£75.00 to spray an engine with WD40 !!!!!

poor engineers

you guy's make me laugh,the poor chap is only trying to make an honest living out there in the middle of winter & you don't want to do it yourself,regards & merry christmas mm1.
 
Lets say some proud owner rings you up & says 'Please will you spray my engine with WD40. The boats on the hard down at the Isawyoucoming Marina'. You've got to get there in your van, get up a ladder into the boat, faff about with covers, move assorted junk, debris & kit out of the way, lift the hatches, grovel about upside down whilst administering the potion & in all likelyhood getting thoroughly mucky, damp & frozen. Then put it all back together again & return to base to carry on working on that nice engine rebuild job ...

Now of course dear reader your craft will be spotless, dry, warm and comfortable and you would never dream of asking someone to do such a trivial job.

But would you do that for £75 on the average manky awb ?
 
ValleyForge said:
Lets say some proud owner rings you up & says 'Please will you spray my engine with WD40. The boats on the hard down at the Isawyoucoming Marina'. You've got to get there in your van, get up a ladder into the boat, faff about with covers, move assorted junk, debris & kit out of the way, lift the hatches, grovel about upside down whilst administering the potion & in all likelyhood getting thoroughly mucky, damp & frozen. Then put it all back together again & return to base to carry on working on that nice engine rebuild job ...
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and you didn't first clean the engine ! that should all be included in this 75£, otherwise I won't pay your bill :)
 
ValleyForge said:
Lets say some proud owner rings you up & says 'Please will you spray my engine with WD40. The boats on the hard down at the Isawyoucoming Marina'. You've got to get there in your van, get up a ladder into the boat, faff about with covers, move assorted junk, debris & kit out of the way, lift the hatches, grovel about upside down whilst administering the potion & in all likelyhood getting thoroughly mucky, damp & frozen. Then put it all back together again & return to base to carry on working on that nice engine rebuild job ...

Now of course dear reader your craft will be spotless, dry, warm and comfortable and you would never dream of asking someone to do such a trivial job.

But would you do that for £75 on the average manky awb ?
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Yeah alright; point taken. But it's part of a winterisation tariff so I doubt it's a job that would be done in isolation?
 
"Lets say some proud owner rings you up & says 'Please will you spray my engine with WD40. The boats on the hard down at the Isawyoucoming Marina'. You've got to get there in your van, get up a ladder into the boat, faff about with covers, move assorted junk, debris & kit out of the way, lift the hatches, grovel about upside down whilst administering the potion & in all likelyhood getting thoroughly mucky, damp & frozen. Then put it all back together again & return to base to carry on working on that nice engine rebuild job ...

Now of course dear reader your craft will be spotless, dry, warm and comfortable and you would never dream of asking someone to do such a trivial job.

But would you do that for £75 on the average manky awb"

Good point i suppose but most boats wouldnt be that bad and as has been said not a job usually done in isolation. Its still not a days work though for £150 for two engines.
 
The point I was making is that is not a very nice job to do in isolation - & hence the canny mechanic charges that silly fee. I guess as a part of a comprehensive winterisation (& a bit late now too!) it'll get thrown in 'free' as a good customer service discount ... (or at least thats what I'd do, if I did that sort of thing)

ps snowing like mad now & just dropped 5degs C to 0.1 Not nice messing about outside so time for a cuppa
 
i can confirm that the job was not in isolation, but one of a tick box tariff of winterisation jobs, so NOT in isolation. In defence of the British Marine industry I should point out that this was in fact in the south of France, albeit by an English company. Not in the glitzy part of Sof F either.
 
Then of course there is the fact that he has to clean the overspray of that settles on everything, has to wear a mask as it is horrible to work in an enclosed area spraying oil, no doubt goggle's as well. His/her clothes will be contaminated as need cleaning afterwards.

And of course we live in a compensation culture so he.she has to factor in the "That catch wasn't broken before"

We also charge a lot for jobs that require no technical skill, are not pleasant to do and if the truth is known the owner could easily do themselves if they could be bothered.

I guess that very few people take them up on the offer, but those that do pay for the service.

It would be interesting to see what they charge for more mainstream jobs before thinking that they are ripp of merchants in my mind

Eddie
 
EddieBlue said:
Then of course there is the fact that he has to clean the overspray of that settles on everything, has to wear a mask as it is horrible to work in an enclosed area spraying oil, no doubt goggle's as well. His/her clothes will be contaminated as need cleaning afterwards.

And of course we live in a compensation culture so he.she has to factor in the "That catch wasn't broken before"

We also charge a lot for jobs that require no technical skill, are not pleasant to do and if the truth is known the owner could easily do themselves if they could be bothered.


Eddie
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I couldn't quite decide how far your tongue was in your cheek with that one, but in the ranks of horrible or unpleasant DIY jobs that I have done on boats, spraying a bit of WD40 around doesn't even get a mention.
 
old_salt said:
What on earth would you want to spray your engine with WD40 for total useless stuff for any thing other than lubing pen knives.
There are much better oils then WD 40.
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>Protects silver from tarnishing
>Cleans and lubricates guitar strings
>Gets oil spots off concrete driveways
>Gives floors that 'just-waxed' sheen without making it slippery
>Keeps flies off cows
>Restores and cleans chalkboards
>Removes lipstick stains
>Loosens stubborn zippers
>Untangles jewelry chains
>Removes stains from stainless steel sinks
>Removes dirt and grime from the barbecue grill
>Keeps ceramic/terra cotta garden pots from oxidizing
>Removes tomato stains from clothing
>Keeps glass shower doors free of water spots
>Camouflages scratches in ceramic and marble floors
>Keeps scissors working smoothly
>Lubricates noisy door hinges on vehicles and doors in homes
>Gives a children's play gym slide a shine for a super fast slide
>Lubricates gear shift and mower deck lever for ease of handling on riding
>mowers
>Rids rocking chairs and swings of squeaky noises
>Lubricates tracks in sticking home windows and makes them easier to open
>Spraying an umbrella stem makes it easier to open and close
>Restores and cleans padded leather dashboards in vehicles, as well as vinyl
>bumpers
>Restores and cleans roof racks on vehicles
>Lubricates and stops squeaks in electric fans
>Lubricates wheel sprockets on tricycles, wagons and bicycles for easy
>handling
>Lubricates fan belts on washers and dryers and keeps them running smoothly
>Keeps rust from forming on saws and saw blades, and other tools
>Removes splattered grease on stove
>Keeps bathroom mirror from fogging
>Lubricates prosthetic limbs
>Keeps pigeons off the balcony (they hate the smell)
>Removes all traces of duct tape
>I have even heard of folks spraying it on their arms, hands, knees to
>relieve arthritis pain.
>One fellow claims spraying it on fishing lures attracts fish.
>WD-40 has been designated the "official multipurpose problem-solver of
>NASCAR," a ringing endorsement if there ever was one. Can WD-40 can solve
>the Jeff Gordon problem?
 
jfm said:
Such as, please? (Not disagreeing with you; genuinely interested to hear of better alternatives to wd40)
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Just about everything.....WD 40 is not a good lubricant and about the only thing it is really good for is when used for what it was made for ie WD water displacement. It is not a penetrating oil. For that an engineer would use a penetrating oil such as plus gas. It is not good at protecting bare steel. For that an engineer would use oil or grease.

If your problems are poor starting of your petrol engine on a winters morning then reach for the WD 40 and spray it over th HT leads and plugs and you will soon be on your way. If you are having problems with the midges in Scotland then a wiff of WD 40 on your bare skin may be more effective at sending them on their way than using it to prevent the bits and pieces of your pride and joy in the engine bay rusting away due to the winters condensation. Yes the WD 40 will ensure the moisture runs to the bilge but it will do almost nothing to protect the exposed metal. For that why not wipe the engine with an oily rag.

Just shows what good marketing can achieve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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blueglass said:
£75.00 per unit for spraying engine with WD40
I saw this on a price list of winterisation jobs from a marine engineers fixed price tarriff.
£150.00 for a twin installation!! (and no I don't own the QE2.)
Oh and at the end of the list was the legend "materials not included".
Can anybody beat that for a p**s take?
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sounds like a student from the "school for future chancellors of the exchequer"....aka HMG Dept of THEIVING GITS !!!
 
Wont spraying your engine with WD40 just make all the **** and belt dust and stuff stick to it? Probably result in retaining more moisture in the long run?

My car engine doesn’t get all this fettling, it sits out in the cold and gets wet when I go through a puddle. It seems to be a lot more reliable for it too.
 
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