Stories from the Sales Frontlines

cotmc

"Yes he had inherited several million dollars and was almost as dumb as his daughter."

His daughter was dumber? :surprise:

jmonroe

Synthetic doesn't extend your service interval on turbocharged engines. The turbo spinning at 50,000 plus RPMs just eats the oil up.

You have me a little confused, the engine doesn’t rev at that RPM only the turbo, right?

Son #1 had a 94’ Bonneville SEI that had a turbo. That 3800 engine performed vastly different than the 95’ SE Bonneville that I had with the standard 3800 engine; couldn’t even begin to compare the two in the same breath.

Ok, now the tale:

I told him repeatedly when he had his oil changed, pretty much every 3500/4000 miles, to have the turbo oil checked and he said the garage where he took it said they didn’t know where/how to check it. :surprise: I kept telling him it was his car so the responsibility was on him not the garage and that he should take it to a Pontiac dealer to have them check it. Well, you know where this is going. After he started to hear the dreaded squeal of a bearing not being lubricated he went to the dealer.

Believe it or not the first two mechanics, at the Pontiac dealer, that looked for the place to check the oil couldn’t find the right spot. :surprise: :surprise: Finally a more experienced mechanic said it’s hidden under an electrical box that had to be moved so a hex wrench could be inserted to remove the plug. Of course it needed oil and it got much quieter after a couple ounces of the special brew was added.

He checked it every few thousand miles after that but the damage was already done although it lasted until he wanted to get rid of it (about 20K miles later). He said he checked a few places even on the internet and the cheapest he could find one was around $800. Since the car already had about 120K miles on it, in 2001, he didn’t want to sink that much plus labor into it (smart kid, he gets that from me).

Now he knows the importance of checking ALL lubricating fluids. He sold it to a mechanic who really wanted that car with that engine. My son told him about the turbo problem and he said he could hear it but he knew someone that was piecing out a Bonneville so that was not a problem for him. Talk about dumb luck (that’s the part he got from his mother). :shades:

jmonroe

roadburner

Son #1 had a 94’ Bonneville SEI that had a turbo.

The Bonneville SSEi was fitted with an Eaton supercharger, which is belt-driven off the crankshaft. A turbocharger is driven by exhaust gases, which means the impeller bearings spin at high rpms and are exposed to very high temperatures. The bearings also share their oil supply with the rest of the motor, which is a primary reason that turbocharged engines tend to be hard on oil.

jmonroe

The Bonneville SSEi was fitted with an Eaton supercharger, which is belt-driven off the crankshaft. A turbocharger is driven by exhaust

Your right, thanks for correcting me. I know I read "turbo charger" but I was thinking "supercharger", that's why I was questioning 'rover' about the RPM's.

Oh boy, he is going to really lay into me now !!

Edit: Do you think I should just delete my post while I still have time? He'd never know right? Nah, I'll just have to man up to this and who knows somebody might tell him anyway. Oh crap !!

jmonroe

8sparkplugs

My Dad had a Buick Grand National. He rarely drove it hard, but when he did, he would always let it idle to cool down before turning off the motor. I guess if you turned off the motor with a hot turbo charger, it would be so hot that it would scorch the oil around the turbo.

snakeweasel

OMG do people actually use those things?

Come to think of it I once saw an odd looking sunroof on a car in the parking lot at work, This might explain it.

snakeweasel

I had six years in the Navy

I am so sorry to hear that.

I took my first sales job selling Kirbys.

My first sales job was selling one of their competitors (Tri-star) and I managed to make some pretty good money. I may have sold 4-5 a week.

lrguy44

I had six years in the Navy

I am so sorry to hear that.

What's wrong with that? I had 25 - now get retirement check every month!

mackabee

I know that but even a blind squirrel hits the target sometimes.

"Even a blind pig runs into some corn sometimes"

Mack

bolivar

Even a blind pig finds the occasional acorn.

oldfarmer50

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Now, let's get back to oil and vacuum cleaners.

chetj

it seems like big 3 cars are pretty good after they get the kinks out...that engine is probably fine now

chetj

talk about a marriage made in hell..my maint challenged bro in law and a 1.8 t VW...at 64 k it already has some sludge in it...oh well, at least they keep it clean and leather seats are nice...and 4 years left on loan

chetj

i hear of these hollywood types who do the same thing...that audi was a 25,000 car and they cahnged the oil once, amazing...then being sleazy they try to stick the dealership w/ bill...oils are so good now it takes a lot for the engine to die...i am just the opposite of the eurotrash, i buy cheap domestics but run synthetic and i have never had a engine problem in all of my new american cars...well actually i just started using M1 last year but even regular oil w/ normal maintenance will be more than adequate...engine oil is dirt cheap, cars are not

joel0622

Come to find out he never even lifted the hood on a truck (or car for that matter) and just went and bought a new one when they quit.

Any chance you could get one of my cards to him? I pay generous referral fees

nortsr1

I, also, want to know why you are "sorry" that I had six years in the Navy. It was time well spent. Personally, I think everyone should have to spend at least two years in one of the U.S. military branches. It sure as heck wouldn't hurt (with half the nitwits we now have running around with earrings in their ears and bellybuttons and nipples and pants that are halfway down the a--!!
Speak up Snakeweasel!!!!

madmanmoo

Kirstie,

This is solidly one of the funniest posts I've ever seen.

how much horsepower does this add?

That's one of my favorites. I love guys who ask questions like this. Right up my alley.

-Moo

jescue

Joel, I just completed my Ford survey online. Try not to get nauseous when you read it.

british_rover

Oh no we recycled that Disco.

They traded it in and we put a low enough value on it that we could afford to put a new engine in it and resell it.

It should have been a great deal with everyone making money. The shop makes money on all the labor to install the engine. Parts makes money on all the parts necessary to do the job and sales makes money when we resell the car.

Unfortunately we had no idea the car also needed a torque converter when we put the value on it. It wasn't until the engine was completely broken down and out of the car that the impaled torque converter was discovered. :sick: We were able to sell the car but didn't make any money on it just broke even after the extra expense of the torque converter.

RE Turbos and Superchargers:

People get them confused all the time and trying to explain the difference to someone who knows little about engines is hard.

To make it even harder there are many different types of Superchargers and a couple of different types of turbochargers. I won't bore you with all the details between the different types.

You are right most superchargers have a small oil sump filled with a very special heavy viscosity oil. I think the change interval on the Eaton M62 in a 3800 series engine is around 30,000 miles. If you change that oil ever 30,000 miles you will never have a problem with the supercharger as that interval is extremely conservative relative to the strength of that oil.

snakeweasel

What's wrong with that?

Well the only thing wrong with it was the word "Navy".

jmonroe

...1.8 t VW...at 64 k it already has some sludge in it...oh well, at least they keep it clean and leather seats are nice...and 4 years left on loan

According to 'rover', that puppy ain't gonna make it.

jmonroe

snakeweasel

I, also, want to know why you are "sorry" that I had six years in the Navy.

Oh come on now, it was a joke, a jab at a sister service.

However it was annoying all the times we did the work and the Navy got the credit.

joel0622

Thank You. Anything to help the VOC score is appreciated

british_rover

I think Audi extended the warranty on most of those engines to 75,000 miles but you need all the service records to get it.

So yeah probably not going to make it.

jescue

If you miss one service you are out of luck on warranty.

british_rover

Yeah thats what I figured.

lrguy44

Here all along I thought you were in the military. Now I find out you were a Coastie. Another pedestal shattered. :shades: :shades: (Just kidding)

snakeweasel

Yep what Kevin Costner said in the movie 'the Guardian" is true.

"We are the Coast Guard, we're not appreciated until we're needed."

volvomax

My Dad had a Buick Grand National. He rarely drove it hard, but when he did, he would always let it idle to cool down before turning off the motor. I guess if you turned off the motor with a hot turbo charger, it would be so hot that it would scorch the oil around the turbo.

That was true of turbo's before they were water cooled.

roadburner

I looked at a 1991 E30 M3 back in 1995. The owner must have told me twenty or thirty times that he changed the oil every 3000 miles. I checked the brake fluid reservoir and the fluid looked like two day old coffee. I asked him about the last time he changed the brake fluid, and he got a confused look on his face- "I don't think you have to." he replied. Well the truth is that it must be done on an annual basis. Needless to say, that car was crossed off my list very quickly. It's amazing how many people think that just changing the oil frequently somehow magically maintains every other part of the car.

im_brentwood

Well... at least you know it hadn't been tracked.. I know of some that get 6-8 brake fluid changes a year.

oldfarmer50

"...Well the truth is it must be done on an annual basis..."

Wow, that's one I didn't know. I know that moisture can get into fluid over time but changing it every year seem like a lot.

What happens if you only change it at every brake pad replacement, say 40K miles and three years?

8sparkplugs

It was intercooled. I'm not sure if he didn't know, or was just being extra careful.

british_rover

Most modern turbos actually have a water jacket built around the housing so they don't rely on engine oil alone for coolant.

Even with the water cooling I like to let a turbo charged car idle for 30 seconds to a minute before I shut the engine off. Gives the turbo time to slow down from the huge RPMs they can build up.

volvomax

It was intercooled. I'm not sure if he didn't know, or was just being extra careful.

The intercooler cools the air charge from the turbo,not the turbo itself.

mackabee

Even a blind pig and a squirrel find each other sometimes and eat a_corn.
Mack

mackabee

You were a shallow water lily?

Mack 20 year Navy man and proud of it. :shades:

mackabee

Changing the brake fluid goes hand in hand with changing the air in your tires at least once a year. Preferably before the winter.

Mack

snakeweasel

"When storms shut down the entire force, we go out. When hurricanes ground the United States Navy, we go out."

John Heard as Capt. Frank Larson in "The Guardian"

british_rover

when you start quoting Kevin Costner movies then you are really grasping at straws. :P

roadburner

Wow, that's one I didn't know. I know that moisture can get into fluid over time but changing it every year seem like a lot.

That requirement was for primarily pre-1992 cars. Later cars call for a change every two years, though as brentwood noted, if you do track events you don't want fluid much older than a couple of months. Well, I don't anyway...

What happens if you only change it at every brake pad replacement, say 40K miles and three years?

Moisture in the brake fluid is bad for two reasons. The moisture encourages corrosion in the hydraulic components(especially expensive bits such as the ABS unit) and it lowers the boiling point of the fluid itself. A three year change interval would probably be adequate IF you aren't tracking the car AND you are using a good DOT4 fluid such as ATE Super Blue or Castrol LMA. As for me, I'll stick with the two year interval.

jmonroe

Mack 20 year Navy man and proud of it.

OK, lets get a count of the Navy guys here.

Count me in, I was a Navy Airdale.

jmonroe

lrguy44

Snake, anyone who has been to sea knows you ride out storms at sea, not in port. I have been in typhoons that bent %" gun barrels. Are you sure your Coastie time wasn't in a movie theatre?

lrguy44

5 Active, 20 USNR - Retired Captain (O-6), Viet Nam 67,68,69.

snakeweasel

No my time wasn't in a theater. However you try your best to avoid storms and taking refuge in a protected port is preferred over being in the open sea.

epiney

What ever happened to the red/blue Sienna?

epiney

Changing the brake fluid goes hand in hand with changing the air in your tires at least once a year.

While I've heard about the brake fluid, the air in the tires is new to me? What do you do, have them deflate and inflate during a rotation? How does it help? Is nitrogen really any better?

epiney

when you start quoting Kevin Costner movies then you are really grasping at straws.

..especially if they are Dancing with Wolves or Waterworld

epiney

I have a car on order. He called me and asked if I wanted one without a power rear sunshade that was coming two weeks earlier. I said I would wait. Two days later, I get a form letter from another sales guy saying he has left the company and he would be available for any questions.

I'll call the Sales Manager on Monday to find out what's up. Anything I should be worried about?

nortsr1

NORTSR...6 yrs.1948 to1954... USN 1sst Class Sonarman...Korean Conflict