The Joys Of Car Repairs

[G54]

Had a cooling problem.

Took the car to the garage. Water Pump dodgy. New one fitted. New fan fitted at the same time as it was running intermittently.

All Ok for 2 months and the same fan went again. Had it replaced at a new garage and all ok for 2 months or so, so far!

Same garage I asked him to change the Cam Belt while he was on with work.

A week ago I discover the 'New' belt he used was Second Hand

Had the air con serviced as it had stopped working. Was 150 kilometers from home so had to take what I could get (on a Sunday) with wife and 2 kids in the car. Hot as h*ll.

This week that was re-done after leaks found. Now done by a reliable garage and a man I can trust.

Recently had the valves ground down after erratic engine problems. Brakes pads and shoes replaced at same time. Oil change done.

Yesterday the charge light for the battery failed to go out. Same place does my air-con looked at it for me. Took the alternator apart and it was full of oil!!!

I can only conclude that when they refilled the oil a lot must have slopped and run down over the top of the engine and over and into the alternator. The alternator was so bad they had to replace it.

So much for workmanship!!

Try taking the car back and explaining the problem? No chance, that is why I have used different places and making note of the better ones.

Hopefully my wallet might feel some relief now.......

[G54]

Grrrr.

In the morning one garage will understand the need for competence. One has made a pulley so slack it has come loose and grating against another pulley wheel that the car sounds like a tank.

I looked under the bonnet (hood for the americans LOL) and can see the sparks flying. Let's just say that the same will happen 2morrow. And I do not give a flying <deleted> of the personal consequences.

[initiala4]

Monkeys working on cars hehe

[stingray]

This is absolutely normally. Do it your self is the best way. It's very hard to find honest mecanic. But don't forget they don't have any education like in Europe. I had once a BMW and a roeaside mecanic jacked the car up unter the gesoline tank for changing the right rear wheel and destroyed the gasoline pump. Of corse he wasn't wrong and didn't paid anything.

[Bangyai]

I own a Nissan. If its a big job I always use a Nissan dealer. A bit more expensive but they are used to dealing with Nissan cars and are a bit less likely to bodge things up . When I have occasionaly used a local mechanic they nearly always forget to put all the pieces back and have a handful of screws ' left over '. Once they changed the wheelbearings o.k. but forgot to tightenen the wheel nuts so as I drove away the wheel wobbled so I had to go straight back to get the nuts tightened.

[lingnoi34]

Time for you to get a new reliable car...

l

[LivinLOS]

Ha ha.. I will see your story and raise you one of my own.. This happened a couple of years ago now when I has a jeep bare metal refurbed. I posted on another forum at the time, this is the cut and paste.

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Thailand and safety.. What a joke !!!

No amount of lazy incompetent disorganised 'service with a smile' will ever surprise me in this country again.. And if an item has any safety aspect whatsoever then I can only advise to check check and triple check, all yourself, and never trust any shit eating grins or mai pen rai comments. Do not take anything as too stupid for them to do or too unbelievable for them to skip.

As I have mentioned in some of my posts I recently had my jeep all refurbed up.. Decided to take it round krabi and lanta and use it a bit more.. Had a great time touring about and today was returning from Ao Nang in Krabi.

Well one of the tasks that the mechanics did during the rebuild was to replace the windscreen.. So I am driving out in krabi, starting a leasurely return journey home planning to take all day. So me and her indoors are cruising along, about 50 - 60 mph or so and the winscreen just implodes !!! Now I have been in cars when the windscreen catches a high velocity stone and shatters but stays in place, this was nothing like that this was an almighty bang then flying shards of mental razor sharp glass !! I caught one in the cheek which sliced in but lucked out considering the possibilities. Spinner again luckily was 100% not a scratch. I had some minor nicks at scalp level and sliced my ankle stopping the car under control so blood started to flow. The jeep only has these convex mirrors so I was having a hard time assessing how injured I was, spinner FREAKs out, crying and wailing, looking at me like I am hanging apart, standard 3rd world bird panic reaction !! Not helping thanks love.. I have blood streaming down my face, on my shirt, in my mouth, spitting lots of foamy blood, I take my hand away from my cheek and it seems like a lot of blood (its not bad in truth) welling up out of this hole in my lip and cheek but the combo of accident, blood, and most of all not being able to know how bad I was hurt did give me the shakes and dry heaves for a second of two as I pulled my shit together.. Knowing your cut and bleeding (face especially) but unable to know how bad it is or what your reaction and course of action should be was the real kicker !!

Anyway it takes me a second but then I twig whats happened.. The ****ing mechanic muppet has put a piece of plate glass in as a replacement windscreen !!! For the last 1000 miles I have been sitting open eyed and facing a goddamn timebomb. When I consider the possible injuries, sliced face, lost eyes, jugular and other arteries etc it just boggles the mind. I mean hes a mechanic, he has to have known !! He must have just gone down the glass shop and asked for the cheapest bit of plate glass they had.. I will lay money on thats how it worked out !!! I have to assume he knew the danger that meant to me, as a child would know that whole issue.

Of course as I realize this, is at a time that heart is pumping, adrenalin was flushing through the system, and I was injured.. The thought of choking the little bastard for the risk he put me under was high on my 'things to do list' and I was having a bit of a rage reaction.. Now I have had some time to calm down I doubt I will do anything other than give him a firm verbal roasting but he deserves a slap in my book, of course the way Thais work is all no confrontation, no anger etc.. No wonder nothing gets solved or done !! Things like this just are another symptom of why Phuket Air dropped off the radar and are blacklisted all over, it will be ok, mai pen rai.

Anyway, we are out of the tourist zone somewhere between Karabi and Phang Nga, a Thai fella on a bike stops and says that the local doctor / medicine man is up the road but I didnt much fancy having it messed with and maybe sewn up by the local witch doctor in fukknowsaburi.. Considered turning back for Krabi hospital but thought sod it.. By the time I did that and messed around finding it I would be wasting the whole day and Phuket was only a couple of hours away.. So I clamped a rag to my face and drove (in the rain) back from krabi with no windscreen.. Quite an trek in a slow jeep with stinging rain and a cut face.

Once we get back on the island I made a wasted journey to the hospital.. The cut had closed and being a glass cut was very clean slice, so by keeping real firm pressure on it for the first hour it sealed pretty tight already and from what I could see had closed up all nice and pretty clean. I had sorted in my mind to just get some paper stiches (setures ??) to keep it closed and it would be fine. When I get to the hospital I explain all this to the first medic / nurse and his instant reaction is to open the wound and look how deep it is / assess it.. I understand this, but it had closed nice and clean and I didnt want him breaking it open and increasing the scar etc.. Despite me clearly saying not to reopen the wound in he kept coming in to do exactly that, over and over hes just smiling and reaching in with 2 hands to grab both sides and I even had to grab his hand as he was just going to do it while smiling and agreeing. Then had the same story with the doc attempting to open it and who wanted to real stitch it.. I debated this with him and had a close look myself in a mirror (at last) and decided against letting him local me and muck about. Doctors the world over dont like being debated or having thier opinion challenged as I guess it challenges thier authority but then you get a Thai for whom thats also a social no no and where most Thais just will agree anything the doctor says because hes the 'official' and he really got the arse with me and left in a hissy fit like a petulant child. I guess he was thinking awkward bloody farangs always think they know better so all in all I paid a grand to argue with a doctor for 10 mins but I had some paper setures slapped on there and it fells nice and tight / closed now.. Just take care not to re open it for a few days and I am pretty sure I made the right call.. Not the first time I have had my boat race split and I somehow doubt it will be the last.

Still mad at the mechanic, still not sure how much I should let myself lose it when I give my safety education speech !!! Thais are great people for sanuk.. Great people for sabai time.. But some things they are worse than useless at !!

Anyone know a good car window fitter ??