c/auto-mechanics

Swapped out an old timing chain on a 2012 Kia Soul last weekend, night and day difference

I picked up this Kia Soul from a customer who said it had a rough idle and would stall at stoplights. I figured it was the timing chain since it had 140k miles and no record of it being done. When I finally got the cover off, the chain had almost two inches of slack in it... I was surprised it even ran. After I put the new one in with a proper tensioner kit, the engine went from sounding like a box of rocks to purring like a kitten. Started right up on the first crank with no more rattle. The customer texted me a video of their commute the next day saying it felt like a new car. Has anyone else dealt with a chain that far gone without it actually jumping time?

Old timer at the shop told me to stop using impact guns on oil drain plugs after I saw him helicoil a pan for 2 hours.

I used to zing them on there with my Milwaukee until he pulled me aside and showed me the mangled threads on a Honda Accord from last Tuesday has anyone else had a teacher check your torque by feel like that?

Had a 20 year old kid teach me something about transmissions last Friday

I was at the shop complaining about a 4L60E rebuild that kept slipping, and this young apprentice from across the bay just said 'you ever check the bore clearance on the pump?' I laughed it off at first cause he's been wrenching maybe 2 years. But he showed me the numbers on his caliper and sure enough I was .003 off. Stung a bit admitting he was right. Anyone else had a younger guy school them on something basic?

Tried a local salvage yard for the first time last week

I needed a window regulator for a 2010 Camry and the dealer wanted $280. Found one at Pick-N-Pull on Route 9 for $18 after 45 minutes of pulling bolts. Anyone else find parts cheaper at junkyards than online?

Switched my stance on tire age after seeing a 7-year-old set crack open on the highway

Watched a 2016 set of Michelins separate at the tread on a buddy's F-150 last month, and now I'm running date codes before any used car leaves my bay; anyone else start checking rubber age after a close call?

Took me 3 years to admit that penetrating oil is mostly hype

I used to swear by the big name penetrating oils. PB Blaster, Kroil, all that. Thought they were magic. Then I started working on a 1987 F-150 from a farm near Amarillo. Everything was rust welded. I tried every spray on the shelf. Nothing broke loose. My old timer boss walked over, grabbed a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF he keeps in a jelly jar, and had that manifold bolt out in 10 minutes. I was pissed. Now I make my own batch for about $3 a quart. It works way better than the $15 cans. Anyone else finally ditch the fancy stuff for a shop mix? Don't care if it smells like a transmission shop.

Spent 45 minutes trying to diagnose a misfire, turned out the spark plug wire was just sitting next to the terminal not on it

Shoutout to the $20 junkyard torque wrench that saved my rebuild

Grabbed a used Snap-On from a pick-n-pull near Dayton for $20 and it clicked perfectly through a whole head gasket job. Anyone else ever get lucky on a junkyard tool that actually worked?

Watched a customer's 2015 Subaru engine seize on the test drive after I missed a quart low on oil during the check-in.

I was at the shop in Denver last Thursday, cruising down Federal with a regular who just wanted a "quick look" before a road trip, and two blocks in the knocking started so loud even he heard it over the radio, so has anyone else had a simple oversight snowball into a total engine failure?

My favorite snap-on ratchet from the 90s finally gave out yesterday

I was pulling the oil pan on a 2003 F-150 at my shop in Akron last week when the pawl just snapped clean off. That ratchet had been with me since my first year at Lincoln Tech back in '97. I remember paying $180 for it out of my first real paycheck, which felt like a fortune back then. The new one I bought yesterday is alright I guess, but the handle feels different and the head is bulkier. Anyone else feel like the new tools just don't have the same weight or feel as the old stuff?

Took me 4 hours to find a vacuum leak that was just a cracked hose fitting

I was chasing a rough idle on a 2005 Civic for what felt like forever. Smoke tested it twice, sprayed brake cleaner everywhere, nothing. Finally decided to pull the intake manifold for a closer look and found a hairline crack on the PCV hose fitting where it meets the valve cover. 4 hours of my life gone because of a $6 piece of plastic. Anyone else ever waste a whole afternoon on something that simple?

Hot take: That master tech told me I was wrong about using dielectric grease on spark plugs

I had this older guy at my shop, been turning wrenches since the 80s, tell me that dielectric grease on spark plugs is a waste of time. He said it just attracts dirt and can cause misfires if you use too much. I argued back because every forum I read swore by it for preventing corrosion. After 6 months of doing it his way on customer cars, I had zero comebacks for misfires or rough idle. Meanwhile my buddy who still globs it on had to redo 3 plug jobs last year alone. I started thinking maybe the grease just makes you feel better but doesnt actually help. Has anyone else seen problems crop up after using too much dielectric grease on plugs?

Was skeptical about lifetime fluid transmissions - now I'm not so sure after seeing 3 fail this month

Always heard mixed opinions on sealed transmissions with lifetime fluid. My shop saw 3 different ones come in this month alone, all with around 120k-150k miles, all slipping or failing. Two were from the same brand, a 2018 Ford Explorer and a 2020 F-150, both with the 10-speed. The third was a 2019 Toyota Camry with the 8-speed. The fluid was dark and burnt looking when we dropped the pan. Is the lifetime thing a marketing gimmick or does it actually hold up in real world use? Has anyone here had good luck with these or is it just a matter of time before they grenade?

Picked a cordless ratchet over a full impact for my first big tool buy

Been saving up for months and finally had enough to get one solid power tool. I was stuck between a cordless ratchet and a 1/2" impact wrench for doing brake jobs and suspension work on my own truck. Went with the ratchet because I mostly do smaller bolts and tight spots under the dash. Used it yesterday to swap out a starter on a 2002 F-150 and it saved me a good 45 minutes of fighting with hand tools. Anyone else feel like a ratchet is worth more than the raw power for weekend work?

Old service manuals vs. YouTube. No contest really.

I was stuck on a 2002 Ford Focus in Detroit last week. Alternator died. Simple job right? Not on this one. Had to pull the passenger side motor mount just to get the damn thing out. My phone was dead so no YouTube. I had to dig out my old paper service manual from 2005. Took me 45 minutes to find the right page. Then I realized the manual said to remove the intake manifold too. That was wrong. A customer walked me through it instead. Anyone else trust old manuals less and less every year?

Had a chat with a 17 year old kid at the tire shop that got me thinking

He said he doesn't even bother with torque sticks anymore, just sends it with an impact and checks by feel. Made me wonder if I'm overthinking lug nut specs after 20 years of being super careful, what do you guys think?

That time a customer called me out on sloppy wiring and I was mad then grateful

I was doing a quick alternator swap on a 2012 Civic about two years ago and just tucked the wires back in any old way. Customer came to pick it up, popped the hood, and asked if I was rushing because the harness was all twisted up near the battery tray. I was honestly ticked off at first but then I looked at it again and yeah, it looked bad. Now I take an extra 5 minutes to route everything clean with zip ties and split loom. Has anyone else had a customer catch something small that made you step up your game?

TIL that greasing your own U-joints is way easier than I thought

I had a driveshaft clunk on my 2002 F-150 last week, so I figured the U-joints were toast. I was about to drop $300 at a shop to have them pressed in and out. But a buddy at the parts counter talked me into trying the greaseable ones with a cheap grease gun from Harbor Freight. I figured I'd mess it up and waste a Saturday, but the whole job took me 2 hours and $45 in parts. The old joints were just dry, not even worn out, so greasing them would have saved me the whole headache. Now I'm kicking myself for being scared of it for 10 years. Has anyone else found a repair they put off forever that turned out to be simple?

Was a brake pad snob until I saw a $40 set last 60k miles on a fleet van

I always bought ceramic pads for my own car, thinking they were the only way to go. Watched a buddy's work van rack up 60k miles on cheap semi-metallics with zero issues. Anyone else find certain budget parts actually hold up in specific applications?

Rant: my old boss swore by brake cleaner on oxygen sensors but that just ruined the one I replaced last Tuesday

He told me to spray it down to clean the sensor after I swapped it on a 2015 F-150, and the check engine light came back in under 10 miles, so anyone else ever get burned by bad advice from a senior tech?

Old timer`s advice on spark plug gap finally clicked for me

For years I just set plugs to whatever the book said and called it good. Then this retired mechanic watches me doing a tune up on a 5.7 Hemi and tells me I was leaving power on the table by a couple hundredths. He showed me how to read the plug and adjust for the actual fuel mix in that specific engine. I changed my gap from .045 to .048 and the truck idled smoother and felt stronger on the test drive. Anybody else get schooled by an old timer on something they thought they had down?

Dropped $400 on a fancy timing light I barely use

Bought one of those digital timing lights with all the bells and whistles last year. Figured it would save me time on the old Honda engines I work on. Turns out my old dial-back Advance timing light does the same job just fine. Anyone else buy a tool that seemed great but ended up being overkill for what you actually do?

Watched a clutch job fail at a shop in Boise because of a missing alignment tool

I was at a buddy's shop in Boise last month watching him swap a clutch on a Subaru and he skipped using the alignment tool, just eyeballed it. Three days later the car came back with a chatter that took him 4 hours to diag and fix. Has anyone else seen a shortcut like that backfire bad enough to make you never skip the step again?

Tried rebuilding a carburetor with dish soap and hot water. Here's what happened.

I had this old Rochester Quadrajet sitting on my bench for like 6 months. Stuck float, gummed up passages, the works. I watched a guy on YouTube say to boil it in hot water and a squirt of Dawn to break down the varnish. Figured why not, right? So I tossed it in a pot on my camp stove outside. After 20 minutes I pulled it out and the thing was clean as a whistle inside. No joke, the jets were totally clear. But here's the kicker - I forgot to take the accelerator pump out first. It swelled up like a balloon and cracked. Cost me $18 for a rebuild kit just for that one part. So yeah, hot water trick works great. Just don't be dumb like me. Any of you guys tried this or got a better method for cleaning out old carbs?

Why does nobody talk about brake fluid absorbing moisture through the reservoir cap?

I was helping a buddy bleed his brakes on a 2010 F-150 last Saturday and we got to talking about how fast fluid goes bad. He pulled some old fluid from a sealed bottle that had been sitting in his garage for maybe 2 years and it was already darker than fresh stuff. That got me checking my own car and I found out that even the little vent hole in the cap can pull in enough humidity to drop the boiling point by like 50 degrees over a summer. I looked up some testing a shop in Phoenix did showing that fluid from a daily driver in a humid area can go from DOT 4 to barely DOT 3 levels in 18 months. Has anyone else measured their fluid age with a tester and been surprised?