i work at a parts store

I get the "eagle beaks" reference as well, looking at the tool. Though they've always been channel locks to me, same as vice-grips always being..... vice-grips.

The cool thing to do around here now is to ask for a part and when the counter person asks what vehicle, the customer gives them the factory chassis code or if its the honda fanbois, the engine code.

I hate that.

Kid came in the other day looking for a set of wires for a Jeep YJ. I looked at him and with a small amount of sarcasm said " I can't type in YJ, is it a Cherokee, Wrangler..etc?"

The honda kids have taught me enough about the different engine codes because they come in all the time, and I can pick whatever year, make, model and usually it's the right part.

I still get a kick when someone comes in looking for one brake shoe.. or a pair of brake pads because they are only doing on side.

Flynlow wrote:

spitfirebill wrote: Pretty sure the antifreeze Honda sells isn't to be diluted. I know nothing about BMW antifreeze.

No manufacturer runs straight antifreeze.

Maybe I didn't state that well. You don't dilute the Honda antifreeze because its already diluted for you.

Derick Freese wrote: I refer to them as Channel Locks because I'll only ever buy one brand of Channel Locks.

And still made in the US of A

spitfirebill wrote:

Derick Freese wrote: I refer to them as Channel Locks because I'll only ever buy one brand of Channel Locks.

And still made in the US of A

A good portion of it, at least.

hotrodlarry wrote: I still get a kick when someone comes in looking for one brake shoe.. or a pair of brake pads because they are only doing on side.

not even an hour ago i had a guy swear to me that his 2000 F-150 only had the emergency brake setup inside the disc on one side.

as in; that's how ford makes them, according to him.

he just couldn't remember WHICH side....

Maybe it's something Ford learned from Land Rover. The emergency brake on my old Rover is a drum brake on the rear of the transfer case. Works great until you lift a wheel off the ground and the open diff means no more brake on the wheel that's still on the ground. Or until the output seal fails and fills the drum with 90wt transmission fluid.

I think Land Rover started doing that back in 1948. And I'm pretty sure the Discovery still has it.

hotrodlarry wrote: Kid came in the other day looking for a set of wires for a Jeep YJ. I looked at him and with a small amount of sarcasm said " I can't type in YJ, is it a Cherokee, Wrangler..etc?"

That one is easy though. YJ = Wrangler, XJ = Cherokee, ZJ Grand Cherokee.

That's not really any help. I have a WJ But I'd never tell the poor guy behind the counter that. Heck, I only use that code when I'm going to be doing internet searches on fanboi forums.

i spent a couple years during college working part time at a big-box auto parts store in Kennesaw, northern suburb of Atlanta.

I can "ditto" just about any of these stories. Hilarious.

We had an older woman that worked the counter with us. A real take-no-E36 M3 kind of woman. As with most good stores, certain counter people sort-of fell in to areas of specialization based on interest or experience. Helen was our heavy vehicle and diesel expert. More than once I cheered myself up with the following exchange:

Big, slobbering redneck walks up to the counter, and Helen happens to be the only free person, so she offers a greeting. BigBoy says "I'll wait on one of the MEN." Helen tries to offer help again and "no, I want to talk to a guy". Bigboy waits in line as I help a couple others, then walks up and starts to ask me about his big diesel blah blah.

I say "Hang on, we've got a great diesel expert back here. Probably know exactly what you need." then turn and yell "Hey Helen, got a diesel for ya..."

And you can bet his parts didn't fit the first time.

Many times I saw an old guy come in and ask my manager for spark plugs for his chevy. Mike would ask what year, etc. The customer gets agitated, "It's a chevy small block!" Sure, but what year is it? "It's a SMALL BLOCK!!" So Mike would grab a couple boxes of plugs without looking at them and throw them on the counter. customer asks, bewildered, "Will these fit?" Mike says "How the hell should I know, you won't tell me what they're FOR!!"

mndsm wrote: I get the "eagle beaks" reference as well, looking at the tool. Though they've always been channel locks to me, same as vice-grips always being..... vice-grips.

I think of them as being separate from regular channel locks because of the part that grips. On all the cheapo channel locks I've had that has been flat and not very useful. with it shaped like an eagle beak (I guess) it grips a lot better.
I agree though, they are channel locks. just a particular breed of lockitus channelus.

ultraclyde wrote: Many times I saw an old guy come in and ask my manager for spark plugs for his chevy. Mike would ask what year, etc. The customer gets agitated, "It's a chevy small block!" Sure, but what year is it? "It's a SMALL BLOCK!!" So Mike would grab a couple boxes of plugs without looking at them and throw them on the counter. customer asks, bewildered, "Will these fit?" Mike says "How the hell should I know, you won't tell me what they're FOR!!"

I get this all the time "It's a 350, they're all the same". I'll ask is it TPI, TBI, FI, Carbureted, blah blah blah, when they say it doesn't matter I make a point to go grab some LTI Opti-Spark components.

I like to go in and ask the youngest, greenest counter guy for '63 Jeep CJ-3b lug nuts.

The early CJ's aren't in the O'Reilly computer, and that gets him flustered. Once he's scratching his head about 'what in tarnation is a CJ3?', casually mention that half of them need to be left-handed, as the driver's side has reverse threads. All kinds of confusion ensues.

I think my favorite "young parts store kid" story goes like this...

I'm having some ignition issues on my '73 Volvo 142.

I tell the kid, "I need a new condensor for a '73 Volvo 142."

He does some digging and comes back with, "I can get you one in a few days, $136.48, and you'll probably want a new receiver/dryer with that, too."

I told him to ask the old guy what a condensor is. The ignition condensor!

This made me laugh when it happened. Now that I write it out, it IS kind of silly that two totally unrelated parts share the same name. Of course, they both condense things, now don't they?

EvanR wrote: I think my favorite "young parts store kid" story goes like this... I'm having some ignition issues on my '73 Volvo 142. I tell the kid, "I need a new condensor for a '73 Volvo 142." He does some digging and comes back with, "I can get you one in a few days, $136.48, and you'll probably want a new receiver/dryer with that, too." I told him to ask the old guy what a condensor is. The *ignition* condensor! This made me laugh when it happened. Now that I write it out, it IS kind of silly that two totally unrelated parts share the same name. Of course, they both condense things, now don't they?

I probably would have assumed AC condenser as well. You just don't hear much about ignition condensers anymore.

Jay wrote:

belteshazzar wrote: me- "what the heck. it's just a helicopter." *proceeds to order temp sensor for '88 Land Rover, which has correct thread size and pitch*

Did you... sell that guy a Lucas part *for his helicopter*? Oh please oh pleaseohplease say it was Lucas.

I hate to frighten you, but Lucas has been doing aviation parts for a long time. I seem to recall they sold off the auto parts business to concentrate on aerospace--

http://www.lucasaerospace.eu/

Then again, just "filling a hole" in a helicopter system is a frightening idea in itself...

Keith wrote: Maybe it's something Ford learned from Land Rover. The emergency brake on my old Rover is a drum brake on the rear of the transfer case. Works great until you lift a wheel off the ground and the open diff means no more brake on the wheel that's still on the ground. Or until the output seal fails and fills the drum with 90wt transmission fluid. I think Land Rover started doing that back in 1948. And I'm pretty sure the Discovery still has it.

A lot of older cars had that setup.

Keith wrote: That's not really any help. I have a WJ But I'd never tell the poor guy behind the counter that. Heck, I only use that code when I'm going to be doing internet searches on fanboi forums.

I had a KJ. That method,not just Jeeps, seems to be prevelent on this board.

iceracer wrote:

Keith wrote: That's not really any help. I have a WJ But I'd never tell the poor guy behind the counter that. Heck, I only use that code when I'm going to be doing internet searches on fanboi forums.

I had a KJ. That method,not just Jeeps, seems to be prevelent on this board.

easier to say engine designations and chassis codes than "I swapped a motor from a blah blah blah". EX- "I swapped an Engine from a 98 Camaro z 28 into my 1993 Caprice" is more difficult than "I put an LS1 in my 9C1."

I almost went over the counter today at the mouth breather that couldnt look up a Pertronix ignition module by the part number on the unit. It was for a fork truck with a Continental engine. "Lincoln Continental?" "No, Continental makes it"

I texted my friend that works at another NAPA further from work, got the NAPA PN in 30 seconds, and said "look up a blah blah blah"

Yep, they had it. Good parts guys are worth their weight in gold.

mndsm wrote:

iceracer wrote:

Keith wrote: That's not really any help. I have a WJ But I'd never tell the poor guy behind the counter that. Heck, I only use that code when I'm going to be doing internet searches on fanboi forums.

I had a KJ. That method,not just Jeeps, seems to be prevelent on this board.

easier to say engine designations and chassis codes than "I swapped a motor from a blah blah blah". EX- "I swapped an Engine from a 98 Camaro z 28 into my 1993 Caprice" is more difficult than "I put an LS1 in my 9C1."

But if you told me you'd put an LQ9 in a 9C1, you'd get a blank stare. LS1 is one of the more obvious acronyms. In half an hour, I'll have forgotten what a 9C1 is.

If you're smart enough to have done an engine swap, then you're smart enough to ask for the right part in the first place. Or at least smart enough say you need a coil for a 1998 Camaro Z28.

16vCorey wrote:

EvanR wrote: I think my favorite "young parts store kid" story goes like this... I'm having some ignition issues on my '73 Volvo 142. I tell the kid, "I need a new condensor for a '73 Volvo 142." He does some digging and comes back with, "I can get you one in a few days, $136.48, and you'll probably want a new receiver/dryer with that, too." I told him to ask the old guy what a condensor is. The *ignition* condensor! This made me laugh when it happened. Now that I write it out, it IS kind of silly that two totally unrelated parts share the same name. Of course, they both condense things, now don't they?

I probably would have assumed AC condenser as well. You just don't hear much about ignition condensers anymore.

I guess I'm old

I can count the times I was asked for an ignition condenser while I was at AZ on one finger, and even then they asked for points and condenser, can't remember how many a/c condensers I sold

I call them Channel Locks because the arm locks into a channel, which one depending on your adjustment.

But yeah, same as Q-tips all being called Q-tips, even though generic ones are called "cotton swabs" We recently bought some generic Q-tips that were more tip than Q. After the third time of stabbing my ear drum I have sworn them off altogether. I am however too cheap to throw the box away, so I'll have to suffer through the remaining 498 of them.

I have some small part inside the small part stories.

The one that comes to mind immediately is this redneck kid who called and needed "That barren insad the hawg hayud." I didn't take the phone call, but my co worker assumed it was differential pinion bearing, and prices him that.

Customer comes in a short time later, asks for said part, and I pull the same thing. You've all bought or sold bearings, they usually are in a small box. He said it isn't big enough. Luckily for me, he had said part with him. I go outside, look and see that he needs part of his inner CV joint, on a K1500 chevy truck. I instruct him that I can only sell him the entire axle, and that it's about 100 bucks.

"That sumbitch on the phone said it was 7.99! How the hell did it go from that to a hundred!"

He understood when I explained to him the difference between what my co worker thought he was needing, and what he actually needed. He bought the axle and left.

I get calls CONSTANTLY for cap and rotor button for a Ford 600. Tractor. No look up, no catalog sorry.

Funny thing a commercial customer told me today. Said he had a customer drop a car off that was of Eskimo decent (I believe the PC term is Inuit?) Anyway, he comes back later and the diagnosis was that he blew a seal. The guy takes major offense to that, replying "Well I heard you people down here berkeley goats!"

MA$$hole wrote:

hotrodlarry wrote: Kid came in the other day looking for a set of wires for a Jeep YJ. I looked at him and with a small amount of sarcasm said " I can't type in YJ, is it a Cherokee, Wrangler..etc?"

That one is easy though. YJ = Wrangler, XJ = Cherokee, ZJ Grand Cherokee.

Yeah,I know the difference. The customers that come in don't realize that the computer doesn't know. Same thing with all the other option codes ( i.e. - P71, 9C1,b16,d18,etc,etc)