i work at a parts store

it's rhetorical.

Toyman01 wrote: I walked into a NAPA with three pieces of bent wire and three radiator hoses. The guy behind the counter looked at the wire and hoses, then looked at me and said, "What car?" Me, "80 Spitfire..." Him, starts punching on the computer Me finishing sentence, "...with a 83 Mazda rotary and a custom aluminum radiator." Him, "Hoses are upstairs, try to not mix them up." Smart parts guys FTW.

When I was plumbing and fabbing an exhaust for the Sprite my local Trak Auto store instituted a policy of letting me walk straight to the store room to get what I need. It saved everyone hours and hours.

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

No manufacturer runs straight antifreeze. Ethylene glycol transfers heat very poorly, it has a low specific heat capacity compared to water. Antifreeze's value comes from lowering the freezing point of the water its mixed with, and most have corrosion inhibitors to protect your cooling system.

As someone else said, if you buy a jug that says don't add water, its because it comes pre-diluted.

And naturally, the BMW owner in my original story was buying the undiluted, Advance branded antifreeze.

i have to admit i don't know a ton about the differences in formulation between antifreezes. that said, the Zerex brand anti-freeze "for asian vehicles" is only available pre-diluted. for whatever reason you can't buy it concentrated. could that be the sort of thing he was referring to?

maybe ... but look back a couple of posts ... the parts store antifreeze that is 50-50 is sold for the same amt as the 100% antifreeze ... it's really to much work for lots of folk to hang onto an empty antifreeze jug so they can transfer half and then fill with water

wbjones wrote: it's really to much work for lots of folk to hang onto an empty antifreeze jug so they can transfer half and then fill with water

But certainly not GRMer's .

I don't run 50/50 antifreeze anyhow! Not enough heat capacity, and it doesn't get to -32F around here anyhow. I run 30%, good for 10F and much happier at 100F...

Keith, is that 30% antifreeze or 30% water ?

I'd guess at the 30% antifreeze ... but figured I ask anyway ..

Max_Archer wrote: His crowning achievement was dropping a whole case of oil, several quarts of which broke on the floor, and demanding that I clean it up, using A MOP AND WATER. OIL. WITH WATER. It wasn't until I called the manager and had him chew the asst. out that I was allowed to use something appropriate, which turned out to be exactly what I'd asked for to begin with, that oil-cleanup kitty litter stuff, and which was kept in the back of the store for just such an occasion.

I worked for a grocery store in high school. At one point we hired this kid who was (and still is), well, an idiot.

His 2nd experience with a mop was the time he tried to mop up a bunch of cooking oil. His 1st experience was some soda. After working on it for 15 minutes or so he came over said "the floor is still kinda sticky, should I put some water in the bucket?"

I think his crowning achievement was when he injured himself at work by running full speed into a door.

wbjones wrote: Keith, is that 30% antifreeze or 30% water ? I'd guess at the 30% antifreeze ... but figured I ask anyway ..

Yeah, 30% antifreeze. Basically, enough for seal lubrication and corrosion protection.

an old man comes into the store.

old man- "you're not going to have this"

me- "you're probably right."

old man- "i need a temperature sensor for a helicopter" pulls old brass sensor from pocket

me- "any part numbers or at least specifications?"

old man- "well it needs to read pretty hot"

me- "how many ohms at boiling? anything like that?"

old man- "well at boiling the needle should be around 212 degrees"

me "right, but how many ohms of resistance is the gauge calibrated to see at that temp?"

old man- "what?"

me- "the sensor just changes resistance at different temperatures, some might give 45ohms at 300 degrees, another might have 75 ohms. if you get that part wrong, even if you're lucky and the needle still moves, the indexing on the gauge won't mean anything."

old man- "whatever. i just need one that fills the hole."

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

Watch out for falling helicopters...

Your post could make a TSB investigation real simple.

Tell that to the guy that got sucked out of a BA plane because the shop guys put in the wrong bolt (yes I watch Mayday).

Here's a good story.

Me: walk into parts store, say what vehicle I need a part for

Parts store guy: "What do you need for your x"

Me: "I need x part"

Parts guy: Taps a few more keys on his keyboard. "Alright, let me go grab that for you."

A few seconds later, the parts guy comes back with 2 parts.

Parts guy: "These are both the same part, one is better quality, feel free to check them out and make a decision"

Me: "I don't want to do this again in six weeks, give me the good one"

Parts guy: "Wow, someone that's not an idiot."

This is an actual transaction I've had.

I mean, there are some parts guys out there that I avoid, but with just a little information and work on my part, I've made the parts guy's job easier and I have the right part. Seems so simple. I've even taken time to help a young parts girl out when I needed spark plugs for my old Camaro. I needed a heat range colder, so I taught her how to move up and down heat ranges by part number. Probably took 30 minutes out of my lazy day, but I probably saved her a lot of grief when some old timer came in asking for plugs in another heat range.

We had a guy bring a bicycle into our store yesterday for a tune up. Now I can understand when someone asks if we do oil changes, brakes, etc. but how does one walk into any auto parts store thinking that they do bicycle repairs?

SilverFleet wrote: Quote about customers from "poor countries" that request for the small part inside the part...

Working in a bike shop; been there. I believe it comes down to the simple fact that these guys take grassroots DIY repairs to a whole other level. Where they are from, they'd take anything apart to find the source of the problem, and go find something similar in a junkyard and fix it.

Come to North America and the junkyards aren't as accessible, and everything costs $5 to whatever. They know they can fix it with just that one little part, and they know that one little part should only cost them 50 cents or a dollar.

I was working at the shop and this guy comes in, middle age fellow, skin as black as burnt tar and with a very, very thick African accent. In his hands, is a bearing race, and a couple of loose balls of odd size. After several minutes of awkward back and forth, calling the boss in, we finally figure out it is the bearing for a SEALED BB CARTRIDGE. These things are designed to never be taken apart. 1 time use. He managed to get it apart without mangling anything apparently, and wanted to fix it.

While I totally respect the guy for wanting to fix it, and having a decided dislike of 1 use, disposable items....it gets frustrating when people refuse to accept that you can't sell them that one part that they want.

MA$$hole wrote: We had a guy bring a bicycle into our store yesterday for a tune up. Now I can understand when someone asks if we do oil changes, brakes, etc. but how does one walk into any auto parts store thinking that they do bicycle repairs?

Perhaps Bike shops are giving people bad ideas...? We fixed a lawn mower, a jogging stroller, and an elderly woman's walker...

Curmudgeon wrote: My favorite terms: 'university joint' and 'catalinas converter'.

strange, my wife's name is Catalina, and I've never seen her converter. We're still relatively newly wed though..

corytate wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote: My favorite terms: 'university joint' and 'catalinas converter'.

strange, my wife's name is Catalina, and I've never seen her converter. We're still relatively newly wed though..

I had a '67 Pontiac Catalina that, of course, had no catalytic converter.

I once got asked for "eagle beaks" at the tool store.

I finally found out what he was on about:

Trans_Maro wrote: I once got asked for "eagle beaks" at the tool store. I finally found out what he was on about:

fwiw, pliers like that are awesome. Just got some off the tool truck the other day actually, best things for adjusting tie rods, pulling nails out of tires, gripping drain plugs to pull off ridiculously stubborn copper gasket, etc etc, ever.

I always reefer to them as Channel-Locks, regardless of the name on the side.

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

belteshazzar wrote: an old man comes into the store. old man- "you're not going to have this" me- "you're probably right." old man- "i need a temperature sensor for a helicopter" *pulls old brass sensor from pocket* me- "any part numbers or at least specifications?" old man- "well it needs to read pretty hot" me- "how many ohms at boiling? anything like that?" old man- "well at boiling the needle should be around 212 degrees" me "right, but how many ohms of resistance is the gauge calibrated to see at that temp?" old man- "what?" me- "the sensor just changes resistance at different temperatures, some might give 45ohms at 300 degrees, another might have 75 ohms. if you get that part wrong, even if you're lucky and the needle still moves, the indexing on the gauge won't mean anything." old man- "whatever. i just need one that fills the hole." 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 ordered an echlin part. they're usually reboxed standard motor products, but we'll see. they'll occasionally use oem suppliers.

Trans_Maro wrote: I once got asked for "eagle beaks" at the tool store. I finally found out what he was on about:

That actually sorta works. I always call them channel locks too, but it sorta does look like an eagle beak.