Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

Berk you GM.

The GF told me that the windshield washer system wasn't working on my 2010 Chevy Tahoe. So I did some investigating tonight. The pump runs but the fluid hits the underside of the hood. Ok, so the pump works. The squirters are on the wiper arms and the tubing runs down the underside of each arm to a rubber grommet on the wiper cowl. The plastic fitting connecting the tubing to the cowl was broken off on both sides. Of course, I cannot get to the tubing under the cowl without removing both wiper arms and the cowling itself. The wiper arms did not want to pop off the motor shaft so I had to pry them off. The cowl had no less that 4x 7mm screws, 2x metal clips, 4x body clips and a large Christmas tree fastener dead center in the cowl which required me to lay on the engine to get to. GM saw fit to run hard plastic line under the cowl to the driver's side fender with NO rubber line to account for cowl removal. The second I moved the cowl, the plastic line turned to dust. There is literally a 6 foot run of molded plastic tubing running from the driver's side rubber grommet on the cowl, down the driver's side fender and all the way to the front where the washer fluid reservoir and pump sit. Luckily, the hard line broke right where it meets the cowl on the driver's side so it will be easy to slip some rubber hose over the remaining plastic line. 

What a dumb, overcomplicated, fragile system. I'll be visiting my FLAPS tomorrow morning before work to see if I can rig something together. NOT something I wanted to do on a Monday morning.

EDIT: Pic for reference:

Streetwiseguy said:

In reply to Peabody :

Or, is there a place anywhere he'd rather die?  How long would it take to find him dead on the living room couch...

Not long, he lives with his son, who's had the discussion with him. He's still taking down trees, clearing brush, doing a lot of tractor work, and his son didn't like him going to the track on his own. But Bob said, if something happens, at least I died doing what I love to do. Nonetheless, we're all better off if that time comes later, rather than sooner. I do feel a little responsible for what happened that day. A week before I was doing the same thing, walking the trails with my hand saw (*that's a whole 'nother story), and as I walked out of the bush I saw him on the tractor, and we chatted. He said to me, you're just like me 20yrs ago, but I can't do that anymore. I bet it bugged him, and he thought, no, I can still do that.

*I had just trimmed a low hanging branch off a walnut tree, and when I threw it away from the trail, a twig on the branch caught my glasses, pulled them off and deposited them in the bush. Of course, I can't see anything without my glasses, so there was no chance I could find them, though I tried. Fortunately I had my phone and had, for convenience, put my home number as AA home, meaning it was the first contact,  I was able to call home, and get PW to go out to the shop, get my safety glasses and bring them to me. It took about 15 minutes to find my glasses. That kind of E36 M3 can only, and routinely does, happen to me

Went to the dirt track this weekend, was pretty fun, but it seems like all the worst parents in the county flock there to ignore their children. All the kids were standing right on the fence at the edge track and they kept having to delay the races because their parents wouldn't come get them and take them to the grand stands

In reply to gixxeropa :

Were you at Weebert's Valley in Celina, Tennessee?

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

is that a real track? I've only ever seen the satirical facebook page lol

It was at Dixie Speedway in woodstock ga

In reply to gixxeropa :

Lol.  It's satire, but barely.  Growing up going to dirt tracks managed by the most incompetent people on the planet, it's pretty much right in line.  My favorite is they'll make a post to talk about how good the racin' is but they're going to quick 4-hour intermission after hot laps.  

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

I miss the old dirt track i attended before I moved...out in the country, family owned, gravel parking lot, it was awesome. It was a small outfit, and the grandstands were small enough that even the tallest seats were so close to the track that you would get dirt in your eyes on the turn. Tickets were cheap all the time, and there was a $15 flat fee to bring in a cooler full of whatever you wanted. They also ran for (what felt like) forever. Me and some friends would fill a cooler up with beer, go out on a Friday night, and watch the hot laps start at 6pm and they wouldn't get done until 11pm most nights. Once, we even took a grill and tailgated in the parking lot beforehand.

Sadly, about a year before I moved, a gentleman died in a wreck in a fire. They didn't announce a formal closing, but I don't think they ever had races again. I suspect there was a lawsuit and the family that owned it couldn't afford to keep it open. Man, i miss those days

gixxeropa said:

In reply to Scotty Con Queso :

is that a real track? I've only ever seen the satirical facebook page lol

It was at Dixie Speedway in woodstock ga

Sponsored by Hennessey honda of Woodstock? Cause they eat dick.

First, you don't send me the email confirmation I asked for. Then, you let the parts sit for three days because you "didn't have a box" to ship them in. Now, I get the box and the rotors are stacked on top of the filters? And there are no pads in the box. They are on the invoice, but they didn't make the journey. 
 

Finding a new Audi supplier asap. This is unreal. 

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

Holy hell do I hate working on this truck. It's a former K9 sheriff's vehicle from Florida so lots of idling time with the A/C on. This has absolutely baked all the under hood plastic components. Wiring connectors, vacuum lines, even the under hood heat blanket (which turned to dust). And yes, that includes the mile of hard plastic washer fluid lines. I was able to repair the last bit of the washer system to the wipers using vacuum tees and Tygon fuel hose. But every time I would fix a section, another would crack or just fall apart. I had a 4" crack in the run on the fender which I found after it hit me in the face during an ops check. Washer fluid burns when it gets in your eyes. The Tygon fuel hose has an ID of 3/16", which fits perfectly over the factory hard line. Every rubber connector had a plastic splice which also turned to dust.

The front washer system works great now but I thought I'd try the rear washer system. Well, it's spraying out from somewhere under the engine compartment. Of course. I gave up lol. That's a problem for future me. 

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH

"Byeeee! Have a great day at work!"

The thoughtful little gift she left me:

Roughly 12 days ago:  My Kia Soul stalled.  I want to tow it in.

OK.

Roughly 10 days ago:  You have cam timing codes, likely caused by the steel shards I found in the cam phaser solenoid.  Go tell the Kia store they have another extended warranty claim.  TAKE THIS FILTER MEDIA AND SHOW THEM ALL THE GLITTER IN THE OIL.

Roughly a week ago:  They said no.  Order an engine, please.  Keep photos of the old one so I can join the class action suit.  

Did you show them the filter?

No.
 

6 days ago:  They want to look at it.  I will get it towed.  

Show them the filter full of glitter.

Today, engine shows up.  I phone customer.  They want to do more testing, and a hot oil flush.

Did you show them the filter full of glitter?

No.  Should I?

What in the name of sweet berkeleying Jeebus do you think they are looking for?  Why did I give you a bag, with the filter cut apart in it?  Did I expect you to brew a nice cup of Texas Tea with the berkeleying thing?  They are looking for evidence of the failure.  Show them the berkeleying evidence!!!

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

It can be pretty tedious, but this is why I love our policy of "photograph everything and attach it to the digital inspection".  Digital inspections are e-mailed and also there is a URL. 

Glitter in the oil? Photo.  Dry dipstick? Photo.  Pull the oil filter out of its housing and it's a solid blob of crap and shavings? PHOTO.

It also makes it nice when you get someone else's comeback.  You go back to the other technician's inspection and see that yeah, not only did we tell you that you needed X, we took a bunch of pics.  Or, we replaced your condensor because it had a hole in it where a rock hit it, this is unrelated to your current issue.

The reverse is also true.  We didn't tell you that you needed brakes because three months ago, before you parked the car on grass for a couple months, you didn't need them.

I am big on photographing DOT stamps when recommending tires due to age or heavy cracking. If it comes to a lawsuit ("you didn't tell me my tires were old and now my insurance company is suing you after the collision") it's right there, yes we did.

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

I thought I'd be smart and try the front windshield washer system on my way to work. Just to make sure the spray pattern was good.

It sprayed for about 2 seconds and then stopped. I'm hoping I ran the reservoir dry and it's not something else.

In reply to wae :

I get your point about hack RV remodels.  But I don't agree that the interior has to be wood grain.  Especially since a lot of it is bad plastic grain papered over luan.  Which is why the interior of our camper is white with decals on it.  Which is the way we like it.  

I'm not going to feel bad for the next owner- we are keeping it for a very long time, and it's more important for us to be happy than the next owner.

wae said:

Cabinets are supposed to be stained wood.

Woodgrain makes small spaces appear smaller.

The refinish needs to be nicely done, agreed.  But lots of texture makes spaces look smaller and smoother, more uniform colors make spaces look larger.

Returned ~$150 worth of parts to Amazon via UPS on the 2nd.

Today, a FULL two weeks later, they have no record of my return even being started.  Guess I get to gear up and go full on Karen at the UPS store and ask them where the hell my shipment is.

Remember kids, ALWAYS take pictures of your receipts so you have a record.

I have both the actual receipt and the picture and someone is gonna pay me my damned $150.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Kind of surprised that you don't have an amazon drop location near you.  We have multiple ones near me where as soon as it's dropped off, you get the refund.

Which is great on one hand- that if something happens, you get your money back.  But on the other hand- it means that we probably get too much stuff because amazon has to be able to take it back so very easily.

In reply to alfadriver :

Compare it to Walmart or Kroger or KMart/Sears back in the day. 

In reply to mtn :

I agree those were very prolific out there, but for now, I would only put Walmart in the same camp, since it's so easy to buy *stuff* on line.  When you had to put effort into getting something, I personally think people put more effort into it and either got something good or didn't get it.  Now people buy multiple of the same thing so that they can compare them, and return the ones you didn't like.  The whole "try before you buy" thing on amazon shoes...  Or everything has free returns.  

But at the same time, since you can't see it in person, you almost have to buy 4 different versions of the same thing to return 3 of them.

alfadriver said:

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Kind of surprised that you don't have an amazon drop location near you.  We have multiple ones near me where as soon as it's dropped off, you get the refund.

Which is great on one hand- that if something happens, you get your money back.  But on the other hand- it means that we probably get too much stuff because amazon has to be able to take it back so very easily.

I do.  This one was UPS shipping required.

Depends on the seller, and what the item is I think.  I think a lot of returns just end up in a bargain bin store where people buy lots of returns and try to get their money back.  Some of the stuff the companies actually want back.

Duke said:

wae said:

Cabinets are supposed to be stained wood.

Woodgrain makes small spaces appear smaller.

The refinish needs to be nicely done, agreed.  But lots of texture makes spaces look smaller and smoother, more uniform colors make spaces look larger.

 

All I'm saying is that the folks that build these things spend a whole lot of money and hire teams of people to make sure that all the colors and materials more or less go together.  I'm not saying that is it impossible to improve upon whatever Winnebago does, but 95% of what I've seen is hot garbage.  Take this for example:

Stock:

"Remodeled"

In fairness, there are things about the remodel - so-called - that I kind of like.  The oven/stovetop is more modern, and I'm a sucker for a butcherblock top.  I almost like the tile backsplash there, but judging from the grout lines it was installed by someone with tremors, blindness, or both.  But now we have four different kinds of wood(ish things) going on:  There's the original wood, we've got whatever that floor is supposed to be, the washed-out paneling on the wall, and the butcherblock.  Plus the poorly painted wood.  None of it blends with any of the others.  And look closely at the paint job.  We apparently just went crazy with the brushes and gobbed paint wherever we wanted because masking tape was clearly not in our budget.  And the poorly-applied black - black!? - paint on the entry there is rubbing off and chipping.  Apparently we ran out of the blue paint and switched over to white, just to mix it up.  And then we stopped our backsplash at a very odd point but also didn't bother to cover the wall behind the over-sink cabinet to match....  anything.  We added a little quarter-round toerail there, but couldn't be bothered to miter the corners. 

In the last couple weeks I've looked at over 250 different RV listings and have done some deep-dive cataloging of over 130 of those, all in the 20k and up range.  While there may be some good remodels out there, at least 95% of them have been like this fecal festival.  I realize that the customer is always right in matters of taste, but I will happily take the original with wear and tear over whatever that's supposed to be.

In reply to Mr_Asa :

Hate those kinds of sellers.  

In reply to wae :

I like everything about the remodeled one better.

tuna55 said:

In reply to wae :

I like everything about the remodeled one better.

Yeah, me too.  Physical construction quality aside, aesthetically, the renovated version looks much better.

wae said:

All I'm saying is that the folks that build these things spend a whole lot of money and hire teams of people to make sure that all the colors and materials more or less go together.

Actually, the folks that build RVs hire teams of people to make sure that the interiors appeal to the most common denominator of RV buyers.  Note that I did not say lowest, just most.  Judging by nearly every RVer I've ever met, that's going to be a very conservative aesthetic featuring lots of Golden Oak woodwork, paneled "Colonial" doors and ogee-ish moldings,  brass trim, a muted early-'90s greyed-tone color palette, and an emphasis on pattern.

I 100% fully agree that any work needs to be well done... but that is a reflection on the renovation quality, not the chosen aesthetic.

[edit]  The blue lower cabinets / white uppers are to lighten the visual weight of the wall cabinets.