A floor jack's STEEL WHEELS

Steve W. wrote:
>
> Almost makes you want to pay the dealer to do the work....
========

Schucks, no, it doesn't make me want to let the dealer or
quick-change place do the work :-)

About 5 years ago, in 2003 or so, when I brought my old '95
Tercel to a Jiffy Lube, the Jiffy Lube fella put in green
coolant, instead of pink Toyota coolant. Before he did it,
he told me the green stuff was the same as the pink Toyota
stuff. So I said okay.

Well, just a short matter of weeks or months later, the green
coolant in the overflow bottle/reservoir began turning black
and the volume diminished a whole lot. I guess oil started
leaking into the coolant system, since Jiffy Lube put in the
wrong type of coolant. And coolant was probably leaking into
the oil, but I didn't know what a UOA (Used Oil Analysis) was
back then, so I never got a UOA.

Anyway, at the time, I didn't realize what the cause was, because
I wasn't really interested in learning about cars back then.
But I did bring the Tercel back to Jippy Loob just to guage the
fellas facial expressions and reaction when I opened the hood.
I figured if the culprit was the green coolant he used (in place
of the pink), he might say something.

Well, he didn't say anthing and wore a Poker face. The fella
was a 30-something manager there, too, not some kid out of
high school.

The coolant system was never the same again. Driving around
town, the dash's temperature gauge forever-after always showed
a higher arrow reading than it did before Jiffy Lube got their
hands on my car. The coolant temp gauge's arrow wasn't in the
red, but the arrow would come to stop at a level higher than
it ever used to--big difference in arrow readings. The engine's
operating temperature was running hotter than it needed to, increasing
engine wear I'm sure.

If you have a Toyota and bring your car to Jiffy Lube, make sure
they have pink Toyota coolant there, or buy the coolant from
your dealer before taking it to Jiffy Lube. Better yet, have
your dealer do the coolant change, or carefully learn to do it
yourself.

Well, I guess if wood or particle board might hamper the forward
movement of the jack, perhaps because of a warp in the board, how about
just laying a piece of double-corrugated cardboard down?
==============

So, you don't want to do it the right way ..you want to do it your
way..?

Built_Well wrote:
> Steve W. wrote:
>> Almost makes you want to pay the dealer to do the work....
> ========
>
> Schucks, no, it doesn't make me want to let the dealer or
> quick-change place do the work :-)
>
> About 5 years ago, in 2003 or so, when I brought my old '95
> Tercel to a Jiffy Lube, the Jiffy Lube fella put in green
> coolant, instead of pink Toyota coolant. Before he did it,
> he told me the green stuff was the same as the pink Toyota
> stuff. So I said okay.
>
> Well, just a short matter of weeks or months later, the green
> coolant in the overflow bottle/reservoir began turning black
> and the volume diminished a whole lot. I guess oil started
> leaking into the coolant system, since Jiffy Lube put in the
> wrong type of coolant. And coolant was probably leaking into
> the oil, but I didn't know what a UOA (Used Oil Analysis) was
> back then, so I never got a UOA.
>
> Anyway, at the time, I didn't realize what the cause was, because
> I wasn't really interested in learning about cars back then.
> But I did bring the Tercel back to Jippy Loob just to guage the
> fellas facial expressions and reaction when I opened the hood.
> I figured if the culprit was the green coolant he used (in place
> of the pink), he might say something.
>
> Well, he didn't say anthing and wore a Poker face. The fella
> was a 30-something manager there, too, not some kid out of
> high school.
>
> The coolant system was never the same again. Driving around
> town, the dash's temperature gauge forever-after always showed
> a higher arrow reading than it did before Jiffy Lube got their
> hands on my car. The coolant temp gauge's arrow wasn't in the
> red, but the arrow would come to stop at a level higher than
> it ever used to--big difference in arrow readings. The engine's
> operating temperature was running hotter than it needed to, increasing
> engine wear I'm sure.
>
> If you have a Toyota and bring your car to Jiffy Lube, make sure
> they have pink Toyota coolant there, or buy the coolant from
> your dealer before taking it to Jiffy Lube. Better yet, have
> your dealer do the coolant change, or carefully learn to do it
> yourself.

Sounds about like the routine we used to go through with the fleet
vehicles. Dealer was used for any serious work, BUT for oil, filters and
such we were supposed to use the Valvoline places. I think they
destroyed at least 20 transmissions by using "compatible" fluid instead
of the Chrysler specific stuff. Got to the point that I "forgot" to have
the trans serviced more than once. I HATED using the tiny rentals they
gave us for service calls. (We were running Grand Caravans and the
rentals were usually Neons...) Ever try to fit 1/2 ton of stuff in a Neon?

--
Steve W.

"Steve W."...
> Tomes wrote:
>> "Gary L. Burnore" ...
>>> "Steve W." ...
>>>> DON'T use anything under the jack on concrete.
>>>>
>>>> Unless your doing work that requires you to remove the tires/wheels why
>>>> not buy a set of drive on ramps.
>>>
>>> Because drive ramps are extremely unsafe under ANY condition. A good
>>> floor jack and jackstands is the way to go. While I was in high
>>> schook, I attended the funeral of the father of a girl was dating at
>>> the time because of drive ramps. He thought that it was safe enough
>>> to drive up on them and not use jackstands. He was wrong.
>>
>> What is the failure mechanism of using ramps when the brakes are locked
>> and chocks are used?
>> Tomes
>> - who uses both methods
>
> Some cheaper ramps can twist and collapse. If your not on a level surface
> or if you overload them they can fail. These same problems can also be
> found with jacks, jack stands, and lifts. ALL mechanical devices can fail.
> Take a look at how many people have died using service pits. Almost makes
> you want to pay the dealer to do the work....
>
Doesn't make me want to throw out my ramps....

O'Reilly Auto Parts has a deal right now where you can get
Pennzoil Platinum for $3 per quart after rebate. Mobil 1 is on
sale there for $5/quart.

Harbor Freight has a nifty, low-profile, 300-pound-rated, 6-wheel,
PVC mechanics creeper with foam-padded head rest and tool-holding
spots for $22 on sale. The exact same China-made creeper at
Autozone runs $40, but it has "Duralast" emblazoned across it.
It's AutoZone's top-of-the-line mechanic's creeper. I bought this
great creeper from Harbor Freight the other night, along with
a third oil drain pan for $2 that Walmart sells for $6. Sales end
soon.

Almost forgot to mention that you may need to use a coupon to get
that great price on the Harbor Freight creeper. Get on their
mailing list and they'll send you a newspaper every so often loaded
with coupons. This creeper, much better than my old one, rang up at
regular price at checkout, so I had to give them the coupon to get
the great price.

Get on everyone's mailing list! -- O'Reilly, AutoZone, Napa,
Advance
Auto, Pep Boys, etc, and post the deals you find here. We can all
coordinate to save hundreds of dollars a year!

For a week now, I keep smelling something bad when I walk by
a particular spot at home. It's really not a spot, but a large
7-foot by 7-foot area. I think yesterday I figured out what it may
be: A small rubber mallet I bought at Harbor Freight. It seems
like those rubber mallets can out-gas a whole, whole lot of
bad-smelling rubber....unless I'm mistaking where the odor is
coming from. I'm getting rid of that rubber mallet, I think.

"Built_Well" wrote :

O'Reilly Auto Parts Deals: Pennzoil Platinum $3 per quart
after rebate. Mobil 1 is on sale there for $5/quart.

Harbor Freight Deals: Low-profile, 300-pound-rated, PVC
China-made 6-wheel, mechanics creeper with foam-padded
head rest and tool-holding spots for $22 on sale. It's the
same as AutoZone's $40 "Duralast" creeper. Oil drain
pan $2, same pan Wal-mart sells for $6. Sales end soon.

You may need a coupon to get these great prices. Get on
everyone's mailing list. -- O'Reilly, Harbor Freight, AutoZone,
Napa, Advance Auto, Pep Boys, etc, for sale flyers loaded
with coupons, and post the deals you find here. We can
coordinate to save hundreds of dollars a year.
_________________________________________________

That's a great idea. Thanks for the tips. I will post
unusually good deals that I come across.

Rodan.

Bruce L. Bergman wrote:
>
> Best and easiest to obtain material for a floor protector is
> 1/4" tempered hardboard - basically pegboard without the
> holes. Available at almost any good lumber yard or home center.
>
> The 1/8" thickness will fall apart too fast.
=======

I found some of the hardboard (hole-less pegboard) at Lowe's
last night. But instead of 1/4-inch, it's 3/16-inch, right
in between 1/8" and 1/4". I'll probably check Home Depot.

I'm not afraid to admit when I'm wrong. I stand corrected. But I
still say the green stuff tastes better..

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:17:32 -0700 (PDT), Built_Well wrote:
>Bruce L. Bergman wrote:

>> Best and easiest to obtain material for a floor protector is
>> 1/4" tempered hardboard - basically pegboard without the
>> holes. Available at almost any good lumber yard or home center.
>>
>> The 1/8" thickness will fall apart too fast.
>
>I found some of the hardboard (hole-less pegboard) at Lowe's
>last night. But instead of 1/4-inch, it's 3/16-inch, right
>in between 1/8" and 1/4". I'll probably check Home Depot.

That might be thick enough to hold up. The only way to know for
sure is to try it - if it shreds, then you need the thicker stuff...

But I wouldn't bother using it with a regular floor jack on your own
garage floor slab - even though the sight of the concrete dust might
be unsettling the amount of actual damage is miniscule, and it would
take decades of working on cars daily in the same places to see any
real consequences.

If it does enough damage to be seen in one or two uses you've got
bigger problems - like substandard concrete used for the slab, or they
didn't seal and cure it properly and now it's spalling.

The only time we ever bother putting down hardboard on the floors is
working on a building and they already have finished the floors
(tiled, carpeted or painted) with steel wheel or very heavy implements
like manlifts.

Even dropping a hammer or a conduit bender can cause thousands in
damage to a tile floor if they have to redo large sections. Of course
it could happen even through the hardboard, but you can show that you
took reasonable and prudent precautions.

--<< Bruce >>--