Misfire or something else??

[TobyU]

That approach works in the ghetto and you're right, people are happy with it ... in that type of area. The rest of us want it done right at a fair price (rather than done as quickly and cheaply as possible). If I have to go back in 1.5 years for the same problem because my mechanic half-assed it the first time to save time/money, I'm definitely not going back and most other people living in this area wouldn't either. Know your clientele and proceed accordingly.

Not as much area or ghetto as the year and condition of car.... which will vary to a degree along with area and ghettos but not entirely.
I guess in your area you are referring to many people don't drive 2000-2004 vehicles. They probably have ones 7 years old or less so it is expected.
Replacing worn out pads or pads and rotors if needed on an otherwise properly working brake system that simply evenly wore the pads out is NOT half assing a repair. They might get 1.5 years. They might get 3-4 until maybe a caliper pin boot splits and water gets in there and sticks and caliper stops sliding.
To replace calipers with the pads on a 2003 or so vehicle is completely silly and wastefull just so they might get to go a couple of more years without that area needing any more attention.
They might not have the car in 3-4 years.

Another customer might have a nicer 1990 Town Car they have had for 8 years and plan on keeping for many more and they want to do calipers hoses and everything so they won't have to deal with it for as long as possible.
Few mechanics can understand the different kinds of people or desires. Seems you may not either.
You just call anyone not wanting to "do it right" or best as living in a ghetto and probably call their car a heap or piece of crap.
People waste a RIDICULOUS amount of money and unneeded over the top repairs on cars because it makes them feel better or because they are scared or pusuaded mechanics.
I've always passed. No thank you.
I do all my own work and have had vehicles from classics like 79 Corvette, 67 GTO, 67 Lemans, 73 Century, 76 Lemans, 75 Electra 225, 79 F350 on 44 inch Super Swampers and hydraulic tilt bed, 86 Grand National, 89 Town Car limo, 83 chevy conversion van, 86 Grand Am(wife) 87 conv can, 93 Century, 92 Olds omega, 93 cavalier (wife), 93 Lumina, 89 conv can, 96 Sunbird convertible, 92 10 pass limo, 87 S10 blazer (wife), 90 gmc s15 Jimmy, 92 Pathfinder, 97 10 pass town car limo, 87 Grand National, 1947 Mack e90 fire engine, 77 Baja Bug VW, 90 F150 long bed, 90 Ram Charger, 91 Caddy sedan Deville, 96 grand Cherokee, 14ft aluminum bass boat with 65 merc ob, ol18 ft Thomson open bow with 165 "470" mercruiser, 96 pathfinder, Scat 2 hovercraft, 71 closed bow with 135 ib/on, 98 Durango on 38s with 5.5 susp and 6 inch body lifts, 96 cutlass, 97 Grand Am, 40 ft MCI party bus, 92 Lesabre, Excursion limo (2), E450 turtle top limo bus, 98 town car, 175 inch stretch town car limo, 99 silhouette minivan, 93 Z71 truck, 05 Saab 9-5 (son), 98 expedition (wife), 04 trailblazer, 03 navigator, + 10 different motorcycles, 2 dirt bikes, 3 four wheelers..

A good list of some of the cars I've had collected, or used for a short while and sold over the last 32 years.

I'm a bit of a car guy.
A lot of these have been show car quality and or nice paint jobs or restored.

The run of the mill normal ones were either dirt cheap deals that came my way or given to me by people I knew.

Rarely any newer ones. I think the newest I ever had was a 2001 purchased in 2007.

Going to keep it this way. I like nice cars with great bang for the buck. Especially ones that are no longer depreciating, but now appreciating.
People can keep buying the new or newer ones and pay to play all they want and keep paying garages for big repairs. I will have no part of it.
I waste money of food.... Eating out. It's one of my loves in life. I like my toys but never waste money and usually make money on them.

Muffler and brake shops used to advertise 69.00 per axle for brake pads.
If they would just do that and not lots more... They get their 80 repair and you come back in a few months to years and get more work later.

 

[Fordgirl01]

Fix what it needs and ship it. Yes I am an honest mechanic. We ARE out there. 30 years and i'm tired of polishing turds. Polish all you want; it still smells like a turd.

I’d rather keep polishing my turds than drive something shiny with a fat payment book. That shiny thing will shortly be a turd driving in the salt around here and it will still have a payment book.


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[TobyU]

I’d rather keep polishing my turds than drive something shiny with a fat payment book. That shiny thing will shortly be a turd driving in the salt around here and it will still have a payment book.


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Exactly! But some people have been so accustomed to a payment it's normal for them and they don't mind. I can understand if an older person gets their house paid for and we might actually come into a time here in a few years where some young people get in that situation might have it a little bit better off than us old folk did because the 15-year mortgage became so prevalent that these people are going to be paying off their houses before some of the old people that have 30 year mortgages. So if you're no longer making a house payment and you want to go buy a new vehicle and put $600-800 or more per month into a car payment or a new shiny Red Corvette , I guess that's your prerogative. But people who lease cars or buy new ones and end up buying a new one or even worse, trading in and rolling the amount into the next car loan is just a terrible cycle.

 

[Ulver]

Exactly! But some people have been so accustomed to a payment it's normal for them and they don't mind. I can understand if an older person gets their house paid for and we might actually come into a time here in a few years where some young people get in that situation might have it a little bit better off than us old folk did because the 15-year mortgage became so prevalent that these people are going to be paying off their houses before some of the old people that have 30 year mortgages. So if you're no longer making a house payment and you want to go buy a new vehicle and put $600-800 or more per month into a car payment or a new shiny Red Corvette , I guess that's your prerogative. But people who lease cars or buy new ones and end up buying a new one or even worse, trading in and rolling the amount into the next car loan is just a terrible cycle.

I refuse to pay for a brand new car. I bought this used 2001 Expedition directly from an owner with a bunch of issues for $1300, but I managed to fix it up myself. I even got the overhead console to turn back on. I wonder how long that's been out of order. Last major (knock on wood) repair is replacing the cats, and all codes will be wiped and it'll be running better than it has in probably a LONG time. But yeah, I would rather do a couple of big repairs per year if needed as opposed to being locked in to that new shiny car trap and an eternal payment.

 

[TobyU]

I refuse to pay for a brand new car. I bought this used 2001 Expedition directly from an owner with a bunch of issues for $1300, but I managed to fix it up myself. I even got the overhead console to turn back on. I wonder how long that's been out of order. Last major (knock on wood) repair is replacing the cats, and all codes will be wiped and it'll be running better than it has in probably a LONG time. But yeah, I would rather do a couple of big repairs per year if needed as opposed to being locked in to that new shiny car trap and an eternal payment.

That's what I do. What was wrong with your overhead console? We have one that went off for a little bit came back on and then once it went off the second time it's never come back on again. I've been too lazy to even check the fuse but it would be nice if it would come back on. What was the fix for yours?

 

[Cooper]

One mans turd is another mans treasure.

 

[Ulver]

That's what I do. What was wrong with your overhead console? We have one that went off for a little bit came back on and then once it went off the second time it's never come back on again. I've been too lazy to even check the fuse but it would be nice if it would come back on. What was the fix for yours?

If you take the actual console part out, there will more than likely be a fallen off resistor clankin' around in there if you give it a shake. It's either the 510's or 181's. It can be re-soldered onto the circuit board, carefully. It doesn't need much solder. A light clean with a qtip won't hurt either.

So once you find the fallen resistor, you'll easily be able to tell where it originally went. Chances are is that the resistor in yours was loose, until it finally gave out. Word has it that the temperature will do that to it overtime.

The resistors are very tiny, so be careful not to drop it on the way out. Once you do, get a pair of tweezers, and solder away. Easy stuff.

Now, if there aren't any resistors completely fallen off, chances are one or two of the resistors just aren't full connected. Check the connection and re-solder all of them. Pop it back in, and watch the magic happen.

 

[TobyU]

If you take the actual console part out, there will more than likely be a fallen off resistor clankin' around in there if you give it a shake. It's either the 510's or 181's. It can be re-soldered onto the circuit board, carefully. It doesn't need much solder. A light clean with a qtip won't hurt either.

So once you find the fallen resistor, you'll easily be able to tell where it originally went. Chances are is that the resistor in yours was loose, until it finally gave out. Word has it that the temperature will do that to it overtime.

The resistors are very tiny, so be careful not to drop it on the way out. Once you do, get a pair of tweezers, and solder away. Easy stuff.

Now, if there aren't any resistors completely fallen off, chances are one or two of the resistors just aren't full connected. Check the connection and re-solder all of them. Pop it back in, and watch the magic happen.

Cool. Thanks. If I ever get a chance to take it off the ceiling I'll check that.

 

[TobyU]

One mans turd is another mans treasure.

And some people take a turd and fix it up put a lot of time into it and turn it into an absolute gem of a treasure.

 

[Ulver]

Cool. Thanks. If I ever get a chance to take it off the ceiling I'll check that.

The project was about an hour or so long. There are a few tutorials on Youtube you can check out.