Misdiagnosis syndrome. They brought me a Dodge 4x4 pickup to checkover for the lot. Tail light broken, bad door handle, etc. Up on the lift I am going over it, front to back. 1st major thing is, the front driveshaft is missing. Yokes are ok, thought the owner took it out for gas mileage, so I hunt down the salesman, to see if the previous owner is going to bring it in. He had no idea what I am talking about. Manager that evaluated it evidently didnt try the 4x4. With good reason, the 4x4 stick on the floor wont move. Looking over the shifter I found the driveshaft when it came loose, pounded the bottom of the shifter rather hard. So, the shifter bracket is 4 months out on backorder. I disassemble it, and do the blacksmith thing in the vise to make it work again. Just about done with that and a super rush job comes in, and tag it, park it out back. Will get to it when the driveshaft comes in. Right? 3 days later see it roll into another mechanics stall. What cha doing I ask? Needs a clutch. Another manager tried to test drive it, found it wouldnt go over 35 mph. Since the 4x4 shifter is unhooked he didnt realize the transfer case is stuck in the low side. He diagnosed it as a slipping clutch, he who needs help running his lawn mower. He ignored the repair note on the steering wheel. The service writer ignored the already open repair order. I wrangle it away from the other mechanic, telll his service writer that my opinion of him just hit a new low, whem he yelled at me for stealing his job.. aw, I dont miss my job. It is great being retired.
