Mr G's Combo Calamity

This week we received a visit from Mr G, who was irate at the state of his van. “Kev, I can’t believe this has happened again. Just when I thought I had it sorted, it goes and happens again. It really could not have come on a worse day.” It was a busy Sunday morning at Heanor and the boys were hard at work, discovering and diminishing those pesky gremlins. Mr G had called up because he was in quite a pickle and he needed the KAM team‘s help. It so transpired that Mr G had gone to start his van in the morning and had discovered that the battery was dead and that the van was in a stagnant position. He was a builder and used the van for his profession. Now his vehicle was not in working condition and he had been forced to call out a recovery service to help him. “My Vauxhall Combo van just stopped working and now I’m on my way to your garage. Please say you can fit me in today, I really need your help.” Mr G was a new customer here at KAM and needed the van back for Monday as he had lots of worked scheduled and could not let his customers down. “Kev, I am a self -employed man and as you know every job helps in this economic climate. I need to go to work and make sure that I don’t let my customers down.” We could understand Mr G’s predicament and we were determined to get his car healthy so that he would not miss out. We told him to come down in the recovery truck and a short while later he arrived with his lifeless van in tow. He walked into the reception and a sigh of relief overcame him. “Thanks for seeing me Kev. I really appreciate it. Plus I can make your job a little easier because I already know what he problem is.” This was interesting, of all the customers that have come through the KAM doors, and none have come with their own diagnosis. We are always cautious of customers who have their own theories but we were willing to hear Mr G out. “Well the recovery place told me it was the alternator. They were unable to fix it but I have heard all good things about you and the garage. This must be the easiest mystery you have had to not solve. Hey Kev?” We were happy that Mr G was in a better mood but we would need to carry out our own stringent tests to determine the problem.
Diagnostic Dan took this week’s challenge and got to work testing the van. He plugged the car into our state of the art diagnostic machines and awaited the results. After a short while, he entered the reception and was slightly confused. “Kev, the battery was fine. The charge is okay and there is no fault in the alternator.” Mr G’s assumption was incorrect and so we would need to keep testing to find the real problem. It was next onto the fuse box, the feed and the electrical signal would need to be tested and so Dan stripped back the fuse box. He was armed with his multimeters and after about 20 minutes the infamous words rang out. “I’ve got it Kev.” It so transpired that a few months earlier Mr G had installed a work bench, with high intensity light bulbs, in the back of the van. What Mr G had not realised was that the lights in the back had been staying on and draining the battery. He had not seen the lights on due to the partition blocking the cabin from the rest of the car. Dan then fixed the switch to the lights, so that there would be no more drain on the battery. The battery had been recharged while the repairs were being carried out so once the switch was fixed and the moment of truth came. Dan re-checked all the feeds and drains to the work-lights and as expected there was no longer any drain. Mr G took the van home and was very happy with the service. He called back on Monday morning to thank the KAM team. “Thanks so much Kev, my van has never started so well and I was able to make all my appointment. I have definitely learnt to leave the hard work to the professionals.”
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hardworking staff at the branches in Sutton, Long Eaton, Bulwell and Belper along with our bodywork shop are open every day of the week, EXCLUDING Sunday’s, while the lads at our Sawley and Heanor workshops are at your service seven days a week, keeping your car where it belongs. ON THE ROAD.