Miss C's Cat-Astra-phe

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 at www.twitter.com/dr_kev
I would just like to pay my respects to Nigel Doughty, he was a great leader of Nottingham Forest and his family is in our prayers. As a long time Nottingham Forest supporter and having met the great man himself, I am very sad to hear the news and send my condolences to all the people he touched.
This week we received a visit from Miss C, who was a new customer here at KAM and she was in a way after hearing about us from a neighbour. But Miss C was not on her way in the traditional form as her car was currently out of service and she was at that very moment, in the tow truck in need of a quick rescue. “Kev the recovery service were really helpful in picking me up fast but now I need my car fixed. I need to get back to school.” It so transpired that Miss C was a teacher had found her car in a state this morning and was too scared to drive it. “Kev I don’t know what happened. I went out to my car this morning and there was a horrible noise resonating from the car.” Miss C had been so startled by the noise that she then called up the AA who were on their way to our Tamworth Road depot. A short while later the AA turned up onto our forecourt in their own ‘twuck wid da fwashin lights’ and Miss C’s Vauxhall Astra was lagging behind. While the car was unloaded Miss C entered our warm KAM offices and we greeted her with a hot coffee to ward off the icy weather outside.
“Miss C then regaled us with the details of her car and was in some what of a hurry to get her car back in working order. “Kev with it being Valentines Day tomorrow, I was hoping to have my car. I have organized a very romantic day for my boyfriend tomorrow and I am so upset that this has happened at totally the wrong time. Miss C was upset and needed the KAM team’s help. Moreover as she was a teacher she was currently missing work because of her car. “Kev this car is just causing me too many inconveniences please say you can help.” Miss C was desperate and we wanted to make her Valentine’s Day a special one so we got straight to work. Here at KAM we are quite the romantics and we wanted to ensure that Miss C’s plans for the big day were not ruined. We took all of Miss C’s details and dispatched her off in one of our courtesy cars so that she could get to work. Diagnostic Dan was this week’s mystery solver and he was straight to work perusing the AA report. “Mmmm well they seem to think it is a burst water pump. We will have to do our own diagnostic tests to determine the cause.” He got to work first undertaking some preliminary observations to see if there were any visible faults within the car. Unfortunately it would not be that easy and so Dan would need to dig a little deeper. He then undertook a pressure test, to check the rest of the car. After some rigorous testing the results were ready and the fault became clear. The pressure test showed that there was water leaking from the cam belt covers and so he would need to take them off to discover where the fault lay. He took the cam belt covers off with all the skill and precision that you can expect from our KAM engineers. It was not long till the infamous words rang “I’ve got it Kev.” It so transpired that the water pump was in fact collapsed and this had been the reason for the worrying noises and the water leaking. We called up our fantastic suppliers and they arrived promptly. Dan then replaced the cam belt and tensioner kit as well as the water pump due to slight damage and anti-freeze contamination to the belt as you can’t be too careful. The pressures were returned to normal and we also topped up all the levels in the engine bay and checked the tyre pressures.
We did our road test and the car roared back to life with no sign of the previous noises. Miss C arrived later and was ecstatic to have her car back to its previous vigour. “Wow Kev, thanks so much. You are my very own St Valentines.
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Sutton, Long Eaton, Bullwell 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.
So until next week faithful reader, drive safely and keep it shiny side up.
Dr.Kev.

We cut out the "jibba jabba" for Mr T

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 at www.twitter.com/dr_kev.
This week we were visited by Mr T who called in to our Long Eaton depot to tell the KAM team all about his car’s woes. He was a new customer and had come here on the recommendation of a friend after some rather unfortunate experiences with previous garages. “Kev I don’t know what to do about my car, its just not running like it used to.” It so transpired that the car in question, a Honda Civic had failed its MOT and the ABS (Anti Braking System) light had appeared on the dashboard. However the MOT centre where Mr T had got the MOT done did not do repairs and so he was left with a faulty car and no means of fixing it. “I have been to a garage Kev and they said the possible damage caused could cost me thousands, this can’t be right can it. Please say you can help?" Mr T was in need of our help and after taking all of his details and dispatching him off on one of our courtesy cars we got straight to work.
Benjamin Button was the first person to volunteer to work on this week’s mystery. “I’ll take it Kev.” He was eyeing up the car, and with Diagnostic Dan already occupied, he reached for his multi meters. First he checked the wiring and there did not seem to be any visible problems, this would take some further investigating. It was time to bring out the big guns. Ben then attached the car up to one of our state of the art machines and got to work on deciphering the problem. Dan looked over curiously “Haven’t you got it yet Ben, are you sure you don’t need some help?” he asked. Ben peered out from under the bonnet, “I think we can do this one without consulting the mechanical wizard.” Joked Ben. A short time lapsed and the infamous word rang out “I’ve got it Kev.”
The problem lay in the ABS pump module, which had become faulty and was in need of replacement. This had been the reason for the ABS light’s appearance and fortunately for Mr T the damage had not been as catastrophic as it could have been. However the cost of a new ABS module system would be very high unless we could find a reconditioned one. Ben was straight on the phone and called all of our suppliers asking if a reconditioned unit could be found. He did not have much luck at first but then he struck gold after nearly an hour of calls. “I’ve got one Kev.” We called Mr T and told him of the car’s condition and let him know of the high cost that would have occurred had we used a brand new unit. He gave his permission for us to change the unit and was delighted at the price we had managed to acquire the part for.
Ben went off and picked up the part and arrived back promptly. The old ABS module unit was then replaced with the new one and it was quite a big job for Ben. Every part was removed with military precision and the engine was checked once again to ensure that no other problems had occurred. The boys then gathered around and waited in anticipation to see whether the transfer had been successful and if the car was gremlin free. Ben turned the key in ignition and the car purred with Ben showing off a resounding smile. “We did it Kev.” The ABS light was off and the car was back to it’s best, the calling about had paid off and now we could call Mr T with the good news.
“Wow Kev, you have really saved me a bundle, I can’t thankyou enough. You KAM boys really do go above and beyond.”
Remember faithful reader, our team of dedicated and hard working staff at the branches in Sutton and Long Eaton, Bulwell and Belper along with our bodywork shop are open ever 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.