This one thing newer mechanics keep getting wrong about leveling switches

I've been doing this for about 22 years now, and I keep seeing guys under 5 years in the trade messing up door zone bypass adjustments. They treat the leveling switch like it's a simple on/off deal, but in my experience those old Otis switches from the 90s need a specific gap tolerance down to like 1/16th of an inch. I watched a kid last month in Pittsburgh spend 3 hours chasing a ghost fault because he had the switch too tight against the cam. The car was hunting for level every stop. His senior mechanic finally came over and just loosened the bracket 3 turns and it ran perfect. Why do they always think tighter is better? Has anyone else noticed this trend with the younger guys coming in?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen27515d ago

That's a fair point about training being the real issue, but I gotta ask you this. When you watch those young guys coming up, how many of them are actually getting hands on time with a senior mechanic who breaks down the whole gap and tolerance thing, or are they mostly learning from YouTube and just guessing? Because the kid I saw in Pittsburgh had a tablet with a service manual pulled up, but he still missed the obvious feel of the cam resistance. Are you seeing any shops actually running formal classes on that adjustment feel, or is it still just learn on the job and hope for the best?

emeryn8315d ago

Hang on a second, I gotta push back a little on that one. Respectfully, I've been at this for 15 years and I think blaming the new guys for a problem that's more about bad training is a little harsh. Sure, some of those Otis switches are finicky, but I've seen old timers crank those same brackets down like they're bolting a bumper to a truck. Just last month in Philly I watched a 20 year vet fight an erratic door lock for an hour because he had his bracket too tight, and a first year kid just loosened it and walked away. It's not that tighter is always their answer, it's that nobody's showing them the "feather touch" method for those cams.