In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 146 Engine Overheating, Needs Major Overhaul?
After Master Song and another repairman came up, they each stood on the hydraulic oil tank and the diesel tank. The two of them felt a wave of heat rushing towards them, especially since the surrounding cold air made the heat feel even more intense.

"When we brought this truck back, there weren't any major problems, except that it kept leaking oil near the distributor. After replacing the hydraulic hoses a few times, it was much better. But then it started overheating in the second half of the year." Zhang Shuangxi climbed up to the roof of the truck and stood on the floor mat next to the driver's cab. He smiled wryly and pursed his lips. "And then it just got out of control. It was so hot that we couldn't get down. Later, we couldn't work for too long. We had to work for a while and then rest for a while before we could finish the work."

The three repairmen frowned slightly as they listened to Zhang Shuangxi's words.

Yu Dawei was alright; when he heard what Boss Lin said before, he was already mentally prepared that it was likely a problem with the engine itself.

But the other two mechanics seemed to have just heard about it. One of them, mechanic Song, walked over, first pushed aside Yu Dawei who was blocking his way, looked down at the engine, and then at the radiator next to it: "Have you replaced the radiator? If the radiator is not good, even the best engine can't withstand it."

Another mechanic squeezed over and nodded in agreement, saying, "Coolers are prone to breaking down in the high temperatures of summer. If this part isn't taken seriously, it can easily cause overheating."

Zhang Shuangxi climbed up from the foot mat to the top, stood up and looked at the two men: "Master Wang, Master Song, to be honest, a master had said before that there was a problem with the radiator, so I specially got a domestic radiator of similar model and installed it. As you can see, the result was the same."

He then recounted his car-buying experience to the two of them without reservation, and Yu Dawei also listened in on it.

This Kobelco excavator was an older model, given to him by a friend in the machinery business as payment for a debt. Zhang Shuangxi had planned to take the excavator because he had a lot of construction work to do and the other party was genuinely short of money.

To my utter surprise, after paying off a considerable debt, I ended up bringing back a troublesome child who caused me to experience high temperatures every few days.

Taking care of it is more difficult for Zhang Shuangxi than taking care of his own wife; he has gone through several drivers just to find one for it.

It wasn't that he fired the workers, but rather that the drivers generally looked down on Kobelco excavators, thinking they were some small brand that were hard to drive, and so they all left.

Little did they know that it was also imported, just not well-known.

It's no wonder that Kobelco excavators are so rare these days, and they're unlikely to be seen in the future either. This is mainly because they still lag behind Volvo and Komatsu in terms of maintenance costs and industrial durability.

"Has the thermostat been replaced?" Master Song asked again.

"I've replaced it before. A master mechanic came over and said the thermostat was broken. I didn't think much of it at the time and just replaced it with a domestic one, but it still didn't work." Zhang Shuangxi said helplessly.

“Well… what about the hydraulic check valve?” Master Song thought of another component. “If the hydraulic check valve malfunctions, it can also cause the oil temperature to overheat.”

"This... has also been changed." Zhang Shuangxi said somewhat awkwardly.

He suddenly felt that these people were a bit unreliable. Couldn't you check for yourselves whether they had changed or not? Besides, these two seemed to be the same kind of people as the previous ones, all using the process of elimination.

If one doesn't work, move on to the next one, and so on until you've run out of options. Then you'll say you need to change it.

Zhang Shuangxi was really afraid that the two would pull this trick. He had already spent a lot of money on it, including installing a lot of his own parts.

Most importantly, the performance of these two people seems rather unreliable.

"Is the water tank cap broken?" Remembering something, Mr. Wang walked towards the water tank, turning back to ask Zhang Shuangxi, "Mr. Zhang, have you replaced the water tank before?"

Zhang Shuangxi shook his head with a forced smile: "No, because no one said it was broken."

Master Wang was taken aback, then glanced at Master Song.

Master Song understood immediately, turned to Zhang Shuangxi, and explained with a smile: "Boss Zhang, diagnosing a car's condition is a meticulous job. Don't rush it. It's similar to a person getting sick; you have to eliminate other possibilities little by little."

Mr. Zhang seemed convinced and nodded in agreement.

Yu Dawei, standing nearby, scoffed, saying that what he said was true, but the way they diagnosed the illness was like a layman directly asking a patient, "What's wrong with you?"

If they already know what illness they have, why would they need you? Besides, can't they use the process of elimination themselves?

“There’s definitely nothing wrong with the water tank,” Mr. Wang said as he walked back.

A moment of silence fell over the room; apart from the loud whirring of the engine, no one spoke.

Master Song and Master Wang exchanged a glance, and couldn't help but think of the last possibility—the engine.

Yu Dawei squatted down beside them and glanced at them, speechless. He figured they'd be saying the engine was broken soon.

"Mr. Zhang, I think the engine of your excavator is probably broken," Master Song said first, sounding quite certain. Yu Dawei, with his back to the group, curled his lips into a cold smile.

Is this how you call yourself a master chef? You can tell what's wrong just by standing there? Even Yu Da himself wouldn't dare to act so pretentious.

“I think Master Song is right. The radiator controls the temperature of the excavator, the thermostat is another thing, and then there’s the engine itself.” Master Wang, standing next to him, continued to explain: “It’s actually very easy to understand. The fan is right next to the engine, and it’s connected by a rubber belt.”

“If the engine is underpowered, the fan will also be affected, which will eventually increase the load on the hydraulic system and may also cause the fan solenoid valve to break down,” Master Wang said decisively. “Therefore, the engine is definitely unusable right now and needs to be taken apart and repaired.”

Zhang Shuangxi hesitated for a moment.

If the engine is really disassembled and repaired, regardless of whether it's the problem or not, the cost of parts and repairs alone will be quite high.

If it's fixed, that's fine, but if it's not, are we supposed to expect these two people to work for free? They should at least be paid some repair fee.

He was torn about whether or not to take the engine apart and fix it.

“Mr. Zhang, don’t hesitate. It must be a problem with the engine valves that’s causing the lack of power,” Master Song chimed in. “And if it’s just a valve issue, it shouldn’t take long, maybe two or three days, for the two of us to fix it for you.”

Mr. Zhang's brows furrowed even deeper.

Below, Lin Ling, Boss Liang, and Duan Dahai stood together, smoking cigarettes, next to the other people who had been watching the commotion around the excavator.

None of these people recognized Boss Zhang, and upon seeing him arrive, they all left Kobelco excavators.

However, they had no intention of leaving. They wanted to see if these three masters could successfully fix the problem or if they would leave in disgrace like the other master craftsmen.

"I don't think that young repairman is good enough. Can he be twenty-five? He's too young. He's probably a newbie who hasn't been in the business for long. He might not even be as good as me." A young repairman squatted under a poplar tree, his face full of disdain.

"The young driver isn't good enough, and the experienced driver isn't much better. Didn't you see those two looking around? They don't seem like skilled drivers. I reckon Mr. Zhang will be disappointed again this time." A driver dressed in coarse linen clothes chuckled, clearly just watching the show.

“Don’t you recognize these two? They’re master craftsmen from the Oilfield Company in Youcheng. They’re legitimate, full-time employees with real skills,” someone who knew a bit about the situation explained. “However, I heard they’re experts at repairing trucks, but I don’t know about excavators.”

"He's definitely better than that junior mechanic; they're not even in the same league," the young repairman said.

Everyone speaks with their own thoughts in mind: some are spectators, some are just watching the show, some are showing respect, some are envious... and so on.

"What kind of cars has Xiaoyu repaired before?" Lin Ling felt inexplicably depressed when he saw that the two people next to him hadn't spoken for a long time, so he turned around and took the initiative to speak, not forgetting to offer them two cigarettes.

"I'm not smoking anymore, give it to him." Boss Liang reached out and took only one cigarette, handing it to Old Duan next to him. Then he looked up at the excavator and replied, "Don't let Dawei's young age fool you, his car repair skills are definitely among the best in our town. As far as I know, he's repaired Hitachi and Komatsu, all of them are imported models."

Duan Dahai clearly knew more, and looking at Lin Ling, he added: "There's also the Ackerman excavator produced by a subsidiary of Volvo, which is a vehicle from the Eighth Bureau and was also repaired by Yu Dawei. Besides these, he has also repaired several domestically produced excavators for them."

He saw this last winter.

At the time, while collecting garbage, he helped Yu Dawei pass tools to his father. The old man sat on the boom arm repairing the oil pipe, while Yu Dawei squatted on the engine tightening screws. The scene left a deep impression on Duan Dahai.

The way the father and son looked at each other and communicated created an indescribable harmony.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette smoke, figuring he'd never be able to collect garbage with his son again in this lifetime.

Although collecting garbage is indeed an unseemly job, I don't want him to do it.

But the father and son wanted to do something, especially when he stood under the car and saw the look in the eyes of Yu Dawei's father as his son repaired the car.

Just that one glance was enough to fill Duan Dahai, an outsider, with countless emotions.

"It seems this kid does have some skill." Lin Ling felt a little more at ease. After all, he was the one he brought along. He might not be able to fix it, but he couldn't let people look down on him.

"Don't worry, I've known this kid for over a year, and I've never seen a car he can't fix." Boss Liang smiled confidently, encouraging the other party while silently cheering for Yu Dawei in his heart.

(End of this chapter)