YukonTyler

So a Roman walks into a bar, holds up two fingers and says I'll have five beers. : )

- 2014 F150 6R80 for a trans pump

- 2014 F150 5.0 for 2 cylinder heads and an inner tie rod

- 2014 F150 5.0 for the right side cylinder head

the 5 liter is the new 6 liter : )

I tried to start a thread asking the same thing on PTS but it looks like it got shot down without seeing the light of day. Disappointing to hear that there are others in the same position.

Things have been ramping up in a negative way at my store and my colleague getting short changed on his Michigan trip is the latest point of contention. Fortunately this has since been rectified thanks to some solidarity between our lead techs and some well-placed bitching.

There are four of us (in a shop of eight) who are trained. We put out 95% of the warranty work, produce some very solid flat rate numbers and still keep a strong enough FRTFT score to warrant the PTS Challenge trip. You would think that the brass would want to keep us happy.

Wow that is awesome. A guy here dropped a 3.7L out of a police interceptor Taurus and had it sitting on every jack stand in the shop. Wound up cracking the oil pan in the process.I like your idea much better, very sweet

He cracked the oil pan? That is impressive!

I did a 3.5 in an Interceptor a month or so back - dropped the entire subframe along with the engine and trans onto a big table with casters. The engine then came out super slick with the cherry picker - didn't even have to move the PTU. Also super nice was Ford using bolts for the torque converter so no hassle lining things up.

All the same, that OTC powertrain lift is pretty fancy lookin.

For anybody who went this year or in years past - did your dealer pay you a wage while away?

One of our master techs was asked to go as a representative of Peace River Ford. Upon return he was greeted with a pay cheque down three days work. What do y'all think about that?

"if i could stack my tow mirrors i would" ... hehe

- 2013 3.5 F150 torn apart for timing chains, tensioners and phasers

- 2015 Edge torn apart for the water intrusion recall .... this sucks. just finished putting in the dash harness and the body harness. reassembly hasn't even started and i'm at 16 hours. the recall pays 17. the PTS forum has guys coming in just shy of 40 hours.

Wow, why is the 6.7 getting cylinder heads?

I'm getting a bit ahead on that one. Guy beside me is doing it, and as far as I know it is overheating while towing and venting from the degas. EGR is deleted. Blue combustion leak tester turns colour at the degas. It's actually getting head gaskets first, but from looking at them today there was nothing wrong. Heads are suspected, but the gaskets are going in now to test as per hotline.

Conversely, I got lucky on my 5.0 - combustion leak tester was positive, and on teardown I found obvious gasket failure at cylinder 7.

Quattro. Cab offs are pretty common, but 4 simultaneously? 6.7 beside me for heads, 5.0 in my bay for head gaskets and 2 more 5 liters each getting a cylinder head.

Customers walk by and get a little anxious ..... "lots of work to change the engine oil, eh?" hehe

- 2013 Taurus Police Interceptor 3.5 ..... inspection hole at cylinder 2, metal everywhere and all of the coolant in the crankcase. Getting the longest of blocks. 

- 2013 Escape 1.6 .... overheating message present. serpentine belt tensioner ate the belt and then chewed through the timing cover.

I agree that it's hardly perfect, and there are definitely shops and techs who abuse the structure for their own gain. But as stated it is the fairest thing around.

I've worked straight time - good old Subaru. My experience with it wasn't good, but that doesn't mean it's all bad. I used to love doing timing belt jobs on the EJ 22 and EJ 25 - bang them off in 45 minutes and they were paying ~3 hours. One time when things were slow I did 2 in a morning among some other jobs and then had no work lined up for the rest of the day. The owner told me to 'take the afternoon off' at lunch time. Foolish me thinking that I would get paid for the day. Instead I got 4 hours of straight time while he billed out flat rate hours on my production. Fvck that noise - I was out of there so fast. The idea of producing well and having somebody else completely benefit off of my efficiency does not sit well with me.

The original thought on this thread was honest opinions on flat rate. The original poster has heard the good and the bad now. haha

I said that it was the fairest system for both customer and tech.

It comes down to efficiency. Let's say that there's a truck with an intermittent ABS concern. Because of my skill, knowledge, experience and investment in tooling I have the thing diag'd in 20 minutes and repaired in another 40.

I charge out 1.0 for my diag for a couple reasons. 1) By charging for diagnosis I am taking on a certain responsibility with regard to its accuracy. If my diag is dead wrong then I'm not going to get away with charging for it. 2) I diag'd in only 20 minutes due to the aforementioned reasons, but Buddy down the way lacks both the equipment and the know how. It takes him 90 minutes to diag the same fault. The customer should not pay more due to Buddy's shortcomings. The 1.0 flat rate diag charge is fair to the customer because he is paying me an average labour time for an above average tech. It is fair to me because I am making time due to being above average.

Flat rate is also fair to both parties because a job gets paid once. Comebacks due to poor workmanship are on the tech. Techs are rewarded for speed and quality while the customer has assurance that he is only paying once.

As stated earlier your pay under flat rate is only partially on you - your productivity is partially dependent on those whose pay cheques are not performance-based. Partsmen, advisors, tower operators and managers can make things go swimmingly or bring you right down. I find it frustrating having to depend on those around you when so often in my life I prefer to do things solo.

That being said, learn SLTS and warranty policy. Code your own warranty lines. Do not get burned by prior approval, esp approval and cost cap. Do this and you'll be ahead of the game as far as mitigating the downside of warranty work is concerned.

As much as it sucks watching the mouthbreathers do brake jobs, prepaid maintenance and wallet flushes all day, do go out for training to get certified. When times are slow there is always warranty jobs to fall back on provided your sales dept has sold a truck or two.

I love flat rate and find it the fairest system for customer and tech. It rewards accurate diagnostics and proficient, strong repair practices. It also complements a strong work ethic and a young body.

Those are some neat old puzzles - the craftsmanship is something rarely seen in consumer products these days.

Keeping with the theme of interests and hobbies, here's what I've been up to lately.

Picked up an old post pounder a while back and finally hooked it up to see if she's functional. Turns out she is. I pounded some posts in which became the 'foundation' of a chicken run. Wifey and I took an old shed and did it up as the coop - spray foam, electrical, nesting boxes, partition fencing/gate and so on. We grabbed 18 6-week old pullets/cockerels to fill the place (here's hoping for more girls than guys). It's also home to a pair of fresh barn kittens - keeping mice away from the feed and whatnot. Fun times.

For giggles we sometimes wander over to the neighbour's bison herd. The bull on the left was pretty ornery the other day - grunting and pawing and generally being a pain.

I've heard of them with the cylinders having excessive runout - never seen one myself though.

- 2008 F550 6.4 hi-rail with a picker .... both rear doors have bad latches (will not open from the interior or exterior), ABS and an inspection

- 2002 Sport Trac ... l/front door will not open from either the interior of exterior

- 2013 F150 5.0 ... #8 misfires and needs a cylinder head

- 2015 F150 ... dropping the secondary HS CAN networks

- 2008 F350 6.4 .... needs a clutch

We do enough of them (cracked/leaking), and they come in with same frequency as the modular v8/v10. 3.5 F150s and 6.4s are less common but also make appearances.

- 2011 F150 5.4 for VCT solenoids

- 2013 F150 3.5 cab off for timing chains, tensioners and phasers. also pinion seals and struts

- 2007 Escape for A/C lines and a condenser core

- 2013 F150 e-locker 9.75 for rear end bearings

I just kicked out one Exped for a 6006 5.4 and another Exped for rear a/c lines and an evaporator. Once that was out I got to running diag on some different units. Busy day ...

2007 Escape for a condenser, high pressure line, brakes all around and a l/front hub bearing

2009 F350 for an evaporator core (plugged, no airflow)

2010 F150 for brakes all around, both exhaust manifolds

2012 F250 6.2 for a fuel pump (leaking down) and a serpentine belt tensioner

2012 F150 for a t-case

 

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I have seen that quite a bit on the Ford hydroboost systems. Gives a groan noise/lack of assist.

for starters, i have no idea why somebody would order a super duty lacking the integrated tbc controller. that being said ...

- the aftermarket units are simple to install any anybody frying the BCM or causing grief with the HS CAN needs to slowly step away from the truck

- the integrated units are much, much nicer than the aftermarket (especially the timer based types) .... they provide smooth, consistent braking in-line with the pressure transducer on the master cyl (where applicable), as well as having a much cleaner installation appearance

Brought my rig in today ...

- new evaporator core

- new shocks

- replaced steering damper, r/outer tie rod and the track bar ball joint

- cut and welded in extensions for the swing out jacks on the camper (now i'll have ~2" on each side of the flat deck instead of ~1/4")

I have done quite a few like that, but never on a unit so new. I'm always thankful that the break is usually right down past the fused link (sense line) and is accessible from the top - otherwise that harness runs in that plastic protective casing and it is not so fun to take that all apart.

'Moonlighting' on my own stuff at home. Testing out my ancient (new to me) pneumatic bumper lift while rigging up a new 7-pin trailer plug on the headache rack for the camper, mounting the light bar, mounting the lamps and wiring them via upfitter 1 and a high beam triggered relay.

A little while back I had one with an intermittent soft pedal - found the hydroboost leaking between the booster and the master but not enough to actually leaks a stained trail of fluid. Fluid wasn't aerated, either. Worth a quick look.