Oh damn we need more of these commercials that also act as a 5 minute school espically for cars cause man are people stupid aswell as IT I don't even know how some people make it luckily most of them just need to hear it to learn what they previously were doing was stupid and the ones that still manage to fail at simple tasks you will atleast know there true idiots
This is why my dad made sure I knew what was under a hood and how to fix basics on my own. He raised me with the phrase, “Being a woman is no excuse for ignorance.” I am so glad as I grew up in the 60s and 70s before that became a pervasive concept. Miss him.
My whole country has mandatory safety inspections every year (well, every 14 months). The first inspection for a brand new vehicle has to be within 36 months, and the second inspection has to be at latest 24 months after that. After that it’s after 14 months over and over
I am so happy my country has mandatory safety inspections. I failed them once and you know what? I don't care. At least I know that (almost) all the cars have had a baseline maintenance done.
My state has safety and emissions. On some new cars like mine, there's any number of faults that can kick on the engine light, and prevent getting a valid sticker, that aren't really related to safety or emissions. Also, if you ignore it, the state won't let you register your car. So you can be left without the necessity of a vehicle, for the crime of not being able to pay for increasingly extortionate prices.
I saw a video not too long ago of some idiot arguing with a mechanic that he thought changing his oil just meant adding more oil to his car. He drove hundreds of miles just topping it off with more oil and not taking it in to the shop. He had to spend a fortune to get it fixed and he kept yelling at the shop owner how was he supposed to know what changing his oil means? The kicker? The video was uploaded by said idiot. He thought the internet was gonna be on his side as he berated this poor worker.
Story 58 perfectly illustrates why I will never willingly own or drive a modern car. They choose to put critical electronics, without which the car WILL NOT RUN, in the side-view mirror. The part of your car most likely to get damaged. Never thought I'd see the day when a shopping cart can total a car.
My personal favorite is that video of some lady who opened her door to pay a toll or something and her car shut off The door was stuck open because of where the payment thing was, and she couldn’t put it neutral without turning it on which she couldn’t, because the door was open no idea how you get into that situation, but it being possible is dumb enough on it’s own
Grew up with a dirt track stockcar in the garage and took auto mechanics in high school. As a woman it amazes me how many shops think I'm stupid. Still change my own oil, much cheaper!
Re: your poll about car education in high school: I was in the very last semester of free Driver's Ed classes offered in public high schools (1999). The teacher strongly recommended that anyone who planned to drive a car should take a semester of basic Auto Tech, ESPECIALLY girls. I did so, and to this day I do my own basic car maintenance (I drive old cars). Both Driver's Ed and Auto Tech have been removed from most public schools. Succeeding generations of drivers neither understand how to drive, nor how their vehicles work. It would be exceedingly expensive to bring Auto Tech back. Contemporary cars have software that is proprietary to each make; while the mechanical bits work on the same basic principles, the software raises a prominent middle finger to anyone who wishes to DIY. Damn the man! We have a right to repair! #RepairManifesto
me too, felt a bit of nostalgia too, I had an old Nissan 300ZX myself I ended up selling for $500 to a person renting the house across the road, sadly the part I needed was more than the car was worth , the computer chip for engine management, (was a lot more wrong including a big dent where a truck hit me), I told him, but he still bought it thinking he could at least sell it for parts, one day he actually got it started but never again, fortunately they took it when they moved, was worried as I was the last registered owner and would end up abandoned. (no it was not a good car, I only paid 3K for it myself years before) that car was a money pit.
If someone had pulled that move on me, and then gloated about it like that, they would quickly find their name in the newspaper under the "recent deaths" section.
Confession time. I was helpin s buddy flush out his coolant as part of regular maintenance and at some point we ran of of containers to hold all the coolant. Sooo i used an old gas can i had to hold it. A few months late i had completely forgotten abt this and i went to clean out my truck. Decided the gas can was too old to rlly keep and thought hey ill just dump the little gas left in here in my truck. It was the can we used for the coolant. Within 2 minutes truck broke down wouldn't start. Then it hit me what had happened. Ended up needing a tow and had to drop my gas tank to empty it and rinse it out with more gas. Learning experience ig. ALWAYS label your gas cans when u pit something thats not gas in it. Better yet dont use gas cans for anything but gas.
lol that reminds me of when I had room mates. I had 2 jerry cans in the garage. I was reasonably certain someone was stealing gas, so I filled the gas can with diesel. One room mate's car mysteriously stopped working.
My dad was a mechanic for years when I was younger, probably upwards of 10 years. The worst thing he saw, that he told me, was someone without working breaks. Like the one guy in one of the stories, they had to use the emergency brake to stop. Biggest problem: it was a pregnant woman!! My dad said she wanted it fixed but they couldn’t do it immediately, she tried to take the car and drive home!!! They wouldn’t let her.
Where I live it is normal to learn all the functions of the car (including the engine) during driving lessons. And cars have been inspected for 2 years to keep them roadworthy according to the law. Hearing most of these stories is breathtaking.
Im not a mechanic, but I'm also by no means financially strong. It costs too much to fix my car, as it needs a heater core replaced, fog lights replaced, the fuses all replaced, the coolant flushed, the oil and filter changed, and probably a priest to bless it.
Oil and filter change should be doable yourself, provided the filter is trivially accessible. Also, if it’s remotely modern (or at least, anything like the cars whose fuses I’ve looked at), it has a fuse box somewhere accessible and you can buy and replace them yourself. Might wanna grab needle nose pliers or spend a couple bucks on the dedicated tool so you can grip them. Made sure to examine them - if they’re the same kind of car fuse I’ve seen (translucent plastic, color-coded for amperage, with an arch of metal visible within) then you can see if they’re blown (gap in metal) or not (no gap). If they’re not blown, shove it right back where it came from. Also, if a bunch of the fuses are borked, (A) check the wiring for shorts, as most of the internal electrical should have a discrete set of possible power levels (simplified headlights would have off, on, and high) and thus only need the fuse for safety and (B) you might not need to replace the fog lights, just their fuse. If you have trouble understanding any of that, and it’s not because of poor phrasing on my part, well… I can only recommend spending any time you can spare learning.
@@PokeMageTech the car is almost held together with shoe string in some places. The fog light on the passenger side has definitely seen some sort of impact, the bumper is cracked. Part of the frame is held on by "custom" bolts instead of where the screws are supposed to be.
This video is both hilarious and terrifying! It's crazy to think people would pour oil into a radiator or add gasoline to a diesel truck. It's a good reminder to always double-check what you're doing or leave it to the professionals if you're unsure.
I think schools should stop focusing on bullshit stuff and go back to teaching things like say....shop or home eco, we probably have people who know things about cars then.
My Jr High and High school required all students to take two quarters of life skills. Jr High entrance at 7th grade requirements of two semesters choice of Woodshop, metal s😮😮hop, home ex cooking, home ex sewing . High School entrance 10th grade two quarters requirement choice of Woodshop, metalshop, Auto shop, Cooking, sewing. These life skills classes were absolutely valuable over the years.
My grandpa isn't a mechanic (for some reason), but he has been just fixing cars his whole life for little to no money. He knows his stuff. He fixed my neighbors sons car, and this idiot put gas in the oil tank. I have no words.
That one story about the wildly, gorgeous woman pouring oil in her windshield wiper fluid reservoir had the creepiest narrator I’ve ever heard. What a weirdo. I’m sure that lady could tell he was a creep and that’s why she answered like that lol
And I'm sure she'll blame men for not stopping her putting oil in her washer fluid. But hey, he was "icky" right? How dare someone not be a social butterfly.
had a guy come in for a coolant leak, coworker starts driving it into the shop and the car does stop. He looks for the handbrake but there isn't one in this little sedan. There was a footbrake, but when he found it, it was too late. The guys failed to tell us they just did the brakes and never bled them, but drove it to us and didn't want us to bleed it. We found the coolant leak, didn't bleed the brakes and talked to the ACTUAL owner who showed up later not with the car, who proceeded to rip his buddies a new one after failing to mention the ONE thing he asked them to mention. I have plenty of other stories, but this one was the first one I remembered.
Update in life as of recent, close to a story 8 scenario. Just bought a 2006 Chrysler 300 SRT8 for half its actual value because it overheats. The previous owners say they replaced the thermostat, radiator, water pump, coolant hoses, and electric fans, but no dice. Drove it back home with temps going a few degrees above where I would like it, but it only overheated at idle. Easily diagnosed as poor coolant condition and flushed the coolant. Car runs like brand new, even shifts clean despite having a NAG1 transmission unlike my Charger R/T. Felt bad for them as they put so much time into it, but they said they cant put anymore time into it and just wanted it gone. Paid $5500, worth $8k-$12k.
A fellow mechanic was working on a Cadillac with a carburetor smoking a cigarette and it backfired through the carburetor. He lost all of his facial hair that day 😂
8:20 I honestly can’t believe how many wrecked cars are allowed to drive on the road in the US. In Europe there are annual checks your car needs to pass to ensure its safe for the road
The stories highlight the humorous and sometimes baffling ways in which people attempt to modify or fix their vehicles without proper understanding, showcasing a blend of ignorance and creativity that often leads to unintended consequences and bewildered mechanics
I am no mechanic but I’m pretty handy in a garage. My friends bring me there cars for small stuff. My best friend brought me her car because it wasn’t running and had other problems. She had never changed the oil, a friend of hers had modified the doors and ruined the powered windows and the doors no longer shut right and her brother tried to put a flame kit on the exhaust that had melted some of her bumper. It was rough and she had a few leaking lines that I didn’t have the time or tools to fix. She now takes better care of her car and talks to me before she lets other friends do things to her car.
I think vehicle maintenance should be part of vehicle operation courses and tests (ie if you're learning to drive a car and going for your basic average car driving license, you have to learn/know basic car maintenance facts, motorcycle riding, same thing but for motorcycles, etc.) because not all of us want to or ever will (or should; I don't trust myself to drive a car due to certain issues that aren't a problem on a motorcycle) drive a car so making all of us learn how to do car maintenance is like making everyone learn how to take proper care of a dog. Sure, plenty of people get dogs in their lives, some even need them for various reasons, but not everyone has any use for it and while it may have some useful transference, it's not anywhere near universal nor does it have as much flexibility as more general subjects (which, I think they aren't all as useful as other subjects would be but that's another issue entirely).
Listening to this made me really grateful that my dad taught me how to do not just basic maintenance like checking and filling fluids but i also know how to check sparkplugs (at least back when you could reach them) as well as how to change brakepads and other misc stuff. The most insane fix i ever had to do was replacing a heater hose in a truck. I ended up taking pictures of the engine as i couldnt figure out what the problem was and sending them to my dad who helped me spot the blown hose. I got it off, took it to Auto Zone where they got me a new one, went back and the only issue, i didnt have the right socket for the full fix. This is where things got entertaining as I went to my neighbors (who were mormons, this matters) and asked if i could borrow the socket size i needed (i knew it then so i had the number i just dont remember it now) and i remember the nice lady looked at me like i had 5 heads because well... i am a female. Her husband let me borrow the socket while also giving me that look of... BUT YOUR A GIRL!!! And i ended up bypassing the heater coil because the nipple for the hose into the heater had a TON of rubber bits stuck to it that hand sanding couldnt remove. That was a great truck and it served me for several more years before the keyswitch broke and i sold it to a mechanic who fixed and flipped it so fast he asked me to resign the title over to the person he sold it to. I am glad it is still going out there somewhere.
This is my car's time to shine! The only fluid it doesnt leak is power steering fluid, but ironically the power steering pump is failing. It also hasn't had an oil change in 35k miles, it leaks so much that it had 20 quarts of oil added in that time with a new filter every ~10k miles.
22:19 Ya know, that was part of the theory behind auto shop in high schools back in the day. Year 1: basic repair and maintenance tasks Year 2-4: all the stuff to get someone up and running if they know they want this career In many ways it got phased out, like Home Ec, because schools started moving stuff to vocational and focusing more on academics while instead expecting parents to teach their kids the basics for stuff like this.
9:00 In many places it's illegal to even let that car get back on the road. You have to have brakes to drive a vehicle. If you don't have brakes, you can't drive even if you're just using your handbrake like this idiot was using. It's illegal. Car is not fit for Road
When I was 16 I was able to take college courses with my high school classes. I was so excited about their automotive courses. The teacher kept asking why I wanted to be in the class. Eventually I gave up. I was too young to understand the sexism and too innocent to disagree with someone I assumed had my best interests at heart. I just listened when he told me to try a different field. Thus began my secretarial career. Anxiety, depression and GI problems later… It’s so good I can’t travel back in time. I would end up in jail and that wouldn’t be good either.😅
Story 9 reminds me of many times we've had to get police to tow vehicles that were unroadworthy away while the vehicle owner gets citations and has to call for a ride home. If the owner wasn't willing to fix the major issue we weren't going to be liable for what happens after it leaves our shop.
7:44 came with 2 gaskets and both cars used the same bolts? Yeah naw. as someone with a history in auto mechanics that's currently a journeyman machine repair technician I call BS bro. Companies aren't selling gaskets in two packs. That's ridiculous and you know it.
I was the service writer at a WalMart. Our oil change tech---he had been doing this kind of work for decades---came in to show me the base plate from an oil filter. The customer had changed his own oil and couldn't get the filter off, so he chiseled the filter's can off. The nipple that the filter screwed onto stuck thru the baseplate enough that he was able to screw a new filter on and it sealed against that baseplate. My guy cut a notch in the edge of the baseplate, and was able to remove it with a blunt chisel and hammer.
Years ago, I had a 1981 Honda Accord with a 5 speed manual. The hydraulic clutch was bad, so a friend and I replaced the master cylinder. We did this in the early evening and halfway through the job, the mosquitos came out in force. We worked as fast as we could, swatting mosquitos the whole time, but we got the repair done. The next day, I was driving the car and it was running horribly, misfiring and frequently stalling. I pulled the air cleaner cover and found out why: in my hurry the finish the job, I had left a screwdriver in the air cleaner, which had jammed the choke partially closed.
A required class for the basics of caring for a car would be fantastic. Also, my story was not me, but I observed it. Last time I went into a shop, it was for an alignment. I had replaced the front struts myself (wore out with age), and took it in to get everything straightened out after the job. They found that my brake pads should probably be replaced somewhat soon, but otherwise all went well, and they even complimented me on my DIY job. However, some other guy came in to investigate a noise on his SUV. Turns out his wheel bearings were just shot, and there was an issue with his suspension too. Declined the repairs and left. The guy in the lobby and I chuckled a bit as we saw him pull off into a gas station just a few blocks away, looking quite concerned, but not coming back to get it fixed.
Yeah every 3000 miles is a bit exessive, then most cars would have a oil change every 3 months or so. VW factrory remonadation for oil changes is about 20k to 25k kilometers. But the first oilchange often has to be at around 5k kilometerts, because of the break in period of the engine.
thats for people who use 'regualar oil' rather than synthetic with the latter you can go anywhere from 5000-10000 miles depending on the egnine, oilf ilter and usage patterns
@constantins.2981 Lmao 20k on a VW?!?! Those burn oil more than snoop burns weed. My dad has one, and they told him 15k for oil changes. I had him check his oil early because it's a pos Euro vehicle, low oil. Turbo charged 4 cylinder engine still under warranty, still under 30k kilometers. He bought it brand new and has kept up with the maintenance schedule. Already burning oil. If he stayed at the recommended oil intervals it would be operating on low oil for several thousand kilometers every single time. A VW probably won't make it to 150k, but let's say it could hypothetically, the recommended 15k oil changes with 5k of it being low oil, by design, means to reach 150k, 50k of it would be spent driving on low oil by design from VW. Change it at 5k - 7k, especially on POS Euro vehicles that leak more oil than a head of hair that hasn't been washed in 4 decades
The NonExistent Break Story: Had a similar thing happen to a mechanic friend of mine, only difference? In my country the mechanics can keep the car off the road, since it is not safe to drive it. And if the owner still tries to drive off with it, the cops will be pretty fast to catch that person for endangering public safety and dangerous intrusion on traffic. And that is exsctly what happened. Don't know what came out of it but I know the car owner is only allowed to drive bicycles for the next few years, so... I guess it was not worth to him 😂😂
I've had an appalling number of people tell me they're "too busy" to remember car maintenance--you know, they have jobs and kids and they're just overwhelmed. Dude, the job you can't afford to lose and the kids you need to keep safe are the reasons you need to maintain your car! (Not a mechanic, just someone who does not F around with car maintenance.)
If you try to help a woman and she pulls the "I have a boyfriend" line, best response would be "Really? He must be blind or desperate. hat I was trying to tell you is..."
Mine would probably be “great? I don’t see how that’s relevant. Anyway-” If I thought to stop and actually respond instead of essentially going “irrelevant, anyway”, it would probably be “I don’t know you. Why would I wanna go out with you? You could be abusive. Even if it’s to service staff rather than your partner it’s a dealbreaker.” or “are you so full of yourself you think that’s the only reason a dude would talk to you? Some of us aren’t driven by hormones.” If she looked like it might be reasonable, then maybe “ma’am, while you look great and it’s easily believable that you’re used to people hitting on you and only talking to you because of it, I have many concerns that outrank such things.” or “ma’am, while I can see why you would expect to be hit on from past experience, I am not going to bother strangers like that.” and continue with what I was talking to her for.
That guy sounded like a skeeze so I can absolutely imagine he used the white knight voice. It sounded more like w fetish story than something that actually happened
Former service writer and let me tell you. People use to tell me the customer is always right, and no, they are not. Had a woman come in and she wanted tires. Well this is post Covid era so we weren't doing tires then so we informed her of it, it was mainly due to staffing issues. She comes back a few days later a buys tires to be put on somewhere else, but doesn't bother to make sure they're the correct tires for her car. Now, our store has a policy that if someone else installs your tires, we are not responsible for what happens. I do think when I was with her the first time I told her the tires she wanted were wrong for her car and we wouldn't install them regardless of what she wanted. If someone just buys tires to be installed somewhere else, we don't check to make sure it goes on the intended vehicle. Well her mechanic was an idiot and decided to install these tires even though they were wrong. She then threatened to sue us because we sold the tires but I remembered her because of her attitude and told my boss the situation and he said she could try but she would lose. She was willing to spend thousands of dollars to get a $250 refund. Oh and there were the people who didn't understand that if you have a dexos engine, you gotta have synthetic oil. Or the guy that brought a freaking tesla to get tires at Walmart, which is where I worked
Nothing wrong with getting tires at Walmart. A Continental gt is a Continental gt regardless of store. Fun fact: Walmart is the only place to easily find vw 508 spec 0-20 oil for a reasonable price.
22:01 my high school ran a drivers ed for EVERY student in year 10, the class only lasts 1 trimester (a third of a year) but they teach you most basic road rules as well as how to maintain your car. Most of it was just teaching us the system to learn on L plates and actually get a license.
Story 34: when I was little, like under 10 years old, my neighbor/babysitter had accidentally started a kitchen fire & burned herself pretty bad. She wasn't babysitting anyone at the time so no kids were in danger. but I remember hearing the ambulance & firetruck coming, running out to see what was up & watching them load my babysitter into the back of the ambulance. I cried A LOT. Her house was fine, just some damage to the kitchen cabinets. After a couple weeks she came home & 1 of the 1st things she did was come give me a big hug & show me her bandages to assure me she was ok. She had burns all over her arms but was otherwise ok. I still get a little worked up just thinking about that. She's a tough old lady & doesn't take any crap, but a total softy for her babies & kids.
everytime someone talks about how its "just a crappy honda/toyota" im like bro thats the only reason it still runs after being abused like that any american car would break down if you even look at it funny
So thankful my grandad and dad were mechanically inclined, though I’ve never been a car guy they taught me the finer points of keeping a car going…like changing the damn oil!
Basic auto maintenance used to be something of a thing, akin to home ec for guys, back in the day. It wasn't offered at all school systems, nor was it a required course, but at least it was something useful for the students if they wanted to be informed.
Many years ago I had a 70's chevrolet suburban and at one time going to fuel up there was another suburban ahead of me at the pump. We began to converse a bit but it came to a stop when I had mentioned that a diesel option for his particular year was unheard of. Blank stare. "Uh, it's not a diesel". "Please do not start the engine until we can get all the diesel fuell out of your gas tank". He was so greatfull to me for saving his day that he paid for a full tank of fuel for me. I am just greatful I had found his minor error befor he was able to ruin his engine.😮
I work on equipment, had someone get an excavator very stuck, like, tracks completely submerged in quick mud where a swamp used to be, something in said mud split the hydraulic cooler wide open, and burnt EVERYTHING up including the pump… the operator said “I saw a bunch of warnings and I was trying to hurry up and get out”
Customer came in with a complaint of engine noise on a 2018 Hyundai Sonata. Being a Hyundai, the first thing we wanted to check was oil level and condition. The tech gets in the vehicle and starts it up. Immediately the engine is knocking BAD. The oil change service light had been on for 16K miles and he was 4.8Qts low on oil in a 5Qt system. We added oil and informed the customer of our findings. I told him that after adding oil the knock went away but without tearing down the engine we couldn’t be 100% certain on the extent of the damage. We also recommended that he doesn’t drive it. Customer of course insisted driving it and to his utter surprise, the engine locked up within 24 hours of having the vehicle back.
22:09 that is such an american sentiment (yes canadians, you are included here) Only reason you'd need to know car maintenance is if you use and rely on a car, there are plenty of places where you can go your entire life without ever needing a car or a driver's license and just rely on other modes of transportation, like most places in Europe. Knowing car maintenance is not an essential skill but might be a good addition to Driver's Ed to get your license.
I love hearing all these stories about people who don't change their oil and have issues. Makes me laugh knowing mine will never need an oil change. It's electric.
Stories like these make me glad I never skip oil changes, recalls, or trips to the dealership if there's issues. I treat a car like I would a body needing surgery: leave it to the experts who know what the f they're doing.
"just rolled in" os a channel on here that deals soecifically with this stuff. I watched a fall off of the car when the mechanic kicked it, ppl gluing knick knacks and plastic gems all over the interior, including the sterring wheel, and any number of those scam fuel saver mods...some even catch fire.
When me and my friends were just old enough to drive, my buddy wanted to lower his first pickup truck. He compressed the springs then wrapped chains around them even securing it with the padlock. We thought he was so smart LOL 😂
Not a mechanic, but a tow truck operator. Show to to a man with an overheating engine. He tells me he'd be fine to just drive it home if he could just get this cap off and put some water in the radiator. As I'm about to tell him he doesn't want that cap to come off right now because of the pressure blast and third degree burns, but before I could, he got the cap to twist off... BAM!!! Didn't get any in me, but had to stay with him until EMTs arrived to help him out. I don't know if it got all the way to third degree burns, maybe just second, but I can't really say because I'm not medical professional. Far as I know he was ultimately going to be okay. Man, driving a flatbed tow truck for AAA in a part of the US that gets gobs of snow in the winter means I have a lot of stories about crazy/stupid things I've seen people do. Maybe some other time.
Ad story 23: I my home country, Czech Republic, Every driving school student must know how the engine works and how to take care of the car. Part of the drivers permit course is at minimum 11 hours in literal driving school where you get taught everything about the car from bumper to bumper. Checking fluids, mandatory equipment (first aid kit, reflective triangle, reflective vest etc) and possibly also checking tire pressure is part of the final exam, and the examiner has the option to kick you out of the exam if you don't know the basic principle of engine operation. Among other things, it's the same with a gun license. Before you get the opportunity to own any weapon, you must show that you know how to take care of a weapon, know its components and know how to disassemble and assemble it, handle it safely, and last but not least, you must know the laws regarding a specific type of weapon and general statutes. Not that we don't have people neglecting their oil change intervals, but at least they cant tell you that they didn't know. 😅
Story 9, people in SE North Carolina are like that, slightest "funny" noise from the engine, it's garage time, brakes worn out completely, "I'll wait till next month". People, a car that runs rough or won't start is a pain in the neck, a car that won't stop WILL KILL YOU. Get your effing brakes fixed!
Probably the craziest thing i heard about from a former Chrysler / Plymouth mechanic was his brother inlaw dissatisfied with his big Chrylsers ride removed all four shock absorbers . He was convinced the car would ride smoother without them . 😂
I had a 95 Geo Tracker when I was in my mid-late 20s. When i got it, I was told to keep the fluids up, especially the coolant, and that the squealing belt couldn't be fixed. I was not told that the "especially the coolant" part was bc there was a crack at the top of the radiator, nor that the squealing belt might randomly break due to whatever the issue was. When the belt broke i was stranded on the side of the road, at night, in January. When i managed to get it replaced, i also stopped the squealing...by tightening the alternator another fraction of an inch. That summer it overheated when i was out of town and when I asked what to do, I was told to just add water to the radiator. Oook. Did that, got a little ways and it overheated again. More water. Over heated. I limped it within 3 miles of home before it died and wouldn't restart. Got a friend to come take a look and he told me that the reason it overheated was bc the radiator was cracked. But worst of all so was the motor. See...when I was told to add water...no one said to do so while it was running so it would circulate. I didn't know anything about cars at the time, those of you that do knows what happened. I stupidity didn't invest in getting it fixed, opting to just buy another vehicle(which turned into a lemon at no fault of mine). I miss my tracker... Moral of the story, when telling someone whats wrong with a vehicle and/or how to fix it...be very specific as to why and how. $150 radiator replacement and a slight adjustment to the alternator could have saved me a lot of stress and money.
Had some lady complain her car kept stopping, randomly, full on emergency stop. She had an air-fresher on the gear lever, and when you changed into second gear it activated the electric parking brake. Time for an emergency stop. The best bit, it was `Kevin’ from the minions movie franchise on the air-freshener. She had a little yellow guy wearing dungarees randomly applying the parking brake when she shifted into second gear. There were wear-marks on the cardboard that perfectly matched the parking brake switch. Moral, do not put bits of tat on your car’s controls.
I used to work at an auto parts store and we saw some crazy stuff. My all time favorite didn't actually happen to me, but happened to a good friend of mine who I worked with. He bought this mark 4 Toyota Supra for real cheap off Craigslist and it ran kinda rough. On further inspection, the guy had painted the inside AND outside of the engine. Neon green and school bus yellow. Needless to say that car got scrapped. I'm surprised the guy with two different wheel sizes didn't shred his transmission driving like that
15:08 For those who don't know ford engines the 2.3 he's referring to is the same engine out of the ford pinto which has around 88 horsepower on a good day. So he whent from around 200 horsepower to 88 horsepower. I bet money that the engine was screaming like R2-D2. I'm more amazed the engine bolted directly to the trucks transmission.
This is my story. I had a break caliper lock up on my 89' Chevy 1500. I replaced the brake with lifetime replacement. I drove 30 miles. I took the brake pad off to take it in to get the replacement. In 30 miles, it had worn the abrasive out completely and started melting the steel pad.
About car maintenance class in school: I live in the USA and car maintenance should be part of the driving test to get a driving license, and people not knowing about car maintenance is also there parents/guardians not telling them about it when learning about driving a car.
What a way to spend an afternoon. "Hey bro grab some beers and come over." Then watch some dumdums try a push start an automatic transmission car. That's hilarious. ROTFL
Removing the turn signal housing from the bumper, drilling 400 holes in it and cutting between the holes to rip out the circuit board and completely voiding the warranty on the part
43:00 absolutely agree, my sister didn’t know how to open the hood & she also thought that adding oil was changing it. She is better now and if she has questions, she calls me. (Which is double funny because as a kid my sisters scolded me saying “you can’t fix everything” as I’d often remove the thing they just broke from the trash 😂. Now they both call me. Knowledge is built on experience. ) (Also, if she comes across this, she’s gonna be pissed 😆)
I was raised in the car shop and my dad is a master tech and I do some of my own stuff, I once had to take a look at my moms car (this was a 2016 Chevy sonic that I later on bought from her) the second we get in I heard the front brakes were grinding so bad it was metal on metal and I told her to get that fixed immediately, it also needed a lot of body work like the front bumper was held in with nailing screws… and she didn’t even change the oil plus I also noticed some wires from the harness were cut when I was checking the ambient air temp sensor (I was diagnosing my AC) I did fix up what I could but sadly lost the car to a guy who ran a red light
When i was physically able,,i changed my own oil, did plugs and wires and changed filters. I could change a tire as well. I am female and am completely aware that even a simple tune up isnt the same anymore. I always took anything more to a qualified,,QUALITY mechanic. I would still.do my own oil if i could,,price is insane nowadays.❤
I own a big lifted truck with 35inch tires, but i have 2 pairs, 1 for street and one for offroad, i do some hobby wood work so will go totally offroad and trail to find trees i can cut down and mill. If your gonna spend thousands on tires regardless, best to just buy 2 specialized sets.
I've got one. My old manager at TLE got into an argument with me because he was greasing break bleeder valves and he refused to believe me. The worst one I had in my shop was a 2006 Buick Regal that had a blown engine. The customer told me she thought it was because she forgot to do an oil change.
My older son didn’t change/replace the oil causing the engine to be ruined. The lead my second son to be OCD about changing the oil, he notches 5000 mi each oil change
It annoys me when people call it a freeze plug. It is not designed to pop out if the coolant freezes. The hole is designed to drain the sand out of the block after the *iron* block is cast.
The mixing oil with diesel thing CAN work, but it needs to be prepared properly. I’m not sure what types of oil can be used for it, but my grandpa used to filter spent cooking oil to mix with diesel for his pickup. He was a mechanic and the thing ran like new for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Tried to put grease in the wheel cylinder because they thought the bleeder valve was a grease fitting. Said it was clogged and wouldn't take grease. My dad had a heck of a time convincing the owner of this mistake.