Author Archives: Dan

Thanksgiving 2015

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Dan

Taking a little break from the usual Thursday post, because it’s Thanksgiving here, and I just wanted to write a little post about some things I’m thankful for. I’m thankful that I found a career I liked. There’s no way … Continue reading →

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Lost & Found: Golf Clubs

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Dan

One of my neighboring techs was doing a used car inspection, seeing what was needed to get it ready to sell. Once in a while we find interesting items left behind in cars, but this one was the biggest I’ve … Continue reading →

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Do We Have Parts?

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Dan

It can be really hard to guess whether we’ll have the parts we need for some jobs or not. A car needed a new glove box and we had it, which I didn’t expect at all, but then something I … Continue reading →

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Bad Design in Brakes

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Dan

So many times I’m working on a car and run into problems doing so because the engineers don’t expect you to ever work on them and put things in the worst locations. Brakes are a frequently serviced part of the … Continue reading →

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Off-Road Prius?

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Dan

This is the time of year when people get snow tires put on their car, sometimes on a second set of plain steel wheels. A lot of times this looks to me as if they have off-road tires, because of … Continue reading →

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Suspension Carnage

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Dan

Our collision center is right next door, so we do all the mechanical repairs to the cars they do bodywork on. A lot of times this means we get to see some nicely destroyed parts.

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Time For a New Truck

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Dan

The repair order said something along the lines of “customer states frame is broken”. As it was being pulled into the bay I looked underneath and saw that, yes, the frame is broken.

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Old Engines

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Dan

While I was in school, an older friend invited me to her husband’s engine shop. It was pretty cool seeing the shop, all the specialized equipment, and the engines they were working on.

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Just Making It Work

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Dan

Many times when working on cars we encounter bolts in really awkward locations, that make it a pain to work on. The Toyota 4Runner has a bolt buried behind the alternator that took me an hour to get out. Hyundai … Continue reading →

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Broken Timing Belt

Posted on October 22, 2015 by Dan

The timing belt is one of the most important parts of an engine. It makes the camshafts turn in time with the crankshaft, so without it an engine wouldn’t run. Some engines are what’s known as an interference engine, which … Continue reading →

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