Mr C's Suspicious Behaviour Puzzles The KAM team

Hello faithful readers and welcome to another week of adventures from the KAM team. We have been very busy this week as you continue to heed the call and more and more of your cars are being restored to perfect health. We have seen a surge in sales for Maxxi’s tyres due to our competitive prices which are still much lower than our competitors.
This week we got a visit from Mr C whose car had endured a nasty accident and it was in dire need of repair. However Mr C was scarce with the details of the accident and was reluctant to give many details. He also talked with a great matter of urgency when enquiring the estimated time in which the car would be restored. The car in question was a green Jaguar X type which up until the accident had been in pristine shape. Now there was a scratch on the right front door, a dint in the bonnet and the back was in less than desirable condition. ‘So when can you have it done for Kev? Its just that I need it done in 2 weeks if that’s possible’ With no further explanation after taking Mr C’s details we dispatched him in one of our courtesy cars and got to work.
Now this is not one of our usual stories in which we have to find out the problem but
instead this was a case for our body repair work shop. Yet the mystery of Mr C’s shady behaviour remained. Why the urgency and reluctance for detail?
A week later the work on the Jaguar was complete and we called Mr C and he was thrilled. ‘Wow I wasn’t expecting it to be done so quickly I’ll be down as soon as possible’. After picking up his car Mr C still did not divulge any details but we had a satisfied customer and that’s what we aim for here at KAM.
A few weeks later we got a visit form an older gentleman and upon asking for his details it was revealed that he was the father of Mr C. He had recently seen expenses made on his wife’s credit card to KAM servicing and had come to investigate. ‘I just came to say what a great job you did on my car, when I returned from my holiday recently I found that the scratch on the side and dint on the front had been repaired’. The mystery was explained, the first Mr C being unfamiliar with an automatic accidentally reversed into the garage resulting in the disfigurement of his father’s beloved Jaguar. In a panic Mr C bought it to our reliable garage in the hope of getting it repaired before his parent’s return. Mrs C wanting to help her son, and gave him the payment details needed just so long as the car received a prompt recovery. Thankfully Mr C senior saw the funny side and was so happy with the work we had done he booked it in for an MOT and service.
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 D recieves winning service from KAM

Hello faithful readers and welcome to another week of adventures from the KAM team. We have been very busy this week as you continue to heed the call and more and more of your cars are being restored to perfect health. You can leave your comments, questions and here or our twitter at www.twitter.com/dr_kev.
This week’s diagnostic dilemma comes courtesy of Mr D who visited our Heanor depot for the first time. Mr D, a plumber had been experiencing some problems with his Vauxhall Vivaro and through a recommendation had landed on our doorstop. ‘Hi Dr Kev my neighbour said you can fix any problem and my van is of full of them’.
The problem at hand was an appearance from the EML (engine management light) and the car cutting out intermittently when Mr D was driving. ‘I don’t know what’s going on with it I have to travel to people’s houses and this is a major disruption’ said Mr D exasperated. Now before we could let Mr D drive off in our courtesy car we had to get all the details. The possible cause for the problem became instantly apparent when all the details were given. Mr D explained ‘well I took it to a garage recently for an oil and filter change, it was a very cheap price so I didn’t really think twice’. It so transpired that just minutes after driving away from the garage the EML had appeared and the cutting out began. Mr D further explained how after returning to the garage to explain the problem they offered no additional help. They were not fully equipped to check and fix the problem. ‘They were a tyre, exhaust and lubrication centre and they said that I would need to go to a garage to fix the problem. They were most unhelpful’ Mr D added.
Well there would be no such treatment from our dedicated KAM team and our Vauxhall expert Big Al got straight to work. Firstly hooking up the van to our state of the art diagnostic machines and awaiting the results. After just 10 minutes Big Al returned to the reception with a grin across his face. ‘Come on Kev that was just too easy’ he said. The machine showed that the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve was stuck open causing a vacuum leak resulting in the stalling and cutting out of the van and appearance of the EML. The EGR valve helps the car to burn fuel efficiently by recirculating a portion of your exhaust and running it through the combustion process again. The open EGR floods the combustion chamber resulting in the car suffering a number of faults. This occurred as the previous centre had used a diesel flush to flush the cars system. Too much of the diesel treatment had caused the EGR valve to open and stay jammed allowing NOX gases to build up. So the mystery was solved. Big Al gave the EGR a clean and placed it in the right position. The EML needed a simple reset, after a road test and a clean from Dynamo Dhillan the van was back to perfect health.
Mr D returned but was rightfully sceptical as he had been mistreated before by a garage and we promised him that he id not have to pay if the problem was not fixed. After taking the car for a test drive to make sure all was well a smile adorned Mr D’s face. ‘Wow I can’t believe it; it drives like its brand new, I can’t believe it thank you so much Dr Kev.
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.

Mr G's Brake Teaser

Hello faithful readers and welcome to another week of adventures from the KAM team. We have been very busy this week as you continue to heed the call and more and more of your cars are being restored to perfect health. You can leave your comments, questions and queries here or on our twitter at www.twitter.com/dr_kev.
This week’s story comes courtesy of Mr G who visited our Heanor depot in his Ford Fiesta. ‘Kev help my car is losing major fluid, I don’t know where it’s going. You have to fix it’. It turned out that on weekly inspections of his car’s levels the hydraulic fluid level had continued to decrease. This had lead to Mr G having to top up once a week and going through a lot of hydraulic fluid along the way. He continued ‘the problem has persisted for over 6 months now; I thought it would go away but its still happening’. Mr G was losing money from all the hydraulic fluid he had bought over the last 6 months and now needed a solution to this costly problem.
Strong Arm Steve was elected to take on the mammoth mystery and got straight to work. The first task was to check the brake performance to see if they were affected by the loss of fluids. This involves checking the test metres and general use of the brakes. The tests were done and Freddy passed with flying colours, the brakes were working fine. So what was the cause of the leakage? We would need to investigate further. We then removed the wheels to visually inspect the breaks at the front and rear. Again we were surprised as the breaks looked brand new, so where to look now? It seemed as though we were never going to find the problem, the brake fluid was leaking but there was no problem with the brakes. This was a conundrum and the team were running out of ideas. We have never let a mystery go unsolved and this would not be a first. So it was time to bring in the big guns our very own ‘Ghostbusters’, the elite motor team- myself, Super Shaun and Diagnostic Dan. Dan who has been consistently unravelling mysteries since his arrival here at KAM was ready to take on the car gremlin. He attached the car to one of our state of the art machines and proceeded to do a pressure test on the breaking system. After half an hour he came back looking deflated and relayed the results ‘nothing, not so much as drip. There is no leaking’. ‘Oh no Dan have you failed to find the problem. That is a surprise’ said Shaun jokingly.
So another dead end and we were no nearer to finding out the actual problem. Now here at KAM we do refrain from doing a road test if the brakes are faulty. This is for the safety of us and others on the road in case of possible accidents. However the brakes were in good working condition and so a road test could be done. Dan, still eager to find the problem was first behind the wheel and off he went. He returned in 10 minutes hoisted the car up on the ramp and proclaimed ‘I’ve found it Kev, I know what the problem is’. We were slightly sceptical after hours of inconclusive testing had he really found the problem in 10 minutes? ‘It turned out that the brake problem was actually a clutch problem’ said Dan. Just to get technical for a moment the break and clutch share the same hydraulic fluid reservoir. This means that there was a leak but it was not due to the brake, but the clutch. The leak was coming between the gear box and the engine and the fluid was being lost through the clutch. We removed the gear box and we found the clutch slave cylinder to be leaking. So all along the problem had been the clutch which Dan had recognised as not being in good working order on the road test. The clutch was replaced and then after a wash from Dynamo Dhillan, Freddy was ready for collection. Yet it was till a mystery how Mr G had not noticed the clutch to be awkward when driving. ‘I suppose I had just gotten used it. I don’t drive very much. I’m so glad you’ve fixed it and saved me so much money. Thanks Dr Kev’
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.