Pistons All In A Row OR Not
A.W. Smith here to tell you about a short story I have for you. During the 1960's I worked as a mechanic while drag racing on the side. A friend who was somewhat new to mechanics decided to rebuild his motor. After the engine was reassembled he fired it up and it ran so smooth a nickel could be placed on the manifold upright. Throttling the motor it jumped to 9000 rpm's instantly. Sounded really good. Then he took it for a drive and came back saying he couldn't get it over 30 mph. Several of us mechanics took a look and we couldn't find anything wrong. New carbs, fuel flow was right. New manifold, new timing chain and the marks were right also. So we swapped distributors with a known good one - no difference. Clutch and tranny were new too and adjusted properly leaving us baffled. Finally one mechanic said, "Hey check his compression". The compression was 60 pds, not the 160 pds it was suppose to be. The funny part of this is, we asked about how he put in the pistons and he said "I know its right cause I was sure to line up all the rings in a straight row facing the notch in the pistons". Which of course you all know that they need to be staggered. We fixed it in short order and it ran great afterwards.
RECALLS AND SAFETY INFORMATION
The Government supplies recall information for vehicles, mostly all safety related. Your tax dollars at work! So take advantage of a free offer. Recalls. How would you like to be able to go to the dealer with a known problem which you are experiencing and tell him the Technical Service Bulletin Number published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration? Here is a search tool which can pinpoint your problem right down to the bulletin number! NHTSA.
FACTS
Fact: Mechanic's have been killed by touching a DIS wire while the engine is running.
Fact: Mechanics have been killed just repairing a tire that had a sealant from a can installed by the consumer (highly flammable). The tire can explode from the slightest spark.
Fact: If you fill a plastic gas can, in the bed of a pickup, lined with a plastic bed-liner, static electricity can build to the point to ignite the fuel.
Note: Just as there are crooks in all businesses there are crooks in the auto mechanics trade. It is this sites goal to inform you as to what to look out for when shopping for a mechanic and to arm you with the knowledge you will need to talk in an informed manner with a mechanic so that you can understand just what it is that the shop is recommending to solve your problem. There are dangers out there under the hood which we all must understand so as to avoid personal injury. Having the correct tools and the shop manual for your car will go a long way toward protecting you from damaging yourself or the car in attempting repairs. We hope you use safe procedures before you attempt any repair and you who have received any advice know full well that consideration is for your safety. There are those weekend mechanics who will do stupid things like crawl under a car supported by a bumper jack and proceed to wrestle a rusted exhaust system from the car succeeding in pulling the car down onto their heads and killing themselves, or uninformed "mechanics" who are foolish enough to grab a 50,000 volt wire from the distributor. I can't stop that from happening. You can. Use safe practices and be informed as to the dangers involved in making repairs, be it a simple oil change or a major engine overhaul.
