And now for something completely different.

Vehicle Maintenance and Repair concepts

 What world are you in?

In a perfect world, the cost of a part, service work would not matter, because fluids and belts would last a precise time; accidents would happen on a schedule. When you install a part on your vehicle, it would work perfectly forever, or at least work for a specific designed time before it failed. Drivers and riders would not cause problems or do anything but in the correct way. Oh, and there are only 2 basic categories of parts, components and products; “good” and “unavailable”.

I don’t live in that world.

While I know several people who seem to think they live in that world, I’ve met only 1 or 2 that appeared to really live there (while I knew them, at least. I probably looked like a idiot to them, warning about bad stuff that would never happen!). And I’ve come across a few businesses that try to talk customers into trying to live there. “We think we found the problem, if you replace the entire front end with these extremely expensive parts, you shouldn’t have problems ever again”; this is only a real problem if they actually believe that; it shows a lack of judgment. I’d rather have a mildly greedy -but mostly sane- repairman than one who was delusional.

In my world, every dollar spent on one problem means a dollar I can’t spend on another problem that either already exists, or will very soon. Parts, components and products can be classified in one of two basic ways; either “adequate” or  “inadequate” (cost  is not a huge factor until after this is determined), or sometimes on a bell curve shades-of-gray type of thing, with thoughts like “ok, if I spend this much, it’ll probably last until I can get an adequate one ordered from FCP-euro, but this other ebay one might maybe last and I’d have enough to put racing rotors on the toy….”.

In my world, parts can fail the day after installation, or Components can last forever with no problems, even well past projected service life. though they usually don’t. And if I have a problem that has a simple fix, but when I tear into it and discover the problem is something different... if someone ELSE does the simple fix, it will appear to totally fix the problem...while anyone is looking.

Some basic examples.

You notice a lot of heat coming off of your back wheel; the rotor on the hot wheel is more discolored than the opposite, and you can tell it’s not rolling as freely.

Attempted Perfect World Fix: Replace the Rotor, Caliper, shoes, brake lines, wheel bearings, parking brake, sensors, everything, with high end components. If it still happens, replace ABS, Master cylinder, etc, etc. If you enjoy working on cars, you do this in your pristine climate controlled garage with every conceivable tool on hand; if you don’t enjoy working on cars, you pay someone (probably your dealership) to do it.

Real World: Test what can be tested; if it's a bad brake line, when you pump the brakes and open the bleeder, Brake fluid will either SHOOT out, or possibly not come out at all. if it kinda trickles out, normally...PROBABLY not the line. (BTW, several people suggested the problem was the brake lines, even after I did this test. could there be a conspiracy?!).

Jack it up and spin the tires by hand on both sides. if one side doesn't turn as freely as the other, consistently? it's probably NOT a warped rotor. it gets harder to turn in one spot, every time it is turned to that spot? It rules out brake lines, and is indicative that something isn't as round or flat as it's supposed to be; it might be a warped rotor (though percentage-wise, it's probably a build-up of brake pad material from improperly "bedded" brakes; a friend at a machine shop said out of every 20 rotors he turns, 1 or less is actually warped. but refinishing a rotor fixes both problems, so...), it could be bearings, or it could be any number of weird unlikely things...

So, you attempt to find out what is causing the problem; if it’s not obvious. by replacing the most likely suspects one at a time in order of likelihood; after you’ve found it, examine the other parts to see if they have become heat or chaos damaged in some way; if a part is only possibly damaged, how big of a problem will it be when it goes bad in the middle of the night 100 miles from home? If the answer is “not too bad”, leave it. Otherwise, find the best quality replacement part at the lowest price possible. 

In my personal real world, I can never afford to have any service done that I could do myself; I know that things I don’t even suspect are going to break, I’ll need that money to fix that problem, or to get the bizarre tool I WILL need to fix it. In the example I used, the parking brake adjuster wheel (weird thing that tightens up the parking brake every time you pull the hand brake, if there is slack from wear) had been installed backwards (not by me, thank the gods, it's good to get confirmation that other people make mistakes every once in a while, it's not just me making them after all); every time the parking brake was used it loosened until eventually it fell apart inside the rotor “hat”, and lodged a part where it would cause heat buildup. It warped and heat degraded everything on that wheel. It was also almost impossible to guess what the problem was without taking the entire thing completely apart, and knowing how the parts were supposed to work together. To be honest, a “perfect world” fix would have worked; replacing everything would have cost about $1100.00 in parts, minimum. The parts for my fix was $250. (I still have the new brake line, I might put it on some day...)

Another example would be with car batteries; normally, you wouldn’t think this was a big issue, but it CAN be.

Do you know someone who is constantly running their car battery down? Maybe they like to play their audio system with the car off, maybe they leave their door ajar, or lights on, or maybe they have a slightly messed up electrical system that slowly drains their battery or intermittently drains it fast. The Perfect World solution is to get a high end battery, such as an.... 0pt1ma yellow top.

The 0pt1mas ARE great batteries, and in a perfect world can last for as much as ten years, though 7 is more common; they cost anywhere from 2 to 4 times as much as a “normal” lead-acid battery. However, outside the perfect world you have the above described person and their vehicle. With an 0pt1ma, they would be great for a while, it could be as much as 6 months. Then they’ll need a jump start, then another, and another...until the 0pt1ma appears to be shot, with a dead cell.

That’s because it’s what is known as a AGM (absorbed glass-mat) battery; and in certain situations, an AGM battery can't be charged by the vehicle alternator. The 0pt1ma brand has less of a problem with this than other AGM batteries (they really are great), but it can still happen.

With an AGM battery, the recharge rate is tricky; the very best, safest, most effective way to recharge one is to hook one up to a trickle charger or charger maintainer; this will give the battery as little as 1 Amp and 13.2V. In certain discharge conditions, this may be literally the only way to charge an AGM battery. 

 In our example, this is what has happened; the battery was drained by a short or audio use or whatever, it wasn’t able to accept a charge from the alternator, and jump-starting only gives it a slight charge… maybe enough to start the vehicle once again, maybe not. If jump-starting is the only way an AGM is getting any charge, it’ll start degrading fast, taking years off of that 7 to 10 year lifespan...and can even blow a cell or just wear itself out. Meanwhile, a traditional lead-acid battery doesn’t really care what your alternator gives it, it’ll take it; they recharge as much as 3 times slower than an AGM, true...but if the Alternator is providing more voltage than the battery has, it’ll recharge.

So, if you know you are having electrical discharge problems, or that you are a discharge problem because of your habits, what makes more sense? A $90 generic battery with a full 3 year warranty from the big box store, or a $225+ pretty battery that you will possibly KILL within a year?

Note=if 0pt1ma batteries have a 7 year unconditional warranty, if it doesn't matter how the battery was abused? Never Mind. Because they really are great batteries.

Disclaimer: 0pt1ma batteries have features that almost always avoid the problems most AGM batteries have, and you might never have the described problem; in some cars, you NEED an AGM battery. And Trickle Chargers / charger maintainers are pretty cheap. BUT….if you are the type that forgets to change your oil when you are supposed to, runs your battery dead listening to music or powering some appliance, thinks that corroded terminals are too complicated for you to fix yourself...you might not want an AGM.

I suppose this might be another example of the age old split between schools of thought evidenced by Offroaders, which Jeep is better, the Pre-1996 or after the  1995.5? The newer Jeep can:

 1) cross terrain that only a master could traverse in the older jeeps.

2) handles better on highways

3) rides better both on and off road

4) is just generally more civilized.

Too which I would answer:

1) yeah, that's kinda the point. I could sit home and watch off-roading on TV, if I didn't want to participate.

2) whats a highway?

3) who cares?

4) you say that like it's a good thing.

I'd also throw in that if it breaks down 50 miles away from the nearest road, in the middle of a swampy forest, if you've got a hammer, pliers, wire (or coathanger), and of course duct-tape, you can probably drive the older Jeep out. 

How is that a example????

broken down, we could say it like this; you have a goal but you can't achieve this goal because of a problem; the problem will go away if you provide the Solution, made up of resources and problem solving ability. uh. Good is obviously a positive number, bad is obviously a negative, right?

R+A=S

P=S

G + P < 0, G > 0

Just call me Hari Seldon.

well, regardless (I'll work on the math) The Solution to a Problem is to provide it with Resources, Problem Solving Ability, and Luck. Throw enough resources at a problem, and you can almost always fix it, Bad Brakes? spend a ton of money and fix it! (maybe....). Bad Battery? spend a ton of money  on a high end battery and fix it! (maybe, for a while).  want to drive off road, but have no skill at driving off-road? Spend a ton of money on the problem and fix it! (well, your vehicle is off road, and you are sort of pointing it, sure, you sort of fixed the problem...)

side-note: I finished 3rd place in a cross-country mud-bog race with 12 competitors that were in Real Jeeps, 4wd trucks, and one APC, in a 1976 RWD chevette with mud tires. Would I want to drive across muddy off-road terrain to evacuate a injured hiker in a 1976 RWD Chevette? of flipping course not; i'd want a pre-1996 Jeep Wrangler with a Manual Transmission, a 6-banger, all terrain (but slightly mud oriented) tires and my tool box; as the Chicken said, the Goal is to get to the other side in one piece, every time.