I'm happy that SC and Mars got your truck up and running, para!

Congratulations Para for SC and Mars being so generous with their time and knowledge.

I was hoping to see a picture of the fuse block with protection ala the breakfast plate pictures!

When I was an auto mechanic in college back in the 80's, my boss always made sure you couldn't tell I was ever in the engine except for it now ran right and an Eddie's Sports Car Shop sticker.

Do it right or don't do it at all. Prying on the side of that box is amateur at best.

Like I told Para, the fuse box was assembled in a factory and was absolutely serviceable. I located the locking tabs and snapped them out of the way and the whole block just lifted out of the environmental concealment box. Repairs were a breeze after that, except rounding down all the other blown fuses. LOL Fix one and oh look, something else doesn't work! Gas pedal, we don't need no steenkin gas pedal.

Car repairs nowadays are like Para said, robber barons. Hospital bill prices, except there's no insurance to cover it. I have been repairing my own vehicles just because they charge so much for the simplest repairs. I can only imagine what that engine swap on my Frontier would have been as it took me almost 60 labor hours to complete and the engine itself was only $1700.

I have a youngster at work that got quoted $1700 to put a set of sway bar links on his Toyota truck after the $700 "diagnosis fee". He freaked out and came to me to actually diagnose the truck. I shoved the fender and watched the truck wobble on the dead spots in the shocks and told him that was the problem with scalloping the tires and severe vibration. We ordered the links, upgraded rear shocks and performance upgrade struts with springs from Rockauto and I sat with him at SC's garage and had him install all the parts himself. He was in for less than $250 and learned how his suspension works. He LOVED the air tools and lift. In half a day, he was all done and so proud of his work.

Yeah, with all the people keeping cars, the shortage of parts, causing higher prices on parts, combined with a shortage of qualified wrenches nationwide it's no wonder repair costs are up.

Need two tires for the Eff Juan Fiddy, 275/45R20's, the Michelins I put on pre-covid for under a grand, all 4 are now $350 each, at COSTCO, I can slum there with Bridgestone's at $265 each...

Crazy...

You're an awesome dude Mr Mars.

This thread is absolutely awesome. Glad you guys got it fixed.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Car repairs nowadays are like Para said, robber barons. Hospital bill prices, except there's no insurance to cover it.

Yeah, especially when your vehicle gets towed in. Oh, you don't like our prices? Whatcha gonna do? Pay to have it towed somewhere else, where, if you're lucky, they won't charge you even more? They know they've got you, and if you don't like it, they just don't care. Grouse about it before you whip out your credit card, or accept your fate in stoic silence, but, either way, you're leaving your dollars at the shop. It would have been doubly painful in this instance, because it wasn't some unavoidable mechanical failure; this was all due to my initial carelessness and then my lack of carefully thinking things through before acting.

Thanks to the generosity of SC and Mars, I dodged a bullet and I know it.

By the way, for those of you wondering why all of this caution over a few blown fuses- it wasn't just a matter of replacing fuses. It was necessary to unbolt and essentially disassemble the fuse box in the engine compartment. Imagine the repair bill I might have had if I had managed to rip out a portion of the wiring harness. All of this was new to me. Mars and SC are such good mechanics, they could start their own repair shop if they wanted. They approached the job with confidence, and in disassembling the fuse box, each pointed out to the other things which sped the process along. I am impressed.

Nice of them to help out, no doubt they are good wrenches. Just an observation on my part, no friction intended. The labor intensive jobs with little parts cost are hard to profit from (from a shops perspective). It's really hard to turn a profit in auto repair, if the owner can sell his property for retirement then he will make out.
With the internet, the good diagnostic shops see vehicles with a whole bunch of new parts on them from someone else. They spend 2 hrs finding the broken wire causing the problem. It may seen strange to some, but profit in parts is necessary to survive. Same goes with diagnostic time. It's hard for me to explain but the perspective of shops charging two hours for fuse work definitely seems like a rip off. All the good shops that invest in training and diagnostic tools are going away.

The Twins know their stuff that's for sure.

Love this thread! Mars and SC, you guys are awesome!!!!

We warned Para that we will argue a little…
Just a little…

You guys sound so much alike, it was like someone arguing with himself.

I was thinking when I “retire” I’d like to start a mobile paint service and minor mechanical.
Brakes, wheel bearings, cv axles, shocks/struts.
Mars wants a BBQ trailer…

Incredible. Makes me wish we all lived in short driving distance from each other. None of us would ever have to go out into the wilds for anything.

Another example of why this is a great place to hang out and spend time. The knowledge and expertise on here is amazing. Good job boys!

This morning, I drove down the street just for the truck of it.