Need halp

[Don5]

I knew HotRod would have the answer.

I am not a tow truck driver but I have learned a lot just by reading his posts! You guys can bet the next time I get towed I am going to watch the guy like a hawk to see how he does it. I find it pretty interesting. I bet it is a challenge to tow with some of these newer vehicles.

 

[89Suburban]

Yeah that's some good **** HR thanks.

 

[ScottyB]

BMW X5, I've had 3 BMW Techs on my rollback before to get one off. It had to have 2 pieces of the pan off the bottom of the car removed, then they had access to the transmission linkage under the car. Took them over 40 minutes just to get it off. I had no choice. The customer was right there and 1 stupid ass ****** tech said, you CAN"T shake it off, you'll damage the transmission. Oh really dumb ****? I've shook off several with my technique and never harmed a thing.

WTF?!?!? The manual walks you through how to override the interlock. You get to it through the cup holder ahead of the shifter. Similar to other interlocks the difference is you have to rotate the handle and hold it. If you release the handle handle it springs back into the locked position. Shouldn't need to get under the car at all.

 

[89Suburban]

Try disconnecting the battery for a couple hours

Sent from the dust in front of you!

He tried that for about 15 minutes, was that not long enough?

 

[89Suburban]

Now he just told me this morning that when the tow truck got here the tow driver took his key FOB and opened it up and there was a physical key inside of it and he took that and plugged it into a spot in the dash and it unlocked the steering/brakes/shifter so he could get it on the truck.

 

[350runner]

Lol ok so it's fixed?

Sent from the dust in front of you!

 

[HotRodPC]

WTF?!?!? The manual walks you through how to override the interlock. You get to it through the cup holder ahead of the shifter. Similar to other interlocks the difference is you have to rotate the handle and hold it. If you release the handle handle it springs back into the locked position. Shouldn't need to get under the car at all.

Maybe it had something to do with the year of it. It was a 2014 with less than 3000 miles on it. I didn't even try to research it cuz I was at the stealership and I'd expect they should know their ****. I know they about ******* died though. I had the vehicle all unhooked ready to shake off. After about 20 minutes as they're working on it, I said, Hey guys, do you think I should put the winch line back on? Should have seen the look on their faces and how quick they came out from under it. My deck was down on the ground and all. Then when they finally got to it, they asked again, are we anchored off to where it won't roll? We're about to let it loose. I blocked both rear wheels and had the winch line tight. It was a ridiculous fiasco. I then went to the service manager and told him, he needs to let his service know to keep their mouths shut and let tow operators do their job that I've wasted over a damn hour here and didn't get paid **** for wait time.

 

[HotRodPC]

Now he just told me this morning that when the tow truck got here the tow driver took his key FOB and opened it up and there was a physical key inside of it and he took that and plugged it into a spot in the dash and it unlocked the steering/brakes/shifter so he could get it on the truck.

Uhhh yeah, I figured that was a common known feature that an owner would know, so I didn't even mention it. Many many key fobs have a physical key in them that slides into the FOB. It will also work the door and trunk locks. It's purpose is for if the Key FOB battery goes dead.

 

[HotRodPC]

He tried that for about 15 minutes, was that not long enough?

Sometimes a bit longer, like maybe even overnight would help. What you're trying to do is reset the BCM. (Body Control Module) BTW, if your buddy don't like that locking steering wheel feature, he can have the BCM programmed to take out that feature so the steering wheel don't lock. Now days many cars don't even have locking steering wheels. And the ones that do, you might not even know they have it because it only activates when the security system has been breeched. Like unlocking a car door from the inside without a using a key or a FOB. That is detected as someone broke a window and reached in and hit the unlock button so it activates the security system and the ECM disables the engine from starting and the BCM will lock steering and park interlock so a thief can't take off in the car. Most thieves who run chop shops on newer cars now days have tow trucks.

 

[89Suburban]

Lol ok so it's fixed?

Sent from the dust in front of you!

Yeah $1100 bucks later.

 

[HotRodPC]

I knew HotRod would have the answer.

I am not a tow truck driver but I have learned a lot just by reading his posts! You guys can bet the next time I get towed I am going to watch the guy like a hawk to see how he does it. I find it pretty interesting. I bet it is a challenge to tow with some of these newer vehicles.

Thanks Don. If you find it interesting, you might make a good tow truck driver. Most lazy asses, will pass and not even try. I prefer to NOT pass on anything. I like the challenges. I get told all the time, car's won't tow, or you can't get it because, or blah blah blah. ******** !!! Hold my cigarette and watch this. The bad part is, you don't get a damn thing extra for it. But a good reputation helps when it comes time your bossman pisses you off. I don't get much grief these days cuz bossman don't want to piss me off knowing I have other opportunities whenever I want. Whenever I'm at Copart dropping I help some of the not so bright drivers or rolling up on accident scene, turn on my light bar, jump out with my broom and shovel and start helping the competitors clean up, and notice a newbie or a driver doing something not so right while loading, or know a trick I can show them to help get traffic opened up much faster, I do it. Then when that driver gets back to the yard, he usually tells his bossman, this dude with (Whoever I'm working for) stopped and helped, showed me this trick... That's how the word spreads. Usually the bosses will say, ohh you got to meet HotRodPC. I've heard of him before, or he's been in here picking up for Copart or a motorclub.

 

[HotRodPC]

Yeah $1100 bucks later.

Ohhhh, that sounds like some ECM or BCM ******** gone bad to cost that much.

 

[ScottyB]

PITA Call today. Went to lunch for a change and was 20 min in when the office called for a Jump start 3 blocks away. I get there and the old man starts telling me to get my cables out for his 2011 M-B B200 (Canadian model). I told him to slow down and show me what was going on. (Jump starts and gas stations are BAD JUJU.) He puts the key in and everything lights up but NOTHING happens when he turns the Key. I told him this was not a battery issue but he wasn't having any of it. I pull out my tester and put it on there and show him the battery is good. He won't have it. I jump it. Nothing. Now he is frustrated with ME??? I make a phone call to the local (30 miles away) M-B dealer and describe the situation. 95% chance it is the ignition module. Try tell the customer this but he is busy trying to talk to his SALESMAN in Canada. 45 minutes of waiting for him to screw things up the Salesman finally tells him to call road service.

Customer asks me to make the call and I let them know what is going on. They tell me to tow it to the nearest US dealer (no ****???) and charge him. He can argue with road service later. Should have been 45-60 minutes tops but I ended up with 2 full hours into it and charged him for all of it. Could have saved time if he would have listened.

Oh well, tomorrow is another castro...err day.

 

[HotRodPC]

But the customer is always right !!! YEAH F'IN RIGHT !!!


You know now many customers who were right, that I left them there? Several. I'm in the business to help people that WANT and NEED my help. As I tell bosses and dispatchers, Don't tolerate that ****. Nicely explain to the customer, We are the professionals, we deal with this every single day, that's what we do, so if'll you'll relax a bit, we'll get this worked out for you. I tell them the same thing. When they jump ugly with me, that's when I tell them, OK, so you're looking for a tow operator that doesn't know what he's doing and you can tell how it's going to be, so I'm going to call dispatch and cancel this call, then you can call your motorclub back and get a new driver dispatched. Maybe he'll be an idiot, so I suggest you tell the motorclub to request Fastlane, I used to work for those *********, now I don't so all that is left is idiots and they'll be right out to you in about an hour or 2 or 3. Have a wonderful day sir. And simply drive off. It's that simple. I won't allow someone else who is sitting out in the weather stranded needing help, to be held up by some arrogant ***** that THINKS he knows what's up. Just like customers who ride trying to tell me how to get to a shop, which lane I need to be in etc. I tell them, I've been driving the streets of OKC Metro since 1991 in a service providing occupation. I know where traffic builds up and what shortcuts to take, when to avoid which freeways and which intersections as well as been to all these shops 100's of times in the last few years, so I know exactly where they are. If they continue to try and tell me where to go, I make a joke of it, although I'm serious as hell, I can let you out, call a cab, and I"ll meet you there. They tend to talk about something else. I can't stand being told where to turn and which lane to get in, especially when they've never driven a tow truck and don't have a clue as to what we put up with from other drivers.

 

[89Suburban]

Ohhhh, that sounds like some ECM or BCM ******** gone bad to cost that much.

$500 for the part and $400 to install it and also suckered him into a $175 battery. Plus the tow whatever that came out too. I think another guy in the office let him use his AAA.