When starting as a mechanic, there are things you learn from reading, and things you learn from seeing and doing. After a while you know when not to bother with some things and when to skip straight to what’s usually the last option, brute force or the torch.
Almost all cars have sway bars, a long piece of metal running from one side of the car to the other. They tie each side of the suspension together to lessen body roll during cornering. Most cars have one in front and many have one in the rear as well.
Rarely a dull moment with my car, which isn’t surprising given that it’s a 1997 Civic with over 200,000 miles. I was driving along as usual, when suddenly I heard a clunk and a horrible rotational scraping noise started. I knew it had to be something with the rear brakes, which was surprising because I rebuilt them back in December.
Many times dealerships get trade-ins that aren’t worth their time or effort to fix up and sell. Older cars, higher mileage, damaged, rusted. When they decide not to do anything with them they get put on the wholesale line where other dealers sometimes buy from, or they get sent to an auction.
Today I’m going back to a time before I was a mechanic. Before college, I’d never really done any mechanic type work, except for a little bit on our lawn mower with my dad and brother. One year, the starter died, and we had to replace it. This led to some creativity with the few tools that we had.
If you don’t know what it is, don’t drive over it. A Honda Odyssey came into the shop for a check engine light.
As I’ve written about before, wild animals and cars don’t mix. They can cause damage or get themselves injured or killed by getting in places they shouldn’t be. I once found a dead mouse in an air filter box.
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| More Animals in Cars… on Animals in Cars |
