Sunday, September 13, 2020
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My condolences to the family of Francisco. I only recently learned of his passing. I know Francisco will be missed tremendously by those that knew him. I will always remember Francisco as a kind, intelligent, world-class mechanic and friend. He was always the go-to person when other mechanics got stumped. I worked as an apprentice with Francisco as my mentor back in 2001 at Max’s shop in Gridley. I learned more from him about troubleshooting in one summer than I have in 9 years with the Army and 20 plus years of turning wrenches. Still have not met anyone with his abilities. I still remember one of the first vehicles that came in shortly after joining Francisco in the shop. A truck came in running very poorly, incredibly rough idle. He listened to the engine run for less than a minute. He touched some points on the exhaust manifold and instantly knew the issue. The other senior mechanics gave their theories. Some said it was an injector, some guessed a compression issue due to rings, and a couple of other guesses. Francisco told me, “It’s not any of those things. It is the intake valve push rod on the #3 cylinder. It has a crack in it.” I chalked it up as just another guess. Later on we tore down the engine, piece by piece. We got to the push rods, marked them to identify where they were and then laid them on a table. Francisco began to take each push rod and gently tap it on the table. He listened to each one and we came to the #3 intake rod. It sounded slightly different. He wiped it down thoroughly and inspected it with a magnifying glass. Sure enough it had a tiny, hairline crack. Barely even visible. We replaced the damaged push rod, got it back together and it ran perfectly! During my summer working with Francisco, there were countless times he would perfectly diagnose an engine simply by sight or sound. It was an incredible experience to work alongside Francisco. I feel privileged to have known him. Rest In Peace, Francisco.
-Sergio Banuelos
