Is ASE Certification Worth It?

Posted on October 19, 2020 by

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

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-Dan

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Loose Grounds Cause Strange Problems

Posted on October 15, 2020 by

A Honda Civic came into the shop with a very strange problem: the backup camera would turn on every time the brake pedal was pressed. It’s supposed to only show up when the transmission is in reverse. While looking at the car I also noticed that the gauge cluster wouldn’t know the trunk was open when the brake was pressed as well. There was definitely something going on in the wiring.

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Smashed Subframe

Posted on October 8, 2020 by

A customer brought their Honda Accord came into the shop complaining of a bad vibration that seemed to be from the engine. Engine vibrations can be caused by a rough-running engine, or by failing engine mounts.

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Inside a Mechanic’s Junk Box

Posted on October 5, 2020 by

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

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-Dan

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Tool Review: Mastercool Hydraulic Line Flaring Tool

Posted on October 1, 2020 by

This is a written version of my video from last week.

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Tire “Rim Protector” Failure

Posted on September 28, 2020 by

The trend over the past several years has been for wheel sizes to increase and tires to become lower and lower profile. One of the downsides to this is that with less tire to flex and absorb impacts from potholes and curbs, wheel damage is more likely. Some low profile tires have an extra section of rubber sticking out designed to try to protect the wheel from damage.

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Tool Review: OTC Lower Control Arm Prying Tool

Posted on September 24, 2020 by
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Tool Review: Mastercool Hydraulic Line Flaring Tool

Posted on September 21, 2020 by

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

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Improvised Serpentine Belt Tool

Posted on September 14, 2020 by

On most Hondas, when I need to loosen the serpentine belt, I can usually get a wrench in with enough room to turn it to loosen the belt enough to remove it. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s a tight fit, but on this Honda Element, I didn’t have enough room to swing my wrench. I don’t have a serpentine belt tool, which is a specially designed wrench setup that can fit in tighter spaces, so I had to get clever.

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How to Change Wiper Inserts

Posted on September 7, 2020 by

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

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

-Dan

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