Hello faithful readers i would just like to inform you all that we have recently ventured into opening our own gear box repair shop. This was built specifically for gear boxes and as we now have more and more coming in it will be welcome addition to our expanding workshop. This is also beneficial to the customer as we can now save you both money and time. We guarantee a price that is affordable and much cheaper than our competitors. So if you are hearing any funny noises from your car make sure you book it in.
Whether it is a cam belt horror, a clutch, gear box or even body repair your dedicated KAM team is here to help. There is no problem too big or small and make sure to take car especially in the current climate conditions. Rain, snow, ice even wind can seriously affect your car so make sure to drive safe. If you experience any problems call your local depot or visit our website at http://www.kamservicng.com/ for more details. Our twitter uis also up and running at http://www.twitter.com/dr_kev . Till next time faithful readers keep it shiny side up.
Dr Kev
Thursday, 26 November 2009
KAM column
Hello faithful readers i hope you are enjoying the new addition of the KAM columns straight to you on our blog. It was after many requests from people who do not have access to the papers. For those wanting print copies the KAM column can be found in the following papers:
The Derby Telegraph- Friday motor section
The Recorder
The Topper
The Derby Express
It can be found on Thursday and Fridays depending on the paper and i hope people enjoy them. If you have any comments and questions you can leave them here or contact your local depot. You can also visit the website at www.kamservicing.com.
The Derby Telegraph- Friday motor section
The Recorder
The Topper
The Derby Express
It can be found on Thursday and Fridays depending on the paper and i hope people enjoy them. If you have any comments and questions you can leave them here or contact your local depot. You can also visit the website at www.kamservicing.com.
Miss E's Mini Mystery
Hello faithful readers and welcome to this week’s adventures from the KAM team. With more and more of you gifting us with your car gremlins we have been as busy as ever as we strive to be your number 1-car repair specialists. You can leave your comments, questions and queries on our twitter account at www.twitter.com/dr_kev
This week’s column takes place within the realm our Long Eaton depot where we received a visit from our very glamorous customer Miss E. Miss E has been a customer of ours for over 4 years and as the owner of her own salon knows the pressures of running a business. As she entered the reception she was met by Cool Hand Luke, to whom she regaled her Mini Cooper’s failures. ‘It’s ridiculous Luke I’ve had two new batteries fitted in my car in the last 6 months’ she said visibly frustrated. As Miss E continued it so transpired that her car’s battery had been flat and after taking it to her local garage they ensured her that a new battery was all that was needed. However the battery went flat again after 3 months and the garage gave her the same reason and no further exploration was undertaken. We at KAM do not recommend this way of treating cars and will make thorough checks to ensure all problems are fixed. ‘You see Luke I can’t go back there so they can just do half a job, I need you to fix it, plus I’ve got clients waiting’ continued Miss E. When all the details had been given we dispatched her off in one of our courtesy cars, as we did not want to further disrupt her day, she like us had people depending on her for those hair disasters.
We got to work straight away as Superman Sundeep undertook the task assisted by Strong Arm Steve. After two minutes Sundeep yelled across the workshop ‘I’ve found the problem’. It turned out that due to negligence by the previous garage the wrong battery had been fitted in the car. The Mini Cooper has a smart charge battery, but the garage had fitted a normal budget battery. After replacing this with the right one the boys were happy, yet I was not convinced. The solution was too easily found. Was there an underlying cause to the battery draining out so quickly? I needed an answer.
Superman Sundeep armed with his multiimeters prepared to do a drain test. This is to see whether there is any current running from the battery to a component in the car that maybe left on. ‘Kev you were right’ said Sundeep as the results of the drain test showed the drain to be excessive. The battery was giving off excessive current but where to? We scanned the car’s history and the problem became quickly apparent. It appeared that approximately 6 months ago Miss E had had a new stereo fitted into her car, the same time that the problem had presented itself. In conclusion we found that the stereo would stay on even when the car was off and so had persisted to drain the battery. The stereo had been wired wrong so the live feed was always on. Strong Arm Steve rewired the stereo system resulting in the battery drain parameters returning to normal and the car back to its best. Mystery Solved. We then carried out all the necessary checks to ensure no car gremlins were lurking and after a wash from Dynamo Dhillan the car was ready for collection.
I did still wonder about the stereo and asked Miss E who had fitted it for her as they had failed to do a professional job. First she showed her gratitude for our team doing such a great job then started to laugh. ‘It was my dad Kev, he bought me a stereo for my birthday and fitted it as a surprise, I’ll tell him to leave it to the experts next time hey’.
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Sutton and Long Eaton, along with our bodywork shop are open ever day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley and Heanor workshops and Sutton car sales are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.
Mrs H does the maths
Hello faithful readers and welcome to the adventures of the KAM team. It appears that you are listening to my musings and are continuing to keep our ramps busy as we restore your car’s to perfect health.
This week we had a visit from Mrs H who dropped into our Long Eaton branch to enquire about tyre prices. As a maths teacher and an avid car fan she had done her research and wanted a specific type of Maxxi’s tyres. These are now original equipment on a lot of new vehicles with manufacturers such as Peugeot and Toyota leading the way. She seemed presently surprised at our competitive prices as we beat out all the opposition. We have our own warehouse for which to supply to all of our depots and in turn our running costs are lower than those of the multinational corporations.
While at our Long Eaton branch Mrs H’s Ford Mondeo seemed to be having some problems. She explained how her husband had replaced her starter motor a total of three times in the last eighteen months. She added that the last one he had replaced it with had been a second hand motor from eBay and now she wanted to know the reason for these continuing failings. After taking Mrs H’s details we dispatched her in one of our courtesy cars so she could get back to school to teach. After fitting the Maxxi tyres ‘Tasmanian’ Trev then got to work on the starter motor. The investigations started by Trev undertaking many tests on the starter motor and sure enough the results were poor. The results showed that the problem lay not just inside the starter motor but there was a gremlin elsewhere in the car and we would have to locate it.
So where to start? The starter motor off course could we find some vital evidence to piece together the missing part of this diagnostic puzzle? Upon removal we found gatherings of dust in the starter motor and the bearings were worn. Now just to get technical for a moment the starter motor starts the engine and turns the fly wheel. On a Ford Mondeo however it is a dual- fast fly wheel and this had been damaged, in turn causing damage to the starter motor.
We had to ring Mrs H for her consent to fix the car and she gave it willingly hoping for a speedy recover. The Fly wheel is situated in the gear box and so the gear box would have to be removed and thanks to our fantastic suppliers the parts were ordered and arrived in a short amount of time. The task entailed ‘Strong arm’ Steve having to replace the clutch, starter motor and fly wheel. Mystery solved and another car ready for the road. When Mrs H arrived to pick up her car she was delighted at the efficiency of the service. Moreover she really appreciated being kept up to date on all the progress made during her car’s recovery. ‘Kev I don’t get this kind of service anywhere else also I’ve been adding up the numbers and compared to other quotes I got, you were 30% cheaper than your local competitors’. For unbeatable prices and winning customer service make sure to call in at your nearest depot.
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Heanor, Sutton and Long Eaton, along with our bodywork shop are open ever day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley workshop and Sutton car sales are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.
Until next week faithful reader, drive safely and keep it shiny side up.
Mr C's leaky problems
Hello faithful readers and welcome to another week of epic adventure and the tales of triumph here at KAM.
This weeks we have the case of Mr C (name changed to protect identity) who is a new customer from Nottingham and works at the City hospital. He came down to our Heanor depot and said ‘Hi Kev I’ve read all about you and want to see how good you are’. It so transpired that Mr C’s Audi A3 was losing water and had to keep topping it up with at least half a pint a day. It also came to light that Mr C had taken this problem to three other garages and the dealer and each visit had been unsuccessful as all were unable to find the problem. ‘I’ve spent so much money on this leakage and now I need an answer’. He bought with him the invoices of all the other garages that had charged him for their ineffective services. From these invoices we found that the previous garages had replaced the radiator, two coolant hoses, the thermostat and housing and the last one had not found a problem but still charged Mr C (You won’t find this with us we will not rest till we have found the answer). After probing Mr C he revealed that there were no leak marks on his driveway and that sometimes when driving an unpleasant smell would arise. After taking Mr Cs details we then dispatched him in one of our courtesy cars as he needed to get to the hospital to carry out his real Dr’s duties.
I then began to undertake my sleuth like investigations and delegated the job of testing the vehicle to ‘super’ Sandeep who proceeded to carry out a coolant pressure test. This involves putting probes on the coolant system and pressurizing it to find a leak. While Sandeep set about doing the test ‘Dynamo Dhillan’ waited in the wings to give the car a dynamic clean. A while later when checking on the on going investigations I saw ‘Tasmanian’ Trev and ‘Strong Arm’ Steve looking into the Audi A3 with looks of confusion. ‘There is definitely no leaks’ bellowed Steve. Concurrently there were legs stretched out of the passenger side door and it was ‘Super’ Shaun’. Now he wasn’t doing his contortionist act but was shouting something with his head under the dashboard. As I inched closer I heard Shaun shout ‘I’ve found it, I’ve found it. The leak was coming from the heater matrix behind the dash’. Don’t worry the heater matrix is no way as confusing as the movie it just provides the heat to the car and it appeared that the jubilee clip on the matrix had broken and thus the water was leaking. The reason the test found nothing was that the water was leaking onto the passenger side carpet. We have to thank ‘Dynamo’ Dhillan for this discovery as he was preparing to clean the car from the inside and had noticed the wet carpet. In a move that shows great initiative from our budding future mechanic he reported this problem to Shaun. While everyone scratched their heads Dhillan and Shaun found the leak. A seal and clip were all that was needed to fix this problem that had already cost Mr C a lot of money. The carpet was dried out and cleaned by Dhillan and the car was back to its previous vigour.
One thing that did puzzle us was how Mr C (and the other garages) had so evidently missed the large amount of water on his passenger’s side. When he returned later he informed us that he lived alone and that he did not have a lot of passengers in his car. Well now that his car was fixed Mr C could go and save more lives in the same way we save your cars. There is no mystery too troubling for the KAM team.
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Sutton and Long Eaton, along with our bodywork shop are open ever day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley and Heanor workshop and Sutton car sales are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.
Monday, 16 November 2009
Mr S's Double Mystery
Hello faithful readers and welcome again to the adventures of the KAM team. This week we have been as busy as ever as you, our loyal customers did heed the call and have had your Cam belts inspected by our dedicated team. With visits to all of our depots it would appear that my message did get across and as a result your cars are much safer and in good health.
This week’s story belongs to Mr S (name changed to protect identity) who rang our Sawley depot on Monday morning. ‘Kev, I’ve got some strange noises coming from my car and I know your good with noises’. Now Mr S has been a dedicated customer of ours for nearly 16 years and even helped to make his wife and son Kam converts. It appeared that his BMW 320 turbo diesel was making noises and after checking his vehicle history I found that we had previously advised him to get his coil springs checked as they were slowly corroding. Well mystery solved right? All we’d need to do is replace the coil spring and we would have another satisfied customer. Well as you can guess fair reader this was not to be and we were about to find out why. When Mr S bought his car in we were all startled by the deafening noise resounding from under the bonnet. As I looked over to the workshop I saw ‘Handy’ Andy, ‘Tasmanian’ Trev and the ‘Yorkie Bar Kid’ all locking their fingers into their ears. ‘Its like a jet plane has just landed’ shouted Trev over the roaring noise. ‘Well then Kev I know your good but not that good hey’ so it was not a broken coil spring but something that would require further exploration. ‘I only hear it every now and then though Kev what do you think it is’ implored Mr S. Now I was slightly baffled by Mr S statement as it was very clear that this noise was constant when the engine was running and to hear it from time to time would be very unusual indeed. At this time instead of patronizing Mr S I gave him the benefit of the doubt and asked him to go for a test drive in the car. As my own curiosity regarding Mr S and his car was ever present I was determined to get to the bottom of this case.
Driving along the noise was ubiquitous and roared out from the car all the while Mr D kept repeating, ‘Oh I can hear it, oh now its gone’. I was perplexed yet again Mr S is an upstanding member of community and would have no reason to lie so what was the problem. I suddenly remembered that at times when retaining Mr S’s details he had seemed to ignore the questions and I had to repeat myself. Was this a case for a real Dr perhaps? We dispatched Mr S in one of our courtesy cars and raised his car onto our ramp he had also asked for an MOT and service as his was to run out in a month. Big Al and the ‘Yorkie Bar Kid got to work on the MOT and service and afterwards ‘Dynamo’ Dhillan put his powers to work and deposited our customary floor mats and seat covers followed by one of his renowned car washes. The MOT showed the problem to be straight forward and revealed that the turbo had blown and after replacing it with a new one from our fantastic suppliers we rang Mr S with the good news. He seemed to communicate well on the phone and we greed a time which was most convenient for him to pick up his now healthy BMW. So the mystery of Mr S’s hearing remained till 6 o clock when he came to pick up his car. ‘Oh Kev I hope you don’t think I was being ignorant earlier on, my hearing aid was playing up but I’ve just been to get it repaired’. So two mysteries solved in one day I wasn’t going mad and neither was Mr S. With our customer and his car both repaired and a laugh over the misunderstanding on both our parts Mr S left feeling very pleased. Here at Kam we don’t discriminate and patronize and we will always get down to the bottom of whatever mysteries (human, vehicle or other) that beseech us.
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Heanor, Sutton and Long Eaton, along with our bodywork shop are open ever day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley workshop and Sutton car sales are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.
Until next week faithful reader, drive safely and keep it shiny side up.
Dr. Kev.
This week’s story belongs to Mr S (name changed to protect identity) who rang our Sawley depot on Monday morning. ‘Kev, I’ve got some strange noises coming from my car and I know your good with noises’. Now Mr S has been a dedicated customer of ours for nearly 16 years and even helped to make his wife and son Kam converts. It appeared that his BMW 320 turbo diesel was making noises and after checking his vehicle history I found that we had previously advised him to get his coil springs checked as they were slowly corroding. Well mystery solved right? All we’d need to do is replace the coil spring and we would have another satisfied customer. Well as you can guess fair reader this was not to be and we were about to find out why. When Mr S bought his car in we were all startled by the deafening noise resounding from under the bonnet. As I looked over to the workshop I saw ‘Handy’ Andy, ‘Tasmanian’ Trev and the ‘Yorkie Bar Kid’ all locking their fingers into their ears. ‘Its like a jet plane has just landed’ shouted Trev over the roaring noise. ‘Well then Kev I know your good but not that good hey’ so it was not a broken coil spring but something that would require further exploration. ‘I only hear it every now and then though Kev what do you think it is’ implored Mr S. Now I was slightly baffled by Mr S statement as it was very clear that this noise was constant when the engine was running and to hear it from time to time would be very unusual indeed. At this time instead of patronizing Mr S I gave him the benefit of the doubt and asked him to go for a test drive in the car. As my own curiosity regarding Mr S and his car was ever present I was determined to get to the bottom of this case.
Driving along the noise was ubiquitous and roared out from the car all the while Mr D kept repeating, ‘Oh I can hear it, oh now its gone’. I was perplexed yet again Mr S is an upstanding member of community and would have no reason to lie so what was the problem. I suddenly remembered that at times when retaining Mr S’s details he had seemed to ignore the questions and I had to repeat myself. Was this a case for a real Dr perhaps? We dispatched Mr S in one of our courtesy cars and raised his car onto our ramp he had also asked for an MOT and service as his was to run out in a month. Big Al and the ‘Yorkie Bar Kid got to work on the MOT and service and afterwards ‘Dynamo’ Dhillan put his powers to work and deposited our customary floor mats and seat covers followed by one of his renowned car washes. The MOT showed the problem to be straight forward and revealed that the turbo had blown and after replacing it with a new one from our fantastic suppliers we rang Mr S with the good news. He seemed to communicate well on the phone and we greed a time which was most convenient for him to pick up his now healthy BMW. So the mystery of Mr S’s hearing remained till 6 o clock when he came to pick up his car. ‘Oh Kev I hope you don’t think I was being ignorant earlier on, my hearing aid was playing up but I’ve just been to get it repaired’. So two mysteries solved in one day I wasn’t going mad and neither was Mr S. With our customer and his car both repaired and a laugh over the misunderstanding on both our parts Mr S left feeling very pleased. Here at Kam we don’t discriminate and patronize and we will always get down to the bottom of whatever mysteries (human, vehicle or other) that beseech us.
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Heanor, Sutton and Long Eaton, along with our bodywork shop are open ever day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley workshop and Sutton car sales are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.
Until next week faithful reader, drive safely and keep it shiny side up.
Dr. Kev.
The KAM column
hello faithful readers. Due to a few requests i shall now be distributing the KAM column online aswell. This shall be displayed after the copy in the newspaper so there will be no exclusives. But for those who have missed previous columns this will be a chance to catch up and let me know what you really think. Hope everyone enjoys the diagnostic mysteries and as always feedback is welcome. First one coming very soon!!!
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