DwayneGorniak

No offense Chris, but what is your labour rate down there? $20.00/hour for a wage seems quite low to me. The reason I ask, is that we have an unwritten guideline that we usually go by up here: It used to be Top quality/highly certified techs usually make 1/3 or 33% of the door rate. The lesser trained/lesser experienced techs are usually paid generally lesser. Some places up here now are starting fresh journeymen at 1/3 the door rate. It kinda varies.

Chris, we all learn somehow. At least you are learning. That's more than I can I say for some folks I have worked with.

Not quite as many as you are having problems with. But I have seen a few.

That's just it, they are never in the shop. Shell Canada runs these Superduties with nothing but V10's and we see them in here all the time for nothing more than maintenace. And every Shell dude loves them and brags them right up. If I won the lottery, my wife would be driving a brand new F-350 4x4 V10. I'd still drive my 7.3L , But the V10 would be my new hotrod Lincoln. Put some Magnaflow on that baby. Man, I would have a woody and agreat big sh!t eatin grin. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/icon_crazy.gif

Sorry for Highjackin again, But Aaran you should update your profile. I was wonderin where the hell you went to.

I have always said that the more technical you become, the more you become that go to guy that everyone comes to for answers and the less money you make training everyone else. Alot like Jim, I love training young lads and helping people out. What's that you're always preachin there Jim? Intellectual Property, I believe in it too. But most dealerships never recognize that. All they recognize are accounting numbers and how much techs push through. It's like a gas pump with the little numbers just flippin and you see the dollar signs rollin in the back of managements eyeballs. And alot of them forget about all the comebacks, because the outcome of profits outweighs the problems. So hats off to you Don for recognizing a major problem in this trade. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbup.gif And hey, welcome aboard!

I don't mind at all. Trust me, I have seen alot of those kinds in my travels. And they frustrate the hell out of those who strive to better themselves and take pride in what they do.

/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/scratchhead.gif Speaking of pulling the valve out, how many of you have had the pleasure of using the tool? I have used it four or five times and it still takes me a couple of minutes to get it assembled correctly but I think I am good with it now. What a contraption! I have used this "FRIGGIN CONTRAPTION" about five times now and it still sucks the big one. But damn Keith, I love that idea of the slide hammer. I think I just heard of a new flatrate EGR removal tool. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbup.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hammer2.gif

Do they have Taco parlors and Shooter bars in the Showrooms? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif I think that would be a great Idea for dealerships up here. I don't think anyone would be able to stand the smell or want to around me much if we had one of those though.

Sure, Maybe. As long as they download the trojan horses that some computer hacker may figure out some day and really f@ck with their systems. What goes around comes around, right? Actually, I don't think I am to worried about all that kind of crap. Ford can read my blogs or even Jim's all they want, and see just what people like us really think. Maybe they will learn a thing or two. But if SYNC ever learns an adaptive vocabulary, I don't think they will ever want me sitting in one of their vehicles. Hook that system up to a loud speaker and stick it in their pipe and smoke it. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/surprise.gif

I prefer being paid on a system that rewards a tech for training level and experience. I agree that you have to watch out for production based incentives. That's when the job just becomes all about the money and not quality. Pay the guys for all the courses and training they take. The more they are trained or certified the more they should make. But beware of the techs that like to take the training just for the sake of making more money and then just doing the easy gravy sucking jobs and never applying their skills and knowledge to what they are actually doing. Don't let them take advantage of that. Take into consideration that the more technical techs become, the more technical and harder to make money jobs start to come to those techs while the less trained techs are sucking up gravy and looking more productive. Also take into consideration how many years of technical knowledge your techs are contributing to your business. If they have been there a long time and have shared more of their knowledge and expertise or applied themselves more than some others, then you have to consider that that is worth something as well. There is a thread on this site about "The Trend". I have found over the years that higher trained techs feel like they have topped out on their maximum earned dollar and feel less rewarded for what they are doing and move on to something else. If you can keep these kind of techs happy, you will keep a higher level of knowledgeable techs within your employement. Just my . We have a system that is based on our level of training and expertise. Same as Jim's dealership: .50 cents per specialty above our regular rate. But you have to apply yourself to those levels of training and expertise or you don't get paid for them. Some guys like to take diesel training or driveability training just to get a raise but refuse to work in these areas when the work is handed to them. Therefore, they are worth less because they are just trying to suck money out of you for nothing in return.

Around here they buy tuners and exhaust kits not only to show off and have lots of power, but also to try to improve their fuel economy. Then they switch to synthetic because they can't afford the maintenace and oil change costs after they make that huge truck payment. Once they switch to synthetic, they figure they can ignore the now 16,000km interval ("under ideal contions" which is California "NOT FREAKIN CANADA") and stretch it to 30,000km's because some "SCAMSOIL ASSHOLE salesman" told them they could. Then they are in the shop with blown up engine oil coolers, worn out engines, etc, etc, crying for warranty. So yeah Larry, they want the most out of their trucks because they want the least amount spent on them as the end result. I have always said that synthetic oil is no doubt about it a better lubricant than conventional oil. "BUT, within the same interval". 5000km's or now 16,000km's is still 5000 or 16,000kms of carbon blowing past your piston rings and contaminating oil no matter how good the oil is. I pull these filters and oil out of these units that these guys are running synthetics in and stretching these intervals and the filters are starting to cave in and the oil looks like tar. And it doesn't matter up here what you tell these guys, they just don't "FREAKIN" listen because the "SCAMSOIL ASSHOLE" knows more. Your clientele may be different down there Larry and possibly more educated, but these are the kind of "Oil rig mentality IDIOTS" that we deal with up here in Western Canada. They talk something like this: uugghh uuggghh I need a ummm a diesel because I get ummm free rig fuel to cut down my cost of driving to work which gives me more money to spend on crack and meth ugghhh ugggghhh! /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/mad.gif

Put them in a strong reliable truck that will blow the doors off of them in reliability and cost of maintenance and keep our Ford customers. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/fouet3.gif "SuperDuty V10". This Combination Of SuperDuty gets no where near the recognition it deserves. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/fouet3.gif I did some number crunching at work on services for these beasts. To do an oil change, air filter, and fuel filter is about $140.00 for a V10. This includes labour.The same service of oil change, air filter and filter kit for a 6.4L is $440.00. $8000.00 less for the V10 can buy alot of fuel and pay for alot of maintenance. And with it getting better fuel economy, it's a no brainer. Diesels aren't as economical as they used to be. Especially with all that crap on board now. Alot of people just "think" they need a diesel. I could handle tuneups again. Basically, it's like taking a page out of GM's book. When they realized the 6.5L just wasn't cutting it anymore, they quit producing it and relyed on their big block gas engine for a year untill they came out with the Duramax. We could do the same until Ford builds their own diesel engine. And if it turns out to be a dud, well......then I guess we have a great gas engine.

Just did another one this morning. Cyl's 1, 3, and 5 all missing. Low ckt codes. Inj self test passed but inj's were faint when clicked. Connections were all good. Replaced FICM and it ran great. No water in this one though. Tongue twister of the day: F@cked F@ckin FICM.

I agree. I was running stupid today and trying to get in a quick reply without thinking about what I was really saying or typing. But my point was that the heat on the R.H bank seems to be greater than the L.H. bank.

Out of the hundreds of sets of head gaskets I have done, I always find that the R.H. head the worst for blowing the gaskets and for warpage. Just did one yesterday and had to replace R,H head. I believe it has something to do with more heat on that bank due to EGR flow but can't really prove anything. This heat issue may be what contributes to the cup issues as well. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shrug.gif

This gets rid of the obvious coking issues and it also prevents acidic gases from eating away at the coolerswhen head gaskets are blown. Therfore reducing the chances of having expensive repairs for retali customers. OK Jim, Don't crusify me for this one. I personally did the one my Body Shop Manager owns. It was either I did it properly or the Indy shop was going to do it. We had the pipe welded shut with a quarter inch plug. I also put head studs in it because the head gaskets were blown. We then ordered a custom programmed Performance tuner from ATS Performance http://www.atsdiesel.com/ATSWebsite/ProductsFord/CT.asp with absolutely no performance enhancements in it. It is custom tuned with EGR delete to keep the pcm from creating dtc's. It has been almost a year now and this thing runs like a dream. And his fuel economy improved to 27 mpg. P.S. I don't do these for customers.

I meant all the ones that are being done around here. Take the pipe and hold it with the little spout facing straight up. Then fill it with water and see if it disapears. That should verify if it is a p!ss poor job that was done on the pipe.

You are actually talking about the Y-pipe assembly Right? They didn't actually weld the EGR cooler itself? I have seen a couple of Y-pipe assemblies welded shut with a plug. But they were done by certified welders, not weekend welders. Our local Indy shop is experimenting with these as well and have been trying to pry advise out of me. If it is the cooler that is welded I would be very worried about the amount of heat transfer from welding the cooler. If it is the Y-pipe you are talking about, I would think it is a crappy weld and has some sort of pin hole or pourosity in it. I havn't seen any EGR cooler failures on one of these units yet. One of the ones I know of here is our Body shop managers unit. Oh yeah, and they are all getting studs.

Only two this last year of 07'. But I got hit with seven sets of head gaskets before Christmas. When it rains it pours.

But you are most likely going to now aren't you? I know I am curious now and will most likely open the next one up. About a year and a half ago, I had a rash of them in the hot summer and then last winter had quite a few. But this winter has been crazy for FICM failures like I said earlier.

This winter has been crazy for me. I have been seeing about an average of one a weak.

Keith I do have alot of these trucks coming with smoking concerns like that, but only because it is cold ambient temperature outside. In TSB 07-04-11 they talk about the functional characteristics of these beasts and mention that they do smoke in the cold temperatures. Should mention they smoke "profusely". However, it sounds like yours might be a slight different issue.

Have you rolled every piston to top dead centre and seen if you have any bent rods? Was the crankcase overfull?

Have you checked the pressure on the cooling system Keith?