An Honest Mechanic

[Long Mike]

A couple of weeks ago I traveled down to Toledo Bend, near Hemphill TX, for a week of fishing with my Cajun buddies. I had been having a hard time getting the Mercury XR-6 started, and kept getting an intermittent Overheat alarm when on the water. The same condition persisted while at The Bend. On the third day out the motor finally gave up. It would not start at all. Luckily I was close enough to the ramp to get back to it on the TM, and loaded the boat back on the trailer.

I was 400 miles from home, halfway through my fishing trip, on a Saturday afternoon, and my motor was dead. As luck would have it, on my way in, I noticed a Mercury dealership in a small community called Six Mile, and it was only seven miles away from my cabin. Down the hill I went and was pleasantly surprised to see that the dealership was open.

The only person on duty at the dealership on a Saturday afternoon was the mechanic. I explained to him the problems I was having, including the intermittent Overheat alarm. I postulated that the motor wasn’t getting any spark. He walked over to my boat and without saying a word, cut a chunk out of fuel line going to the motor. He then had me look through the section that he had cut out. The fuel line has an inner liner in it and it had collapsed on itself, cutting off the fuel flow. So he began to replace the line. While he was at it I told him to replace the “pump-up” bulb (or whatever it’s called) because I suspected the valve was faulty, as it never got firm. His response was to inform me that although the old bulbs used to sell for $11.00, the new ones were $30.00, because they had to be rated for ethanol. So he didn’t replace the bulb, thereby giving up an opportunity to make a few bucks.

After replacing the fuel line, he put the “ear-muffs” on the lower unit, pumped up the bulb (it got firm this time,) and started the motor. It fired up immediately and ran great. To put it mildly, I was ecstatic. My vacation was saved!

But my mechanic wasn’t through with me yet. He then began to address my Overheat issue. He pulled the cowling off the motor and briefly removed the water line leading into the power head. There was a strong stream of water being produced; indicating that my water pump was working well. (That was a great relief to me, because I had replaced the impeller myself about a year ago. It was my first attempt as a DIYer. I’m glad I got it right.) The mechanic, now assured that the overheat issue wasn’t being caused by a lack of water, began to take a close look at a wire that came out of some type of sensor in the power head. Sure enough he found a fray in the wire that was allowing it to short against the power head, setting off the alarm. He fixed that too.

So, here I am, a man far from home and desperate. The mechanic knows it, and he knows he has me by the short and curlys. With not a little trepidation I asked how much I owed him … and he said $20.00. I was dumbfounded, and actually tried to argue with him, saying that he forgot to include the cost of the fuel line he replaced. He said that was included in the price. Now here’s the kicker. I reached into my wallet and started to pull out two twenties, feeling that his price was far too low. He saw what I was doing and said, “If you try to pay me more than $20.00 I won’t take it.”

I truly don’t know what to say about a man of his caliber, but I will be forever grateful for his ability, honesty, and integrity. Those combined traits are very hard to find these days.

[Bluebasser86]

It's great to hear stories like that once in awhile. I had a great experience with a couple mechanics while on a trip to Table Rock, one I unfortunately didn't meet, the other was working at the BPS in Branson. We were running across to our next spot when my overheating alarm went off. We were close to Big Cedar Lodge so I trolled in there and they don't work on them there but one of the guys gave me a number to call to a mechanic in Arkansas. The guy was nice enough to listen to me explain the best I could what was going on. He was pretty certain it was my thermastat that was sticking. I thanked him for his time and we limped back to the ramp and hauled over to the BPS in Branson.

I think we spoke with Tim or MIke? He was nice enough to stop what he was doing and look at my motor for me. He showed me where my thermastat was and took it off to look at it and sure enough there was a couple pieces of sand stuck in it (from fishing the Kansas River a couple weeks ago I suspect). He called all over looking for a replacement for me, asking 5 or 6 other shops. The closest one to have one was the BPS in Springfield. It was a ways to drive but when you're there for the purpose of fishing only you aren't left with many options. I thanked him and asked what I owed him for his time and he told me I didn't owe a thing because he hadn't made any repairs. I argued with him a little about it but he refused and just told me I better get on the road to or the other store would be closed and we wouldn't be able to do any more fishing that day. I couldn't thank either of them enough and after we replaced the thermastat real quick my motor ran great the rest of the trip.

[HookSetDon]

We need more honest guys like this who arent over nighters looking to make a buck, but someone whos in for the long haul. Im glad it worked out for your.

[TxGator]

Ive delt with the guy on six mile your talking about a couple of times. They do seem like good people.

G

[K_Mac]

Great story Mike. I was once rescued while vacationing on a shoestring budget by an auto mechanic who saved me several hundred dollars at a time when several hundred dollars was a serious amount of money to me. It still is come to think of it! There are many stories of those who take advantage, and plenty of people looking only to make as much as they can without regard for anyone but themselves Once in while it is good to be reminded that there are still good folks in this world. Thanks for sharing.

[ClackerBuzz]

very cool story LM. its always nice to hear about the good people in the world.

[shootermcbob]

Great story Long Mike. By the way, you owe me 42.74 cents for the time spent reading it. :grin:

Hey, I figured it was worth a shot, what with all the money you saved on boat motor repairs.

[Sam]

Great story.

I am sure he is an LSU fan.

It is nice to find an honest person now and then willing to help you out of a jam.