Car Repair

[Bob Williams]

Probably something as simple as a linkage or a bush loose. Did you see the gearbox actually off the car up in the ramp, John? If it was a problem inside the box, say a selector, it would have been expensive. If you had a receipt/invoice, I would be interested in what it said. Not nosy, but it might help someone else here in the future and isn’t that how Forumite rolls?

Glad you got sorted though.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[johnbarry]

I didn’t see anything, I feel as it started after having new coil springsand suspension on front wheels it was something to do with it.

Also after the new coil springs and suspension  it looked like a beech buggie with hired suspension, it no longer looks as high.

No charge this time so no receipt/invoice

Cheers
John

[Bob Williams]

John, If they fitted both sides at the first job, and the car rode higher, it may be that the wrong springs were used. That would have been spotted at the second work and they would have been very embarrassed about it. Someone may well have had a spanner inserted in the incorrect orifice, I think. It’s all in checking the correct part numbers with the right VIN and engine numbers, before ordering.

If that was the case, and incorrect parts were used, it explains why you received no charge for the second job. As a foreman, if that happened in my workshop*, the car should (ideally) never have left the garage before being spotted and corrected. And I would have been annoyed. Very annoyed. Still, at least they put it right.

*Similar stuff happened over the years I worked in the Trade.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[johnbarry]

Possibly the wrong spanner Bob, he did say he put the correct number in, maybe not compared to the VIN.

I keep looking for the tremble (it’s created a mental block) it’s not their, hopefully I will forget about it soon.

Cheers
John

[Tippon]

Bob Williams wrote:

it may be that the wrong springs were used

Believe it or not, I managed to do that to my motorbike once >.<

The rear shock gave up, so I ordered a second hand replacement online and got my mechanic friend to help me fit it. He was new to working on bikes, so we both took it as a learning opportunity. We got the bike jacked up and spent a few hours swapping the shocks over, between doing the actual work and trying to figure out what we were doing. When we were done we noticed that my bike was sitting higher, but put it down to the old shock being completely knackered. He had the same model bike, but it had been lowered, so we didn’t think that anything was out of the ordinary.

Our bike club was holding a rally a few miles away, so we went up on the bikes to test the suspension and let it bed in a bit. When we got there, the first few guys who saw us burst out laughing and asked what had happened to my bike. They even called the rest of the club to come and see. I got off the bike with some difficulty, which was a bit odd, and asked why they were laughing. When I looked at the bike, the back end was about eighteen inches above the back wheel, much higher than it should have been.

It turned out that the ‘compatible’ shock wasn’t, and had completely unbalanced the back end. Ooops 😀

[Wheels-Of-Fire]

The original Mini is a pain to buy parts for, I have had a few over the years and not one of them came to me with all the correct parts fitted. There are, for instance, at least 5 different top radiator hoses that have been fitted over the years. As it happens the MK 3 cooper S and the 1275 GT share the same hose but they are the ONLY models that use it.

[Bob Williams]

What about the Rover 100? Or, as originally known, the Metro? One of my customers was a driving instructor (taught our daughter) and had been experiencing a coolant leak. Rover could find nothing, so he bought another motor and left the 100 with me: “Just find it, fix it or scrap it!” – He had reached the end of his patience. Well, I found it – an alloy coolant pipe running across the bulkhead had a hairline crack, which I found by removing it, sealing one end, filling with water and sealing the other end. I didn’t just replace it, because I noticed the alloy pipe was contacting the bulkhead and vibration from that had caused the crack.

I made a suitable neoprene pad and fixed it to the pipe. The instructor wrote a nasty letter to Rover and gave me a handsome tip, after which I received a visit from a Rover Suit: “How did I fix it?” That will cost my time and my time is money here, I said. Exit Suit, stage left. No surprise to me when Rover went TU.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

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