Quote:
Originally Posted by snoel
My son the non-mechanic, lives in Kansas, But I live in KY. He calls with a "mechanical question", and I reply. "I cannot diagnose mechanics over the phone, any more than a medical Dr can. I can only give some thoughts as to some things to look for."
Some things to look for vs., some things to do, is where the discussions tend to get out of hand.  |
I do it all the time. People think it's awesome when you can fix stuff and not even be there. I've even walked people through a repair over the internet (this site) or over the phone all from memory. Experience is the ultimate tool.
Example: My brother called me one day. Said his fuel pump quit in his truck. Started asking how to test it and ultimately replace it. I asked some questions about when it quit and such. Then I asked him to see if he had tail lights on the truck. When he checked he said, "That's weird.... they were working." Told him there was a ground at the rear of the frame that the tail lights and the fuel pump share. He said he'd check it and call me back. A few min later he called and said he now had tail lights and a fuel pump again.
Diagnosing when you aren't there depends on several things, but mostly it's you and your ability to go to the level of the guy on the other end of the line. Can you take what you know and explain it in a way that they understand, and then take the info they give you and put it back into something useful to you. It also requires extensive knowledge of the machine at hand, or at least the problem at hand. It's hard to fix stuff and not be there. Sounds can't easily be explained, simple things that you would notice can't be seen. It's tough, but it can be done if the person on the other end does EXACTLY as you tell them to, in the order they are told.
To the OP: Let us know what you find on the driveshaft.