Basic Car Repairs Are Harder Than the Manual Says

“In the past year my husband has started doing maintenance on our cars (his: 2008 toyota RAV4, mine: 2015 toyota highlander). He's watching a lot of youtube videos and seems to be doing a pretty good job figuring stuff out on his own and I'd like to encourage his pursuit by getting him an OBD-II scanner for christmas in the $300 and under range. Preferably one that works well with our current cars but could also work if we were to purchase a new car in the next few years. We'll likely”

“Just bought this 2004 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 5.4 4WD about two weeks ago. 105k miles. Amazing shape inside and out, new transmission. Only issues I've noticed: - "Check parking aid" message - and it doesn't beep at me in reverse. - The driver's seat won't raise or lower in the front (back goes up and down just fine though). - Clicking sound from the backmost vent with AC on (blend door?) - The cigarette outlet underneath the radio doesn't seem to work (all the”

“This is long winded, bear with me. About a month ago my check engine and traction lights both came on. I noticed I wasn’t getting power when accelerating. Shop indicated it was one of the check valves stuck open. Both the air pumps and check valves were replaced. Got my truck back, drove for 1-2 days and the check engine light came back on and it was in limp mode again. The shop found a hole in a hose, so they replaced it. 1-2 days later, check engine light comes on again in limp mode. They do a”

“2013 explorer 3.5 awd behind the driver side front wheel, passenger side for reference, I got a mig welder and alotta time lol, doable? submitted by /u/Subject-Appeal9947 [link] [comments]”

“Hello, I am a noob DIY-er on my car. I do engine oil & filter changes, coolant flush, cabin & air filters, and I'm going to try and change my transmission oil soon. I'm strapped for cash but I want to take care of my car as it's 20+ years old (2004 Focus). How often should I bring my car to a professional to check things over and do more major services? submitted by /u/terminally-unique89 [link] [comments]”

“TLDR: Can I flush the transmission if there's metal shards/shavings in it? Or do I have to fully replace it? Can I take it apart and try to clean it out? I'm new to this so apologies if I seen ignorant. I'm trying to delve deeper into doing my own work on my cars since all my cars are older and things add up fast. I have a 1994 Toyota Camry LE. It's an automatic, 2.2 L and 4 cylinder. Just hit 100k in the past few months. Nice car. Drives smooth otherwise. Started having an issue”

“I need to replace the oxygen sensors in my 2007 Tundra 4.7 liter V-8. Is there a reputable aftermarket parts dealer for these items or should I use OEM parts? submitted by /u/Extra_Philosopher980 [link] [comments]”

“Hey y'all! Decided to tackle two leaking valve covers on my 2006 tundra double cab limited (2UZ-FE V8) that I recently bought. When loosening the valve cover bolts 2 broke on the drivers side and 1 on the passenger side. They all snapped too deep down in the hole to use a stud extractor on them. I mistakenly tried using an Icon screw extractor set from harbor freight on one of the drivers side holes that I drilled a pilot hole with a left hand bit and tapped the extractor in...it snapped ins”

“Bought a 2019 Nissan frontier with 131k miles. I don’t know if the transmission fluid has ever been changed but would like to get fresh fluid in. Wondering if a drain and fill will be ok or should I drop the pan and change filter also. submitted by /u/Old-Emu-8564 [link] [comments]”

“Does anyone know where I can find a video or guide for the replacement of a shift cable on a 2003 Toyota highlander submitted by /u/Biden_is_cool [link] [comments]”

“Hi, quick question. I just bought a used 2016 Toyota Prius C with 94k miles on it. I don’t know the last time it had the transmission fluid was changed. The car was only owned by 1 guy, it was a lease for 3 years and then he owned it the other 7, I don’t really know more. Seems like he took good care of it in general, interior/exterior is pristine, everything works great aside from 1 worn out actuator in the driver’s door. What’s the move here? Should I drain and fill the transmission fluid when”

“Do you guys agree that my both control arm needs to be replaced soon? It’s a mazda3 2017 automatic sedan 90K miles. Any advice as someone like me is getting into DIY projects like this, I have done very basic maintenance like oil change, brakes pads and flush, sway bar end links, changing filters. I have an impact and break bar. I am buying OEM I will pay extra for the peace of mind. Thanks yall! submitted by /u/Snoo89162 [link] [comments]”

“Is there any way to do a quick Learn on transmission after changing fluid on Dodge caravan? Or only way is to have the expensive scanner? submitted by /u/glider4488 [link] [comments]”

“Hi, please help, this is our a 2008 4.7 tundra with 260k miles. It's this exhaust manifold good enough to reuse with a new gasket? Took it off because it had a large exhaust leak before the cat that was throwing out the fuel trims making them say negative. I already try to clean it. submitted by /u/No-Juice-2431 [link] [comments]”

“I (a shadetree dumbass) drained the cvt 2 fluid from the transmission of my girlfriend's 2019 outback. That part was no issue. The issue, as I've since discovered because she got the "AT temp light" warning driving around 6 days later is that I put the fuid into the wrong fill hole. There is an 8mm plug on the driver's side that is the actual fill plug. My dumb ass put it in the 10mm plug above the differential on the driver's side. There is fluid leaking from somewhere”

“Hello guys, Our second car is the one I use for school runs and grocery trips, and its been makin a clunk sound.. thinking of going to a transmission shop How your suppose to pick between transmission repair shops?? Do you just go with whoevers cheapest? Someone in my dads group chat brought up a few shops like Trans Medic transmissions. When you called around, what questions did you ask that helped you feel confident in the shop you picked? submitted by /u/RichCondition1501 [link] &”

“Took my 2020 Ford Fusion S (60k miles) to get its transmission fluid change because it was having trouble going from the 2nd to 3rd gear (25-35mph). They drained and filled it TWICE, and they found metal shavings in there. These do not look small. Lmk if this is a common problem in Fords and how worried I should be. 😭 submitted by /u/Entire_Tell9771 [link] [comments]”

“I changed these side light bulbs on my Kia Ceed 2012 a couple of years ago. Now they look like this and are dark when I put on the parking lights. Could it be caused by fat from my fingers from when I installed them? submitted by /u/Konkarongen [link] [comments]”

“Hi guys, I own a 2006 Tundra with 151,200 miles (bought it from original owner with 116,000 miles) I'm hesitating if I should service the transmission (automatic) since I've heard that transmissions with high mileage is best to not mess with them if nothing is wrong with them -previous owner and I only did highway miles, no offroading or heavy towing -Last service is unknown -The transmission works totally fine (no slips, no hard-shifts or noticeable issues) -what is a good price for the”

“Wifes 24 acadia denali has a cracked drivers headlight lens. GM wants 1300-1500 for a new light. I sourced one from ebay pulled from a wrecked denali hit in the rear. For 500. I removed about 46 fastners described in the manual to remove. Popped both sides were it meets the fenders. We for the life of us could not get the cover to come off. It got loose except around what seemed to be a few areas. The face of the headlights and drivers side bumper impact area. The headlights have 6 clips built i”

“Sorry if this is a dumb question, I didn’t know where else to ask it. I’m a terrible mechanic and my car knowledge is sub par. I have this 2018 Mercedes Benz GLA 250. Years ago I traded my CLS for it because I was having a 2nd kid. Turns out I pretty much have the same amount of space I had before… Anyways, that is beside the point. I have had it for a few years now and am tired of looking at it. I don’t want to get a new car, so I decided maybe I could do some work to mine. I really like how th”

“You need to be careful when handling halogen bulbs with your bar hands. The oils from our fingers will burn that bulb out super fast. I did a test once with a 4” halogen bulb from work, plugged it in, took only a few seconds for it to pop.”

“There are tons of crappy bulbs like these on the market. I've had loads of them go within a week of installation until you get a genuine batch.”

“Im thinking improperly matched voltage. Thats what 5 volt lamps look like on a 12 volt circuit. They get bright and poof.”

“No. Those low power bulbs don't get hot enough for fingerprints to matter. Your headlight bulbs will get hot enough that fingerprints might burn or boil off, creating a spot on the glass with enough of a temperature difference that the glass might shatter. The discoloration inside your bulbs is material from the wire inside the bulb that gradually coats the glass. It's just a thing metal does when it's white hot for long, and is completely normal. The intense vibration of the molecul”

“Make sure you’re using the correct bulb, there’s a couple of different flavors (resistance value), wipe them off after you put them in”

“Yep that's halogen bulbs for ya, the oil from your skin gets hot and kills them.”

“Technically you should never touch the glass with your bare skin because it’ll leave oils on it that can lead to early failure But in practice it doesn’t really matter, those bulbs got pretty hot, the one you’re holding got hot enough to melt and bulge out the glass on the side. It was just end of their time.”

“Those dont get hot enough to be a problem. Those bulbs just burned out. When you buy replacements dont buy the brighter ones, those have a shorter life span than the standard bulbs.”

“That generally only happens with halogen or HID headlight bulbs. What you have are what we call "peanut bulbs". They just aren't engineered to last.”