Have you ever walked into a dealer’s office to buy a car and felt like you were in the Twilight Zone? That’s because not only is your boss asking for help on your personal vehicle, but he’s also calling it a Chevy 350. Understanding what this means to your boss should help you feel more at ease when speaking with him, or her. You might be wondering how anyone could expect someone who knows nothing about cars to review one or talk about a deal on yours. Chevy 350 sputters when accelerating up a hill? Always start on the first attempt? Gets 10 miles per gallon or less? No problem! The boss needs to know all of these things and more.
10 Things Your Boss Needs To Know About Chevy 350 :
1. Blower motor doesn’t work.
Early Chevy 350 models had a dashboard that was below the dash and was accessed through a little window. The blower motor for the heater was located on the dashboard. If your boss’s car has this same feature, you should understand that there is no blower motor for your boss. As long as your boss drives his vehicle every day, he will never have to worry about it working again as long as he keeps his oil changed regularly and makes sure it’s washed regularly.
2. Allowing the engine to run while refueling can cause gasoline to be dispensed through the air intake and into the engine.
If your boss likes to drive his 350 while refueling or wants it always ready to go in case of an emergency, buy him a scooter or a motorcycle. The internal combustion process requires oxygen in order to work properly and since your boss only breathes through his mouth, he will not be able to drive his vehicle while refueling. He will need to stop by a service station and have a mechanic help him. Once the mechanic has finished his work, your boss should open the hood and wait for about 15 minutes for the engine to run dry before he drives it again. If a mechanic does this for him and your boss forgot to wait, he will want to give you a roll of duct tape.
3. Fuel pumps may fail shortly after being emptied because oil in the fuel can cause fuel lines to rust out after only 3 or 4 years.
Fifteen or twenty years ago, it was common practice for mechanics to use their hands when they were filling up their vehicles with gas. Your boss may still be doing this, which is why he should have a mechanic come out and replace the fuel pump. He should also have the fuel lines cleaned and inspected to make sure they are not clogged or rusted. After an inspection has been completed, try to explain to him how using your hands when refilling the gas tank can cause the oil in the tank to contaminate the fuel lines. Tell him that this will make them rust out faster than they normally would.
4. The engine may develop a leak in the cylinder head gasket or in one of the valve cover gaskets.
If this happens to your boss’s 350, you should explain to him how to find out what kind of leak it is by checking under the hood. If it is a valve cover gasket, he will be able to see where oil has leaked onto his engine block and if it is a cylinder head gasket, he will just have to follow all of the oil that has leaked onto his exhaust manifold until he finds where all the oil is coming from.
5. A clogged catalytic converter may cause a noticeable decrease in fuel consumption.
When his 350 starts to lose fuel mileage, have your boss drive it right into a lake where you will push it out and leave it overnight so that a family of ducks can use it as their home. After you have pushed it out of the lake, explain to him how you were able to do this by following all of the oil that had leaked onto his exhaust manifold and that if it was not for this clog, he would have been able to get another 9 miles per gallon from his 350. Tell him (while holding back a chuckle) that he should be thankful that the ducks weren’t the ones who had to drive this car into the lake.
6. Engine may run rough or stall if there is a problem with the vapor recovery system.
As long as your boss keeps his oil changed and makes sure that he has a vapor recovery system, (which is located on the underside of his 350), he will not have to worry about this problem. If you have trouble locating it, just explain to him how to find the oil dipstick and show him the oil that has leaked onto his exhaust manifold under his engine compartment. It will be easy for him to see now, since all of the oil has made everything look black underneath his vehicle.
7. If the distributor cap is bumped, the engine may start suddenly and stall shortly afterward.
Once your boss understands how to find his distributor cap and that it is located under the front left side of his vehicle, (you should explain how to find this part), you should tell him that if his 350 starts suddenly and then stalls, it may be because he bumped it when he was changing the oil. He should try to avoid bumping it in the future. If he does bump it again, ask him not to go anywhere for a good three days or until he has someone come back out with a new distributor cap for him.
8. Early development of an electrical problem may cause one of the electrical connections to fail.
While his 350 is plugged into a power source, (a circuit breaker), you should explain how the wiring may eventually break without warning and tell him that this could cause the electrical system to fail. He should not worry about this because you will assure him that at no time in his vehicle’s life has anything happened to it by contacting him in the future as needed.
9. If the fuel pump is removed, early failure of the fuel pump can cause engine damage.
Once your boss has bought his 350 because he likes to take it on long highway trips, he should have a mechanic remove the fuel pump from underneath his vehicle. Once it is removed, you should tell him that if any parts of his engine are damaged because of this repair and if you tell him to call you before actually having the work done, it will be so that you can check out whether this repair was needed in the first place.
10. If the fuel tank leaks, a leak can cause engine damage.
Once your boss’s 350 is filled with gas, he should have your boss come out with you and show you where the fuel tank is located on his vehicle. Once he has shown you where it is located, he should have your boss fill his gas tank with gas while you are there so that you can check it out yourself and explain how it may crack if there is a leak in it. You should also tell him that this problem may happen because of corrosion or because of the water inside of the fuel lines getting into them and causing them to fail.
