shoot the mechanic

[RubberFrog]

I had my boat into the shop three weeks ago to get a light on the dash replaced and check the drive.

When I was closing the drains last night I found that they were already closed. I cracked it open and it was full of water! :devil: We've only had one night that dipped into the thirties. Hard to know if it got to 32 or below for any amount of time. Didn't see any frost....

I called the shop and they basically said "oops." So we took her for a spin and everything seemed ok. No rising oil, no milk, no water in the cylinders after shut down. I am taking her out for an extended cruise today to make sure their are not any issues hiding.

Anything else I should check for besides milk, "extra" oil and water in the cylinders? Oh yeah, what caliber should I use on the mechanic?

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: shoot the mechanic

.45....
Ya wanna make sure you drop 'em!...:devil:

 

[tie_one_on]

Re: shoot the mechanic

.50 BMG or .577 T-Rex

 

[QC]

Re: shoot the mechanic

This is why I do my own work. The Mechanic is easier to aim at and just as reliable . . .

 

[Bondo]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Ayuh,........ A Well Placed .22 will Kill him Just as Dead as a shot from that .50bmg..........

Atleast they Admitted they Didn't Drain it................8)


Btw,............ t1o

I Do find your tag-line Quite Offensive...................

Just because You couldn't Drain your motor Properly last year,........
It's Not My Fault..................

My Advice is Sound,........... You just Couldn't Follow the Instructions.........

 

[Don S]

Re: shoot the mechanic

I find this whole thread offensive.

I'm glad you guys are all so F***ing good at what you do that you NEVER, EVER make a F***ing mistake.
And if you ever should make a mistake, hope someone shoots you azz too.

 

[180shabah]

Re: shoot the mechanic

OK, time for a group hug...

 

[QC]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Relax Don . . . Although I understand your anger because you personally know a technician who gives a rip, so do I, a lot of 'em. There are plenty who don't . . . That's just the way it is. When you pay closer and closer to $100/hour it is an issue, and it seems that a lot of dealers (truck, auto and marine) put apprentices on simple work that requires as much attention to detail as big repairs do. I have personally paid big money for a 100 hour service that was performed by somebody punchin' a clock and nothin' more, never ran it after, left slimey prints all over the place. I have also had very good work done by very good techs, that put extra effort in and always tell it straight. I have personally installed an oil filter with the old seal and the new one both in place. You only do that once, but you get my drift. Nobody is talking about physically harming anyone, although those that suck may deserve it . . .

 

[SuperNova]

Re: shoot the mechanic

O.K. , I'm gonna log in on this one. As a professional tech(Dodge and Volvo) I am in agreement with everyone to a degree. The shop that charges you for top labor and then puts an apprentice on the job is wrong, but if you owned the shop you'd do the same thing if you thought you could get away with it. The guys who bill themselves as "top" mechanics when they just bought their toolset 6 months ago give us all a bad name. And then there's the guys who do know better but don't give a hoot or aren't given the time to really do the job thoroughly because the customer doesn't want to pay the time it actually takes to do the job thoroughly. Man, I could go on and on about the things that aren't ideal in this industry. I am one of the few who do care and really love what I do and when I stop and look around I really want to cry sometimes, it's a shame. People just want honest work for their buck and I've found if your customers trust you and believe in you, they don't quibble over the charges because they know they're getting their money's worth and if you take care of your mistakes honestly, typically all is forgiven. But the greed has taken over and the customers have become suspicious, mostly for good reason. O.K., I'm done ranting....or rambling, whatever.

 

[QC]

Re: shoot the mechanic

I managed a Cat truck shop of about 25 techs. We used apprentices all the time. You have to, but what you also have to do regardless of the quality of the guy is have a Foreman or leadman check the work over. Even the journeyman's work. I required a sign off on the work order by the Foreman before any truck was delivered. It is very hard to stick with when you have a customer breathing down your neck, but we tried to be, and usually were, religious about it.

A lot of trucks were wheeled right back into the service bays when we started that . . . and I dealt with a lot of really PO'd techs for a while, but it worked.

 

[SuperNova]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Yeah we do the same thing and it works ok if the management sticks with it, but too often the ball gets dropped. And your guys were probably paid hourly or salaried, right? Not flat-rate? Bad attitude definitely rolls downhill and it starts with the owners.

 

[bucky7680]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Hey you've got to start someplace. We all were apprentices at one time or another.I consider myself an apprentice when it comes to working on boats. That's why I appreciate the master boat mechanics on this site.

Rubber no harm no foul. But I'll bet a case of beer that you'll check the drains next winter.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Let he who is without error shoot the first mechanic.......

 

[Rob454]

Re: shoot the mechanic

I take pride in my work. Im not a mechanic although I double as one for my family and friends. i work as a electrician. i always always go by the rule if you wont do it to your own dotn do it to domeone elses. basically do the work as if youre working on your own ( take your pick here).
One thing that really ticks me off is when someone tells me Yeah but you cant see it from my house. My usual reply is I dont care if you cant see it from the moon do it right or go home. For big jobs I usually take it to a mechanic and so far ive had bad luck with them so I started to do all my own work. i figure i rather have my boat down for 4 months than get the usual excuse that its my falut for their work not being right.

Rob

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Geez, Don, you having a bad day? They do tell jokes in ketchican, don't they? 8)

I love my mechanic. He's a great guy. But it was a major screw up for him to run my motor in march and not drain the block. I'm not going to apologize for being frustrated.

As far as my original question... care to give me some advice Don?

 

[KaGee]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Froggy, you'll be OK... It would have had to drop into the 20's for a few hours.

 

[Don S]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Geez, Don, you having a bad day? They do tell jokes in ketchican, don't they? 8)

Actually, it was a very bad day. First thing this morning finding out that thought he had pneumonia (sp), turned out to be brain cancer and he now only has 90 days. He is still in Seattle in the hospital his wife brought the news.
Then just before lunch we got a really low offer on the house (almost 50K low and really pissed me off) then came home for lunch and read this............................
But I will say, I have had people make mistakes when fixing my house, plumbing, wiring, car, or whatever. But I never called them idiots and said they should be shot on a public forum.

 

[uaw9fan]

Re: shoot the mechanic

I admit that we all make mistakes. But was it a mistake. How does your mechanic know what the weather is going to do? How does he know what your plans are for your boat? I think there was a lack of communication somewhere down the line. Your mechanic had to check his work on your drive , so he ran it. I'm sure if you had told him that you don't plan on operating for another month or so, and asked him to open the drains if he ran the motor he probably wouldn't have charged and just done it.
Hopefully there is no damage and everyone can learn from this experience.

 

[QC]

Re: shoot the mechanic

Yeah we do the same thing and it works ok if the management sticks with it, but too often the ball gets dropped. And your guys were probably paid hourly or salaried, right? Not flat-rate? Bad attitude definitely rolls downhill and it starts with the owners.

No we had a modified flat rate system. They were paid their hourly rate and anything they beat flat rate by was a bonus at the end of the month. Anything they were over counted against, and any redos counted against. Negative bank carried over month to month. It worked pretty well as the more skilled and those with knowledge of older equipment were not really penalised by being slow. We also had some young hot shots who made a lot of money and they were often in trouble with the foreman too.

I had a simple rule, any short cut was allowed as long as the customer was not short changed. If they found a new method, great, but it could not have any negative impact on longevity etc. For example they couldn't change a cam and simply skip checking all of the followers . . . :=

 

[Scaaty]

Re: shoot the mechanic

I find this whole thread offensive.

I'm glad you guys are all so F***ing good at what you do that you NEVER, EVER make a F***ing mistake.
And if you ever should make a mistake, hope someone shoots you azz too.

Fer chrissakes Don..damn thing ya don't work on airplanes my fellow pilots friends fly..."whoops" don't F#$king cut it..or the many HD mechanics who (me) could KILL someone with an "whoops"...yer losing "cred" here with a post like that..temper, temper, temper..plus 2 sides to every story, and we heard 1% of one one side...Calm down. And "bad day"? Physical Monday..called the Doc back today on test. Ultrasound needed for what could be a contricted blood vessel in my freaking neck..that test is Friday at one ..might save my ass from a stroke. Plus now I might be possibly be a Diabetic. Sorry, but the stupid idiots that F#%k up when working ANY damn engine need to be FIRED...what if my DOCTOR said "Whoops", while standing over my casket..just my damn opinion