GregBBRD

Tough to not agree with that...."poor" is an understatement!

GregBBRD

Yes. They are .020" thick. Hobby stores/some hardware stores carry brass stock. .020 is a bit hard to find. .016" material works fine. The pieces start out "roughly" .312" x .312". It doesn't take much. Start with a piece that is .312" x .350". (That usually works pretty good, for the sunroof switches.) You will probably end up with a piece about .312" x .330", for the window switches.

LT Texan

I just shaved off a bit of the plastic stop on my window switch to make it work.

Took a couple minutes.

GregBBRD

Too soon. I'm still on medication/doctor's supervision for that.....

I think that is what really "set" me off, not the silly window switch.

I think that my biggest problem isn't with what I do....it's with the inability to say:

"Sorry, I can't figure this problem out. I can't fix it."

"Can't" just isn't in my vocabulary.

Leon Speed

Are these supposed to replace the squares inside the switch? I thought we were talking fixing the tabs where the switches sit.

Avar928

He drives a 2000 Honda Accord, manual. Apparently it cost $500 labor to open the trunk, peel back the carpet, remove the three screws from the flimsy cover plate, remove the other 8 screws holding down the unit and pop off the pump from the assembly and do it all in reverse.

Now I understand that's what their WSM says in regards to labor hours then whatever they charge per hour, but come on...they have to update that **** relative to the actual complexity of the job. Bolts stripped, need to drill? WSM should say "add xx time".

I had more trouble getting to the main relay that doing the pump. That stupid relay was way far up in that steering column and had other relays bolted down in front of it.

Greg, I will make it my quest to make you say can't so don't be surprised if you find a beat down 928 on FIRE in front of your shop with a sign saying "fix me" next to it.

GregBBRD

Yes. While you can, as Dan mentioned, slightly trim the plastic stops, this increases the amount of "travel" that is required to get the switch to operate. In most vehicles, increased travel allows the switch cover to hit the console before the switch is activated. Larger "brass rectangles" is the best fix, from what I have found.

brutus

Perhaps the mounting for the switch gets pushed down as the old switch gets intermittent (user keeps pushing harder and harder) and then the new swith cover bottoms out before the contact makes the circuit? Shaving the plastic on the underside of the switch cover may allow more movement of the contact square. The new switches usually work OK until they are mounted in the console.

dcrasta

This.

Any clown can follow a troubleshooting flowchart. Takes a logical thinker to really understand what's going on.

Same in the IT field. Idiots following each other down the same path, and wondering why there is a lack of creative thinking.

Your friend sounds slightly jealous of your skill, attention to detail, and high level of craft. Your approach is one that builds customer loyalty over the standard 'parts replacer' approach. Don't lose your approach, quality over quantity every time!


Have a drink on me , Its Friday the 13th.

brutus

As usual yours is the correct solution.

jeff spahn

I'll chime in here on a similar note. My Grandfather and Father ran our family's chain of Lumberyards until my father passed away 10 years ago. I was a lowly district manager and we had outside help as a VP (always had non family guy as VP. He would stay that I was to jump over him when time was right). Fast forward to my father suddenly passing away and I am not ready to take over.
This outside guy has brought in the repairman attitude to the company. A vital flavor has been lost.

Don't lose that flavor Greg.

Th Dude

yep....that car made me crazy too.

worf928

I'm going to chime in on this Greg, 'cause I sure don't want you to get disenchanted and retire. I'd have to learn how to make fuel lines, oil hoses, and all the other stuff that you've stepped-up to make when Porsche abandoned us.

This state is not sustainable. Even if you make enough money to "get by" it's depressing and leads to saying 'screw it' and doing something else. And if the 'something else' is boring, dangerous, or just not as fulfilling then you get into a lather, rinse, repeat cycle that just keeps going down hill.

Absolutely. As you know, I work on other folk's 928's from time-to-time. And ...

... this quote above is the key. As Wally wrote and I paraphrase, "mechanics" these days are parts swappers that have no clue how or why the systems are supposed to work. The definition of 'mechanic' has changed. I use that to my advantage to differentiate the service I provide. I tell new customers - actually, I told, in the past, my current customers because I'm not now taking any cars that are 'new' to me - that I was NOT a mechanic or a 'technician' but that I was their Porsche 928 restoration consultant.

This statement allows me to explain the difference between what a 'mechanic' does and what I do. I diagnose. I do not throw parts at a problem until it goes away. I do not work on book time. I charge by the hour to do what is required because every 928 is different. I approach a 928 as a 'systems problem' and instruct the customer on 'aircraft grade' maintenance as opposed to replacing only what's broken today. When an issue like NLA parts or POS parts arises I educate my client as required.

There exist owners that either already know or can be taught that there's no such thing as a 'standard job' on a 20 year old supercar and there exist owners that will not 'get it', ever. You can't make the latter group happy and pay yourself a fair rate for the effort. The former you want as clients, the latter will cause you misery. The former will appreciate a works-like-new switch while the latter can never be made to understand why it cost $200+ to make it happen.

There is no reason your client base cannot be composed of the former type - the one's that 'get it.' Worst case, you have fewer 928s to work on and more time to make, produce and sell cool stuff (at a fair profit) like new fuel lines, 3-disc clutches, headers, etc. Or perhaps time to spend pursuing other interests (for me, that's more sleep...)

worf928

I can't help you there. I have the same problem (with some specific exceptions). I have, though, a method that allows the client to get me to stop:

When I get a bizarre 928 problem (for instance: "when I try to adjust my power mirrors the ABS warning display lights and the mirrors do nothing" or "the Bosch Hammer can't find any of the ECUs in my car") I inform the prospective client that diagnosis of bizarre problems (i.e. electrical) is by-the-hour and not estimable. Based upon the description of the bizarre problem I make a mental estimate of how many of my hours I am willing to risk to localize the problem (note: localize - find, not fix) and give the client that as a decision point. If I've expended my 'risk time' and I have not localized the problem I give the client the option of continuing to the next decision point if they agree to pay for the time already spent. If the client wants me to keep going I get paid. If not, I loose a few hours that I put at risk.

For example, in the second case (no ECUs), I told the client that I should be able to localize the problem in 5 hours and that when I had, or when that time had elapsed, that I would inform him in detail of every diagnostic that I performed, the reasoning behind it, and the outcome. If I had diagnosed the problem then I would be due labor for the time required but not more than 5 hours. If at that point I had not found the problem and he wished me to stop diagnostics nothing would be owed. If he wished me to continue then he would be responsible for 5 hours of my labor.

After 5 hours I explained what I had done, why I had done it, and what I had found or not found. I hadn't localized the issue but I was able to rule out a number of potential issues. My explanation was sufficiently cogent that my client knew that I was not trying to pad a bill, that I was indeed using my brain, and asked me to continue for a few more hours. In the end, I did find and fix the problem and my client was ecstatic even though it took a lot more than 5 hours.

At each step, both my client's risk and my risk was known. At each step of the way my client had the opportunity to decide if I knew what I was doing or not. At each step of the way my client could decided to 'cut their loses' or decide that I was making progress. Each of us had something at risk.

As long as the client was willing to pay me after each step to continue I didn't have to confront my inability to say "I can't fix it." If the client was unwilling to continue then I could say to myself "I *can* fix it, but the client is unwilling to pay me to fix it. Maybe I should be smarter about electrical stuff but, in the end I can't work for free."

The method requires thinking ahead, taking meticulous notes, being able to patiently communicate and sometimes being able to say "I have no clue." I do find, though, that it works for me and I have yet to have a client say 'stop.'

M. Requin

I am very proud of the fact I once put bread on my family's table by being a "mechanic", and I never use that word in a derogatory sense. I also know the frustration of dealing with customers (I used to divide them into "Innocents" and "Experts" - an Innocent came into my shop once (bikes) with a 350 Honda twin, "running rough, don't know what's wrong", but a look at the bike in the back of his pickup quickly revealed a rod sans piston sticking through the front of the crankcase. I won't even give you an example of the service writer's nightmare, the "Expert"...

And I think this quote from ninespub sums my feelings up:
I spent so much time over the years solving problems both to serve the customer, and at the same time for my own satisfaction. Sometimes the work is its own reward, and you have to settle for that.

And may I say my hat is off to you, from the things I have seen here, you are one of the best of the best.