Scraped Bumper, Broken Wire

Posted on April 12, 2021 by Dan

A Honda Accord came into the shop with only a few thousand miles on it and a check engine light. It had a code for no signal from the radiator coolant temperature sensor, so I got started on electrical diagnostics.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

2013-2017 Honda Accord Cabin Air Filter Replacement

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Dan

New blog posts every Monday and Thursday, plus pictures throughout the week on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Watch Mechanical Malarkey on YouTube!

Mechanical Malarkey T-shirts, hats, and stickers are available to order!

-Dan

Posted in How-To, Videos | Tagged , | Leave a comment

2013-2017 Honda Accord 4-cylinder Engine Air Filter Replacement

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Dan

New blog posts every Monday and Thursday, plus pictures throughout the week on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Watch Mechanical Malarkey on YouTube!

Mechanical Malarkey T-shirts, hats, and stickers are available to order!

-Dan

Posted in How-To, Videos | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Throwback: Wrong Spark Plugs

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Dan

Originally posted March 27, 2017.

I recently had an older Honda Odyssey come into the shop for a few recalls and other repairs, and found that it had some codes in the computer indicating misfires. It was misfiring on all 6 cylinders. First thing to do when you have a misfire is to pull the ignition coils and spark plugs for the cylinders that are misfiring. I quickly found the problem.

2017_03_27_01.jpg
Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Broken Spring & Mount

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Dan

It’s not too unusual for a coil spring on a higher-mileage car to eventually break, I’ve seen it many times. A lot of times it’s just half a loop from the top or bottom and it rattles around and makes an awful noise. If it breaks more in the middle of the spring it can all collapse and get twisted all together and make noise too.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged | Leave a comment

Unsafe Ball Joint

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Dan

I was starting to work on another Honda Accord axle shaft recall and was giving the car a quick once-over when I noticed that the left front lower ball joint was loose, along with some other suspension issues. After pricing out parts for the service advisor, I set to work on the recall.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tools Stuck in Tight Spots

Posted on March 1, 2021 by Dan

Working on cars often involved squeezing your hands and arms into tight spots. That also means getting tools into those areas, and sometimes they get can get stuck in awkward positions.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged | Leave a comment

Excessive Bedazzlement

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Dan

I’ve posted before about how some people like to stick little gems on various buttons and knobs in their car interiors, but this one beats them all in how much it has.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged | Leave a comment

Chewed Injector Wires

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Dan

I was given a Honda Ridgeline with a check engine light to diagnose. It came up with two codes, one current and one pending. The current code was P219A AF Ratio Variation of Cylinder, which on Honda Pilots and Ridgelines leads to replacing the fuel injectors. The pending code was P0304 Misfire Cylinder 4. I didn’t pay much attention to the P0304 because it was a possible additional code that can be triggered by the same condition that throws the P219A. When I got to replacing the fuel injectors, I found another problem.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Melted Spark Plug

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Dan

Misfires are probably one of the more common engine problems. They can be caused by a variety of problems, often something to do with the spark plug. Usually an engine can run okay with a minor misfire, but if it’s bad enough, it can actually lead to catalytic converter failure, which is an expensive repair. Usually the check engine light will flash if there’s a misfire this bad.

Continue reading →
Posted in In The Shop | Tagged , , | Leave a comment