Grease The Wheels Podcast

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Episode 306: Emotional Rescue Oct 09, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes a serious look at mental health with way more F-Bombs than Dr. Phil could ever muster. Due to the potentially disturbing nature of this show, we are actually going to put up a content warning for marked discussions on Suicide, while putting a link to the relevant people below. This is a big deal in this industry, worldwide and since the pandemic specifically. We as an industry don’t talk about mental health very often, and when we do it is mostly masked in self-deprecating or gallows humor. The real fact remains that the constant march of technological progress combined with the overall chaos that the human element brings to the situation, working in a shop can create an incredible amount of stress - and if you can’t deal with it you need to find ways that are not self-destructive. Sometimes that is taking a different position in the company, sometimes it is changing occupations entirely. The bottom line is that in a world full of problems the people who solve those problems have never been more valuable. As a result, you wrench twisting bastards are valuable - so don’t solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution that leaves your friends, family, coworkers and acquaintances wondering why. Because none of you are allowed to die before Uncle Jimmy.

Also Uncle Jimmy wants you to reach out if things in your head aren’t going great right now. If it is more serious than that we suggest following this Link

Episode 305: Can’t You Hear Me Knocking Oct 02, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy weaves between the extremely specific and the bigger picture when it comes to diagnosis. Having the right tools, being able to read things like wiring diagrams, and having an understanding of suspension components are all going to aid your diagnosis of vehicles - but one of the most overlooked ones is the new systems training. As the products that the manufacturers turn out become more and more complex, the people who need to fix these systems when the inevitably break need to be versed in how they work so they can repair them when they don’t! Having a second opinion on your diagnosis is always a good thing, if your shop's interpersonal dynamics allow for it!

Also Uncle Jimmy uncovers the conspiracy of “Shitbox Gate” and starts the PSA: “Just say no to flood cars!”

Episode 304: Beast of Burden Sep 26, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, Uncle Jimmy enters the nebulous and often fantastical realm of warranty labor times. There are a host of problems with this system, mainly that no one can agree EXACTLY how the labor time is produced. The secondary problem with this is that the manufacturer is trying to pay their dealerships as little as humanly possible for what is often an error in quality control or a third party vendor. Then we get to aftermarket warranties - and Uncle Jimmy absolutely empties the clip. We talk about the worst ones, and an incredibly useful tactic for getting the blame off of your dealership and onto the warranty company that is refusing to pay their bill - get their contact information and explain to the customer that their warranty company will not pay the entire thing. This will save you more time than you will ever know! The only thing that we know for certain is that if the warranty time is provided by AllData, it’s almost exclusively to screw over the person fixing it!

Also Uncle Jimmy quotes Nirvana more times than he ever thought he would.

Episode 303: Worried About You Sep 19, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, we talk about the absolute basics that people should know about their cars in a revisit on the concept of “Automotive Kindergarten” . We exist because the vast majority of people who own a car today have no idea how they work. They just know that when they dont - it is going to cost them time and money. Where the misconception comes in is that we as the technicians are not ripping them off, but we have covered that one before. We get into the nitty gritty with the basics of tires, brakes, safety systems and why you can’t reuse them if you are trying to grab some junkyard parts. There are a lot of really good reasons for this, mainly that many of the safety features on modern cars are a one shot sort of deal. We also get into the engineering of modern cars and how they are designed to last longer, work better, and why everything is turbocharged. We aren’t going to complain, but it was one of the major extinction events for older techs in shops all around the country.

Also Uncle Jimmy talks about tire pressures, run flats, and some of the other hot button issues of a seasonal change.

Episode 302: You Can’t Always Get What You Want Sep 11, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the wheels, we apply some “yang” to last week’s “ying” of putting Service Advisors and Service Managers to the rack. The episode title comes from the customers in this case, which we make readily apparent. We go over some of the dumbest, most out of line, and most dramatically overblown customer reactions as well as some of their less than reasonable moments for calling a shop. From using quarter clutch and getting mad at the technician, to calling the manufacturer because your phone got stuck - Service Advisors and Managers have to deal with this stuff on a daily basis, but we want to hear your own highlight reel - what are some of the most unreasonable, uninformed, and downright ridiculous customer complaints that you have ever heard? Let us know over on the facebook page!

Also Uncle Jimmy gets an incredibly specific amount change out of a floor by employing the “Sisyphus-Clarkson Method”.

Episode 301: Turd on the Run Sep 05, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy comes off of summer break and gets medieval on Service Advisors. If you can see the cords hanging out of a set of tires, you really don’t need a tire gauge to tell you they are smoked. All we are asking for is that you ask for the sale, don’t avoid customers, and make sense with the repair order. That’s it! We get into some of the ways that a service advisor can be great, but a lot of them should not be in the business in the first place! We go over the basics, and tell you how to augment the entire process with tons of transparency through video multipoint inspections. Bottom line, they need help, and the more that you can break down the communication barriers with technology - the more profitable that your shop is going to be.

Also Uncle Jimmy references a song production has never heard of.

Episode 300: I Can’t Be Satisfied Aug 21, 2024

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On this week’s (on time!) episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy takes a look at last week’s episode through a new set of parameters with a little more of a preservation minded end. There are a lot of reasons why people do not want to become automotive technicians, but the ones who do need to be properly developed. We can’t be chasing them out of the building with massive tool debts and little to no professional development. The rear rub here is with management trying to keep wages stagnant across the board to keep overhead down while the cost of literally everything keeps going up. This is leading to high turnover at many stagnant businesses, and is chasing experienced technicians elsewhere. The long term data on this, even since we have been broadcasting has gotten worse, but that is a good thing for anyone with a lot of experience and stuff to fix. Shop labor rates keep going up, and in many cases thankfully so are the wages - but this serves as a stark reminder for the shops where they are not!

Also Uncle Jimmy eviscerates the Mets.

Episode 299: No Satisfaction Aug 13, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy makes some of his own lists as to why people are not joining the automotive trades, although the current slate of youngsters is picking it up more than the millennials and Gen X did. There are tons of reasons both internal to the shop and external that cause people to leave the automotive profession. Societal pressures for 4 year degrees, lack of access, and even a lack of passion for vehicles have caused the ranks to dwindle - but the real carnage happens inside the shop. From this being an incredibly physical job, to inept and uncaring management, the automotive service industry is fraught with challenges. This is why so many people who get into the automotive trades end up leaving. However, the biggest problem is the rapid pace of advancement for the cars that we work on and the compensation that we receive to do it.

Also Erik forgets to hit “publish”

Episode 298: Stop Breaking Down Jul 31, 2024

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On this week’s episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy goes into what the internet thinks is the top 10 causes of cars breaking down. Some of these haven’t been relevant in almost 30 years, while some of these we have never seen once in our wrenching careers - this is a bit dated so we have a fair bit of fun with it. In a weird semantic sort of argument, a lot of these are more “reasons why your car isn’t working in the first place” rather than the cause of mid-trip breakdowns. We also get into some of the incredible advancements in user friendliness that cars have baked into themselves over the past 50 years, as well as Uncle Jimmy’s own personal “I wasn’t home yet!” experience. Coolant, charging systems, and tires are more the culprit to modern breakdowns, but you already knew that! This is a jam-packed, double-barrelled episode that you are not going to want to miss even though you probably won’t learn anything! Wait, we lied! Tune in for how to easily diagnose starter motor batteries on some of your various high voltage, mild hybrid vehicles.

Also Uncle Jimmy lists his favorite repair manuals.

Episode 297: All About You Jul 22, 2024

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In this week’s heavily delayed episode of Grease the Wheels, Uncle Jimmy talks about the people who think the world revolves around them. We also do a seriously deep dive on the differences between being confident and being arrogant - turns out it's a pretty fine line dictated entirely by how you treat people! You can have tons of knowledge and use it for all the right reasons, but the minute you can’t back it up, or problems are suddenly not you daily - you’ve made the switch. Confidence isn’t a bad thing, and can go a seriously long way towards advancing your career, but when it traverses into arrogance, people are going to start rooting for you to fail!

Also Uncle Jimmy wants your “Ego Check Moment” Stories!

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