and thoughts. Solid. I did use straight feeler gauges, but turned them side ways so they would be flat when I slid them in. I really and truly tried to be fair to the Volvo Dealership . . . but I the older I get and the more cars I have owned and the more times I get jerked around, lied to, and ripped off, the less I trust Shops. Generally speaking, I find it is not so much the individual mechanic down in the trenches, but the Shop and Shop Management that sets the tone. I have worked for two independent shops and now one dealershp and I can tell you for a fact a decent bloke has to leave his conscience and honesty at the door, when he walks in. There is somuc pressure placed on mechanics to improve their measured (and discussed behind the scenes)productivity.

Yes, I have an engineering degree and an aircraft mechanic licence, but I am not really an automotive mechanic. I have worked on every car my parents, friends, neighbors, and I have owned, plus a few hundred or so at various places of employ, but . . .

I am forced to do the work myself, because I just cannot trust the work thatI have asked others to do for me, and that includes everything in my life, so I have become a plumber, electrician, carpenter, roofer, etc. I had some moron try to tell me the thicker insulation had higher insulating properties than the existing stuff. Had I not checked his work and the sheetrock went up, along with my heating bills, I would have never been the wiser. I challenged his expertise, called then 1 800 number on the Insulation, gave them the R Vlue of the Insulation being hung and the existing stuff beside it. Guess who was correct? I asked the person on the phone to repeat it to the guy hanging the insulation. Then I forced him to take it all down.

I really became personally involved in maintaining my own cars, when Crevier BMW in Orange County, California tried to rip me off. I caught them in the act. I wrote a letter to Robert Crevier and was refunded $700, or so. I never went back, regardless how many letters I received from the dealership.

Anyway, thanks, again.