Dark Thoughts

OK - well I didn't make it to 100 km this week because it was raining this morning, and riding is pretty friggin unpleasant under those conditions.

Anyway - spent last night helping (actually I was mainly watching) a mate fix his car. The oil in his gearbox was pretty thick and chunky and the gears weren't changing too well.

Basically we drained the sump changed the filter, flushed it out and refilled it again. Took us about 4 hours total cost - 'bout $100 plus a bottle of scotch.

Now here's the thing. The mechanic who quoted to fix this problem stated that the gearbox was completely stuffed and would need to be replaced. No question! When asked if the oil should be changed he strongly warned against it telling my mate that he risked even more damage to his car if he did this, and should, under no circumstances change the oil.

No where do mechanics get off on preying on people who aren't completely educated with the mechanics of their own cars. My mate was in the process of organizing a loan to get this gearbox fixed when another of his mates told him he'd have a look.

Nor is this an isolated occurance. I have a '97 Hilux - and it had about 65 000km on the clock. There was a bit of a back end shudder when the clutch was engaged. I asked them to have a look at it and they advised me that I needed a new rear diff. No question - it's cactus mate, and if you keep driving it your car will stop and you'll probably wreck your gearbox, transfer case and maybe the engine itself. We'll order you a replacement now - I'll need a $1000 deposit - will that be cash or credit?

Well - $1000 in a pressure sale wasn't in my line of thinking (and having had a little experience with this particular Toyota service centre royally fucking things up in the past with company vehicles) I told them that I'd have to think about it a bit.

Again, it was a mate to the rescue. Now I'm not a mechanic, but I know enough to do my own services, oil changes etc on my hilux - but a diff is out of my experience range. However my mate (for a carton of crownies) had a look at it for me. He found that the centre bearing on the propellor shaft seemed to be a bit worn and advised that it could well be the problem.

I booked this into a different mechanic (who came highly recommended and had a 2 week waiting list) and he ordered the centre bearing and replaced it for me.

He said that whoever had been messing around with the uni joints (probably when the heavy duty springs were installed) had put them back together wrong with yokes not properly aligned. This was the cause of the shudder. He put it back together for me and told me that it was a good thing that I noticed it because it would have ended up wrecking the diff, transfer case and the gearbox, because of the vibration.

So these jokers wanted to charge me $3000 to change 4 friggin bolts.

So what did I learn? Always seek a second opinion from someone you trust when expensive repairs are recommended, and where possible do the repairs yourself. At least you'll know that they are done properly, and that the mechanic didn't forget to refill the engine with oil after the oil change (don't laugh - I've experienced this one myself!!!)

Anyway - my mate's car now works like new and he's over the moon. Thanks to Paul (Mark's mate) and the other Paul (for the beers and Pizza) for the entertainment last night, and for getting Mark back on the road. Lord know's he's had enough shit flung his way in the last few months - but things are turning around.