More than anything else, letting people going home at 1 on a Friday and spending a few hours yourself sorting out the vans demonstrates you care 1) about the wellbeing of your crew and 2) the quality of their work. Good on you.
My dad had a Citroen c8 which was modified to take a wheelchair. Anyway, they made the fuel tank considerably smaller but didn’t replace the fuel gage. So when it said it was half full, it was really almost empty. I lost count of how many times he ran out of fuel
18:28 if you don't fill the filter back up with old fuel, unscrew the thing you are touching with your thumb when you say you can't see any primer, turn ignition on and it will purge the pipes of air and diesel will come out here. (thats why there's a pipe fitting on it, to direct it into a catch can) It's also there to drain crappy fuel out before you remove the filter!
It's Friday evening here, and I'm spending it in your shop, watching your expensive van piss all over the floor. I feel my life is going a solid direction. Now I'm going to hang out in vice grip's garage for a wobbly pop. A good weekend to you Thomas. Cheers!
"Look at what you have achieved". That makes perfect sense. When I look at your setup there and try to envision it here..... I see major dollar bills. I see a garage and setup that most smaller guys couldn't afford here in the States. You've done ok for yourself there.
These service intervals are nuts. I’ve been driving for a supermarket recently thanks to COVID, the Sprinters we use are 2 years / 37,500 miles and that’s for proper urban stop start driving even worse than you do in central London (because it’s multi drop delivery work) - they run like absolute arse long before they’re “due” 🤦♂️
If you're talking about the stock keeping system, it probably has a web server so they could just connect to it with their phones instead. Tip: Have an NFC sticker that takes you to it's website. Then all you have to do is touch your phone to the sticker and carry on.
Used to have a 96 Vitara that would stall every time you stopped. Turned out to be a cam position sensor which was apparently a common issue on the 1.6 and later 2.0 engines 😅
Morning Tom. It must be absolutely fantastic working for you now 😃 staying behind and letting your staff go on a Friday is top stuff 👍🏻 You looked so happy looking down on your empire with a smile on your face with a brew 🤣 Serving your own vehicles is satisfying that a good job has been done ✅ Take care cheers Stevie 😎
Hi Tom Apart from sparking we have another thing in common, we've both owned a Vitara that would just die 😄 I got to the bottom of mine and it was the cam sensor. They break down due to the heat at the back of the engine. If ever the kettles on one Friday afternoon let me know and I'll bring the cakes 👍 All the best 👍
Given how messy oil changes are and they can be very low cost I always get the garage to do the oil. Better cost savings on doing things like Brakes and Rotors in house.
Tom if you're ever busy and need any van work done I would be happy to help, I am very interested in mechanics and want to get better I would be happy to bring my tools for a day out
Difference between qx oil and a premium oil is 100k miles 😂 you can hear the timing chain scream as you were tipping that in! IMO I think your logic is bang on with the oil! I stopped using qx professionally years ago though as the manufacturer aprovals for warranty at dealers these days is such a grey area that it’s just easier to buy shell, Castrol or Fuchs
There is a balance though when doing ones own oil changes. QX at 10000 is fine if its once or twice a year and you got time to do it. In London its not about racking up miles, its time in use, hours in traffic. Thing is you can pay top dollar thinking 12 months or 20000 is fine, and you get cheap shite oil from the garage.
Hi Tom, I had a similar problem to your Vitara on a Mk1 Golf. My problem was something in the fuel tank was getting sucked onto fuel pipe starving the engine of fuel. Used to have to wait for the pressure to dissipate before the thing would float off the pipe to start the car again, once this happened on a long drive then it just kept doing it every 20 miles or so till you got to where you were going. It didn't matter how much fuel you had in the tank either . I had to change the tank in the end .
Regarding fuel priming. Dont crank it, turn key to for notch for the low pressure fuel pump to start and turn off after 5s. Do that 3-5 times and than start cranking. Btw low pressure pump is in most cases within or near fuel tank, its not the Bosch high pressure one near the engine. If its a diesel, those high pressure pumps should not be left empty therefore its good to prime the whole system as much as possible.
Hi, it won't work with the push button start system, as you saw Tom had a job to stop the fuel pouring out, most modern vehicles are like this i.e no key to turn at all.
Excellent video and commentary as usual. I have seen your business develope over the years of video viewing, well done, keep up the good work and stay safe.
I had an old car that kept cutting out (not a Suzuki!) it was a vacuum leak, needed a new pipe, there was a hole that expanded as it got hot and caused the engine to stall, but it was an intermittent fault as it didn't do it when I was actually at the garage, was a friend of mine who found it, he used to be a mechanic and then earned more doing painting and decorating.
The vitara might have been the cam position sensor - they used to suffer from heat soak so would start running badly once they got up to temp. You could diagnose it by tying a wet rag round the sensor to keep it cool and see if the problem persisted.
Good videos Tom great achievements. Just in relation to your van service, the oil is very black, I know with time they will all be dirty however I have the same van and when I change the oil effectively I do a double oil change and now when I service my van the oil is still brown/gold when drained. 1drain oil 2add 5l cheap oil - run engine 3drain oil 4change filter/add good quality oil. In relation to fuel system bleed, it is automatic, however process for doing it is. 1 put van in gear 2depress brake pedal 3 press ignition and allow fuel pump to start. Repeat process few times and then select neatral and start. Hope it helps.
My dad had a car with the stalling issue you mentioned. The power lead to the fuel pump was damaged and would intermittently short out, killing the fuel supply.
Just a Suggestion: If you placed the laptop on a wheeling cart the person scanning it in could see what's been scanned in and deal with any errors too. Rather than going back and foward. Also I have a feeling that you're limited by the bluetooth range which could cause a problem.
The service interval on my 2021 Mercedes sprinter is 27 and a half thousand miles. But I am like you I prefer changing things over at 10000 mile I even changing the timing and auxiliary belt and water pump before 50000 mile
@@idi0tdetectioninprogress yes, but there are levels of everything. Car mechanics might have a bad reputation, but plenty of them are really "mechanical engineers". Some of them certainly are not. Just because us engineers can "have a go" at something, it doesn't make us an expert. However, you are spot on. Engineers can turn their hand to many trades and products. I went from being an Avionic Aircraft Engineer to a fitter on the railway doing extremely heavy mechanical work (plus plenty of electrical stuff still thankfully) without any issue, despite it being a very different task. Some people laughed at me when I went from Aircraft to trains, saying I would be "de skilling" myself, but I now work with some people who could happily turn their hand to Aircraft maintenance, yet some of the people I worked with before couldn't even change a brake caliper or clutch on their car.
@@idi0tdetectioninprogress Mechanics are as much engineers as electricians. Modern day mechanics is far more then servicing, it delves in to programing electronics and many skilled engineering areas which often gets forgotten because the simpler servicing is seen most often. Servicing is akin to adding a spur. Both jobs have high levels of liability where their work puts lives at risk, a fair argument can be made that more is on the mechanical trade given the potential risk from disasters happening while doing a ton. There is a habit in the UK that needs to end where trades look down on other trades as if there is better, harder or more important when the reality is they have far more in common with very transferable skills
@@michaelwilliams3648 There's always a pecking order, it's human nature. That's why electrical channels are trolled by IT, Data, cctv and alarm OPERATIVES. They can't bear that they're not true ENGINEERS, despite silly job titles, and for some strange reason there's a compulsion to mess with electrics that they can't resist. That's why they watch these channels, and fish for information from electricians. They meddle at the weekend, and would rather remove their liver with a rusty spoon, than have the shame of getting an electrician in. Now don't get me wrong, being an electrician is not a right of passage to being an engineer, there's plenty of sparks who stay at domestic level, and that's fine, but its still a great opportunity to develop transferable skills. Take the Facilities Management industry, there's boatloads of opportunities in the multi skilled sector. However, being of qualified electrical bias is what's predominantly required. There's no problem in deploying an electrician to fix a dripping tap, or fit a door handle. It doesn't translate the other way for plumbers or data operatives to mess with electrics though. As for vehicle mechanics, yes its a skill, however much of it is now utilising software that's been specifically written, its not engineering as such. Where Tom needs to be careful is in the employers responsibility to provide safe equipment for staff. There's no problem with things like oil changes, but it would take some explaining if anything went wrong with a safety system that he had carried out maintenance on. He should save enough in carrying out the basic service stuff, to let the vans go to garage when its more prudent to do so. Things such as brakes, suspension, alignment or anything which requires specific torque settings, he really ought to let a garage have it. Liability is what it is when such things are undertaken.
@@idi0tdetectioninprogress You have just done what you accuse other off. Engineering is not the 19th century of wrought iron and steam. For simplicity you just dumped the enterer of IT as not engineering as if it’s below the majority of electrical works, pot meet kettle! After all it’s only the systems that are engineered and created the runs the world nowadays, sparks maybe engineers but there is noway they are pulling of anything to that scale. Mechanics are not just using software, showing you lack of knowledge on that there. They use testers to go in and diagnose voltages, frequencies and the like on sensors and control unit just a different voltage range and less commons but the skills are still needed As I said far too much looking down on other trades. There maybe an order of skills required for the top end of things but the majority of the “pecking order” for services that fix anything for residential or SME work across the trades is just artificially created, by though who can’t move up their own industry as they have hit a skills barrier. Instead of being happy that they are a competent residential spark (or insert trade) they try to pretend that several other trades aren’t really skills so they can feel superior when that’s far from the case and all trades have areas of high skill that you can’t just wing it. The only thing here that I’d say you have right is the issue of liability, a break pad set could have a material fault but in the event of a crash good luck proving you’re not a fault when you fitted them yourself.
My old transit custom was every 30 k miles for service and thats all it got from me sold 3 months ago with 170 k miles , never missed a beat in 5 years . ( was mostly motorway miles though) .
You’ve absolutely smashed it mate and you’re inspiration to apprentices like myself who are coming out of there time! On that note, any tips on getting work for yourself and paving the way??
so the thing with oil differences is additives. different cars use different mixes off additives. If you want to know which is the best oil for your car. there is a number somewhere in the manual and that should match with the number on your oil container.
Hard to do on a plastic line without deforming it. If its self priming just cycle ignition a handful of times to fill the filter. Sometimes you can put a mityvac on the return line and pull diesel through that way to prime it.
I appreciate that you like doing everything yourself Tom but the workload will get eventually excessively long at this rate with all these small jobs. Why don't you allocate work and just book a local mechanic for a few hours a month to pop in and do your servicing etc as and when required. May I suggest you put up a "to do" white board in the garage as a reminder of outstanding tasks.
On my T5 after the fuel filter you can run the fuel pump in the tank to pump fuel to the filter with a diagnostic tool like VCDS or Delphi DS150. Maybe it could be a good idea to get one of those diagnostic tools.
Some electricians are also former mechanics! Best check your fleet insurance because if your doing safety related items as an unqualified person you will probably also invalidate you insurance.
Might be landlords responsibility, depends what the set up is. One thing worth noting, on a slightly different topic is the retention of some floor space by the landlord. That aspect has been agreed, but if theres no proper fire proofing between those areas, and something goes wrong, it could well be a problem.
Mechanic and electrician come from same background. Methodical action to find root cause of problems, finding probable solutions, and finalize problem solved. Using the method you can interchangeably tackle your problem. Like Ivan from Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostic, wear a wearable camera to record problem, possibility of solution, and record solved problem, and keep record for future use.
The dearer oil has more additives to keep the emissions down and keeps engine corben build up to a minimal and alot better for engine when you change fuel filter cycle ignition about four time that primes filter
Your Question regarding Oils. The premium oils are much more synthetic based and hence they can withstand not only the extremes of temperature but increasingly the higher shear forces (abrasion/viscosity/oil speed/tolerances etc) within the engine. Without these the engine will very easily and quickly breakdown the oil molecules (and literally pull atoms apart) rendering them useless after a short duration. It is difficult to quantify the exact duration difference as very much depends on how much time the vehicle spends in idle conditions (city centre) & highspeed motorway driving. If going for cheaper oils ensure that they are synthetic and change more frequently. I am no car mechanic but have spent a considerable amount of time as a chemical engineer designing plants to make these oils. Any other comments feel free to ask!
@@edc1569 Thanks fair comment but allow me to explain. At the molecular level the combination of pressure, temperature and high shear in modern engines. ( Hint look up Le Chateliers Principle Basic A Level Chemistry knowledge) the pushes the equilibrium point to allow slippage of longer chain molecules and hence the oil loses its lubricating properties.
@@andrewsmall6568 Agree to an extent. Even cheaper oils are synthetic but the main difference is the the additional molecules which are attached onto the main hydrocarbon molecule have a greater tendency to breakdown sooner when compared to the much more expensive or main dealer recommended lubricants. The problem becomes that when these molecules break down at molecular level the lube loses ifs flow properties and hence with the tight tolerances within modern engines this is where problems begin if not changed regularly.
Tom, love the video and I do love tinkering with stuff but wouldn’t you need to keep full service history on your vans? Maybe it still counts I dunno but I’ve always wanted to see a book stamped by a garage?
Dealers won’t be interested if service stamps are not up to date and by approved network. Engine drops valve , oh sorry sir warranty conditions not meet. VW T6 service £180 at VW garage and timed slot for it. No brainer and my hands are clean.
for servicing my vehicles at home i just have a set of ramps, no real need for a lift. save yourself a few quid tom.. as or the long service intervals, the engine burns so much oil that you will have to top it up several times during the interval that it in fact gets good new oil quite often. my van is something like 28k miles between services but will need about 6l of oil for topping up
The base oil is all the same (grade/viscosity/spec like for like), the differences are the various additive packages that brands choose to use, shell has best cleaning additives, castrol/penzoil/millers have the best oil stabilizers. As long as you use the correct grade/viscosity that meets/exceeds manufacturers spec then even cheaper brands will last as well as expensive ones, again as long as you stick to the manufacturer's intervals as a maximum then really the additive packs arent really needed. I've used castrol and shell for years but now use the 20 litre drums of mannol and go by 10k changes every 12 or so months.
I change my oil every 6k miles regardless of what everyone says and I mostly drive outside the city. Oil change is cheaper than engine repair, especially when you do it yourself
Not sure what lift you’re looking at exactly, maybe the camera is just deceiving but it doesn’t look like you’ve got loads of height for a lift. Have a look at quick jacks, probably more cost effective for the odd bit of maintenance you’ll be doing, also can be packed up and moved out of the way when not in use.
Interesting, and as usual, entertaining, video. I've a couple of questions/comments that I hope you'll find apposite. First, WRT stock, how do you handle parts that aren't 'each' i.e. cable, conduit etc? Your guys will book out a cable reel of, say, 100m. What happens when they bring back the remnant of that reel? How does your system handle that? Secondly, when I was a service engineer for Hotpoint, my van was my responsibility WRT to tidiness, stock control etc. I recorded the parts usage on each job, and that was communicated weekly to head office, and they replenished my parts accordingly. Obviously servicing was a separate issue, and was organised by the manager via a local garage, but i would never have expected my boss to stay behind to tidy up my vehicle, book parts back into stock etc. If your guys want to finish early on Friday, make the parts return & tidying up of their vehicle a requirement of being allowed to go home. It probably wouldn't hurt to get them to do filter, pad changes etc if you can't justify the expense of a third party solution to servicing. Won't do them any harm, and will give them another string to their bow.
Its not self priming. Just about every newer diesel car/van have a secondary electric fuel pump fitted inside the fuel tank and a primary elector mechanical pump running of the crankshaft. The secondary pump is suppling fuel at the pressure of 5 bars(72.5PSI) as a main feed for the primary pump, as the fuel circulate throughout the system it also returns back to the fuel tank taking all the air in the system with it. The fuel tank has its own bleeder hose so there isn't any pressure building up in the tank.
Hi Tom, You didnt cover if your stock system marks the stock back in against the van - If not might be worth looking at that, so if 1 item is booked out to 2 vans when stuff goes missing you can tell which van it's missing from.
My trafic's 8 months old, only done 3k. different engine to yours I think but it already wants more oil. Says 7.5l of fully synthetic 5W30 changed every 24k. I'll be getting it done annually though. Renault said use Castrol but I'm risking Halfords brand... There are too many different oils on sale for the uninitiated
Tom I’ll take any so called arrogance or mistreatment for a Friday early leave , what a brilliant structure. 👍 shame you have to stay late yourself perhaps get an apprentice and share the load plus gives them a start in the industry 👏
Slight flaw with your booking in system. It assumes the user has scanned the right barcode on the shelf and is holding the right product. If it prompts you to scan product and code on shelf, and both must match before returning item in stock. This would give more accurate stock levels. Keep up the good work.
In my teens, I was too drunk to drive home so one of my friends offered to drive me home in my Mini GT. He took the turning into my close but hastily past my house, we ended up going through my neighbour's high fence and came to a halt on the garden patio. I forgot to tell him to pump the brakes as I had a fault on the brake pump 🙄
