March 2021

I had a problem with pressure recently. No, don’t worry, the work isn’t getting to me just yet, and I can still hold my own as a business owner. Management is a piece of cake. No, really, I promise cake at the end of the week, and everyone keeps working hard. It helps that Mrs P has taken up baking, and that she’s actually quite good at it. The Great British Bake-Off has a lot to answer for. I dread to think how much extra electricity has been used here at the garage as a result of needing to vacuum the crumbs. But I digress, anyway, we were sorted for cake and it kept everyone happy. No one could go to those over- priced high street coffee places, and actually stay inside, for months. Making good coffee was easy as we had a machine, but the fresh cake certainly was missed. So yes, pressure, or to be more precise, compression. It turned into a bit of a diagnostic saga, one thing and another. Out came the Oscilloscope and all that. I never had such an issue with an Audi in my life. Well, you say Audi, I say “over- priced VW,” but I’m old. That said, one of the advantages of all these multi- brand groups is you often know where you are, before you realise you are there. Of course, once you are there, you have to find your way out. That’s the tricky part. Luckily, I’m not alone in the garage. While I do have the depth of knowledge that many of the younger techs may lack, I don’t know everything. I worked with one of the younger guys, who was able to do an increasing amount on the job as it went forward. The problem turned out to relate to an issue during turbo boost. In the end, I was not the one who worked this part out. It is fortunate that we have the span of knowledge to help us in this area. That’s one of the reasons I have always been such a believer in apprenticeships. You’ve got to keep the next generation coming through. Investment in this side of things in the sector is way down, and we need to think about this as an industry. The old dogs like me can’t hang in there forever. Neither can we learn absolutely everything. With all the new stuff coming through, whether it is ADAS, or the new restrictions and safety measures to keep diagnostics safe for all, you need fresh minds and fresh eyes. You also need the codgers like me to still be around to provide both context and perspective. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway. I’m not quite ready for the scrapheap just yet. For one thing, I’m not intending to pay another person when I can do the job myself, well for a bit longer yet I think. I doubt my doctor would be happy with the weight gain being at home with Mrs P’s cakes would engender. Then I really would be under pressure! RELEASE THE PRESSURE, OR THE BELT? 50 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2021 TEABREAK: MEMOIRS OF A MOTOR MECHANIC www.aftermarketonline.net Bake-off Bills, bills, bills. . .bills! Turbo boost Scrapheap Safety @?!