Squeeks, rattles, bumps in the night

[Old Irish]

Thought I'd throw is open to the group and see if any pearls of wisdom come back

How do you guys contend with noise complaints? Rattles, suspension clunks, etc. I don't mean how do you fix the noises. I mean you do you "fix" the problem of scheduling them into your regular workload.

Its impossible to predict how much time you'll have to spend on the problem and some are really hard to nail down ....and can really foul up scheduling and seriously hurt production.

Too often, for us, these jobs drag on and on. After the intial time alloted has been used up its hard getting them back into the schedule....especially since nobody really wants to deal with them. Rental expense, tons of labor that often isn't fully recovered, frustrated techs and customers. Its ugly, I tell ya !

These problems are a real time sponge: lots of experimenting and road testing, etc. Anyone out there who has worked out a real system for making them less painful?

Cheers and thanks
DD

[pjpeery]

we have the tech ride with the owner and verify the noise .. if it can't be verified then it is rescheduled when it can ,
then we have a tech that knows what the noise is .. and yes it does take time but at least he knows what is needed


paul

[harleygrl]

Our process is the same as pjpeery. If it can't be verified with the customer, it doesn't even go in the shop (unless customer has another concern, oil change, etc.)
This really helps FFRT because there are no repair attemps unless customer has shown us how, where, when, etc.

[Old Irish]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, guys. We'll usually road test with customers and, yes, if it can't be duplicated, we won't waste the time---ours or the customers.

It's the ones where we CAN verify the noise but just can't seem to nail it down---all the while taking up tons of time and balling up production---- that have me frustrated

Cheers
DD

[dcesaro]

usually schedule appointment for test drive with tech only. Generally after test drive find that either noise is normal or there is an issue and then schedule the customer for the repairs. This seems to work really well and it's boosted the CSI.

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Dennis Cesaro
Audi Manhattan

[GMFXDOPSMGR]

GM has a tool that we attach to several (6) places in the vehicle to listen for most undercarriage noises. Helps a lot. Those inside the car are not as easy. We do the same as most of you, drive with the customer, can't duplicate, come back when it is more frequent.

[3760Guru]

GMFXDOPSMGR: Sounds a bit like Chassis Ears.. Has sensors that attach to the frame rails or other similar areas & record data. I also found some equipment with a quick google search that purports to be an NVH analysis machine. http://www.etas.com/en/products/1267.php I haven't ever used one of these specific ones, but have used Toyota's version before. It would sometimes help pinpoint some areas to check that otherwise wouldn't have been considered.