Simple Fixes

[Giles]

Just to prove that you should check the simple things first---Many years ago, I bought a grown up piece of property and I couldn't even see my barn from the house. Didn't have the money to buy a tractor and someone suggested that I purchase a Big Wheel Jazoo self propelled lawnmower. A friend had one that was in a repair shop for a full service and he sold it to me for $70.00.
I picked the mower up and it wouldn't even cut the short grass!! After several hours of checking blade and re-tuning the motor, the mower still didn't have enough power to cut even short grass.
I bought a large riding mower and give up on the BWY.
Then about a year later, I decided to give it another try and the motor died while trying to cut tall grass. Grass was packed in the deck and the grass was wrapped around the blade--BACK SIDE
The machine had a horizontal shaft motor so the belt was twisted to turn the deck pulley.
It was twisted in the wrong direction.
I reinstalled the belt correctly and couldn't believe the cutting power! I felt so stupid :ashamed:
CHECK SIMPLE FIRST!!:thumbsup:

 

[czechsonofagun]

Yeah, I was ready to take apart my dead compressor, but when I finally got to it - the overload switch on the motor was he culprit It took less than a second to fix the compressor - but I did not use it for a years since it was "dead".

 

[slowzuki]

My inlaws didn't use their shower for 20 years because the pipe in the wall leaked. Finally when redoing the bathroom they discovered it was just a bit of caulking missing around the rim of the tub that was the leak.

 

[vaskeet]

I had a pinging sound in my ram 2500 diesel truck at around 60 mph I hunted everywhere for it before I found that someon had tossed a coke can in the bed. It was blowing and hitting the bed at 60mph Randy

 

[ustmd]

As a service manager, I always chant the mantra to my guys "If you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras".

Of course, if I could only practice that in my private life

 

[Pilot]

I spent $200-300 with a repair shop over several months trying to fix a problem with my '78 Volvo. One day I had my head under the hood for some reason and found a vacuum line disconnected. Solved the problem.

 

[JDgreen227]

How many of you guys have taken the tines off your tiller, or the blade(s) off your mower to sharpen them, then put them back on the wrong way and wondered why your tiller wont till or your mower won't mow? I know I am not alone here.

 

[groundcover]

vaskeet, you must have one of those new fangled common rail Cummins, in my '99 you wouldn't hear the whole soda factory if it was back there !

ustmd, my wife often quotes that zebra line, very true.

I love the simple fixes. Wasn't a complete fix but many years ago I was plowing snow when the truck died after pushing into a snow pile . The garage owner from across the street had come over to open the church I was plowing to open it for a meeting and offered to give me a ride home and to look at it in the morning. I told him to hold on, grabbed a snowball reached under the hood, climbed back in the cab and started the truck right up. I could have pulled a Martian from under the hood and he wouldn't have been anymore shocked!

When he recovered enough he asked " what did you do !?"

I put the snow on the electronic ignition , cooled it off and drove it home. Stuck a new one in the next day and was good to go.

 

[JDgreen227]

Reminds me of the time my medium duty Ford F-600 gasser work truck died on me in southern Michigan. The mechanic they sent backed his pickup up to the front bumper, raised the hood, and told me to crank it over. As the engine cranked, he started banging his fist on the electronic control box mounted on the fenderwell, and about the fourth bang, it started right up. As far as I know, the truck never acted up again.

 

[Giles]

Reminds me of the time my medium duty Ford F-600 gasser work truck died on me in southern Michigan. The mechanic they sent backed his pickup up to the front bumper, raised the hood, and told me to crank it over. As the engine cranked, he started banging his fist on the electronic control box mounted on the fenderwell, and about the fourth bang, it started right up. As far as I know, the truck never acted up again.

As a mechanic, I still believe a large percentage of automotive sensor problems are caused by faulty wiring contact. Of course the new sensor fixes the problem with 1/2 new contacts Observe how small most of these connectors are, just a tiny bit of corrosion can cause a problem.
I am just amazed at how well they hold up! Always check the connector and clean before or during a replacement:thumbsup:

 

[groundcover]

Guy I used to work with took his daughters Firebird to the dealer because it was barely running. This was back when they were just getting into the electronic and computer stuff . The dealer said it needed a new computer, at a cost of hundreds of dollars and it was out of warranty . He is a old school mechanic and said that just didn't sound right. He took it home and found a wire had touched the manifold and grounded out. He moved it ,taped it up and never had anymore trouble with it. Guess the dealer would have put the new computer in , found the car still wasn't right and looked for the real problem. Bet I could guess how that bill would have turned out !

 

[Jstpssng]

How many of you guys have taken the tines off your tiller, or the blade(s) off your mower to sharpen them, then put them back on the wrong way and wondered why your tiller wont till or your mower won't mow? I know I am not alone here.

I would have to say never happened.
Ask me the same thing about chainsaw chains though, and I will hang my head in shame.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I would have to say never happened.
Ask me the same thing about chainsaw chains though, and I will hang my head in shame.

Yep, same here, done it at least twice in my life.

 

[firefighter9208]

My wife called and said her car had quit. I asked, "does it have gas?", she said, "Yes, 1/2 tank".

I took the car trailer and loaded it up. Got it home and checked the fuel pressure and it had none. Ordered a new fuel pump. Of course it was in tank and I had to put the car on jack stands and drop the tank. Rolled the floor jack under the car to support the tank. Took off the straps and unhooked the fuel lines. Lowered the jack to the ground and rolled it out from under the car. Had my wife help me pick up the tank, as it was 1/2 full and would be heavy. We almost knocked ourselves out. It was bone dry. :drool:

Took the sending ring off the tank and pulled out the sending unit and fuel pump. One of the baffles in the tank (plastic) had broken loose and was wedged under the float arm.

I went ahead and installed the new pump, filter, and screen since I had gone that far. And removed the piece of broken baffle from the tank.

Chris

 

[firefighter9208]

Yep, same here, done it at least twice in my life.

I have been known to put the saw blade on the weedeater backwards. All the markings have worn off. :thumbsup:

Chris

 

[podagrower]

My brother in law does generator and electrical work out of the country. He got the call one day that the generator wouldn't start. It was running fine, they had shut it down for maintenance, and it wouldn't start back up. (1/2 of you already know what happened). He asked what they did, and was told, changed the oil, changed the coolant, changed the filters:thumbsup:. When it wouldn't start, they pulled the head to see what was wrong.

Oh, did I mention they didn't have a spare head gasket. So, my brother in law had to pick up 2 sets of gaskets for every motor at that plant, and fly them down, just because somebody didn't bleed the fuel system:ashamed:.

 

[Giles]

My friend called me and stated that he removed the string trimmer head and replaced the line. He informed me that the labeling on the head was wrong and that there was no way the attachment would go back on with "this side up" as printed on head.
You can guess what he was trying to do
I suggested two different ways to install the head -----Hang the string trimmer from a tree limb in his yard, in the operating position, and lie down and install the head with "this side up" in the up position. OR turn the head over, in his shop, and install.
We both had a good laugh:laughing:

 

[DAY]

I thought i was a loner, and here i find I'm a member of a whole tribe!
(The "Binthardunthatz")

 

[SandburRanch]

Do you remember the stupid dual gas tanks back in the mid 80s. There was a selector switch on the dash and a long lanky basketball player's knee can accidentally put that switch in neutral where neither tank works.:confused2:

 

[Giles]

A long time ago, we were discussing situations like this, and I stated that I couldn't understand why these things happen to me and hardly anyone else
A guy said---"It happens to everyone, you are the only one that tells about it":laughing: