Set up to fail.

[browntruckmechanic]

This is one for all the mech's.
Does it seem that we are set up to fail in our job? Ie.. poor part quality, lack of parts, etc....
Last Wednesday I did a "B" pmi on a 4.3 dist shaft was worn, replaced dist did the full tune up. Friday car road called for the ignition module. I installed the parts that were supplied. and yet it is still considered a mechanical road call charged back to me. How can I be held responsible for poor quality of parts that the company bean counters swear are as good OE.

 

[trickpony1]

I wouldn't worry about road calls being "charged" to you until the company does damage to you because of it/them. Until then, it's nothing more than words written on a piece of paper.
I would suggest keeping your own diary and documenting everything so when it's "your turn in the barrel" you will have a defense.

And, no, I'm not a mechanic.

 

[toonertoo]

Im not a mechanic either, but I see this happen with my mechanics also. This incident wasnt real recent but I had a manifold exhaust leak, and the mech knew, and had the part "on order" for a week. I kept complaining as it bothered me, may not bother another person but it did me. The sup kept moving it around, so the same person wouldnt write it up every day, and then he gets the blame, and it should have just been red tagged but we were short cars.......Not mechanics fault either but he gets the blame, it isnt his work that is inferior, its the ability to get parts or red tag vehicles when they need to be.

 

[upsdude]

This is one for all the mech's.
Does it seem that we are set up to fail in our job? Ie.. poor part quality, lack of parts, etc....
Last Wednesday I did a "B" pmi on a 4.3 dist shaft was worn, replaced dist did the full tune up. Friday car road called for the ignition module. I installed the parts that were supplied. and yet it is still considered a mechanical road call charged back to me. How can I be held responsible for poor quality of parts that the company bean counters swear are as good OE.

We have a new mechanic (about 3 months on the job) in our building. I noticed this evening he was wearing ear muffs (cold in there). I walked up to him and laughed, told him he had already figured this place out. Cover your ears and it all gets better. LOL!

I'm lucky, 97 P1000, 150k, runs and drives great. I give my mechanic a heads up before I write up anything.

 

[wornoutupser]

We had a P-8 here that had the bearings go out on a front tire.
The next day, the new set also broke out. That was two tows in two days.
The third set of bearings lasted 3 days before they went out. Our mechanic was mad, went to NAPA and bought American made bearings. They are still fine.
The good news is that all three incidents happened at low speed and not on the highway.

The other three sets of bearings were made in China.

 

[browntruckmechanic]

We had a case of that with a tractor. What we found was that the bearing and race were from different mfg's. The bearing had a slightly different angle than the race. So when torqued to specs excessive pressure was placed on the inside area of roller bearings causing overheating and failure. When I was working in the dealership world I've seen a bad ground cause the axle bearing to pitt. Seems vehicle was using the bearings for an extra grounding point.

 

[dragracer66]

I'll spin this another way....I don't have a fleet I'm a 7 man who work's day's. I run all the road call's in my building and it seem's 65% of the breakdown's are from part's that were put on the night before or within a week. I see part's that come in are not the same that I am use to seeing them in, slave cylinder's are different clutch's are different even the pollack ignition switch's are failing within a week's time. Here's a good example...I ran 4 road call's this week 2 clutch's both were less than a week old one was a bad pollack switch that only made it 5hr's after it was installed and the last was a fuel pump on a 4.3 that was 2 day's old.. MDC must try to find the cheapest price and get a boat load of crap part's..For those of us that have been around long enough we never had this problem before MDC took over!!! But to answer the question at hand, part's are a huge problem!!!!

 

[helenofcalifornia]

What's MDC?

 

[browntruckmechanic]

Materials Distribution Center it is located in Nashville, Tn. It's the main parts warehouse for UPS.

 

[helenofcalifornia]

I have added respect for you mechanics. I had no idea you guys were dealing with inferior parts.

 

[SmithBarney]

Our mechanic gets pissed everytime he goes on vacation, they audit his
inventory, when he comes back 1/2 of his inventory is gone(stuff that regularly gets replaced every week)

 

[browntruckmechanic]

Well Friday was another stellar day. 2nd road call of the year.
Seems driver heard something on roll out and decided to write up car that evening. well car didn't make 4 miles when right rear caliper blew out both pistons, seems rear brake pads were worn metal to metal for so long that inside part of brake rotor was worn to the fins. Only dvir write up for the past month was for bulkhead door won't stay open.

 

[canon]

Well Friday was another stellar day. 2nd road call of the year.
Seems driver heard something on roll out and decided to write up car that evening. well car didn't make 4 miles when right rear caliper blew out both pistons, seems rear brake pads were worn metal to metal for so long that inside part of brake rotor was worn to the fins. Only dvir write up for the past month was for bulkhead door won't stay open.

Are brakes something checked on vehicle pmci? How often do pkg cars get preventive maintence checks that cover things like brakes?

 

[browntruckmechanic]

Currently in my fleet this car is on a pmi cycle of every 26 weeks. Last pmi was in aug of 06.

 

[canon]

Currently in my fleet this car is on a pmi cycle of every 26 weeks. Last pmi was in aug of 06.

Wow, and nobody wrote up the brakes. I've never understood why road calls count against mechanics. There's too many times where driver error/neglect comes into play. I know some drivers hate to write anything up because when the truck goes to the shop, they get stuck with the biggest bucket of bolts on the lot.

 

[browntruckmechanic]

That's just it.If drivers would write up the little stuff and get it fixed before it becomes major that I wouldn't have to red tag there car for a week to repair all the things I find wrong on the pmi's. Easier to fix a little at a time than wait.
i have a couple of drivers that never write up anything, that's why I spend an hour in the evening meeting and greeting so I can talk one on one, but that's an hour I loose working on the cars , but at least I get a heads.

 

[canon]

That's just it.If drivers would write up the little stuff and get it fixed before it becomes major that I wouldn't have to red tag there car for a week to repair all the things I find wrong on the pmi's. Easier to fix a little at a time than wait.
i have a couple of drivers that never write up anything, that's why I spend an hour in the evening meeting and greeting so I can talk one on one, but that's an hour I loose working on the cars , but at least I get a heads.

It's awesome you devote time to driver interaction, but I bet it gets old having to answer all the "my air-conditioner is broke" comments.

Out of curiosity, there are quite a few ERI questions concerning mechanics and vehicle maintenance levels we drivers answer. How does that impact you? Do they review the scores with you, discipline for low scores etc? Always wondered but never remember to ask my own mechanic.

 

[browntruckmechanic]

ERI questions to my understanding, do not reflect directly to the individual mechanic but to the entire Automotive operations as a whole, especially the management team. The only time we get disciplined for anything is when we do something stupid....ie.... just sign off the dvir's or vehicle is involved in an accident and there is a FAI issue that was not addressed during the PMI.

 

[browntruckmechanic]

Actually I get tired of where's my car? Standard answer is I don't about yours but mine is in the parking lot. Or can you add power steering?

 

[mattwtrs]

browntruckmechanic: My mechanic loves when people call off because a new loose nut behind the wheel of the car always finds something to write up that the regular driver has got used to. The car is usually red tagged the next day because he did not have enough parts or time to fix it! He always says at least if it's on the lot it can't be a road call.