Author Archives: Dan

Stop Driving on Flat Tires

Tire pressure monitoring systems have been required on new cars in the US since 2007. Because of that, you should always know when your tires are getting low or flat without having to look at them or check the pressures … Continue reading

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Mechanical Malarkey Gets A New Camera!

I just bought what may be my most expensive tool, though for more than just cars. My latest purchase, a Canon Rebel T5i:

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No Pad Left

Sometimes you have to wonder how a customer either didn’t notice a problem, or didn’t care enough to get it checked out. I’ve worked on many cars with so many indications of major problems, sometimes very unsafe problems, but somehow … Continue reading

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Unlucky Tire

My typical procedure when a car comes in with the low tire pressure light on is to first check all the pressures, because temperature changes can cause all the pressures to change equally and cause the light to come on, … Continue reading

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Duct Tape + Spray Paint = Collision Repair?

I was doing some work on a Honda Ridgeline when the front bumper caught my eye.

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Pinpoint The Pinhole

Earlier this week I wrote about using fluorescent dye to find leaks in air conditioning systems. Sometimes dye doesn’t help and you have to use other methods, such as a leak detector, or just by looking carefully.

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A/C Dye Spill

A common way to find the source of an air conditioning refrigerant leak is to inject fluorescent dye into the system. Once dye is circulating in the system, if there is a leak the dye will also leak out, and … Continue reading

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Another One Bites The Rust

Besides the repairs themselves, one of the things technicians dislike most about recalls is the cars that come in that are absolute junk. I’ve never seen a car this rusty before.

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Nobody Has The Right Tap?

It was supposed to be a simple job, just a factory trailer hitch installation on a Honda Odyssey. The only problem was it wasn’t a brand new Odyssey, it was a used one from 2014. The hitch attaches with six … Continue reading

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Abandoned 1960 Chevrolet

When I was kid I remember finding an old car in the powerlines running near my home. I never saw it again and figured it had been removed when they put in a pipeline, but then last week my brother … Continue reading

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