A bunch of useless crap
Published on March 26, 2010 By MasonM In Blogging

Since I'd retrieved my truck from the garage down in Orlando it's had a very loud and very annoying whistling sound coming from either the turbo or the air intake feeding the turbo. This morning I had to put the truck in our shop for it's monthly inspection and I asked the mechanics to see if they could track down the source of the annoying whistle, thinking it was probably just a loose hose or something.

Wrong.

They found that the NEW turbo installed by the guys in Orlando is bad. Damaged in fact. The impeller blades are heavily damaged as if something had flown into them which is, of course, not possible. Those idiots installed an obviously bad turbo. They also found an exhaust leak where the Orlando guys had done some rather sloppy work, as well as some other issues indicating poor workmanship.

Now my truck is going back into an engine shop, this time in Milwaukee. For how long? God only knows.

This is absurdity in the extreme. In the garage for nearly a month and still not right. Sloppy work and faulty parts. Oh yeah, and one of the bastards stole my Olympus digital camera to boot. I guess that's my fault for leaving it in the truck to tempt him, eh?

I am so sick of this crap it isn't even funny. I really, really wish they would just trade in this truck for a new one and be done with it. But, of course, business is still a bit slow and buying new equipment just isn't on the agenda just now. Soon though, I hope.

So now I am waiting to find out if I am going to be down for a few days again, a day, or will have to take one of the spare trucks until mine is ready again. None are good options, I hate having to work out of a borrowed truck with just whatever I happen to grab out of my own to take along, but at last I would be making a few bucks instead of sitting around.

It will all depend on what the engine shop has to say once they get it in a take a look at it. I don't know exactly what our shop manager said to them but whatever it was must have been interesting because their service manager is personally coming up here to pick up the truck and drive it down to their shop.

For now I am just waiting for our mechanics to finish up the inspection and such so I can get some of my gear out of the truck before it goes away. I'll have to make sure and get whatever I may need just in case I do wind up in one of the spares. What a royal pain the ass.


Comments
on Mar 26, 2010

Sorry about the bad luck.  I have had enough experience with bad mechanics that when I found a good one, I stuck with him!  For 30 years now.  My wife is still learning (after an $800 "repair" bill just last year).  I guess with the big rigs, mechanics are just hard to find period.

I hope they take care of it quickly, for your sanity sake.

on Mar 26, 2010

Dr Guy
Sorry about the bad luck.  I have had enough experience with bad mechanics that when I found a good one, I stuck with him!  For 30 years now.  My wife is still learning (after an $800 "repair" bill just last year).  I guess with the big rigs, mechanics are just hard to find period.

I hope they take care of it quickly, for your sanity sake.

Thanks. Yeah, when you have a breakdown on the road you're pretty much at their mercy. The sad thing is that Orlando shop is a supposedly reputable factory authorized engine shop.

on Mar 31, 2010

Hey Mason, hope you're running again - and that the Orlando Bastards get what's coming some day, fat chance probably, but...

Saw this in the wsj, thought you might enjoy it http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704896104575139990857438962.html

on Mar 31, 2010

Awake98 - that is pretty neat!  Guess Mason is ahead of the curve.

on Apr 01, 2010

Dr Guy - if that's true, we should be keeping an eye out for the first wave of gentlemen truckers

 

on Apr 02, 2010

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704896104575139990857438962.html

Great article, thanks. I thought the one guy's comment about getting "funny remarks" if he carried his knitting into a truck stop was hilarious. I do it all the time.

on Apr 02, 2010

Awake98
Dr Guy - if that's true, we should be keeping an eye out for the first wave of gentlemen truckers

 

That would be nice. Yesterday I got no less than three positive comments on my bow tie

on Apr 02, 2010

That would be nice. Yesterday I got no less than three positive comments on my bow tie

Now that I work for post secondary education, I keep expecting to see you when I walk onto one of the campuses.

on Apr 02, 2010

Dr Guy

That would be nice. Yesterday I got no less than three positive comments on my bow tie
Now that I work for post secondary education, I keep expecting to see you when I walk onto one of the campuses.

Ya never know...