I'm not a car repair guy at all. I don't have much experience, or interest. But, a dealership repair quote socked me in the gut. Surely, I can take a crack at it. A little off-track from my normal subject of DIY around the house, I'm taking this fight to the driveway.
I love my Honda Ridgeline. It's a mid-sized, 4-door, short-bed, pickup, perfect for hauling the family or my piles of project material. Mine is the middle trim-line, the RTS, which includes a 3.5 mm auxiliary audio jack for plugging in iPods, MP3 players, etc and playing them through the excellent audio system. Mine simply stopped working, the radio wouldn't even let me select "AUX" as an option anymore. I figured it was the connection, because it cut in-and-out for a while, when I wiggled the plug before it died. I took it to the dealership to get an oil change and to have them look at it; I realized I had slipped just past the warranty mileage expiration. Lovely. The quote to replace the jack came in at $120.00. It was actually a little higher, but my ears turned off at "One hundred and twenty..."
While waiting for the oil change, I sauntered over to the parts counter, just to see what the part cost. $35.84. Hmmmmmm.... If I can do it for less than $84.16, I'm ahead, even if it takes me a several hours of weekend time. I ordered the part. If I failed, or it didn't fix it. I'm only $35 at risk.
Holding the part in my hand, it looks like a snap in deal with a plug-in wiring harness in the back. Fairly easy, for $84 in labor? Can I get to it behind the dash. Any of those pesky clips you can't figure out and end up breaking hidden in there. Still, I'm pretty sure I can beat it. Thus,...
Nothing broken! I got one of those early bursts of confidence, you get when nothing goes wrong early in a project. Dangerous.
I gently pulled the jack forward and fed a little of the slack cable through the opening. There was enough to twist and rotate the assembly so I could get a good eyeball on it. There wasn't even a clip on the little green plug for me to break! I grabbed the plug and the jack assembly and slowly pulled / wiggled it apart. Bingo! No problems so far. The plug popped into the new jack and the jack snapped into the dash. I clipped the plunger / piston onto the glove box, reinstalled the two bumper things, removed them both when I realized I needed to semi-close the box first, reinstalled them again, and, using the most difficult technique of the day, flipped the box closed. That was easy, too easy, waaaaay too easy...
I stopped the timer. Barely over 2 minutes, TOTAL, from opening the glove box.
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| You don't know jack! |
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| Looks like a snap. |
Holding the part in my hand, it looks like a snap in deal with a plug-in wiring harness in the back. Fairly easy, for $84 in labor? Can I get to it behind the dash. Any of those pesky clips you can't figure out and end up breaking hidden in there. Still, I'm pretty sure I can beat it. Thus,...
The DIY Guy vs. Dealership Challenge 2013!
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| On your mark, get set... |
In the Dealership corner:
- A trained, professional automotive mechanic, wearing dark-blue coveralls (coveralls assumed)
- A full set of specialty automotive tools
- Experience with this procedure, in this vehicle
- A heated work space (it's 35 degrees in my driveway)
- Manufacturer's reference material
- Smug, professional confidence
- free coffee in the waiting room
In the DIY Guy corner:
- My lucky Dunedin, New Zeland ball cap (a gift)
- (2) mugs of Kirkland Signature, Pacific Bold, Dark Roast Coffee, Extra Bold coursing through my system
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| Pop out these thing-a-ma-jigs. |
GO TIME!
I opened the glove box and emptied my junk onto the driver seat. There were some sort of bumpers that keep the box from falling all the way open. They were a little flexible and the glove box itself was a bit rubbery as well, so I took a chance and pushed them through from the outside. They popped out pretty easily, one on each side of the box. Then there was a plastic, plunger / piston thing on the right side that simply unhooked from it's connection. The entire box flipped all the way open and hung upside down, leaving an open access behind the passenger side dash. 35 seconds.
Nothing broken! I got one of those early bursts of confidence, you get when nothing goes wrong early in a project. Dangerous.
I stuck my hand up in there, like I was birthing a calf, and felt around for the back side of the jack. There was enough room for my fairly large hand to feel around in there. I could feel the wires and some sort of plug. I couldn't tell if there was any sort of locking mechanism holding the wiring clip in so I didn't pull on it. I didn't want to damage a wiring harness that I can't get to the other end of the cable. (That would probably cost at least $800.00 at the dealership!) I could feel the spring clips I had seen on the replacement part. A quick, tentative squeeze to both clips and I could tell the jack assembly was free, no retaining clip. Sweet!
I gently pulled the jack forward and fed a little of the slack cable through the opening. There was enough to twist and rotate the assembly so I could get a good eyeball on it. There wasn't even a clip on the little green plug for me to break! I grabbed the plug and the jack assembly and slowly pulled / wiggled it apart. Bingo! No problems so far. The plug popped into the new jack and the jack snapped into the dash. I clipped the plunger / piston onto the glove box, reinstalled the two bumper things, removed them both when I realized I needed to semi-close the box first, reinstalled them again, and, using the most difficult technique of the day, flipped the box closed. That was easy, too easy, waaaaay too easy...I stopped the timer. Barely over 2 minutes, TOTAL, from opening the glove box.
Knucklehead. I didn't even test it before reassembling everything. When it inevitably didn't work, I have to do everything all over.
I plugged in an audio cable, turned on the ignition and pressed AUX. The radio actually displayed it. There's a good sign. Pulse, pounding in my temples, I hooked up the Kindle Fire (The iPod battery was DOA)...
On button,...
Music,...
Songs,...
Shuffle....
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| Get up, Everybody's gonna move their feet, Get down Everybody's gonna leave their seat You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City |
Veni, vidi, vici
- Julius Ceasar, Tyrant
POST GAME SHOW:
2 Minutes, 9.9 seconds. No tools other than my hands.
Let's call it three minutes. Let's add 10 minutes for the mechanic to go grab the part. Lets add another 5 minutes just for, whatever. Call it 18 minutes. What the heck, call it 20 minutes, . That calculates to an hourly labor rate of $ 252.48 / hour.
Using my totally SWAG* methodology, that calculates to a Mechanic making $25 / hour + 25% employee burden and 10% overhead, leaving $218.11 / 634% in profit!
*Scientific Wild Ass Guess
We Came, We Saw, We Kicked its ass!
- Dr. Peter Venkman, Ghostbuster
You think it was the hat, or the extra bold coffee?