I need some guidance

[kshansen]

On the electronics engines, best advice I ever received was "Don't forget it is still an engine with Mechanical Faults that will trigger electronic malfunctions" Just fixing electronics codes many times would not fix the fault as I witnessed mechanics throw high dollar parts at machines.

Not an electronic engine but a 988H that kept sounding the plugged trans. filter alarm.

After doing basic things like change filter and then the pressure switch, when that did not work I installed two pressure gauges to prove that there was no pressure drop across the filter, at least nowhere enough to set the alarm off. Cat dealer rep was convinced the problem was in the monitor panel on the dash and recommended replacing it. To make a long story somewhat shorter finally almost by accident found that a transmission temperature sensor was triggering the plugged filter alarm.

Never could get anyone at Cat to explain how that was happening. But I sure know the boss would not have been happy if I had taken the Cat rep's advice and bought a new monitor and the problem was still there!

So this was one time if you believed the computer, either the Cat ET one or the on-board ECM it would have cost hundreds of dollars with no cure!

What really sucked is no one in the company felt it was important information to be shared with other plant mechanics who also had 988H and there were I recall at least half a dozen just in our state all bought around the same time. Have to wonder if our's had this problem how many others also might experience it as well?

 

[DMiller]

And to think, all the newer machines have electronics EVERYWHERE. Still have mechanical faults, those transition to electronic cannot cope faults, those show up as bad or corrupt sensor streams, expand that by the volume of electro-mechanical systems today, then add in manufacturer proprietary limitations.

 

[funwithfuel]

And to think, all the newer machines have electronics EVERYWHERE. Still have mechanical faults, those transition to electronic cannot cope faults, those show up as bad or corrupt sensor streams, expand that by the volume of electro-mechanical systems today, then add in manufacturer proprietary limitations.

If the value doesn't fit in the parameters, it must be a sensor or actuator. Can't possibly be a mechanical failure, that would mean i get my hands dirty. Nope, must be a sensor.

 

[DMiller]

Funny FWF!

 

[T-Bird]

i have not read all 8 pages but i can tell you this, after doing this type of work for nearly 30 years the book time can work for or against you. if you get paid book time for a certain job and can beat book time all is good, if it takes you twice as long then you are in the hole! if you are getting payed hourly then the dealer or the customer are the ones that benefit from you busting azz. oh it gets better, when you have to buy new tools or go get reeducated just to be able to keep up with changes. I have specialty tools in my toolbox that are obsolete now. I am not going to crack on JD only but they have been living off of their name for many decades now. still a pretty decent machine but not near what they were.

 

[T-Bird]

my biggest pet peeve with book time is, thats the amount of time it SHOULD take. Factor in a aged machine with rusty bolts, grease and grime oil leaks and it Will take longer. Example that happened to me last week, i had to remove the steering clutch covers on a tracked machine. complaint was the brakes wouldnt release, problem found shafts and linkages were rusty, solution take apart and clean and reseal everything. one side was over and done with in a hour and a half flat, the other side was a 5 hour job! same procudure to a bean counter but every bolt head was rusted to some extent a few had to be ground out and one had to be drilled out! It was a royal PITA but the folks in the airconditioned office area dont know and sometimes just flat out dont care......

 

[funwithfuel]

my biggest pet peeve with book time is, thats the amount of time it SHOULD take. Factor in a aged machine with rusty bolts, grease and grime oil leaks and it Will take longer. Example that happened to me last week, i had to remove the steering clutch covers on a tracked machine. complaint was the brakes wouldnt release, problem found shafts and linkages were rusty, solution take apart and clean and reseal everything. one side was over and done with in a hour and a half flat, the other side was a 5 hour job! same procudure to a bean counter but every bolt head was rusted to some extent a few had to be ground out and one had to be drilled out! It was a royal PITA but the folks in the airconditioned office area dont know and sometimes just flat out dont care......

Creative writing 101. Your pen is your most valuable tool. Well it was, now its your smartphone and laptop, but you get the point.

 

[T-Bird]

i guess, depends on who you work for and how they bill things. one shop i worked at had a great reputation for doing good work but would not charge by the book, they had a flat shop rate and however long it took unless is was something unrealistic was what was charged. screwoffs didnt last very long there.

 

[Birken Vogt]

If there is a flat rate then there ought to be like a separate line item for every broken bolt removal, etc.

I just love the ones where somebody has been there before and messed everything up and you had to spend twice the time redoing it. Never sure how the customer will react when you hand them that bill.

 

[DMiller]

Exactly as noted
Bolts rusted grinding required to remove any torch time any other than dissassemble and reassemble with regular tools is a separate clock time gets entered as T&M or time and materials
All the pressure washing anything besides the basic work gets a separate clock time. Have to learn to work the system now that does not include taking your time and does not allow dawdling with others

 

[John C.]

Caterpillar runs a distance education program called Cat University where all the employees can enroll in defined areas of education. Mechanics, product support, sale reps, administration, trainers and even executive staff have curriculums designed to allow training in nearly any aspect of the business that you can think off. Most of the mechanics at the dealer I worked at were required to accomplish minimum requirements for each pay grade. I can't tell you how many continuing education credits I have received going through the process. All technical occupations should have this available. Unfortunately it is not available that I know of to people outside of the dealer network or the manufacturer.

 

[kshansen]

i guess, depends on who you work for and how they bill things. one shop i worked at had a great reputation for doing good work but would not charge by the book, they had a flat shop rate and however long it took unless is was something unrealistic was what was charged. screwoffs didnt last very long there.

Neighbor kid when I was growing up got himself in to doing body work on cars. Was working for one of the larger dealerships in the area. After a few years of that he quit and went out on his own, main reason was the BS of flat rate. See the guy who assigned jobs gave preference to his drinking buddies and such and my neighbor always seemed to get the old rust bucket cars to deal with that took much longer than the flat rate books estimate.

 

[T-Bird]

kshansen, I think you misunderstood the flat rate i was talking about was the shops flat hourly rate, nevermind what the book time is. he charged x$ for ever how many hours the job actually took. I never minded working book time, in most cases it worked to my advantage. shop was going to charge my wife $90 to replace front wheel bearing on her car, thats was just labor I told her bring it home. took me 27 minutes including putting all the wrenches back away. they want me to come to work for them, still thinking about it. hard to go back to work for sombody else when you have been on your own.

 

[T-Bird]

one line i heard many years ago from a man that was almost ready to retire and i am holding this line for just the right time. he wasnt a mechanic he worked in a warehouse driving a forklift unloading trucks, new driver comes in smothering cant you unload me any faster?! Old pat look at him and says, "I have 2 speeds if you dont like this one you sure as hell dont want to see the other one". I had to leave, i couldnt hold back the laughter!!

 

[thepumpguysc]

Lol.. I love that saying.. I saw that written on a sign in some old rundown convienent store out on US 1 around Melbourne, Fla.. This old.. & I MEAN OLD man was behind the counter.. if he moved any slower my beer woulda got to warm to drink.. THEN I saw that sign.. lol.. I figured it wouldn'ta done me any good to say anything..Lol But LIKE U.. I never forgot it..

 

[Blue924.9]

So what is the hourly wage Ziegler is starting you at?

20.70 per hour for the Technician-Truck position