Silly kids work at parts stores....

[Bollocky]

I went to the discount/advance, whatever it is now, to get some shiney new parts for my water system and the kid sells me this:

I looked at it in the store and said 'i don't know...it has a fancy connection for a fancy computer. I don't have any of those.' He said that's the peice for my 84, but I didn't get it, I just had him order me that 'other one that they don't stock anymore'. Yeah, that's the one. just one wire, just one purpose. To tell ME a temp reading, not the computer, not the carb, not the USDOT inspectors via blackberry email, just me and my little temp guage who's sleeping half the time. Grrr 18yr old experts irk me a bit sometimes

 

[kohldad]

I always make sure I can see the computer screen when they enter the selections so I know they get the right part's listing. Bet you that was the part for a 94 vehicle, not an 84. Probably punched in Wrangler, after all isn't that what all Jeeps are?

Unfortunately, my usual parts store know how to punch in 82 Scrambler since I've ordered so many parts over the last two years (surprisingly most of the counter folks have worked there the whole time). They would have it punched it by the time I get to the counter, except they've learned I have so many different vehicles parts on it they need to wait to see what I need.

 

[scott anderson]

u should have seen how hard they looked for a fuel injector for an 81 scrambler....

 

[John N]

u should have seen how hard they looked for a fuel injector for an 81 scrambler....

With a 360 V-8!!

 

[sobrbear]

Metric vs. Non..

Last summer I had some work done and an oil change just before going on a run from Baldwin Lake, to Burns Canyon. We left Palm Springs and re-grouped on Old Woman Springs Rd in Joshua Tree. From there we headed out to Highway 18. I mentioned that I had to get gas and I would catch up with the group.

Well, pulling out of the station, something came flying out from underneath the Jeep and just as I started to climb the hill, engine knocked and I watched my oil pressure dissapear. Immediately stopped, popped the hood and saw the oil filter was missing.

Luckily I was on a hill, so we rolled the Jeep back, turned and pushed it back on the road and coasted down and into a parking lot. It just happened that there was a Auto Zone parts right there. I told my friend that we needed to find the oil filter so we could get the part size or maybe even just put it back on. We found it in the gutter of the road, banged up and covered in dirt and sand.

I walked into the auto parts store, showed it to the kid behind the counter. Told him that I had a 1984 Scrambler. He looked up the part, looked at the oil filter and said, this is too big, yours should look like this, and takes down a oil filter about the size of a lemon. It was so tiny compared to the one that came off my Jeep.

He showed me the montior and where the part was listed and compared it to what I had. So, that done, we bought it and the right amount of oil to go in the motor and I was back on the road and finished out the day and run. I managed to get stuck up to the doors in mud.

The next day, I went back to my mechanic and after some disussion and me waiting patiently, it was discovered his guy read the numbers wrong and put a 1994 (metric) on a 1984 NON METRIC Jeep.

Needless to say, my mechanic apologized up and down and offered a free oil change the next time and when I took my Cherokee in, he knocked off $175 off the repair bill.

So, sometimes it's not the kid that gets things wrong, but right. Hmmmm


So thats my story.

 

[TexasAg77]

Hum, That looks like a Temp Sensor that fits an OBD1 -91-94 4.0. I know 'cause I am about to change mine out. And it takes a 19MM wrench to do it. (Had to bring metric into this reply for continuity!)

They get really confused with 4.0's in '83s too!

 

[Robert Slone]

I have a friend with an '86 CJ7. A couple of years ago he went to a parts shop to replace a headlight and the guy behind the counter handed him a square one. He told the guy it wouldn't work and the guy insisted this was the right light - he was looking at it on the computer screen, it had to be right. He wouldn't listen when my friend told him his light was round and he was welcome to step outside and take a look. The guy told him that wouldn't be necessary, if the square light wouldn't work then he couldn't help.

I went to a parts shop a couple of years ago for wiper blades. I told the guy what I had and he looked on the computer and handed me a pair of blades which I could tell wouldn't work, but he insisted they were the ones listed for my vehicle. I looked in the console and found the part # from the last pair I had bought (from the same shop). I had kept the part # because I had trouble finding them before. So I took the # and went to the rack with replacement blades and found what I needed.

That computer bidness must be tougher than it looks.

 

[dirtyjeep]

My wife used to work at Autozone. They hired her to run the register originally but she ended up working the parts counter a lot because it was usually busy. She almost always got people the correct parts but it's amazing how stupid some of the guys who were hired for the parts counter were. She ended up quitting because she was 'hired for the register' not the parts counter even though she was the best parts person they had.