Be Careful With Gloves

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Dan

A lot of mechanics don’t wear gloves. A lot do wear gloves. For most it’s a personal preference. I prefer wearing them instead of having to wash my hands frequently, and definitely wear them when working with various automotive chemicals. Sometimes they can be dangerous though. If you’ve ever read an instruction manual for any type of power tool with spinning or moving parts, you may have noticed that it says not to wear loose clothing or have long hair hanging loose, and probably says not to wear gloves. This is all because you don’t want to get grabbed by the tool, which can lead to some pretty bad injury.

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Completely Dead Battery

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Dan

There are multiple reasons why a car won’t start. They can generally be categorized into no-crank, no-start, or start-stall issues. If the engine doesn’t even turn over when you turn the key, chances are it’s a bad battery or a dead starter. If the engine cranks just fine but never starts running, it could be a problem with getting fuel or spark. When an engine does start but then stalls, then it’s a little less straightforward.

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Car Didn’t Want To Be Fixed

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Dan

It was my day off, and I had a long list of things to do, starting with some maintenance on my car. I had to do an oil change as well as replace one of the front wheel bearings. It wasn’t making any noise, but I’d noticed it was a little loose and decided to take care of it before it became a problem.

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Annoying Wheel Design

Posted on April 8, 2019 by Dan

I was taking snow tires off of a newer Honda Accord and ran into a new problem. It usually doesn’t take me too long, but this time I was slowed down by the design of the wheels.

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Potholes and Curbs: Enemies of Tires

Posted on April 4, 2019 by Dan

There are many hazards to car tires. Stray nails and screws or other debris can easily puncture a tire and cause a leak. However, sometimes the blunt objects can be even worse than the sharp ones.

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Air Hammer vs. Drill

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Dan

When it comes to removing stuck or broken things, there are usually two choices: air hammer or drill. If a bolt is broken off or completely stripped and seized, you have the option of using a chisel bit on an air hammer to try to turn it, or drill the whole thing out and tap new threads.

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Update: Evolution of My Toolbox

Posted on March 28, 2019 by Dan

3 years ago I wrote a post showing how my tool collection had expanded in the last two and a half years. Well, after three years it’s time for another update.

 

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Turn Signal Won’t Turn Off

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Dan

I had just finished fixing up a used Honda Odyssey for the dealership to sell, and it had been detailed and was going to be delivered to the customer in a couple hours, when it was given back to me because the left turn signal wouldn’t turn off. Regardless of switch position, the left turn signal would constantly blink when the ignition was on.

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One Reason I Don’t Think Self-Driving Cars Will Work

Posted on March 11, 2019 by Dan

There are plenty of opinions out there about why self driving cars are a bad idea or why they won’t work. One concern I haven’t seen voiced is one I’m seeing on the driver-assist systems on current cars. Most new Honda cars come with the Honda Sensing package, which includes things like lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control. These work based off of cameras and radar systems. Most other brands have similar systems.

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What’s Inside a Honda CR-V Rear Differential?

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Dan

It used to be that when part of your car failed, like the starter or alternator, instead of replacing it, you would get it rebuilt. Nowadays, very few parts ever get rebuilt because of the convenience and now lower cost of simply replacing the entire part. The parts that were replaced get sent back as a “core” to get rebuilt and sold as a remanufactured part. Because of this, it’s rare that you get to take things apart to see what failed or just how they work, because it has to be intact to get the core charge refund.

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