CONTENTS:
Does It Need A New Transmission Or A New Fan?
Our E-mail Address: samgauto@samscars.com Our Phone Number Is 508-999-3213 |
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Recently a customer contacted us regarding a loud noise while driving their
1989 Dodge Caravan above 25 MPH.
We had the customer come by so we could drive the car with them to help locate the noise. Sure enough, when driving above 25 MPH, the car exhibited a very loud rumble-whirring sound that was almost unbearable. The customer had sought us out as a second opinion because he had taken the car to another automotive facility and they recommended replacing the transmission because of known problems with certain Chrysler overdrive transmissions. We are well versed in Chrysler transmissions but had never heard this exact noise before. The faster we drove the louder the noise became. We took the car onto the highway. At highway speeds the noise was unbelievable. Let's just say earplugs would have been helpful. We drove to 65 MPH, placed the car in neutral, and turned off the engine. Hmm, the noise was still present. This ruled out the engine. With the engine off the transmission is also off, but technically, many internal transmission parts are still turning because the wheels are moving. Although we still did not know the cause, we were convinced that the noise was not transmission related. We recommended that the customer leave the car so we could investigate further. We checked for Chrysler service bulletins, but there were none for that symptom. The more we heard the noise the more we felt it was wind or air-movement related. We checked the roof racks integrity and hold down bolts, as we had seen many noisy roof racks in the past. A visual inspection of the engine compartment did not reveal anything out of the ordinary. Still scratching our head, we had an idea. We have a large fan that we place in the shop on hot days for summer cooling. We decided to place the fan directly in front of the car so as to simulate the normal passage of air that occurs at highway speeds. As we turned the fan on high, we noticed the noise coming from the front of the car near the grille. Upon opening the hood to investigate further, we found that one of the vehicles two electric radiator fans were making noise. Even though the car's radiator fan was not turned on, the fan blade normally rotates with air movement while driving at moderate speeds. On this car, the fan blade was broken off its motor shaft. Therefore, as it started to rotate from the wind while driving, it was so loose that it would touch the fan mounting shroud while spinning, thus causing the loud noise. Changing the cooling fan blade and motor resolved the problem. The customer was glad that they had sought us out for a second opinion. Just another example of how strange and difficult automotive diagnostics can be.  Congratulations
to our customer. Rev Manuel Chavier! Rev. Chavier, founder and pastor of
the International Church of the Nazarene was recently honored at a golden
anniversary dinner at Whites of Westport for 50 years of service to the
Church. Over 300 friends, church members and politicians attended the event.
With less than $40,000 cash, he planned building a $500,000 church. Within
a year and a half the project was completed. Over five decades ago Rev.
Chavier started a congregation that numbered only 23 members. His congregation
has now grown to more than 600.
Often Rev. Chavier is in our waiting room while his car is being serviced. "He is a kind and compassionate person, always smiling and willing to converse, no matter how busy his schedule." said Sam Giammalvo. Congratulations again to Rev. Chavier. Keep up the great work!
Just when we thought: "What else could they possibly modernize on automobiles..."
TRW Automotive (an automotive steering and suspension supplier to car manufactures)
has announced the release of a new design electrically assisted steering
rack. The system uses one-horsepower brushless motors driven by microprocessors
and application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The software in the
computer that commands the steering rack was written by the same TRW employees
who write programs for NASA's Space Shuttle Program. With traditional power
steering systems, if the car stalled out, the power steering assistance
was lost since the engine is no longer turning the belt that runs the power
steering pump. With this new electrical steering system, if the car's engine
should stall out, the driver can still steer safely to the side of the
road as the power steering will continue to operate. What will they think
of next?
You may have noticed some new faces at our dealership in the past several months. Due to the increasing amount of work in our service and reconditioning departments we are proud to announce two new staff (or as we like to call) "family" members:  Paul
Cholette, pictured here, fulfills many duties including, facility
maintenance, transportation of customers and their vehicles, transportation
of parts needed during the day by the service department, etc. Paul is
recently retired from a 35-year position with Commonwealth Gas. He has
served ten years in the National Guard and is a member of the Ponan Judo
Club. Paul has been married for over 36 years and lives in Dartmouth with
his wife Barbara Ann. Paul's position at our dealership puts him in direct
contact with customers every day. Often customers will comment on his pleasant
nature and positive attitude. In addition, when customers tell us how clean
the shop is, we direct them to compliment Paul.
 Sid
Benevides, pictured here, is an automotive reconditioner in our reconditioning
department. Sid comes to us from a local automotive service facility where
he was working as an automotive repair technician. Sid has not only reconditioned
cars in the past but recently completely restored a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro
Z28 to like new condition. Sid lives in Fairhaven and is also the brother
of our service technician; Nelson Benevides.
At Giammalvo's we listen to our customers input. In the past, some customers have commented on the length of time that they are placed on hold on the telephone. In an effort to correct that weakness we have taken a corrective measure. You may have noticed two-way radios attached to the belts of many of our employees recently. It's part of a new communication system we have installed at the dealership. The system is similar to law enforcement communication in that it uses a special "repeater" to boost the signal out off a 500-foot commercial antenna. The radios allow us to communicate faster to one another whether we are in the building or out on a test drive. The radios will help reduce the time you may spend on hold when you call. Often the person you are calling may not be inside the building. This often resulted in having someone physically go look for that person while you waited and waited on hold. With the new radios we can contact that person immediately and advise them of your call.
Did you know that we also service cars that we did not originally sell?
Because we service so many of the cars that we sell, some people presume
that if you did not purchase your car here you cannot have it serviced
here. This could not be further from the truth. We would gladly service
any car regardless where it was purchased.
Quite often we find that customers are not aware of parts commission
policies at some new car dealership service departments and franchise auto
repair facilities.
As you may recall, in the Spring 1996 Issue of GQ we did a cover story about the upcoming New Enhanced Massachusetts Inspection Program. This was a new inspection program more stringent for clean air standards than the current automotive inspection program that we have. At the time of that printing, Governor Weld had called off the program. As of this writing there has been rumblings in the state house that the state is very close to signing an agreement with a contractor who will provide new equipment to be purchased by inspection stations, like ours, for the new program. Many repair facilities question this new contract in that it requires the inspection stations to purchase very expensive equipment without allowing enough of an increase in the sticker fee portion to repay the investment. Watch for upcoming information in GQ on this hot issue and the new criteria your vehicle will have to pass in order to receive an inspection sticker.
We were saddened to learn of the loss of the following customers:
Anthony Fraga, born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and lived in the Greater
New Bedford area for the past 25 years.
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Consider
this job which would have been covered by our Wynns Warranty had the customer
purchased it. Pictured above is the vehicle with the dashboard removed.
Air conditioning evaporators have never been easy to replace because of
their location behind the dash, but newer cars like this Volvo 850, require
that both air bags, the steering column and entire dash board be removed
in order to gain access. One job like this and the Wynns Warranty
has more than paid for itself.
