Mechanic adjusting nut on wheel hub, low section. - CONTRIBUTED
WHEN PAUL, A mechanic with over three decades experience, assesses a customer's problem, he does so with a long-lasting solution in mind. "I don't too concern about the money that I not going to get if that problem don't come back to me, as I know that person will send me more business," he said.
As such, he always advises customers to fix the problem and fix it well.
"It don't spell sense you fix a car part way, because the problem going to come back and come back worse. Because you going to have to go back over what you fix already, plus what you never fix, plus whatsoever that part you never fix affect," he said. "Everything on a motor vehicle interconnect, so when one thing out of line it throw out something else."
He gave the example of customers who come in with bad front ends. "The road bad, so things going to lick out. When you find that the tyre start wear a certain way you know you have to deal with rack end, tie rod end, control arm, shocks too," he said. "Sometimes a person come in and say them don't really have much money, so just set them up so them can line and balance as bes' as possible. So them change the rack end alone an' get two secon' han' shocks. Two months time them come back with the same problem, only worse," Paul said.
FIX-IT-ALL
The 'fix it all' lesson is one that Ricardo has learnt the hard way. His Nissan Bluebird began overheating and he was advised to change the radiator, as well as quite a few hoses. He did get a radiator, but decided that the hoses were too much at the time, as the genuine high pressure kind was expensive.
He eventually had to buy an engine.
"I was OK for a couple weeks; I even went out of town and I was watching the gauge all the way and everything was all right. So I relaxed and one night, coming over the causeway road, the heat gauge just go right up, the car shut off and when I put in water all of it blow out," he said.
The cylinder head got warped past the point of repair and Ricardo had to find the money for a new engine, one that he is sure does not give him the same performance as the one before, even though it is the same size and specifications.
"They said the hoses had crystallised, and because the radiator was flowing the coolant better they were coming under more pressure and they just gave way," he said.
Now, he has learnt a lesson in not only preventative maintenance but also getting a problem fix completely, once and for all.
"I didn't want to park the car and take the bus, and I had to take the bus anyway and for a longer time," Ricardo said. "If you have to swallow your pride and do what you need to do, it is better you just do it and be done, because it is going to cost much more in the not so far future."
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