I've cleaned the one on the old Dodge van before with good success. So I chose to get two cans of CRC Throttle Body Cleaner and took it off and cleaned it.
Put it back on and she is running just fine now. Including the trip to the auto parts store the whole process took me less than an hour to do and $16 for the cleaner. I could cut that cost in half if I decided to take the one can of cleaner back because I didn't use but one them.
So thanks for good luck wishes and it seems that I had some good luck this morning.
It really does blow that there are few and far between on good and honest mechanics. If I had taken it to a shop I would have been surely looking at one to two grand for a transmission repair that wasn't even the problem.
But it just hit me, maybe all those dishonest mechanics are just trying to make us feel good about ourselves by making us right when we think we have a particular problem.
Mechanic, "Transmission problem , sir?"
Customer, "Yep, it just quit working.
Mechanic, "I'll test drive it and put it on the lift to look at it."
twenty minutes later
Mechanic, "You have a transmission problem, sir."
Customer, "I knew I was right, how much to fix it?"
And there you have it... making the customer feel good by being right.
Have a great day Eric, Thanks for the support!
Sult
They're just trying to make us feel good! Who doesn't want to be right, after all?! Lol. I'm glad that's all it was! Those scanners are such a good investment.
I feel the same way: This confinement has made me rust! I'm not one to exercise at home either, but I am one to go out to sea, walk around a bit, keep active with my daily work. Until recently I felt fit, now I feel unfit for anything. Besides, I feel that the house makes me ugly. I don't do my make-up, go to the hairdresser's, or wear high-heeled sandals. I can spend all day in my pajamas. I hate the analogy, but I do: I look like an old car too. :(
Well Nancy it is nice to know I'm not alone in my feelings on this. Sorry that we both have to feel like rusted old clunkers. From your photo though I'd say you are a very classy and sporty model of car. :)
Thanks for the great comment,
Sult
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