My neighbor's Taurus ran fine for years until he started getting random misfires about 6 months ago. The battery terminals looked clean on top but when he finally pulled the negative cable, the inside was green and crusty. That bad ground caused his alternator to work overtime and killed a $120 battery in just 4 months. He also lost his radio presets and dash lights flickered. I helped him wire wheel the terminal and replace the cable end for $8 total, and it runs smooth again. Has anyone else chased a misfire for months only to find it was just a ground issue?
Found this 1982 CB750 on Craigslist out in Payson. Previous owner said it ran fine but I knew better. Three hours with an ultrasonic cleaner and a $15 rebuild kit got it idling smooth. Anyone else wasted a weekend on gummed up carbs from sitting?
Stopped by a buddy's garage last Saturday and he was dialing in a Holley on a '78 Camaro with nothing but a screwdriver and his ear. Made me think about how different it is now with fuel injection computers telling you everything. Anyone else find it harder to trust a car you can't just adjust by feel?
I spent $22 on a no-name set for my '94 F-150 and ended up chasing a random misfire for three weekends. Turned out one wire had almost no resistance straight out of the box. Anyone else get burned by bargain ignition parts?
Honestly I keep seeing guys at the local Pick-N-Pull overtightening bolts on parts they're yanking off. Had a guy last Saturday strip a bracket bolt on a 2003 Civic and then blame the car for being rusty. Ngl if you're still cranking down like you're torquing a head gasket on a random 10mm you're just making more work for yourself. Why do people act like hand tight plus a quarter turn isn't fine for most non-critical stuff?
I work at a small shop on weekends and every other oil change I get a car where someone torqued the drain plug to about 200 foot pounds with an impact gun. The pan is aluminum on most modern cars and the threads just strip out. Then I have to explain to the customer why they need a new oil pan or a helicoil kit that costs 40 bucks and an hour of labor. Last week a guy came in with a 2018 Civic and the plug was so tight I had to use a breaker bar and a six point socket just to break it loose. The threads came out with the plug. If you own a ratchet and a torque wrench just use them. It takes 30 seconds longer. Why do people think tighter is always better on these things?
I was trying to loosen a rusted brake line on my '05 Silverado and had a propane torch ready to go. My buddy walked over and asked if I wanted to boil the brake fluid and blow the line apart in my face. Has anyone else almost made a dumb mistake like that without thinking it through first?
I was helping a buddy swap his rusted exhaust manifold on his 1998 Ranger last weekend, and he kept spraying PB Blaster on the bolts like it was magic. Told him he needed a real penetrating oil, not a solvent, but he insisted it was the same stuff. After snapping one of the bolts off clean, we had to drill and tap it, which took us another 2 hours. Has anyone else run into this confusion, or am I the only one who keeps a can of Kroil in the garage for stubborn rust?
My buddy Matt from down the street says he's been running conventional in his 07 F-150 for 180k miles with no issues, but I've always swore by synthetic because of some article I read years ago. Am I actually wasting money on premium oil or is he just lucky and rolling the dice on sludge?
My friend Mike showed me his old spark plug from his 99 Civic after 40k miles, the gap was way off like 0.060 instead of 0.044. Putting the new one in made his idle smooth and stopped that stumble he had for months. I went home and checked my own truck, same problem with plugs I'd ignored since 2018. Has anyone else seen a big difference just from gapping plugs right?