Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Kevin Wood on 09 June 2008, 15:58:54
-
Marie and I helped out one of her neighbours yesterday and it made me laugh. His Astra had started running rough and he'd called out one of the "big 2" recovery companies to sort it. After a read of the codes he announced that it was the coil pack (a big module containing 4 cpp coils on this engine) and that it needed the main dealer to diagnose, etc... ::)
Had a quick look. Read the codes with the elm327. Misfire cylinder 4. Pulled out the spark plugs and the gap must have been 2.5mm or more. Number 4 looked particularly mullered and covered in black cr@p.
We sent the chap off to Halfrauds for some new plugs and some fresh oil and a filter for good measure and aftyer 20 minutes of tinkering it was pronounced "as sweet as a nut".
Is it a sign of the times that a roadside recovery service can't diagnose a faulty spark plug?
Kevin
-
dont trust them at all >:(me i
just demand a tow home to sort it myself ;) ;)
-
I have seen and recovery service outside the front of my house flood someones engine tryin to get it to start and then when i said to loud to myself with the windows open " your going to flood the engine you idiot if you dont stop trying to crank the engine over"
i know he heard me cos i dashed out of sight. then he said to the driver" you have flooded your engine mate tryin to turn it over"
COULDNT BELEIVE MY EARS i was :o :o :o :o :o
i used to use them but now i use the other large companey just to get towed home. ill fix it my self or with the kind help from you guys.
Kevin ade is truely thankful for our help yesterday. as am I thanks again. ( that includes you pat tooo :))
-
Marie and I helped out one of her neighbours yesterday and it made me laugh. His Astra had started running rough and he'd called out one of the "big 2" recovery companies to sort it. After a read of the codes he announced that it was the coil pack (a big module containing 4 cpp coils on this engine) and that it needed the main dealer to diagnose, etc... ::)
Had a quick look. Read the codes with the elm327. Misfire cylinder 4. Pulled out the spark plugs and the gap must have been 2.5mm or more. Number 4 looked particularly mullered and covered in black cr@p.
We sent the chap off to Halfrauds for some new plugs and some fresh oil and a filter for good measure and aftyer 20 minutes of tinkering it was pronounced "as sweet as a nut".
Is it a sign of the times that a roadside recovery service can't diagnose a faulty spark plug?
Kevin
Just as well that OOF were in the neighbourhood! :y
-
sister in law lives with us currently, she has a little corsa 1.4 16v
Caming back from portsmouth last night the EML came on and it started running a bit flat, she pulled over and call one of the big two (the first on in the phone book ;) )
They sent out a independant garage who gave her a right earful, he told her that it was ok to drive and that she shouldn't have been worried until the light went red ::) WHAT!!!!
when i pointed out to the muppet that it was a yellow light and that he manual states that there could be a potential issue he refused to back down.
So a letter to their head office complaining about the level of service and advice given will be my task for tonight >:( >:(
they are real muppets
-
It's the same as with mechanics. If you get an older guy who's been in the trade for years and hasn't got scared of modern cars and retired, you're fine.
If you get anyone who's trained within the last 10-15 years you may as well not have bothered.
It also depends how much car knowledge you give away, as to how much bullsh!t gets added into the mix. ::)
Kevin
-
Marie and I helped out one of her neighbours yesterday and it made me laugh. His Astra had started running rough and he'd called out one of the "big 2" recovery companies to sort it. After a read of the codes he announced that it was the coil pack (a big module containing 4 cpp coils on this engine) and that it needed the main dealer to diagnose, etc... ::)
Had a quick look. Read the codes with the elm327. Misfire cylinder 4. Pulled out the spark plugs and the gap must have been 2.5mm or more. Number 4 looked particularly mullered and covered in black cr@p.
We sent the chap off to Halfrauds for some new plugs and some fresh oil and a filter for good measure and aftyer 20 minutes of tinkering it was pronounced "as sweet as a nut".
Is it a sign of the times that a roadside recovery service can't diagnose a faulty spark plug?
Kevin
Just as well that OOF were in the neighbourhood! :y
OOF --- The 5th Emergency Service !
-
It's the same as with mechanics. If you get an older guy who's been in the trade for years and hasn't got scared of modern cars and retired, you're fine.
If you get anyone who's trained within the last 10-15 years you may as well not have bothered.
It also depends how much car knowledge you give away, as to how much bullsh!t gets added into the mix. ::)
Kevin
How right you are Kevin, and just try being a woman in that mix and it is quite amazing what boxxacks you can be told!
-
Just so you are all aware, the big 2 breakdown services tried there utmost to get rid of the old mechanics, and did a pretty good job of it to.
They wanted a smarter, younger image, which they got. They also do not give a dam about broken down cars. Basically all they wanted was the good "name" of the orginisation so they could make more money.
If they could get out of breakdowns I am sure they would.
Oh yes and as for the young image concious patrols who thought it was a great job, they generally open there eyes very quickly when attending a breakdown on the hard shoulder in the pooring rain with trucks etc. going so close past you at great speed.
And then your (what was) inspector or area road service manager etc. wants to talk to you about improving your "figures"
Most of the patrols don't care anymore, if they can naff you off to a garage they will.
Mike
-
It's the same as with mechanics. If you get an older guy who's been in the trade for years and hasn't got scared of modern cars and retired, you're fine.
If you get anyone who's trained within the last 10-15 years you may as well not have bothered.
It also depends how much car knowledge you give away, as to how much bullsh!t gets added into the mix. ::)
Kevin
How right you are Kevin, and just try being a woman in that mix and it is quite amazing what boxxacks you can be told!
Hi Lizzie
We where not all like that, in fact some of us actually prefered to attend broken down cars with women drivers, and before i get the usual flack it was not for 'that' reason. When it came to towing the broken down car, a woman would listen very carefully to instructions and follow them faultlessly. Men where terrible, they would not listen, just said "yeah mate done this loads of times we'll be allright".
Generally men are totally terrible at being towed.
-
My previous recovery company came out to tow me home, about 20 miles. I was informed that they would only tow for 5 miles and after that i would be charged £17 per mile! there was no mention of that in their policy book!
-
There are some "good guys" in these organisations - as well as a load of idiots ..
SWTSMBO had a problem with her Renault 2 years back.. she was 15 mile away and HAD to get to a meeting .. description of the problem was to me quite simple .... sounded like a snapped clutch cable.....so I took the car down and swapped with her .. then called out the Yellow boys ... I'm expecting to get the option of a tow to either home/garage for me to get it sorted.
5 hours later a guy turns up and agrees with the diagnosis .. not difficult really .. in the converstation I'm pretty scathing about the time delay.. he says "hold on what do you mean" .. it seems that I broke down 1 hour before "shift change" .. and rather than send someone who would end up on overtime, they delayed the call until the "new" lot were on shift .. my bloke then gets 3 jobs to do, I was the last he got to .. seems this happens all the time.
Well my bloke is pretty pig-sick of the flack he's had from everyone .. when it's not his fault .. so he says to me .. "sod it .. if they want to play silly buggers I can too".. we get in his truck, drive 30 miles to a Reault dealer where I buy a cable .. £22 ... drive 30 miles back and the guy spends 45 minutes fitting it for me .. !!!
Job done .. I gave him an illegal (apparently) "little something" to get himself a drink, and we parted company on very good terms :) me driving a nicely mended motor for nothing but parts cost :)
So .. if you get the right guy ..... :y :y :y :y
-
It's the same as with mechanics. If you get an older guy who's been in the trade for years and hasn't got scared of modern cars and retired, you're fine.
If you get anyone who's trained within the last 10-15 years you may as well not have bothered.
It also depends how much car knowledge you give away, as to how much bullsh!t gets added into the mix. ::)
Kevin
How right you are Kevin, and just try being a woman in that mix and it is quite amazing what boxxacks you can be told!
Hi Lizzie
We where not all like that, in fact some of us actually prefered to attend broken down cars with women drivers, and before i get the usual flack it was not for 'that' reason. When it came to towing the broken down car, a woman would listen very carefully to instructions and follow them faultlessly. Men where terrible, they would not listen, just said "yeah mate done this loads of times we'll be allright".
Generally men are totally terrible at being towed.
Thanks, that gives me another side to the story, and I must say I recently had to use the AA recently and he was bloody marvellous!
:-* :y
It is in garages / parts depts that I have men try to take advantage of me when they think I know nothing about cars....how wrong they have been! ;D ;D
-
It's the same as with mechanics. If you get an older guy who's been in the trade for years and hasn't got scared of modern cars and retired, you're fine.
If you get anyone who's trained within the last 10-15 years you may as well not have bothered.
It also depends how much car knowledge you give away, as to how much bullsh!t gets added into the mix. ::)
Kevin
How right you are Kevin, and just try being a woman in that mix and it is quite amazing what boxxacks you can be told!
Hi Lizzie
We where not all like that, in fact some of us actually prefered to attend broken down cars with women drivers, and before i get the usual flack it was not for 'that' reason. When it came to towing the broken down car, a woman would listen very carefully to instructions and follow them faultlessly. Men where terrible, they would not listen, just said "yeah mate done this loads of times we'll be allright".
Generally men are totally terrible at being towed.
Thanks, that gives me another side to the story, and I must say I recently had to use the AA recently and he was bloody marvellous!
:-* :y
It is in garages / parts depts that I have men try to take advantage of me when they think I know nothing about cars....how wrong they have been! ;D ;D
I would love to see their faces !!!!
-
It's the same as with mechanics. If you get an older guy who's been in the trade for years and hasn't got scared of modern cars and retired, you're fine.
If you get anyone who's trained within the last 10-15 years you may as well not have bothered.
It also depends how much car knowledge you give away, as to how much bullsh!t gets added into the mix. ::)
Kevin
How right you are Kevin, and just try being a woman in that mix and it is quite amazing what boxxacks you can be told!
Hi Lizzie
We where not all like that, in fact some of us actually prefered to attend broken down cars with women drivers, and before i get the usual flack it was not for 'that' reason. When it came to towing the broken down car, a woman would listen very carefully to instructions and follow them faultlessly. Men where terrible, they would not listen, just said "yeah mate done this loads of times we'll be allright".
Generally men are totally terrible at being towed.
Thanks, that gives me another side to the story, and I must say I recently had to use the AA recently and he was bloody marvellous!
:-* :y
It is in garages / parts depts that I have men try to take advantage of me when they think I know nothing about cars....how wrong they have been! ;D ;D
I would love to see their faces !!!!
Oh yes Holy Count, it is a sight to behold!
;D ;D ;D ;)
-
Unfortunately ive had too use recovery firms a couple of times....the best by far must be when i spun a Twinky Sierra (avoiding a head on smash) and once id started breathing again flaming car just wouldn't fire up....recovery called and sods law they sent out the local firm of idiots.
Explained the problem and what had happened and he started pulling and poking this that and the other....an hour later he said ""Buggered if i know whats wrong with it"" when i asked if he thought id done serious damage too the engine he said ""Well i dont know im not a bloody mechanic"" :o :o
Quick call too another Twinky driver and he popped down simply pushed the petrol cut off switch in the boot and laughed as the car fired up..... :-[
The point is how can say the AA or RAC justify there rates when they regularly send out third rate recovery agents who openly admit they no mechanical knowledge......beggars belief. >:(
-
I've never had much of problem with the AA or the RAC - the people have always turned up more or less when they said, which has usually been within the hour. However, I gave up on the RAC (free membership when I bought the Volvo) after they told me I would have to wait 3 hours 45 minutes for someone to attend. Fortunately, my daughter was in the car, and she had AA membership, and they were there in 20 minutes.
It was a silly thing, really. Flat tyre. But I just could not shift the wheel nuts - overtightened by the dealership "mechanics", no doubt. Took an 24" breaker bar to do it in the end! Never travel these days without one of those extendable wheelbraces (you know - advertised "for the ladies") :( :) :)
-
I've never had much of problem with the AA or the RAC - the people have always turned up more or less when they said, which has usually been within the hour. However, I gave up on the RAC (free membership when I bought the Volvo) after they told me I would have to wait 3 hours 45 minutes for someone to attend. Fortunately, my daughter was in the car, and she had AA membership, and they were there in 20 minutes.
It was a silly thing, really. Flat tyre. But I just could not shift the wheel nuts - overtightened by the dealership "mechanics", no doubt. Took an 24" breaker bar to do it in the end! Never travel these days without one of those extendable wheelbraces (you know - advertised "for the ladies") :( :) :)
Oh yes I keep one of those in the boot.....to help the bloke who changes my wheel at the side of the road! ;D :y
-
Marie and I helped out one of her neighbours yesterday and it made me laugh. His Astra had started running rough and he'd called out one of the "big 2" recovery companies to sort it. After a read of the codes he announced that it was the coil pack (a big module containing 4 cpp coils on this engine) and that it needed the main dealer to diagnose, etc... ::)
Had a quick look. Read the codes with the elm327. Misfire cylinder 4. Pulled out the spark plugs and the gap must have been 2.5mm or more. Number 4 looked particularly mullered and covered in black cr@p.
We sent the chap off to Halfrauds for some new plugs and some fresh oil and a filter for good measure and aftyer 20 minutes of tinkering it was pronounced "as sweet as a nut".
Is it a sign of the times that a roadside recovery service can't diagnose a faulty spark plug?
Kevin
Just as well that OOF were in the neighbourhood! :y
OOF --- The 5th Emergency Service !
The COastguards got VERY heavy with the AA ;D ;D
-
I've never had much of problem with the AA or the RAC - the people have always turned up more or less when they said, which has usually been within the hour. However, I gave up on the RAC (free membership when I bought the Volvo) after they told me I would have to wait 3 hours 45 minutes for someone to attend. Fortunately, my daughter was in the car, and she had AA membership, and they were there in 20 minutes.
It was a silly thing, really. Flat tyre. But I just could not shift the wheel nuts - overtightened by the dealership "mechanics", no doubt. Took an 24" breaker bar to do it in the end! Never travel these days without one of those extendable wheelbraces (you know - advertised "for the ladies") :( :) :)
Impact socket and breaker bar in boot at all times