Brake Job Gone Wrong

A customer recently brought his Ford in for service. At the time he was informed he needed new bakes front and rear. The customer declined the repair, citing “I can do that myself”. No problem at all, give us a call if there is a repair we can help you with.

A couple weeks later the customer returned, asking that the brakes be bled. He had replaced the brake pads, and had the rotors turned, but ever since the brake service he had a spongy brake pedal. Not knowing exactly what when wrong, we complied with the request and found that no matter how much the brake system was bled, the pedal was not quite right. The first time the pedal was depressed, it was soft, nearly going to the floor. If the pedal was pumped, the brakes would operate normally after the second or third pump. It seemed to be the classic air bubble, or a bad master cylinder. The question remained, why can’t we bleed the bubble out, and how could a brake service cause a bad master cylinder?
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Ford Triton Motor Spat A Spark Plug

A sadly common problem we see around here is that the Ford gasoline motors will spit spark plugs out. Looks and sounds a bit like this.

Fortunately for us, and the owners of the effected motors, there is a easy and convenient repair. This kit allows us to cut new threads into the head with out removing it from the vehicle. An insert is then installed, and presto! the vehicle can once again accept an spark plug. Generally speaking, you will also need a new coil pack, as the retaining bracket will be broken. We also toss in the other seven spark plugs while we are at it. After the repair, it runs about as smooth as a Ford Triton motor could.

Bent Rim

bad wheel bearingThis customer came into the shop for a noise. The noise was caused by a bad wheel bearing. The vehicle only has 24,000 miles on it, and when we checked the rim, we found it was rather bent. Most likely the customer hit something with great force, bending the rim and ruining the wheel bearing. We replaced the wheel bearing and this rim. If you put a rim that is this far out of balance back on the car, you would tare up tires and even wheel bearings. Note, a wheel this size should take an ounce or less per side to balance, this rim called for two ounces on one side, and five on the other.