Got a call to tow a F-250 screw yesterday. Got to the truck and the owner said that the brakes had gone out. He showed me a stain on the gruond and said that it was his brake fluid. So I pick up the truck with the wheel lift and off I go to the dealer so they can fix it. I get there and tell them what I had seen and been told, warning them, about the lack of brakes. Today I am back at the dealer and asked just what the problem had been. You know as I was wondering just what could cause a failure of the brake system like that.
Well they had taken the truck and carefuly driven it into the shop where tht tech examined it and found that the underside of the truck was bone dry. The shop called the owner and he told them that he had seen the fluid dripping out of the truck and that he had gotten a sample of the fluid in a bottle. The bottle was in the truck and the service writer took a look at it. It was purple. Well this called for some more investigation. Upon looking in the bed of the truck the service writer found a oil lamp. It had just a little bit of PURPLE oil left in it. Apparently the lamp had fallen over and the oil leaked out and into the bed. From there it drained out of the bed on to the ground. Now why the owner thought his brakes were out Heaven only knows. All I know is that it cost him a $60 tow bill and I don't know what the dealer asked for.

 

Reminds me of the time this 20something girl in a honda flagged me down in parking lot and asked if I could look at her car, she said it was," leaking and overheating" I looked under her car to see a small puddle of water from condensation dripping off her A/C condenser, I asked her to pop the hood "just to be sure", She responded by saying,"I dont know how"... I think Shorebirds story is pretty representative of plenty of peoples mechanical knowledge.