A worn master cylinder would cause symptoms that could fit the described problem. If the seals inside the cylinder body are worn, they won’t seal when the pedal is gently applied, but will when the pedal is stomped down (the fluid pressure forces the seals against the cylinder walls when you stomp–it’s a bit like how a parachute opens up when air flows past.)
That first sentence at least partially explains why being a mechanic is a royal PITA. Oftentimes, the customer’s description doesn’t quite fit the failure mechanism, and sometimes the mechanic has to read into what is being said. If a “service advisor” (who may have been hired for his customer relations skills and may or may not have any mechanical experience) is added to the loop, you have a good chance for breakdowns in communication. By means of example, I used to be a motorcycle mechanic, and I can’t count the number of times we had bikes in with “won’t start” written on the ticket which started for us on the first try. Usually a call to the customer would help clear up the confusion, but I saw a few mechanics who would deny that there was a problem, since the bike started for them.
FWIW, Usurer can give you a loan, but you might be able to get better terms elsewhere. :eek:
(Userer, hope you don’t mind that link.)
[sup](and in the mountain out of a molehill department: )[/sup]
Delta-9, A friend once got a job doing test rides for a local dealership because they had a fifty percent comeback rate (half of the jobs done came back on them.) They were only then in danger of losing their service franchise. By comparison, I had about a 90-95% rate when I was a wrench, which I considered fairly good. This wasn’t dependent of where I worked (though I did think a database would have been good for the business.)
If not most, then a lot of the aftermarket guys have their businesses on computers. This gives them a service history, of course, but it also can help drum up business through reminders for scheduled maintenance, along with helping with bookkeeping. I’m still more or less a mechanic, and personally, I’d rather trust my own diagnostic skills and judgement, and would even consider my people and interviewing skills more important than access to a machine’s history. Besides which, a blown or worn out seal can happen almost anytime in a machine’s lifetime and should give fairly clear symptoms.
Believe me, I mean no offense, and I hope I’m not coming across as a jerk. I just don’t think that the dealerships have that much (if anything) over an independent, local shop with good references.
[sup](…and more in the flogging dead horses department: )[/sup]
toadspittle, you’re right. I overlooked the exact model, but the same applies. GM merged Geo into Chevy. The Prizm, Metro and Tracker are all Chevy products (AFAIK, they’re all rebadged Suzukis; at least the Tracker and Metro are made in Ontario by Suzuki.)
[sup](…and in the “holy cow, that’s an expensive Metro” department: )[/sup]
Handy, OUCH!!! Just out of curiousity, I checked the NAPA site, and those prices are more or less in line with theirs (that’s one expensive alternator!) Of course, the mechanic usually gets to choose where to buy the parts…
