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A chance meeting at a gas station in Flagstaff saved me from a real bad call
I was driving back from a job in Phoenix last month, and I pulled over at a gas station just off the highway. My van was acting up, making a weird clicking sound. I was about to call my buddy who's a mechanic, but I was just standing there, staring at the engine, feeling lost. This older guy in a beat-up truck at the next pump saw me and just walked over. He said, 'Sounds like a loose heat shield on the exhaust, not the engine. Happened to my old Ford.' He showed me where to look, and sure enough, he was right. I was about to get it towed to a shop for what I thought was a major problem. We talked for maybe ten minutes, and he gave me a tip about a specific clamp to use. That random five minute chat saved me probably $300 and a whole day of hassle. Has anyone else had a stranger spot a simple fix you totally missed?
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veraj5325d ago
Jesse, you're not wrong about the risk, but that's part of why this story hit me. Same exact thing happened to me at a truck stop outside Tucson. My alternator was making this high-pitched whine, and I was ready to call a tow. A guy fueling up his old F-150 walked over, said 'alternator belt's too tight, your bearings are whining.' He showed me how to loosen the tensioner a quarter turn with a wrench. Fixed it right there. Saved me a tow and a shop bill. That kind of know-how is rare, but when you find it, it's gold.
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jesse_williams621mo ago
That's a nice story but honestly, it sounds like pure luck. For every one guy who knows his stuff, there's ten more who will give you advice that makes things worse. Letting a random person diagnose your vehicle is a huge gamble. What if he was wrong and that noise was something serious? You could have done real damage driving it. Sometimes that tow truck and the shop bill are the SMART call, because they come with a real guarantee.
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