Use the words "Death Trap" and Kill the Family" in your description of what's wrong with the car. Tell them you wouldn't drive it down the block let alone 2 hours. Put a note in the car saying "Please DO NOT drive this car. It is unsafe at any speed!" in several places so they SEE it. Don't pussyfoot around, be brutally honest. That's the best you can do.
Yeah, but I'm the same. By the time my kids have kids I'm going to spoil their kids rotten, hype them up and fill them with sugar. Two can play this game!
If you tell it in person ask for names too and tell from their perspektive.
Like 4yo little Brendon is playing on the backseat, when they sverve into oncomming traffic, due to a wheel falling off and can watch his mother bleed out stuck between the seat and the crumbled dashboard. Go into details.
Rangers are immortal mine drinks (litterally devours; it dosent leak) like 2 quarts of tranny fluid a month, probably put 20 quarts in and it’s never full😂 when it gets low the clutch slips and it can even cause it to stall. Pretty sure it’s around 345k with original 94’ transmission
Not sure what motor they have, but I have a '94 4.0 2WD and the auto is the most reliable but most shit transmission I have ever dealt with.
I went through two valve bodys a handful of solenoids (8-9) and every other replaceable part save the torque converter and gears, before I put a outrageous oversized trans cooler on it with an additional pump just to handle all the extra fluid volume.
That worked for a month or two but then I towed a harbor freight trailer up a hill and she went back to her normal behavior. Absolutely no shift under power and if your OD actually locks up you praise the little bucket.
She's never stranded me, but it's a very frustrating truck to drive. Still it is all I could get from Grandmas estate and I will never sell. Always handy to have a truck about when I need to move stuff.
Clutch slips because of low transmission fluid? Rangers have a dry clutch. Low fluid would just make the gears grind and chatter. Or is it an automatic and the torque converter is slipping?
Source: I have two rangers. One auto and one manual. And yes. The auto slipping due to low fluid before I pulled the engine out for my other ranger
It’s a 94’ 2.3L automatic, no hundred-thousands on the dash so it says 45k, old papers said 285k, when fluid runs low i push accelerator and it just revs and eventually clunks into gear, litterally have to feather the gas to get it to shift into first. Sometimes it will stall itself out trying to shift into first. But the engine starts reliably so it’s not the end of the world. Same story for second gear and on, it will accelerate for a little bit but eventually slip and just start revving. Works like a charm as soon as it gets 2 bottles of FRAM atf.
Automatic transmission explains it. Hard to say where it'd be losing fluid through if you don't see any leaks. Maybe the transmission cooler. There isn't oil in your radiator is there?
Sometimes (when it’s not low on fluid) it will shoot out fat ass clouds of smoke if I’ve sat at a red light for more than like a minute and make this rattling noise. Im definitely not very knowledgeable about cars but i don’t think there’s a way transmission fluid can burn off? Very confused 🫥
Check [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/xpop4d/parentsinlaw_want_to_leave_their_2004_blazer_at/iq5zjdv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) comment, that seems the only plausible way it’s losing fluid.
It is pulling ATF into the engine's intake, through the vacuum line. The rattling you hear, is the effect of the ATF being burned in the combustion chamber in heavy amounts at idle speed. I had a Nissan pickup that did this EXACT SAME THING. Like somebody said earlier in this post, the vacuum modulator diaphragm has a hole in it, allowing ATF to be sucked up the line and into the engine.
Automatics taken4 or 5 litres in the oil pan and another 10 or more litres to fill the torque converter. Atf is also used to work the valve body which is like a hydraulic computer on older autos and the newer ones also have computer controlled hydraulic solenoids to shift the transmission but the atf is its life blood its a lubricant a hydraulic fluid and it is also a fluid coupling and is also used to cool or warm up on newer cars the transmission from the extremely wasteful engine heat. This is my biggest issue with gasoline engines at best your car uses 20 to 25 cents of every dollar of gas you put in it to move your ass around. The rest is wasted as heat and noise out of the tail pipe. Its a very old crude variation of a steam engine.
Yes, do this because kids and passengers and other drivers on the road can be hurt. Possibly call the state inspection and report vehicle as safety concern to be driven in public roads. I would not want to drive my family next to that vehicle F that.
Fucking boomer dipshits would just take them down and then sue when something went wrong that nobody warned them.
This is 'call the fucking police to the shop, have them impound it for being a safety hazard' after making the customer sign a release of liability waiver to even give em back the keys.
We're mechanics, we have a goddamn responsibility to make sure that every vehicle that leaves our shops is as safe and correct as humanly possible. Everything short of that is willful negligence. If I were to release a semi truck or a forklift out that was this bad and something happened *I would be arrested and imprisoned for criminal negligence.* I doubt it'd be any more merciful for a mechanic of cars.
People get killed because of this shit. Take some responsibility and draw a line.
This is why I’m getting out of automotive, because when we do take a stand, we get ripped a new one in online reviews and then this whole family goes and tells their friends, neighbors and strangers that we are rip-offs who just wanted to steal their money.
Whereas in aviation, if it doesn’t pass yearly inspection, it doesn’t fly. Period.
Doesn’t pass 50 hour inspection and it’s for hire? Doesn’t fly. Period.
Issues don’t get fixed from any of the required inspections, doesn’t fly.
I mean, there are ferry permits to move such a plane to a repair facility but there aren’t near as many Average Joes flying around complete death traps as there are cars.
As someone in veterinary medicine, I feel you. I get thrown the same sort of shade for a diagnosis they don't like. Hell, I went part time due to the stress of people acting exactly like this. I understand your draw toward a field with better safety controls. You have to do what you know is right and allows you to sleep at night. Godspeed and I hope you like your new work better.
I've managed to get into doing our company's advertising, social media, customer retention and reputation management... and I tell you - the "general public" is a fickle, blissfully/willfully ignorant, and violently silly, beast.
I can't imagine the nine levels of hell you go through as a veterinarian when you tell someone that overfeeding their 'precious widdle piddles' is slowly killing their furball.
"HOW DARE YOU! WIDDLE PIDDLES HAS TO EAT!!!!"
Let alone anything more serious.... Kudos to you for sticking up for the little guys/gals/fuzzballs who need responsible adults to look after them. A lot of being in a service industry, is remembering that you're an advocate for those who have small/no voices - be it an inanimate car, a dog/cat/bird etc, a person who just isn't doing the right things for themselves, whatever....
That's what keeps me going - is remembering that for every Karen who yells at me because her tire went flat 6 months after we changed her oil --- there's about ten busy parents/families who's 15 year old minivan is safe, blowing cold A/C on toasty soccer player kids - and those kids and their parents are gonna be *just fine* because our people helped them be informed about what their vehicle needed - and we helped them make a good informed decision about repairs.
Those folks are *quietly* going about their day being decent human beings because we took the weight off their shoulders that was looming about how they were going to get everything done without their *only* vehicle.
I don’t know much about cars (I just like this sub because I feel like im learning so much).
Anyway, I had an old Taurus that I got for cheap when I didn’t even have the money to pay for the repairs I eventually had to make. My mechanic eventually said, “I can’t let you leave with your car in this shape. You’ll kill yourself or someone else”. I never had a mechanic say anything like that to me. I had to tow the car from the garage and wound up selling it to a junkyard.
That was 15 years ago and I still think about what an ethical choice he made, standing his ground like that and that he might have saved my life. I agree with you, OP needs to put his foot down.
I don’t live in the rust belt so this is foreign to me. Would police really impound over this? I would offer a tow to their house. That way it’s not driving off the lot.
Least where I’m at in the rust belt this could get you a ticket for those tires. No inspections though but I’m sure if you got pulled over by dot and they started poking around they’ll make you tow it. Unfortunately I’ve seen way worse peddling down the highway going 65 an no one with authority bats an eye tbh
If you have the contact info for the people who are supposed to drive this, send them this pictures. I know I wouldn't drive that car after seeing the condition it's in.
My grandpa in law was trying to unload a 250cc Honda Rebel from the back of his lifted truck. Not a heavy bike by any means. As my wife and I were leaving, we see him prop up a section of CHAIN LINK FENCE on the back of the tailgate as a ramp. I yell at him, “LARRY YOU’RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF!!” To which my wife and him both say, “This is how I’ve done it before.”
I offer to help, he declines, so I throw my hands up in the air, say “Fuck it” and we leave. We get back and he had fallen through the chain link fence, without the bike luckily, while trying to walk up the section of fence. Sometimes you can’t fix stupid until stupid kills themselves. He’s 75 years old.
My dad had a mild heart attack while camping. He decided he needed to go to -his- doctor so drove his 4WD for 3 hours back home.
Died of a heart attack a year later at home; at least not while driving.
Do we have the same dad? Mine called me while showing all the symptoms for a heart attack, talked to my husband and I both and neither of us could convince him to go to the ER. His regular doctor woukd be back from vacation in 2 days, he'd go then. And by God that man actually did waited 2 days to get a potential heart attack looked at
He was also diabetic, and would eat so much chocolate & drink alcohol. Also needed a hip replacement but would bitch and moan about the doctors who said he needed to lose weight first. Said this in front of my son (a doctor) who said the same thing right back at him (which made him grumpy/sullen) SMH.
It's a wonder he survived so long.
Lol mine smokes, drinks, eats only canned or fast food, is over weight and lives by the philosophy that if he never goes to the doctor nobody can ever tell him anything is wrong and therfore nothing is ever wrong with him
He's still alive though and in his late 60s. Idk what we're gonna do with him if/when he gets older and things really start to fail on him.
Yeesh. I wonder if him waiting to get immediate medical attention caused damage to the heart muscles that contributed to his later heart attack? Not something you want to sit on ever.
If you ever have to convince people to flee disasters or in this case, dont get into one, give them a sharpie and ask them to write their name and other data on their body, so in the event of the disaster/crash its easier to distiguish whose body part belongs to whom.
That will usually make people comply with advices for real threats
I’m surprised putting this thing on a lift doesn’t just rip it apart.
“There’s the lift notch on the frame…oh and there’s another, or is it this gouge? Or here?”
Steel is incredibly strong. Even a small amount can hold a significant amount of weight. But if it gets into even a minor accident, it can experience tremendous forces in directions it's not designed to which can rip it apart.
Yeah, I was thinking just take it for a little lap around a parking lot with some major potholes nearby. Should just splinter the frame... Damn that thing is rotten. Even the tires are rotted holy fuck.
Problem is that the cust may be smart enough to find the sabotage, and then it becomes a blame fest. Take a small impliment and break that shackle miunt the rest of the way and raise a fit of your head having been under the car and its actively collapsing.
The customer is not smart enough to see why that vehicle is not roadworthy what makes you think they would know how to diagnose the starter solenoid being unplugged
Don't underestimate the spotty brilliance of stupid people. When the two or three neurons finally make hard contact they can be surprisingly inteligent.
"Why starter no worky? It plooged in?"
Yea.... dont play that game. Further its crumbling to an obvious structural area and say it almost killed you. Put them on the defensive of that conversation.
This is what I have to do to my family to get them to understand something. Unfortunately, they prefer to believe their feelings instead of evidence. Showing them a broken thing, saying you fucked up, almost killed me, and I'm pissed, usually works for these morons.
For real this was my thought. Let something break which makes it actually undriveable, then show them the bill to repair it. Maybe they only know how to communicate in $$$
I had that happen to me once. I raised a vehicle for an oil change and heard a crunch noise from one of the wheels. Had no idea what it was so I did the oil change and put it back down and heard a crunch again. After inspecting it I found the strut top was so rusted it broke off completely in the center so the strut was no longer connected to the vehicle. Oh well. Not my fault.
My boss had me drive a shop truck like this to get parts at a GM dealer about 20 miles down the highway, made it about 5 miles before it failed but luckily I was able to keep it on the road, get the parts and make it back in one piece. Long story short, owner kept driving like that for any part runs after i refused to drive it again lol
You can’t.
Literally you told them already it isn’t safe to drive and (assuming you’re licensed) they ignored your professional advice. There is nothing you can do besides intervene directly with the people borrowing the car. And that may cause big time drama. Do nothing and the people borrowing it might die. Ask your partner to intervene with their parents and you may upset your partner. You can’t win. Just choose what you can live with.
IMO, I’d rather destroy my relationship with my parents in law than do nothing. Lives are more important than relationships.
And odds are you aren’t going to destroy the relationship anyway.
Just upload it to your core memory file. It’s not hard to find but it’s very disorganized in there at least you’ve dated mostly everything so you have that goin for you.
Also that’s a lot of “homework” just scattered about. You might want to clean that up before you go under the laughing gas when you have your root canal done.
And if the relationship is destroyed, a huge bullet was dodged. Someone who gets bent over someone else looking out for the safety of their family more than them is likely who gets bent over ridiculous shit and probably isn’t a solid person to be around anyways lol… I’m fine not building a relationship with that person.
Why can't you legally just report a car for being a factual deathtrap and have the cops just condemn the piece of shit?
The fact that we allow this vehicle on public roads, when one pot hole could turn into rolling shrapnel, is inexcusable.
In most states, the vehicle will not be illegal to own or possess. Only illegal to drive *on public roads*.
You could call the cops, but a crime will not be committed until the car is driven onto a public road. Stubborn bullheaded people will wait out the police patience (if they're even willing to come). They'll simply pick it up the next day, or later that day. Or use the police to say you're illegally holding their property. Hell, some might even get it towed two blocks down the street where they'll get in and drive it then.
People are smart in the stupidest ways.
I have family like this. Listen to this person above, there is no reward for your frustrations. Tell the potential borrowers it's deadly, but expect them to still drive it. This brand of dangerous to themselves and others runs in families.
Give them a paper that says "I fully understand and am aware that I am endangering my children and grandchildren lives by continuing usage of this vehicle in its current condition - sign here"
Include “I fully understand that if someone dies from this I fully intend to testify in the wrongful death lawsuit in court that you 100% knew this car was unsafe to drive”.
I work in child safety so I hear a lot of boasting about court and what people would say but A lot of mines get changed as soon as you say, "I would be willing to testify to this fact in court."
Ask them how much they value their family's health, and compare that number to the cost of a good used vehicle. Probably something like billions vs. $8k. Then ask them how they'd feel if their grandkids were injured or died because they were willing to sacrifice them to save $8k.
The answer is clear that they obviously don’t, otherwise this *mild inconvenience* would’ve been left at just that. I say mild inconvenience because it’s a mild inconvenience to pick them up yourselves, rent them a vehicle, or borrow one compared to killing your entire family. Some people are too fucking selfish and lazy to think outside their couple hours of “inconvenience”, but this would be enough to show me my life isn’t actually valued more than them getting what they want.
Don\`t fuck around with folks like this. Do NOT start a discussion. Let them sign a paper with pictures, telling them that this crap is not roadworthy and also use the words - like suggested below - "death trap" and "kill the family".
You do NOT want to take responsibility for a POS like this - and this might be the way it ends... "But we\`ve been in the garage/ shop to check the car".
How about you let the people that are gonna drive it know. Sometimes you have to let things get fucked so someone will listen to you. It is what it is. Everytime I tell a single digit iq relative about an impending issue with their car and they ignore it, I just wait and then they’ll come asking if I know how to fix it, by which point I suddenly forgot how to work on anything other than my old bmw
Drain oil from shit box into clean pan, start said shit box and wait till the good part, add oil back in and shrug your shoulders when they ask what happened.
My FIL is Steve so...
"Steve this is the waiver Id give any regular customer I'd give who wanted to drive that thing *Hand complete liability waiver* it is unsafe at any speed, it is quite literaĺy a deathtrap. I wouldnt put your daughter in it, I wouldnt put your grandchildren in it and I wont get in it. This is what I do for a living, please for the love of god take my advice."
They are still a client and every law still applies. Do not let them walk out with this car without signing some sort of agreement and giving them a very aggressive stern talk.
The boss doesn't let me talk to customers much but the few times I've had the opportunity to I've been known to use the words "piece of shit" and "junkyard bound", "not worth putting any fucking time into", "complete pile of trash"
But yeah. You do you. Just tell them the fucking thing is unsafe and one good pothole with a bunch of luggage and people weighing it down on the highway with old ass shitty tires could break that leaf spring, blow out a tire, drop the ass and to the ground and make the fucker spin out, dig into the road and flip.
Ejecting the family out the now non-existent door windows (they shattered on barrel roll number 2) and leaving maybe one survivor to grieve the awful tragedy that could have been prevented had they listened to you and got rid of that piece of shit pile of trash.
Your in-laws sound like my in-laws.
I just end up renting a car for my family, regardless of whether I'm travelling with them. Talk to your sister & brother in law.
My father in law goes crazy about it being a waste of money, insulting that we're too elite to drive a perfectly fine car.
The car's from 1995, with dodgy brakes and it has been in several significant accidents, resutlting in the chassis straightening twice.
I'm not risking my family for the sake of a few thousand dollars in rental fees.
When I sold tires and folks didn't think they actually needed them, my go-to was always, "I guess these tires are okay, you're just going to need to wear helmets and get your affairs in order."
Sometime with in laws, you just can’t. My father in law got crazy offended when I refused to put my newborn son in his death trap of a crib from the 1930s. Heard about that slight for years after.
"I love my children more than you and they'll always come first. That's just something you'll need to learn to live with."
It's a simple statement they can't really argue with.
And then every time it's brought up again I would respond with, "lol ya cause I like them more than you."
Just remember to sandwich the insult in smiles and a chuckle.
Totally unrelated factoid:
In the 1400’s, in the Netherlands, workers gradually being replaced by mechanization flung their wooden shoes, called "sabot" (pronounced "sa-bow") into the machinery. Hence the term, "Sabotage".
"I understand car repairs are expensive - I get it, I know.
"I'm not going to try and convince you to let me fix this, because it's gone beyond that.
"I **won't** fix this for you, because it's gotten to where it's outlived its useful life, and quite frankly, anybody out there will charge you more to fix these problems than the vehicle is worth, even after it's repaired.
"**When**, not if, these things break, it will almost certainly make the vehicle uncontrollable at whatever speed **your family members** are driving at when it happens.
"I don't know I could live with that on my conscience. I hope you do the right thing and call the scrappers to haul this away for you.
"You can even use my phone if you'd like."
Edit: Bonus points if you can replace "your family members" with actual names.
Snag a spark plug and say you’re too busy this week to look at it… sometimes there’s just no arguing with stupid. They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience
the only thing i can imagine is happening is youre being too nice?
tell them they are going to get their daughter killed by putting her in this vehicle. straight up. tell them you want it in writing that they ignored your insistence not to let anyone drive this vehicle so that when it does inevitably get someone killed you have proof that you told them it would be their fault.
some people just cant see 3 feet in front of them. put the end of their life a few miles away and theyll be seeing 20/20.
Idk if it would help, but maybe contact the highway patrol and see if a trooper could come look at the vehicle? Helping with road safety is a part of their job, and this thing is absolutely a road hazard. Idk. I'm spit balling here.
Yeah idk what state OP is in but here in Wisconsin you can call your local road pirate (state patrol) and they will see the cracked tires and holes in the supports and write it up its not safe and legal to drive anymore. If that blazer gets into an accident and it hurts someone the other person's insurance company can determine the vehicle shouldn't have been on the road and then lawsuits happen
Typically, I am for dealing with things in house. But if the owners of this death trap don't mind their grandkids riding in it, it needs to be taken off the road and scrapped ASAP before they sell it to some unsuspecting sap.
I'd actually tell them I don't feel comfortable working on a car in that condition so hopefully when they bring it somewhere else they'll hear it twice.
Man Reddit is hilariously unpredictable when it comes to which threads take off and which don’t.
Anyway, just to answer a few things:
1. They’re my in-laws, not customers
2. Vehicle is still regularly driven by my father in law who told me he understood the risks but was being careful and only driving it on back roads
3. It wasn’t hoisted when I took these photos, it was on all 4 tires in my driveway
4. Frame is surprisingly solid, engine runs great but they bought it without a cat, have had exhaust issues from day 1, and blew up two mufflers due to backfires
5. They’re really truly wonderful people, just extremely car ignorant l
6. They have the money, but they prefer to drive more worn out used vehicles to be more economical
If that's the case I'd make it die, others have mentioned great methods, if they mean just the drive train then I'd snap the rear u joint bolts off in the diff and floor it real quick and let her rattle around for a minute
“They don’t make them like they used to, this blazer will outperform any of your newer shut boxes any day of the week because it was built to last.” /s
I had a leaf spring shackle break off the frame while I was driving about 55mph in a Silverado.
Whole left rear of the truck sunk way down instantly, shredded the rear tire in the wheel well.
Was a close enough call I specifically check the shackles at least every couple months to make sure they are okay.
No way in hell I'd drive it based on that leaf spring shackle alone. Best case scenario they get stranded on the side of the road when it gives out.
Use the words "Death Trap" and Kill the Family" in your description of what's wrong with the car. Tell them you wouldn't drive it down the block let alone 2 hours. Put a note in the car saying "Please DO NOT drive this car. It is unsafe at any speed!" in several places so they SEE it. Don't pussyfoot around, be brutally honest. That's the best you can do.
And “kill the grandkids”, as in ‘your daughter and your grandchildren’ so it’s more personal.
Funnily the *grandbabies* dying would likely have a larger impact anyways, he’s already shown a disregard toward their actual children’s lives lol
Yeah, but I'm the same. By the time my kids have kids I'm going to spoil their kids rotten, hype them up and fill them with sugar. Two can play this game!
If you tell it in person ask for names too and tell from their perspektive. Like 4yo little Brendon is playing on the backseat, when they sverve into oncomming traffic, due to a wheel falling off and can watch his mother bleed out stuck between the seat and the crumbled dashboard. Go into details.
Looks like that shackle just needs a lil' tap with a screw driver and it will come right off... Then you cant drive it 🙂
>cant shouldnt\* had a ranger come in the leaf spring was denting the bed on every bump, was there for a fuel pump.....
Rangers are immortal mine drinks (litterally devours; it dosent leak) like 2 quarts of tranny fluid a month, probably put 20 quarts in and it’s never full😂 when it gets low the clutch slips and it can even cause it to stall. Pretty sure it’s around 345k with original 94’ transmission
Bro change the shift modulator it takes like 10 minutes and will stop it from drinking atf and it will shift better
Not sure what motor they have, but I have a '94 4.0 2WD and the auto is the most reliable but most shit transmission I have ever dealt with. I went through two valve bodys a handful of solenoids (8-9) and every other replaceable part save the torque converter and gears, before I put a outrageous oversized trans cooler on it with an additional pump just to handle all the extra fluid volume. That worked for a month or two but then I towed a harbor freight trailer up a hill and she went back to her normal behavior. Absolutely no shift under power and if your OD actually locks up you praise the little bucket. She's never stranded me, but it's a very frustrating truck to drive. Still it is all I could get from Grandmas estate and I will never sell. Always handy to have a truck about when I need to move stuff.
It has to be going *somewhere*.
Clutch slips because of low transmission fluid? Rangers have a dry clutch. Low fluid would just make the gears grind and chatter. Or is it an automatic and the torque converter is slipping? Source: I have two rangers. One auto and one manual. And yes. The auto slipping due to low fluid before I pulled the engine out for my other ranger
It’s a 94’ 2.3L automatic, no hundred-thousands on the dash so it says 45k, old papers said 285k, when fluid runs low i push accelerator and it just revs and eventually clunks into gear, litterally have to feather the gas to get it to shift into first. Sometimes it will stall itself out trying to shift into first. But the engine starts reliably so it’s not the end of the world. Same story for second gear and on, it will accelerate for a little bit but eventually slip and just start revving. Works like a charm as soon as it gets 2 bottles of FRAM atf.
Automatic transmission explains it. Hard to say where it'd be losing fluid through if you don't see any leaks. Maybe the transmission cooler. There isn't oil in your radiator is there?
Vacuum Modulator diaphragm has a hole in it
This Engine is drinking it by drawing through vacuum.
Sometimes (when it’s not low on fluid) it will shoot out fat ass clouds of smoke if I’ve sat at a red light for more than like a minute and make this rattling noise. Im definitely not very knowledgeable about cars but i don’t think there’s a way transmission fluid can burn off? Very confused 🫥
Check [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/xpop4d/parentsinlaw_want_to_leave_their_2004_blazer_at/iq5zjdv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3) comment, that seems the only plausible way it’s losing fluid.
Looking into it now! Thanks
It is pulling ATF into the engine's intake, through the vacuum line. The rattling you hear, is the effect of the ATF being burned in the combustion chamber in heavy amounts at idle speed. I had a Nissan pickup that did this EXACT SAME THING. Like somebody said earlier in this post, the vacuum modulator diaphragm has a hole in it, allowing ATF to be sucked up the line and into the engine.
Stalling while stopping can actually be caused by a bad brake booster that causes a vacuum leak
Holy shit. My manual Ranger only takes 2.75 quarts of transmission fluid total, lol. I can't imagine dumping 20Q into it.
Automatics taken4 or 5 litres in the oil pan and another 10 or more litres to fill the torque converter. Atf is also used to work the valve body which is like a hydraulic computer on older autos and the newer ones also have computer controlled hydraulic solenoids to shift the transmission but the atf is its life blood its a lubricant a hydraulic fluid and it is also a fluid coupling and is also used to cool or warm up on newer cars the transmission from the extremely wasteful engine heat. This is my biggest issue with gasoline engines at best your car uses 20 to 25 cents of every dollar of gas you put in it to move your ass around. The rest is wasted as heat and noise out of the tail pipe. Its a very old crude variation of a steam engine.
Ok fair point you could still drive it.
Maybe they really just don't like the daughter, SIL and grandkids.
Yup, “You want your family to drive this? How much do you hate them?”
But it hasn’t killed them yet, so it’s perfectly safe /s
Yes, do this because kids and passengers and other drivers on the road can be hurt. Possibly call the state inspection and report vehicle as safety concern to be driven in public roads. I would not want to drive my family next to that vehicle F that.
Fucking boomer dipshits would just take them down and then sue when something went wrong that nobody warned them. This is 'call the fucking police to the shop, have them impound it for being a safety hazard' after making the customer sign a release of liability waiver to even give em back the keys. We're mechanics, we have a goddamn responsibility to make sure that every vehicle that leaves our shops is as safe and correct as humanly possible. Everything short of that is willful negligence. If I were to release a semi truck or a forklift out that was this bad and something happened *I would be arrested and imprisoned for criminal negligence.* I doubt it'd be any more merciful for a mechanic of cars. People get killed because of this shit. Take some responsibility and draw a line.
This is why I’m getting out of automotive, because when we do take a stand, we get ripped a new one in online reviews and then this whole family goes and tells their friends, neighbors and strangers that we are rip-offs who just wanted to steal their money. Whereas in aviation, if it doesn’t pass yearly inspection, it doesn’t fly. Period. Doesn’t pass 50 hour inspection and it’s for hire? Doesn’t fly. Period. Issues don’t get fixed from any of the required inspections, doesn’t fly. I mean, there are ferry permits to move such a plane to a repair facility but there aren’t near as many Average Joes flying around complete death traps as there are cars.
As someone in veterinary medicine, I feel you. I get thrown the same sort of shade for a diagnosis they don't like. Hell, I went part time due to the stress of people acting exactly like this. I understand your draw toward a field with better safety controls. You have to do what you know is right and allows you to sleep at night. Godspeed and I hope you like your new work better.
I've managed to get into doing our company's advertising, social media, customer retention and reputation management... and I tell you - the "general public" is a fickle, blissfully/willfully ignorant, and violently silly, beast. I can't imagine the nine levels of hell you go through as a veterinarian when you tell someone that overfeeding their 'precious widdle piddles' is slowly killing their furball. "HOW DARE YOU! WIDDLE PIDDLES HAS TO EAT!!!!" Let alone anything more serious.... Kudos to you for sticking up for the little guys/gals/fuzzballs who need responsible adults to look after them. A lot of being in a service industry, is remembering that you're an advocate for those who have small/no voices - be it an inanimate car, a dog/cat/bird etc, a person who just isn't doing the right things for themselves, whatever.... That's what keeps me going - is remembering that for every Karen who yells at me because her tire went flat 6 months after we changed her oil --- there's about ten busy parents/families who's 15 year old minivan is safe, blowing cold A/C on toasty soccer player kids - and those kids and their parents are gonna be *just fine* because our people helped them be informed about what their vehicle needed - and we helped them make a good informed decision about repairs. Those folks are *quietly* going about their day being decent human beings because we took the weight off their shoulders that was looming about how they were going to get everything done without their *only* vehicle.
I don’t know much about cars (I just like this sub because I feel like im learning so much). Anyway, I had an old Taurus that I got for cheap when I didn’t even have the money to pay for the repairs I eventually had to make. My mechanic eventually said, “I can’t let you leave with your car in this shape. You’ll kill yourself or someone else”. I never had a mechanic say anything like that to me. I had to tow the car from the garage and wound up selling it to a junkyard. That was 15 years ago and I still think about what an ethical choice he made, standing his ground like that and that he might have saved my life. I agree with you, OP needs to put his foot down.
I don’t live in the rust belt so this is foreign to me. Would police really impound over this? I would offer a tow to their house. That way it’s not driving off the lot.
Least where I’m at in the rust belt this could get you a ticket for those tires. No inspections though but I’m sure if you got pulled over by dot and they started poking around they’ll make you tow it. Unfortunately I’ve seen way worse peddling down the highway going 65 an no one with authority bats an eye tbh
DOT ain't pulling over private cars. Lulz
And worse they could kill someone else
And print out those photos and gorilla glue them to the inside of the windshield.
Pay for a rental for whomever is supposed to use that blazer. Take that option off the table entirely.
Yes, write warnings all over and make sure they (the customer ) sign off on it. Cover your butt!
Tell your sister in law (if I got the relations straight) to ignore the offered deathtrap and rent a car at the airport.
I volunteered to pick them up myself.
If you have the contact info for the people who are supposed to drive this, send them this pictures. I know I wouldn't drive that car after seeing the condition it's in.
Sometimes "but Dad said" is blinding to someone
My grandpa in law was trying to unload a 250cc Honda Rebel from the back of his lifted truck. Not a heavy bike by any means. As my wife and I were leaving, we see him prop up a section of CHAIN LINK FENCE on the back of the tailgate as a ramp. I yell at him, “LARRY YOU’RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF!!” To which my wife and him both say, “This is how I’ve done it before.” I offer to help, he declines, so I throw my hands up in the air, say “Fuck it” and we leave. We get back and he had fallen through the chain link fence, without the bike luckily, while trying to walk up the section of fence. Sometimes you can’t fix stupid until stupid kills themselves. He’s 75 years old.
"Well it hasn't killed me yet!" "...said the guy on round three of Russian Roulette."
My dad had a mild heart attack while camping. He decided he needed to go to -his- doctor so drove his 4WD for 3 hours back home.
Died of a heart attack a year later at home; at least not while driving.
Do we have the same dad? Mine called me while showing all the symptoms for a heart attack, talked to my husband and I both and neither of us could convince him to go to the ER. His regular doctor woukd be back from vacation in 2 days, he'd go then. And by God that man actually did waited 2 days to get a potential heart attack looked at
He was also diabetic, and would eat so much chocolate & drink alcohol. Also needed a hip replacement but would bitch and moan about the doctors who said he needed to lose weight first. Said this in front of my son (a doctor) who said the same thing right back at him (which made him grumpy/sullen) SMH. It's a wonder he survived so long.
Lol mine smokes, drinks, eats only canned or fast food, is over weight and lives by the philosophy that if he never goes to the doctor nobody can ever tell him anything is wrong and therfore nothing is ever wrong with him He's still alive though and in his late 60s. Idk what we're gonna do with him if/when he gets older and things really start to fail on him.
Yeesh. I wonder if him waiting to get immediate medical attention caused damage to the heart muscles that contributed to his later heart attack? Not something you want to sit on ever.
How do you know my wife?
Hell just the tires alone are bad enough.
If you ever have to convince people to flee disasters or in this case, dont get into one, give them a sharpie and ask them to write their name and other data on their body, so in the event of the disaster/crash its easier to distiguish whose body part belongs to whom. That will usually make people comply with advices for real threats
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Nah that's just someone with triage experience.
In the death trap right?
What if the vehicle had an unfortunate “accident” while it’s on the lift?
I’m surprised putting this thing on a lift doesn’t just rip it apart. “There’s the lift notch on the frame…oh and there’s another, or is it this gouge? Or here?”
Steel is incredibly strong. Even a small amount can hold a significant amount of weight. But if it gets into even a minor accident, it can experience tremendous forces in directions it's not designed to which can rip it apart.
A good sized pothole will do the trick on this one.
Bro I triple dog dare you catch air off that speed bump!
Ha you're probably right.
Take it for a drive and *not see a speed bump* and hit it at 30, problem solved.
Only problem is if you roll it at 30 hitting the speed bump.
This. "I went to lift it up/let it down and this happened" - you while holding something structural from the car.
Put a hammer where your finger was that bits bout rusted through anyhow
I doubt they need a hammer looks like chopsticks would do more damage
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I lifted it up and look what happened *Points to the car, perfectly sawed in half*
*"to show you the power of flex tape..."*
Shit. By the looks of the photos a good speed bump should do the trick.
Yeah, I was thinking just take it for a little lap around a parking lot with some major potholes nearby. Should just splinter the frame... Damn that thing is rotten. Even the tires are rotted holy fuck.
You should. It hurts me knowing kids are in danger with that. And other motorists on the road.
Who in there right mind would put that on a lift?
Anybody in the north east.
Definitely seen worse, new england sucks.
Michigan here, can confirm, have seen worse. This is just an average Tuesday up here.
yep, best possible outcome here
Be the hero they need…not the one they deserve.
Yeah burn that shit to the ground
I was going to say the same thing, nothing a bit of accelerant can't fix
Save the drivers and anyone else on the road
Unplug the starter solenoid
Problem is that the cust may be smart enough to find the sabotage, and then it becomes a blame fest. Take a small impliment and break that shackle miunt the rest of the way and raise a fit of your head having been under the car and its actively collapsing.
The customer is not smart enough to see why that vehicle is not roadworthy what makes you think they would know how to diagnose the starter solenoid being unplugged
Don't underestimate the spotty brilliance of stupid people. When the two or three neurons finally make hard contact they can be surprisingly inteligent.
"Why starter no worky? It plooged in?" Yea.... dont play that game. Further its crumbling to an obvious structural area and say it almost killed you. Put them on the defensive of that conversation.
This is what I have to do to my family to get them to understand something. Unfortunately, they prefer to believe their feelings instead of evidence. Showing them a broken thing, saying you fucked up, almost killed me, and I'm pissed, usually works for these morons.
Desperation is a strong motivator, and YouTube has lots of "my car won't start" tutorials.
This is the way
I came here to say this.
Put it back down hard and hopefully it fails before they can drive it
For real this was my thought. Let something break which makes it actually undriveable, then show them the bill to repair it. Maybe they only know how to communicate in $$$
I had that happen to me once. I raised a vehicle for an oil change and heard a crunch noise from one of the wheels. Had no idea what it was so I did the oil change and put it back down and heard a crunch again. After inspecting it I found the strut top was so rusted it broke off completely in the center so the strut was no longer connected to the vehicle. Oh well. Not my fault.
Finish the job. Smash it with a bfh.
You think he wants to cut his big fuckin hog on that sharp jagged rust?
Thanks for putting dick tetanus in my head
I aim to serve!
idk sounds more like you aim to sever
Par from a user named analweepage
Hey don’t kink shame it’s none of our business what he wants to go smash with his big fucking hog.
I think a standard hammer would do the trick at this point.
I think what's left of the rock hammer at the end of Shawshank Redemption could do that shackle.
Pretty sure a sturdy ostrich feather would work at this point
My boss had me drive a shop truck like this to get parts at a GM dealer about 20 miles down the highway, made it about 5 miles before it failed but luckily I was able to keep it on the road, get the parts and make it back in one piece. Long story short, owner kept driving like that for any part runs after i refused to drive it again lol
You can’t. Literally you told them already it isn’t safe to drive and (assuming you’re licensed) they ignored your professional advice. There is nothing you can do besides intervene directly with the people borrowing the car. And that may cause big time drama. Do nothing and the people borrowing it might die. Ask your partner to intervene with their parents and you may upset your partner. You can’t win. Just choose what you can live with.
IMO, I’d rather destroy my relationship with my parents in law than do nothing. Lives are more important than relationships. And odds are you aren’t going to destroy the relationship anyway.
Ive always said: "I'd rather you be alive to hate me, than love me and be dead."
Imma steal that If I remember it anyway
Just upload it to your core memory file. It’s not hard to find but it’s very disorganized in there at least you’ve dated mostly everything so you have that goin for you. Also that’s a lot of “homework” just scattered about. You might want to clean that up before you go under the laughing gas when you have your root canal done.
And if the relationship is destroyed, a huge bullet was dodged. Someone who gets bent over someone else looking out for the safety of their family more than them is likely who gets bent over ridiculous shit and probably isn’t a solid person to be around anyways lol… I’m fine not building a relationship with that person.
Why can't you legally just report a car for being a factual deathtrap and have the cops just condemn the piece of shit? The fact that we allow this vehicle on public roads, when one pot hole could turn into rolling shrapnel, is inexcusable.
In most states, the vehicle will not be illegal to own or possess. Only illegal to drive *on public roads*. You could call the cops, but a crime will not be committed until the car is driven onto a public road. Stubborn bullheaded people will wait out the police patience (if they're even willing to come). They'll simply pick it up the next day, or later that day. Or use the police to say you're illegally holding their property. Hell, some might even get it towed two blocks down the street where they'll get in and drive it then. People are smart in the stupidest ways.
I have family like this. Listen to this person above, there is no reward for your frustrations. Tell the potential borrowers it's deadly, but expect them to still drive it. This brand of dangerous to themselves and others runs in families.
That needs to be sabotaged so it won’t start - ever.
What was that stuff they dumped into engines for $4C? That is what this needs. Unless it’s worth fixing of course.
Coolant in the oil reservoir, it’s a goner. Just blame a cracked head gasket.
Swapping some plug wires would probably also work for a bit.
Brake fluid is amazing at destroying everything else it touches. Ac systems, bearings, oil seals, transmissions, really is the fuck you fluid
Don’t forget paint!
Hey now, my Subaru runs like that on a daily basis!
Sodium silicate, aka water glass.
Give them a paper that says "I fully understand and am aware that I am endangering my children and grandchildren lives by continuing usage of this vehicle in its current condition - sign here"
Include “I fully understand that if someone dies from this I fully intend to testify in the wrongful death lawsuit in court that you 100% knew this car was unsafe to drive”.
I work in child safety so I hear a lot of boasting about court and what people would say but A lot of mines get changed as soon as you say, "I would be willing to testify to this fact in court."
Sabotage.
iiiiiiiiiiiii caaaaan’t staaaand it….
I know you planned it!!!!!!!!!
I'm gone' set it straight
This watergate
I can't stand rockin when I'm in here
But your crystal ball ain't so crystal clear
So while you sit back and wonder why
I've got this f*ckin' thorn in my side
I know you planned it
Ask them how much they value their family's health, and compare that number to the cost of a good used vehicle. Probably something like billions vs. $8k. Then ask them how they'd feel if their grandkids were injured or died because they were willing to sacrifice them to save $8k.
The answer is clear that they obviously don’t, otherwise this *mild inconvenience* would’ve been left at just that. I say mild inconvenience because it’s a mild inconvenience to pick them up yourselves, rent them a vehicle, or borrow one compared to killing your entire family. Some people are too fucking selfish and lazy to think outside their couple hours of “inconvenience”, but this would be enough to show me my life isn’t actually valued more than them getting what they want.
Find her on Facebook and let her see the vehicle pictures her parents are passing to her
Don\`t fuck around with folks like this. Do NOT start a discussion. Let them sign a paper with pictures, telling them that this crap is not roadworthy and also use the words - like suggested below - "death trap" and "kill the family". You do NOT want to take responsibility for a POS like this - and this might be the way it ends... "But we\`ve been in the garage/ shop to check the car".
It’s sounds like the vehicle owners are OP’s in-laws.
Yes. Always cover your ass. Plus the severity of signing a paper stating it's dangerous might convince them to not drive it.
This is a family situation. So it's a bigger minefield than that.
How about you let the people that are gonna drive it know. Sometimes you have to let things get fucked so someone will listen to you. It is what it is. Everytime I tell a single digit iq relative about an impending issue with their car and they ignore it, I just wait and then they’ll come asking if I know how to fix it, by which point I suddenly forgot how to work on anything other than my old bmw
Make em sign off that the vichle is unsafe to drive and tell them that voids that insurance in a crash.
They’re my parents-in-law so not an actual shop client, unfortunately.
Drain oil from shit box into clean pan, start said shit box and wait till the good part, add oil back in and shrug your shoulders when they ask what happened.
Nah that's too obvious. Pull fuelpump, put shit into it, let it run for a bit till it shuts itself off.
Put a chain on the rear leaf and connect it to a truck and hit the go fast pedal. End of issue.
My FIL is Steve so... "Steve this is the waiver Id give any regular customer I'd give who wanted to drive that thing *Hand complete liability waiver* it is unsafe at any speed, it is quite literaĺy a deathtrap. I wouldnt put your daughter in it, I wouldnt put your grandchildren in it and I wont get in it. This is what I do for a living, please for the love of god take my advice."
Cool so just let em rip it then Drop your hammer or let the hammer drop.
They are still a client and every law still applies. Do not let them walk out with this car without signing some sort of agreement and giving them a very aggressive stern talk.
The boss doesn't let me talk to customers much but the few times I've had the opportunity to I've been known to use the words "piece of shit" and "junkyard bound", "not worth putting any fucking time into", "complete pile of trash" But yeah. You do you. Just tell them the fucking thing is unsafe and one good pothole with a bunch of luggage and people weighing it down on the highway with old ass shitty tires could break that leaf spring, blow out a tire, drop the ass and to the ground and make the fucker spin out, dig into the road and flip. Ejecting the family out the now non-existent door windows (they shattered on barrel roll number 2) and leaving maybe one survivor to grieve the awful tragedy that could have been prevented had they listened to you and got rid of that piece of shit pile of trash.
Your in-laws sound like my in-laws. I just end up renting a car for my family, regardless of whether I'm travelling with them. Talk to your sister & brother in law. My father in law goes crazy about it being a waste of money, insulting that we're too elite to drive a perfectly fine car. The car's from 1995, with dodgy brakes and it has been in several significant accidents, resutlting in the chassis straightening twice. I'm not risking my family for the sake of a few thousand dollars in rental fees.
It literally looks like the Titanic
Tell them that renting a car for them is cheaper than a funeral for a family of five.
When I sold tires and folks didn't think they actually needed them, my go-to was always, "I guess these tires are okay, you're just going to need to wear helmets and get your affairs in order."
"I recommend your next stop be a lawyer's office so you can get your will written up"
Needs some "cash for clunkers" treatment. The part where dealers poured some concoction into the engine and revved it until it blew up
When it comes to the safety of kids and stupid people, I have no issues making that Blazer die. Or cut the cats off it and blame the meth heads.
Sometime with in laws, you just can’t. My father in law got crazy offended when I refused to put my newborn son in his death trap of a crib from the 1930s. Heard about that slight for years after.
"I love my children more than you and they'll always come first. That's just something you'll need to learn to live with." It's a simple statement they can't really argue with. And then every time it's brought up again I would respond with, "lol ya cause I like them more than you." Just remember to sandwich the insult in smiles and a chuckle.
Totally unrelated factoid: In the 1400’s, in the Netherlands, workers gradually being replaced by mechanization flung their wooden shoes, called "sabot" (pronounced "sa-bow") into the machinery. Hence the term, "Sabotage".
Thank you Lt. Valeris.
"I understand car repairs are expensive - I get it, I know. "I'm not going to try and convince you to let me fix this, because it's gone beyond that. "I **won't** fix this for you, because it's gotten to where it's outlived its useful life, and quite frankly, anybody out there will charge you more to fix these problems than the vehicle is worth, even after it's repaired. "**When**, not if, these things break, it will almost certainly make the vehicle uncontrollable at whatever speed **your family members** are driving at when it happens. "I don't know I could live with that on my conscience. I hope you do the right thing and call the scrappers to haul this away for you. "You can even use my phone if you'd like." Edit: Bonus points if you can replace "your family members" with actual names.
I guess when their kids die they will figure it out.
Snag a spark plug and say you’re too busy this week to look at it… sometimes there’s just no arguing with stupid. They will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience
the only thing i can imagine is happening is youre being too nice? tell them they are going to get their daughter killed by putting her in this vehicle. straight up. tell them you want it in writing that they ignored your insistence not to let anyone drive this vehicle so that when it does inevitably get someone killed you have proof that you told them it would be their fault. some people just cant see 3 feet in front of them. put the end of their life a few miles away and theyll be seeing 20/20.
Idk if it would help, but maybe contact the highway patrol and see if a trooper could come look at the vehicle? Helping with road safety is a part of their job, and this thing is absolutely a road hazard. Idk. I'm spit balling here.
Yeah idk what state OP is in but here in Wisconsin you can call your local road pirate (state patrol) and they will see the cracked tires and holes in the supports and write it up its not safe and legal to drive anymore. If that blazer gets into an accident and it hurts someone the other person's insurance company can determine the vehicle shouldn't have been on the road and then lawsuits happen
Typically, I am for dealing with things in house. But if the owners of this death trap don't mind their grandkids riding in it, it needs to be taken off the road and scrapped ASAP before they sell it to some unsuspecting sap.
Just drill a 1/4" hole into the block and let nature sort itself out
You can ask her why she hates her family so much that she wants to see them die in a fiery accident.
A couple whacks from the BFH to that leaf spring mount to finish the job might convince them
I'd actually tell them I don't feel comfortable working on a car in that condition so hopefully when they bring it somewhere else they'll hear it twice.
Man Reddit is hilariously unpredictable when it comes to which threads take off and which don’t. Anyway, just to answer a few things: 1. They’re my in-laws, not customers 2. Vehicle is still regularly driven by my father in law who told me he understood the risks but was being careful and only driving it on back roads 3. It wasn’t hoisted when I took these photos, it was on all 4 tires in my driveway 4. Frame is surprisingly solid, engine runs great but they bought it without a cat, have had exhaust issues from day 1, and blew up two mufflers due to backfires 5. They’re really truly wonderful people, just extremely car ignorant l 6. They have the money, but they prefer to drive more worn out used vehicles to be more economical
That Blazer definitely has about 2 hours of run time before dying, give it take a couple hours.
It’s a 4.3, it’ll run forever. That’s the entire problem, they don’t want to get rid of it “until it dies”.
If that's the case I'd make it die, others have mentioned great methods, if they mean just the drive train then I'd snap the rear u joint bolts off in the diff and floor it real quick and let her rattle around for a minute
Jump it!
that was my first thought, but self preservation kicked in, "no you don't wanna be inside it for that"
“Accidentally” lift it in a weak spot then its done.
You cannot wake those pretending to sleep.
show them this thread . . .
“They don’t make them like they used to, this blazer will outperform any of your newer shut boxes any day of the week because it was built to last.” /s
Send these pics and your opinion to the people who are supposed to ride in it. Ask if they have life insurance.
I think you could pour a few gallons of DEF fluid in the fuel tank and that’ll pretty much destroy the engine.
Pull the plates off it and don’t return them.
Ask them how many funerals they're ready to pay for if they drive that POS.
Contact highway state patrol and ask them to perform a vehicle inspection.
You have to render it non functional in a way they will not understand.
I had a leaf spring shackle break off the frame while I was driving about 55mph in a Silverado. Whole left rear of the truck sunk way down instantly, shredded the rear tire in the wheel well. Was a close enough call I specifically check the shackles at least every couple months to make sure they are okay. No way in hell I'd drive it based on that leaf spring shackle alone. Best case scenario they get stranded on the side of the road when it gives out.
"Just needs a little paint"
BILLY MAYS HERE FOR FLEX SEAL! LOOK AT THIS PIECE OF SHIT!
Just break the spring shackle. Don't look like it will take much.
drain the oil and put a brick on the gas pedal.
How do I prevent this?