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I’ve recently taken a job fulfilling a state highway emergency roadside assistance contract. I started with minimal experience dealing with automotive service, namely tire changes, battery jumpstarts/charging, and supplemental fuel. Using the material on ETCG’s youtube videos, I learned about diagnosing no crank no start and crank no start conditions, and basic engine systems and how they work. I’ve also learned a lot by paying attention to tow truck operators who service vehicles I call help for, e.g. how to block up a double axle suspension in the case of a broken hub/wheel/axle issue. Every day out on the road brings new challenges and new things to learn, it’s interesting work!
I’m looking for resources to gain more knowledge to help me do my job better. Our goal is clearing an incident within 10 minutes of finding it, if possible. We aren’t meant to be out there necessarily as mechanics.. incident management is the name of the game, and getting a vehicle off the side of the road prevents secondary crashes and problems from happening. I’m looking for shortcuts, diagnostic tools, or quick fixes that can get someone going, with the caveat that the person really should bring it to an actual mechanic to properly fix it after I’m done futzing with it. Mechanics wire and duct tape fixes welcome. Have any stories on things you fixed in a half-assed manner to get someone out of a bad situation?
Any advice or tricks to get vehicles going in a temporary manner?
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I would be very careful in making shadetree roadside repairs. Problem is with liability. What happens if you get a vehicle back on the road that isn’t actually road worthy, and 5 miles down, they have a serious accident because of something you did? I think it’s commendable that you want to branch out and provide the best services possible for stranded motorists, but you are probably best served to keep spare phone chargers, blankets, snacks, bottled water, gas cans, toys for kids, lawn chairs, etc. All things that you can directly impact the comfort of your customers without putting yourself and your company in the line of fire for a huge lawsuit.
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Although I agree with Jeason regarding liability worries, which are an integral part of today’s world, I absolutely applaud your attitude, enjoyment of your job and wanting to learn more.
It would be wise to look into the insurance that your employer carries to cover such liability.
One thing I would ask you is if you have seen a battery completely and suddenly fail? I have seen this a number of times over the last twenty years or so. Before that I don’t remember seeing it. In the old days(yes I am plenty old enough to know about them,) batteries degraded, but didn’t quit suddenly. Just an observation I have made that might be helpful.
Keep on learning!
So I totally understand about the liability thing. The thing is, when we find a vehicle with a problem, generally things have already gone south. I find a spinout where all the bumpers are destroyed, so I have to rip off the plastic so they can drive home, for example. Our liability is limited by good faith efforts, as well as whatever policy the state dept of transportation carries. I don’t know. I’m just told to do my job and not worry about it, so I assume it’s covered.
My problem is that there’s a series of types of problems that I don’t know how to fix. I can diagnose and smell out what the problem is related to, but little quick fixes to reset things are what I don’t know. For example, the other day I had a vehicle exhibiting no vacuum system pressure, and when starting it up, it would immediately act like it was being floored on the accelerator. I’m guessing something with the cruise control system borked, and a good friend of mine suggested there would be some small things I could have done to verify if it was something that could be rapidly resolved on the roadside. But I don’t know those.
Highway patrols like these are designed to provide incident response through directed service. Yes, we help out disabled motorists, but the point is really to get a disabled vehicle off the road so it’s not a distraction, causing secondary accidents, etc.
On the battery thing, being up in New England, we see that people don’t manage their batteries properly. Vehicles that are driven short, frequent trips, never get the alternator running long enough, and therefore the battery discharges all the time for them. I recommend for these people to maybe install a battery maintainer, either solar or in their garage. Cold temperatures expose dying batteries and their inability to work correctly. But it’s never just a dead battery. It’s usually something else that cause it, like a borked alternator.
I don’t think I’ve seen a battery just fail as you describe, unless it’s been in a car accident or something. Usually they survive quite well.
If it’s broken leave it that way any repair you do you’re liable for it’s not worth trying to do a quick fix to get the car on it’s way, The case that always sticks in my head is an AA man who went to a vehicle after it was leaking fuel he “repaired” the fuel line and told the customer to take the vehicle to a garage to have it repaired properly, they drove it about 100 miles before the pipe leaked again and sprayed onto the cambelt causing it to shred engine timing jumped and that was that.
I was the tech who was given the job when it was recovered to the garage and it ended up costing about $6000 in parts and labour to fix which the AA were now liable for and the patrolmen lost his job over the incident all in all it’s not worth it.
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