If you ever feel adventurous about car repair....

[PhoenixM3]

Do NOT volunteer to change the blower motor on a Land Rover..... Fook me. Interference removal just to get to the fan is stupid. Two trim panels, the glove box, a fuse panel and bracket, all while contorting your not-so-limber-anymore body into weird positions. Do yourself a favor and smoke a revolver first.....

Ok, using a special tool to reach past the impeller blades I was able to perform the extraction by laying on my back with both hands above my head. I had to twist the handle if the tool 15 degrees counter clockwise to unseat the fan. Of course the replacement is slightly different, so installation will be a challenge. Verified the resistance windings on the old motor were bad and my cat sucks at holding a flashlight or fetching tools.

 

[_Snake_]

Like a thermostat on an Audi. lol

 

[13COBRA]

That's why people don't own Land Rovers outside of the factory warranty period.

 

[01yellercobra]

I helped a coworker change the rear shocks on his Dodge Journey a few months ago. Every panel in the back of the interior has to come out to get to the upper shock nut. And there were a couple screws that unless you know are there, you'll never find. I think it took us about 3 hours. 2.5 of which was dealing with the interior.

 

[SID297]

Still doesn't sound as bad as changing a heater core in a Lightning.

 

[SolarYellow]

Never ever volunteer. Problem solved.


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[DSG2003Mach1]

Never ever volunteer. Problem solved.


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this

"dont you know about cars?"

"not really"

 

[2003RedfireVert]

Never ever volunteer. Problem solved.


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I stopped a few years ago. People say “what do you think is wrong and can you fix it?” I proceed to ask several questions, none of which they can answer. If I said yes, I could end doing an engine swap. I only work on car families cars and a select few friends.

 

[93Cobra#2771]

I did an hvac actuator motor in our old 01 Lexus RX300. Very similar experience, and had to bend AC lines to get the that sucker out.

 

[Blown 89]

I helped a coworker change the rear shocks on his Dodge Journey a few months ago. Every panel in the back of the interior has to come out to get to the upper shock nut. And there were a couple screws that unless you know are there, you'll never find. I think it took us about 3 hours. 2.5 of which was dealing with the interior.

The CTS-V wagon requires backhalving the entire interior from the front seats back. Even the back seats and carpet have to come out to access the upper shock nut.

The alternator is even worse. Front bumper, lights, heat exchangers, radiator, fans, steering pump, intake, air box, throttle body have to come out to barely access, and I mean barely, access the bolts. This entire car is an engineering nightmare.

 

[01yellercobra]

The CTS-V wagon requires backhalving the entire interior from the front seats back. Even the back seats and carpet have to come out to access the upper shock nut.

The alternator is even worse. Front bumper, lights, heat exchangers, radiator, fans, steering pump, intake, air box, throttle body have to come out to barely access, and I mean barely, access the bolts. This entire car is an engineering nightmare.

That sounds about as bad as pulling the turbos on an S6. Those are the engineers you want to slap around.

 

[jessie_sanders]

The CTS-V wagon requires backhalving the entire interior from the front seats back. Even the back seats and carpet have to come out to access the upper shock nut.

The alternator is even worse. Front bumper, lights, heat exchangers, radiator, fans, steering pump, intake, air box, throttle body have to come out to barely access, and I mean barely, access the bolts. This entire car is an engineering nightmare.

One of my buddies is a mechanic and was explaining to me years ago how they get paid for billable hours which blew my mind. I thought if a job took six hours that's what you got paid. There's no ****ing way I'd work six hours but only get paid for five or whatever the billable time is. I bet mechanics hate seeing shit like that come in.

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[365 Saleen]

It is even better if it is a warranty repair. You only get about 60% of normal billable hrs. When you get a 10 hr warranty job you cringe because that means normally it takes about 14 hrs to do. Somehow the manufacturer can screw up a car and make you take it up the ass to fix their screw up.

 

[BlckBox04]

 

[jessie_sanders]

It is even better if it is a warranty repair. You only get about 60% of normal billable hrs. When you get a 10 hr warranty job you cringe because that means normally it takes about 14 hrs to do. Somehow the manufacturer can screw up a car and make you take it up the ass to fix their screw up.

Can a mechanic decline those jobs? Or are you at the mercy of a service manager?

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[Blown 89]

One of my buddies is a mechanic and was explaining to me years ago how they get paid for billable hours which blew my mind. I thought if a job took six hours that's what you got paid. There's no ****ing way I'd work six hours but only get paid for five or whatever the billable time is. I bet mechanics hate seeing shit like that come in.

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The billable hours in the manual for CTS-V's are pretty high. That's one of the reasons the used market gets flooded with them after the bumper to bumpers expire. I have to replace the fuel pump fittings. 2 hours of that job is removing interior pieces to get to the rear shocks to drop the suspension. F that, I'm going in through the floor.

 

[SID297]

One of my buddies is a mechanic and was explaining to me years ago how they get paid for billable hours which blew my mind. I thought if a job took six hours that's what you got paid. There's no ****ing way I'd work six hours but only get paid for five or whatever the billable time is. I bet mechanics hate seeing shit like that come in.

Sent from my motorola razr plus 2023 using Tapatalk

That's also where you can make money if you are really good at a particular job.

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

One of my buddies is a mechanic and was explaining to me years ago how they get paid for billable hours which blew my mind. I thought if a job took six hours that's what you got paid. There's no ****ing way I'd work six hours but only get paid for five or whatever the billable time is. I bet mechanics hate seeing shit like that come in.

Sent from my motorola razr plus 2023 using Tapatalk

That's where experience and seniority comes in. The more senior you get the more you can choose your work and pass off the harder jobs to younger guys, and typically after a few decades in you know the ins and outs and the pitfalls. Techs can also demand higher labor for certain jobs if they know that something is going to go sideways, say studs on a 5.7 Ram exhaust manifold breaking. It's going to happen no matter what so the advisor will prep the customer to expect to pay an additional hour for each bolt extraction. Not sure if dealers are limited on labor time revisions but most shops will raise labor times.

Also, not all book times are accurate. See Kia/Hyundai. I think it was a Kia Sorento that states 1.5hrs to do the alternator that is absolutely buried and requires all kinds of additional work ultimately being a 4.5 or 5hr job. You have to catch stuff like that otherwise you just lost your ass and the tech is pissed at you lol.

 

[365 Saleen]

Can a mechanic decline those jobs? Or are you at the mercy of a service manager?

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Not really.
We have a Dispatcher that hands out the work to the tech's. He tries to spread the shitty jobs around so no one tech gets buried in crap work. And if you do get a crap job, the dispatcher will usually save a gravy job for you to help make up for it. Obviously each tech has their strong points and areas that they are not as good at.
If you refuse the crap jobs all the time, you will find yourself with not much work, which hurts the paycheck. You either accept your fair share of that stuff or starve.
There are some Warranty jobs that you can make good money on and you don't mind those at all. Lol. Not going to mention what the money maker warranty jobs are because some clot-head will blab it around and next thing you know the manufacturer lowers the time paid. Had that happen last year. Gravy job paid 3.2 hrs. Could get it done in an hour if you knew the shortcuts. A couple of months go by and now that job pays .6 that's it. 6 tenths and it was impossible to get it done in that time frame. Talk about pissed!

 

[SHOdown220]

That's also where you can make money if you are really good at a particular job.

flat rate is a double edged sword, for a good tech most book times exceed how long it takes them to do the work. That being said they definitely lose out on some of that stuff especially warranty times. We’ve got some really good techs that can knock out some big jobs very quickly.

One in particular comes to mind, Honda had a warranty extension on V6 piston rings that paid something like 8.5 hours, he would do them any time they came in, got down to being able to complete the job and have the vehicle running in about 3.5 hours. 5.5 hour timing belts are about an hours worth of work. Best part is I don’t ever have any screw ups come back for him, he’s a damn good tech. Good techs like him can easily turn a 40 hour work week into a 80-100 hour paycheck.