Working in a parts shop stories

T

Therealdusky

Joined
Aug 2, 2019
Messages
16
Location
Belgium
I'll begin,

We have this customer who thinks he knows how to work on cars. everybody knows this kinda guy.
He already asked me what way round brake pads should be fitted ( Metal to the disc, but use lots of grease so it doesnt squeek!) but today was just too perfect to be true.

Bought oil yesterday to do an oilchange.
Came into the shop today and asked if I could take a look at his car.
- Sure, no problem. Nice car. What about it?
-Well, I drained the oil but I don't know if I drained the right oil, can you take a look?

Turns out he drained the gearbox oil and then drove it 10 miles orso to the shop.
Quite sure he just added 5litres of oil to his engine as well.
Then needed me to point him to the fillplug of the gearbox, wich can't be filled without removing the batterytray. All of this at 11:55AM, Shop closes for an hour at 12PM. Needed 3 people to fill the box apperantly.
Nice oil stain when I returned at 1PM.
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Had a guy walk in with a belt driven smog pump. Wanted it tested because his battery light was on. I tried to explain that it was more likely the Alternator. Guy insisted I bench test the smog pump for voltage out put.

Nope not charging. I sold him a smog pump. He came back 3 hrs later and threw it at me because the light was still on.

Another guy. "I need a Chevy oil filter". I asked Chevy what. He said they are all the same. I grabbed a ch200pl.( fits 67 and older 283,327).

He says that is not it. I grabbed a ph3980(astro van ). Nope that is not it.

I said " well aparantly they are not all the same. Can you tell me a decade at least?".
 
I did exactly that with regard to trans and engine oil on my 2003 Subaru the first time I did an oil change. The trans plug was in the exact same place my 1992 Corolla had the engine oil plug, and the engine oil plug ended up being, to me at the time, in a very weird place.

I figured it out my mistake pretty quickly, but man was I dumbfounded at first.
 
As a state licensed emission Inspector I've seen the following... A lady came in with an older Chevy Cavalier with the oil light on. I told her i can't test it she should go get it looked at. " Will the oil light on make it not pass emissions?" Nope but if the engine seizes you won't have to worry about emissions.
I have seen a Monte Carlo pass emissions without an air pump but was required to fail it due to it originally having one and the epa said it was "certified" with one go figure.
Another guy came in with a jeep with 40 inch offroad tires that didn't fit on the Dyne rollers. He said just let some air out it'll fit.
 
I have a couple stories I could share on this but not going too because their either too long or can’t be talked about here LOL. But yes we all know those people. I can share a quick one though. Once we had a Parts guy diagnose a customers car himself he diagnosed it as a faulty serpentine belt because the customer had thought it was burning off of the car, turns out he had added oil and spilt a bunch on the belt so they thought the belt was faulty for some reason. We do have a great parts guy though that is part of this forum and has actual mechanic experience I can’t remember his name though so no judgment to him at all. As for working in a parts place never done that I may do that though when I get older and don’t want to work on this stuff everyday or when the technology gets above me.
 
Out at my buddy's junkyard they have a little used parts counter and truck repair shop.
A guy came in one day wanting an alternator for his truck. When we asked what model it was, he replied
"There's only one kind a truck worth a s***"
We sold him an alternator for a SBC and never heard from him again, must have fit.
 
When I worked for a Lexus dealership a guy came in with a front wheel vibration. The mechanic looked at it and said "yeah there's about 4 pounds of dirt caked on it, that's the problem." The customer looked at him and told him he was an idiot and bet the mechanic $50 because dirt doesn't cause that. It has to be an issue with the wheel. After power washing the wheels it drove fine. The customer tossed $50 at the mechanic and didn't say anything.
 
Kira said:
"Fellow customers" have been heard saying....

3) Gas is gas

And of course they're all smarter than you.
Click to expand...

Don't they know that the engine will blow after a mile or two or running on non-certified, non-top tier gasoline that has gotten old by sitting in the gas station tanks for more than a few hours. Gees, we have to teach them everything
 
Fitter30 said:
Why do parts people look at me funny when i ask for a belt then ask where's the arrow for the direction?
Click to expand...

same reason they look at me funny for asking if I can get some suspenders this time instead of another belt that will only be worn out again in 6 months
 
In the fall of 1979 I was working as a counter person at a small auto parts store in Wabash Indiana. I was 18. I sold a guy a master cylinder for his car. A big early 70's mopar if I recall right. Later that day I saw him coming down the street through the front window of the store. He turned in the lot pretty hot. He drove through the front of the store. He went far enough into our show room, when he got out of the car he was actually inside the show room. I said hey didn't you just buy a master cylinder earlier today, and did you put it on? He said yes, but I didn't have any brake fluid, and I just live down the street, so I thought I'd run down and get some! He wasn't lying, the master cylinder was dry. I had to stay late that night to help board up the front of the building before driving an hour to get back to company home base in Fort Wayne. True Story!
 
Went to a parts store as a customer, pursuing OE Delco plugs for my Saturn. Young clerk told me I had to get NGKs because "[my] engine is Japanese." I countered with "I thought it was made in Tennessee."

Kid wouldn't take no for an answer so I told him I was going somewhere else. About three other clerks overheard this conversation.
 
97prizm said:
When I worked for a Lexus dealership a guy came in with a front wheel vibration. The mechanic looked at it and said "yeah there's about 4 pounds of dirt caked on it, that's the problem." The customer looked at him and told him he was an idiot and bet the mechanic $50 because dirt doesn't cause that. It has to be an issue with the wheel. After power washing the wheels it drove fine. The customer tossed $50 at the mechanic and didn't say anything.
Click to expand...
That happens to me all the time when it snows. Snow gets on the wheels and if you don't brush it off the rims, once you get up to a decent speed, you end up with some vibration in the wheels.
 
remember when the snow would pack in the wheelwells so hard you could not turn. No we do not get snow. Yes, I do hope I jinks us. I like snow.

Rod
 
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