Mah, HeyYou, that sucks.

Mechanic that oversaw (and did, with his son-in-law - SIL was barely competent to drag his knuckles it appears. Le sigh.) commited suicide about a year ago; so HE'S out of the picture.

Most shops won't touch a 1988 Dakota -it's "too old" which is polite speak for "We can't be arsed to actually, you know, TROUBLESHOOT something, preferring to just fire parts cannons until it magically fixes itself."

Hell - I have a donor 1988 LWB with the A500 / driveshaft / compatible rear end lined up; but can't get anyone to do the rebuild and swap of the 4 speed "because the 4 speed didn't come in your truck."

Can grab all but the ECU, and one of my ECUs kept bitching about the OD solenoid being open circuit, so I'm safe in saying it's probably a 4 speed ECU ...

(Yes, I have two on the shelf - one won't fire the right hand injector, the other opens the left hand and runs it wide open. Means I could probably de-conformal them and repair them simply enough. Just haven't bothered to yet.)

RwP

 

Where to start? I relate to everything said. HY, that’s what takes the starch out of me too…laying under the truck then getting out going back under over and over. Wipes me out quick. Working from the side is much easier. Pile up all the tools you’ll need and all the tools you wont need. Sit yourass down and keep it down. Just isn’t the same under the car that’s 6” from your face plus all the crazy contorting. That’s why I’m gonna pay some guy to swap my motor mounts. I have no desire.

Ralph, I became aware some 8 years ago that the large majority of mechanics have little ability to work on my truck. I know more than they do. How scary is that! I find the key to finding a good mechanic is finding an old timer. They grew up with trucks like ours. The kids? Forget about it. Clueless!

 

God, Look at us.... Shaking our fists, and "Get off my lawn!!"

That said, I completely agree with you guys. The new 'technicians', are parts swappers. Read the code, change the part, see if it's fixed. If it isn't, they have no idea what to do next...... I remember carbs, and points, and in some cases.... magnetos....... There was no plugging anything in to see what it thought was wrong. You went thru the logical steps to troubleshoot the problem, fixed it, and that was it. Even in the early 90's, this was starting to happen. I was fortunate enough to work at a dealership with some really good guys though. Our performance mechanic was a friggin' wizard. and he was a young guy. He knew his stuff though, and he could figure out just about anything. It might take him some time, but, in the end, he WOULD fix it. The problem became, when those issues were still under warranty. They got paid flat rate for diagnosis, and it wasn't much. Then x amount of time to actually do the repair..... But, the early ABS, and engine controls, didn't really lend themselves to quickly finding odd problems.... And that's where I came in. I was service writer then, (but, still a certified mechanic in michigan) so, the REALLY odd ones, that the guys couldn't figure out, I got stuck with between customers..... We were usually hip deep in them for the first hour or so in the morning, and the last hour before closing, but, in between, not much was happening for us, so, I played with the fun problems. Learned a LOT about ABS, fuel injection, and the foibles computers lent to engine controls. It was HUGELY educational, and, I was on salary, not flat rate, so, if it took me a while to figure out a problem, no big deal. Once I had the fix, I'd give it back to the original tech, told him what I found, what fixed it, and he would write up the work order. (and get paid for it.....) Worked out great all the way around. I LOVED working there..... but, trashed my back, working in my garage at home.... and gave up walking for a couple months. The job didn't wait for me. (and just as well.....)

I think a lot of things have come together to put us where we are today. Cars are a LOT more complicated, but, the training is still about the same...... the technology advances, but, the manufacturers won't bother to train anyone on the new tech, it is more 'learn as you go', and the customers end up paying for it. (which is just fine with the manufacturers.... so long as it isn't money out of THEIR pocket, they are perfectly happy.) I don't think the techs these days are as driven to learn the systems they work on either.... Sure, over time, they become more familiar with them, and get better at what they are doing, but, about the time they are actually getting good with the current tech, the next round of 'new tech' comes out, and they are back to square one again. I can see how that would get frustrating right quick. I also don't see anything changing any time soon.... Maybe when most cars are electric, it'll get better. Not holding my breath though.

 

Move as much as you can. If you don't use it you will lose it. I used to be very active, lots of pushups and bike riding etc. I got injured and it's all gone. I'm fighting harder now that I know there won't be a fix I don't come up with myself but the ground I lost is more than I will recover. I hate getting up and down under the truck. I'm just grateful that I can. Those rubber mats that interlock from HF make it slightly better on the knees and elbows.

 

Snap back:

On Tuesday before Christmas, my master cylinder blew out. This meant I lost all of my brakes.

In redoing it, I'm painting the master cylinder - here's the MC, the A.I.R. pump pulley, and the A.I.R. pump adjusting bracket as it's curing for tomorrow's install.

 

Tomorrow (day after Christmas) is bench bleed the MC, install that, bleed the brakes, and maybe do the A.I.R. pump so I can get the second belt on my water pump.

Also toss in the Super Cleaner to start purging the grease out of my cooling system. It says drive up to 600 miles; that'll be the rest of the year.

RwP

 

Good luck!!