www.lj10.com

Wife takes LJ10/20 to local kwicklube place to have engine oil changed while hubby is out of town. Hilarity ensues....

Shoulda been a video. Apparently, not one of the staff, including the manager, could find the oil drain plug....

Phone call to husband at work 250 miles away: " Mr Howlett, this is **** from kwicklube. Your wife is here with your truck, and it doesn't appear to be in our repair database. Could you please tell us what grade and where to put the new oil...."

that sounds like something my wife would do

I have SO gotta pull that trick on the noobs at the tire shop!

SuzukiTom wrote:Phone call to husband at work 250 miles away: " Mr Howlett, this is **** from kwicklube. Your wife is here with your truck, and it doesn't appear to be in our repair database. Could you please tell us what grade and where to put the new oil...."

OUCH!!!

Pure Gold

Been laughing about it all day.

Wow, none of them could figure out it was a two stroke? And I guess none of them paid any attention to that tank on the firewall either...

This is Nancy. Must have been his first wife who did that.

The quite ones do tend to have secrets.







He could have saved that one for April 1.

Take care Nancy, AND ... take care of TOM for us, will you.

SuzukiTom wrote:This is Nancy. Must have been his first wife who did that.

Oh, I thought you took it there as a joke (as I've comtemplated doing the same thing!)

I've been instructed that I need to say the previous story line was completely fictitious, and that any resemblance to Nancy is coincidental.
Besides, Nancy would never, ever, take a vehicle in for a oil change

stevec wrote:Wow, none of them could figure out it was a two stroke? And I guess none of them paid any attention to that tank on the firewall either...

This was actually meant as an indictment of the current state of hired help at motor vehicle repair and parts stores. If something doesn't appear in their 'computerized' inventory system, it simply doesn't exist. You can even have the old part in hand, with a part number, and they won't even try to find it. This has actually happened to me. I needed a new battery for my J**p. I went down to the local O'Riellys, which had a prominent display of Optima batteries. I told the counterman what I wanted, and he looked it up on his terminal, and said, "sorry, we're out of that one." I looked over at the display, and said, "what about that one?", pointing at the Optima display. What was on the rack was an Optima with dual terminals, both top posts and side terminals. What the computer said fit was just the top-post style. They actually refused to sell me the dual terminal version because their database said it wouldn't fit, even though I knew it would fit just fine. Now I search out the oldest, dustiest parts stores I can find. Because I know that that crusty old guy behind the counter knows exactly what he has, and will scour the shelves looking something that will work if they don't have the exact part.
If the lack of enthusiasm I see behind the counter of parts departments is universal, I fear for our sport.

Shoot... The side posts on the Optima in my Heep make for a real handy spot to hook up the winch!

SuzukiTom wrote:If the lack of enthusiasm I see behind the counter of parts departments is universal, I fear for our sport.

Hell, I fear for the whole country, not just our sport. Ignorance and apathy are rampant in the work force.

tweeder wrote:Shoot... The side posts on the Optima in my Heep make for a real handy spot to hook up the winch!

x2

SuzukiTom wrote:This was actually meant as an indictment of the current state of hired help at motor vehicle repair and parts stores. If something doesn't appear in their 'computerized' inventory system, it simply doesn't exist. You can even have the old part in hand, with a part number, and they won't even try to find it. This has actually happened to me. I needed a new battery for my J**p. I went down to the local O'Riellys, which had a prominent display of Optima batteries. I told the counterman what I wanted, and he looked it up on his terminal, and said, "sorry, we're out of that one." I looked over at the display, and said, "what about that one?", pointing at the Optima display. What was on the rack was an Optima with dual terminals, both top posts and side terminals. What the computer said fit was just the top-post style. They actually refused to sell me the dual terminal version because their database said it wouldn't fit, even though I knew it would fit just fine. Now I search out the oldest, dustiest parts stores I can find. Because I know that that crusty old guy behind the counter knows exactly what he has, and will scour the shelves looking something that will work if they don't have the exact part.
If the lack of enthusiasm I see behind the counter of parts departments is universal, I fear for our sport.

I think we've all been there. These days, the only thing I usually buy at O'Reillys is oil, because it is a lot cheaper there than the other place in town, and because I know they use it as a "loss leader", so they aren't actually making money from it. When I needed plugs for my LJ10 after the meet, I went there and gave them both the old and new NGK numbers, and they still wanted to look it up on their computer. There's a NAPA in town - the hours are much shorter, but the six guys working there have been there longer than I have (I've lived there over 12 years.) I can bring in a part, and they will look it up in the old books, to see if it matches up with anything, or just walk me back to where they are on the shelf and let me look for one that will work.

And yes, on my Samurai, I used the side posts on my Optima for the winch cables too!

Most parts guys are like that over here too. Another thing that bugs me is if I go to a Suzuki dealer they can't even look for a part for the LJ50 without me quoting the VIN. I then give the 6 digit number and then it's "and the rest?" So I have to answer " made in 1975 buddy, that's all there is". Usually the LJ is older than the kid at the counter and a coily Samurai is old to them.

My local Suzuki dealer adamantly refused to believe that my 5 digit vin on my 85 SJ413 was correct......

His exact words were " I've been doing this for 30yrs and no Suzuki ever had a vin number that short! Then he tried to prove it on his computer.

Next day we parked 3 NZ new SJ's in front of the shop and invited him to have a look....

Can't wait to go rub the LJ under his nose.

The 5 digit vins can also cause problems with the Department of Motor Vehicles in some states. Purchased a LJ10 in Arizona last September and the Arizona DMV lady said we she could not issue a new title due to their computers showing the vehicle had been titled in New Hampshire AFTER it was titled in Arizona. Took some really, really down time on our part before the lady’s supervisor discovered the New Hampshire title was not even for a Suzuki.

For me, the town with parts stores is about 30 minutes away and has two O”Reilly’s Stores, one Auto Zone and a NAPA located plumb on the opposite side of town. Due to distance I favor the first one which is an O’Reilly’s. Have experienced the same issues as others have spoken here but our O'Reilly's managers are generally old style parts guys. When I ask for the parts books they will get them for me and make a place on the counter end to use. I appreciate that enough to take them a box of donuts once in a while.

A few of the younger computer parts people want to learn and will watch me use the pictures and dimensions in the books to come up with a part I can use. However, most just do not care. What has surprised me is most of those that seem to want to learn are females. AND, anyone who has seen me will realize the interest of the females must be due to them wanting to learn because I stir zero interest in females..... unless they are wanting something to laugh at that is.

VIN numbers, what a joke !

My hi-way tractor is an International, great truck and no problems with it. Originally it was part of a fleet lease so it is a little spartan which suits me fine but a lot of my work is in the dark so I needed to add some back up spots. Went to the dealer to order a switch that would plug into the dash and match the others. They needed the VIN and on looking it up they told me there is no "back-up light switch" in my truck. Duh !!!!! That's why I am ordering one damn it !!!!! Nope, they have no way of ordering one as it is not on the build list of my truck. Absolutely no imagination or willingness to get the job done, they're worse than civil servants !

John

Long time ago bought a 1963 IHC tractor to convert into a dump. Navy surplus. Went after parts and the dealer asked to see my build list. Had never heard of such but he told me who to call. Made the call, gave the guy the serial numbers, he found the original list in just a second, told me the info I needed to get my parts and mailed me a copy of the list for future use. Very neat, quick and without a computer. Other IHC trivia - When I was twisting bolts for a living our brake shoe catalog for all vehicles was probably about 1/2 inch thick. The IHC applications alone took up over half of the pages. Why? Because IHC would build their trucks like the customer wanted it more than any other brand. This helps to explain their need for the build list.

A few years back we got a suzuki dealership in town (only open for about 6 months) and the owner came out to see the LJ. Had only heard about them and never even seen a pic. Never got anywhere at all for parts and I call the zuke dealer that is 6 hours away and ship.