Oil change - under truck inspection - Warmen Solution versus DIY

While changing the oil on my S-10 I noticed that the knuckles on the center link were just barely scraping the bottom of the oil pan and starting to wear it a little bit. They just barely touch it at each of the ends where the bottom of the pan curves up to form the sides. The scrapped area is about a half inch long on each side. Truck has

176,000 miles on it. Front end was redone about a year ago by a local shop and worn parts replaced. There's nothing loose anywhere, just looks like the motor mounts have compressed just enough to let these parts touch. I'm concerned about the knuckles wearing a hole thru the oil pan eventually. How would a professional mechanic solve this and would it cost much?
Reply to
Ashton Crusher
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S-10? Silly me, I thought this was a Ford NG....

FWIW... (and your attempt at sarcasm or what have you isn't working), the correct method of repair is to find the faulty part(s) and repair or replace them. That part shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

What I have seen all to often.... "unique repairs" that can and will affect repairs made further down the road.... Jerry rigged exhaust repairs are one of the biggest concerns... poorly thought out, they can add significantly to the time required to R&I transmissions and other assemblies (not to mention placing exhaust components closer to fuel lines than allowed by CMVSS (Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) or it's US counterpart....

If push came to shove, I would be judged by these safety standards and, with the litigious nature of modern society, I can see the day when DIYers will also be juidged by these standards (and there are volumes of them). As always, the safety of motor vehicles should always be the first consideration.... Far too many lives are irrevocably changed daily because of unssafe vehicles and/or drivers.

Reply to
Jim Warman

Ball-peen hammer on the pan, obviously!

Reply to
Beryl

Bingo!

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

Maybe it was Found On the Road Dead while he was Exploring.

Huh, it works for me.

Reply to
Ulysses

Well.. that explains that... you don't want a mechanic... you want a cave man..... FWIW, any hack can beat the piss out of your oil pan..... I see no need for any "professional" references here. The kid down at Kwikee Loob could do that for you.

There are usually several things that can be done to alleviate any given concern... only one of them is "right".... though many may "suffice". Professionals don't piss around with hack jobs - plain and simple.

Not too long ago, we had the proud owner of a SuperDuty V10 with a roached motor.... He is confident that his warranty is going to take care of him.... And that is when we discovered he had hit something with his oil pan. The resulting dent was directly below the oil pan pick up..... this added restriction to oil flow was the death of his engine bearings.

You may congratulate yourself on your unique approach to problem solving.... possibly, rightfully so...

I can only assume that you and I live in two very different worlds.... My customers insist that I repair their vehicles in a manner that I am comfortable with - they do not easily abide return visits for the same concern - nor will they accept side effects from anything that I have done that could be considered "unique". Of interesting note... we have some local shops that do fix things with a ball peen hammer.... These are the same shops that send me their "unfixables".

DIYers will do and accept many things that they would refuse to pay money for.... Would you part with significant amounts of coin of the realm for something that is "good enough"?

I see we are destined to be at loggerheads vis-a-vis our differing attitudes... for my part, if it ain't right, I will refuse to stake my reputation on it.....

Cooking is one of my hobbies.... if you want a Big Mac - it wont come off my grille.

Reply to
Jim Warman

I 2nd that. Ball-peen hammer on the pan.

I disagree with Mr. Warren. DIY maintenance is an economical thing and safe thing to do when servicing such things as fluid changes (eg. oil, transmission, brake, steering, differential, coolant, etc....). Bottom line, dealerships and JiffyLubes charge outrageous prices for such simple procedures. Second, the probability of the dealership/jiffrips not providing you with high quality service, is even lower. Mr Warren wants you to believe in his quasi-professional designations as a 'professional' mechanic. The consumer has no recourse when facing such professions. There is no professional body that you can turn to, if a mechanic screws your car, and get immediate financial relief. The only way, is through the legal-court system. Bottom line #2, the transaction between you and the mechanic comes down to trust. And if you trust an auto-mechanic, you should seek immediate psychiatric help since you must also purchase your cars from used car sales.

What the Mr. Warrens out there don't want you is the know-how (that is, the ability to read a service manual/Haynes/ask a Ford mechanic, if he doesn't charge you an arm and a leg for that advice), and the confidence of having the ability to complete such simple procedures. If you can twist a screw, then you're 90 percent there to changing the fluids in your car.

If you have the means to keep the DIY job clean, ordered, and have the space to do it (eg. a garage), then you have access to saving money that can be better invested elsewhere.

On a daily basis, there are more 'professional' mechanics that mangle cars without providing the consumers the 'heads up,, than a DYI'er.

Reply to
Explorer1994 4.0L

I agree with you most of the quickie jiffy etc lube places will "gouge you like an animal" Their goal is not doing a quality service, it's making as much money as possible. They'll do as much damage as the least skilled diy'er. I've seen their work on many vehicles- they do things like throw away the screws that hold down your air cleaner housing because they're too lazy to replace them and you'll probably never notice. I had a truck my employer insisted I maintain at Dippy Lube for the life of the truck they never lubed the chassis or checked the battery although they said they did. And like you say, if you complain all you get is attitude.

But there are honest highly skilled mechanics out there. I believe "Mr. Warren" (Jim Warman) is one of them. I've found one in my town and he'll have my business until he retires. I'm sure he's saved me more money over the years (finding things that if left unattended would be very expensive later) than I would have saved doing it myself.

I've seen lots of diy'ers spend way more than they would on a good mechanic. Things like replacing the $100 starter when it's a $5 relay causing the problem. Troubleshooting by replacing parts is very expensive.

A highly skilled honest mechanic is worth every penny and will probably save you money in the long run.

Reply to
Bob

Jim's honest enough and seems well qualified. He just has a view that any shortcut is wrong, esp if done by a DIYer. Oddly enough, if the same shortcut was to be outlined in a TSB from the Manufacturer I don't think he'd have any trouble following it. That's a blind spot many people in many professions have - if they don't get told what to do by the anointed expert they can't imagine it could be a proper thing to do.

I"ve certainly seen a lot more expertise in these newsgroups from "amateurs" then what I've typically seen from mechanics at "professional" shops.

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

If you want to save a HUGE amount money, you should be performing DIY medical care and surgery on yourself and family members instead of depending on 'professionals'. As we all know, there are lots of incompetent doctors out there too.

Reply to
gordo

care and surgery on

Wearing eyeglasses might be analogous to pounding clearance into the oil pan. Neither addresses the actual cause of the problem, but they compensate. Jim Warman would demand eye surgery and forbid the wearing of corrective lenses I suppose.

Reply to
Beryl

care and surgery on

So every single time you are sick or injured you go to a doctor? You never just go buy aspirin, or antacids, or allergy medicine or Band-Aid, or take your own temperature, or pull out a splinter? Every time you get a cold, or the flu, or a sore throat, or an ache or pain, you ALWAYS visit your doctor? You have never elected on your own, without being told by your doctor, to just stay in bed because you don't feel good?

Reply to
Ashton Crusher

professional mechanics need to keep a professional do it right attitude , or you wont have many customers after a while. lucas

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Reply to
ds549

You're supposing a lot.... and opining a lot.....

Is this the same beryl that questioned equating a dent in an oil with a dent in an oil pan? And now we are comparing a dent in an oil pan with eyeglasses?

WTF? Is common sense on vacation?

beryl.... it may be a surprise..... I'm a bit of an old dog and for reading I wear corrective lenses.... (more on reading in a bit).

I really would like to see things from your point of view and that of some guy that has a thing for Demi Moore.... But I don't think I could get my head that far up my ass....

I've been hanging arouind this NG for a month or so (let's see.... the 92 Ex went away in 03......). AFAIK, the idea is for a DIYer to gain "professional" results from his repair efforts. The saving isn't to be gained from parts that should have been replaced but weren't... the saving is in "sweat equity"..... Certainly, for some (but not all), there is something to be gained from trying to refurbish subassemblies like transfercase shift motors, but not every DIYer has that much time on his hands....

Surprising as it may seem, I rarely see the need to resort to the ball peen hammer for most of my repair attempts.... BTW.... old as I may be... infirm as I may be... uneducated as I may be.... I still have the ability to read what is before me. The name is "warman".... "WARMAN".... remember it... I can be your best friend - or your worst nightmare.

Reply to
Jim Warman

  • Small dimples, placed where you want them.
  • Guy ran over, uh, "something"... caved in his oil pan. Oops. Those are the same to you? Really?

Right.

Maybe gordo will answer that.

I saw more on reading in a bit, yes. You reminded *me* that your name is "warman".... "WARMAN".... but I'm not the one who ever misspelled your name. Get your eyeballs reshaped, Warman.

Reply to
Beryl

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