Ask the mechanic?

[bashbarnard]

So I thought is start this thread to try and make people a bit more aware of how the motor trade works through the eyes of someone who's been in it 14 years. I have worked main dealer and backstreet garages. So if anyone has any questions about anything garage related. Ask if I can answer I will give you my genuine opinion and or experiences.

I will not mention names of places I have worked.

I will also not be your "diagnostic internet man" if I have seen your thread and I don't know I generally don't answer. Unless I am sure.

 

A few things to get the ball rolling.

 

My dealer has told me my tyre needs replacing as it's 3mm. Is it safe?

 

Yes the legal limit is 1.6mm.

 

I find it utterly mental that for forecourt prep if a tyre is 3mm or above it's good to go but if a customer comes in 3mm is a red and needs replacing.

 

They justify themselves by saying this is the "standard" we work to. It's a bull ***** money making scheme. I had numerous arguments at main dealers about this subject. Of which I never won I might add.

[zain611]

It's a tricky one. Id most likely look elsewhere for the tire if from a glance if the tread looked to be low or close to the limit. I'd probably give them the impression id change the tire elsewhere to see if there is any response to see if they are trying to make money from it. Thing is though it'll come down to you remembering to change the tire afterwards and that grip will get compromised with the tread is down too low. 

Just now loosening the front joints on the car to take it for tracking soon. Dad is doing it as he doesn't want the tracking place to say they want to charge extra as it took time for them to loosen it if its already done. 

[Jonro2009]

I see it’s safe to loosen it off like that and then drive it to the test place? I’d bet if there was an accident then the police would ask questions and the insurance would be void 🤷‍♂️ I’d like to ‘ask the mechanic’ on his thoughts about this one.

great idea for a topic btw Tom

[bashbarnard]

By all means loosen them up. I know what his saying. These can be an absolute ***** to unsieze and most people charge extra for doing it. Loosen them up. Grease them. Tighten them and the place you take them to will be very greatful trust me. I hate doing tracking as it usually means it's tight as hell or worse still siezed solid [emoji23]

 

Also thanks for saying it's a good idea for a topic. I always get asked many questions and im always happy to answer. But at least this way there is a dedicated thread for it.

 

One last thing. Literally no one calls me Tom. My girlfriend even calls me bash cause it's all I'll answer to now [emoji23][emoji23]

[stef123]

I always keep the alignment guy happy (which happens to be me!) by loosening up the locking nuts/bolt as it is in some cases, or if I'm fitting new track rod ends I'll run a die nut up to clean the threads as it makes the job so much easier and efficient. 

[Jonro2009]

Haha, there's me thinking he was going to drive to the garage with them loose. It didn't cross my mind to grease them up and tighten them again [emoji1787][emoji1787] oops my bad

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[zain611]

49 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said:

Haha, there's me thinking he was going to drive to the garage with them loose. It didn't cross my mind to grease them up and tighten them again oops my bad

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 

I can just imagine driving and the wheels at the front loosing control from the steering rack and turning independently 😂. Yeah dad did say to drive nicely. 

Also I think I've found the possible cause of the AC gas leak. Most likely the condenser failed. I drove to the graveyard today in this heat with both windows down and it was still hot 🔥 🥵. Hope it gets fixed. 

[bashbarnard]

I've seen some proper dodgy stuff driven to me beofre.

Ones that stand out.

The guy with a transit connect, his front wheel bearing was so gone. I could shake it forward and back a good 5-6 inches with the weight on the wheel. Drove off as well angry as we told him we couldn't do it that second

VW golf that had thrown a rod. Drove in on 3 rods and a hole in the engine casing.

Person who.filled Thier brake.fluid up with screen wash. Wondered why the brakes were spongy

[zain611]

Just drove the car today and the tracking is well off now 😂. The steering wheel is to the left at around 45 degrees. Didn't noticed until I looked down at the steering wheel. 

[zain611]

@bashbarnard I thought I might ask you this. Not long ago I noticed sometimes when I start the car and put the sidelights on the sidelight light in the dash doesn't illuminate until after a few seconds and I believe the back light. Just wondering what it might be. From what I read up someone said to check the fuse or someone else said they got this after putting LED brake lights on. Now I did put in the newer upgraded autobeam LED brake lights not long ago so might be that. It first started not long after my AC went wrong and going somewhere then going home from there. 

[bashbarnard]

[mention=103164]bashbarnard[/mention] I thought I might ask you this. Not long ago I noticed sometimes when I start the car and put the sidelights on the sidelight light in the dash doesn't illuminate until after a few seconds and I believe the back light. Just wondering what it might be. From what I read up someone said to check the fuse or someone else said they got this after putting LED brake lights on. Now I did put in the newer upgraded autobeam LED brake lights not long ago so might be that. It first started not long after my AC went wrong and going somewhere then going home from there. 

From what you've said, the most likely cause will be the LEDs if others have had this happen. Im not sure why it would cause this. LEDs take a lot less power to light up. Im sure they're probably controlled indirectly through some sort of body control module. So it'll be interface with that. At a guess. This is speculative. I can garentee it's not a fuse. Fuse goes, circuit goes. No it's no buts, no maybes. To confirm it is the leds just put some standard jobbies back in and check. This isn't something I often come across as 99 percent of what I work on is always completely original and standard.

It's part of the reason im on car forums. For things like this and Intresting projects I wouldn't otherwise see.

[zain611]

30 minutes ago, bashbarnard said:

From what you've said, the most likely cause will be the LEDs if others have had this happen. Im not sure why it would cause this. LEDs take a lot less power to light up. Im sure they're probably controlled indirectly through some sort of body control module. So it'll be interface with that. At a guess. This is speculative. I can garentee it's not a fuse. Fuse goes, circuit goes. No it's no buts, no maybes. To confirm it is the leds just put some standard jobbies back in and check. This isn't something I often come across as 99 percent of what I work on is always completely original and standard.

It's part of the reason im on car forums. For things like this and Intresting projects I wouldn't otherwise see.

I have a feeling its most likely the LEDs. Was looking back at old posts and found that on the 21st July was when I put the new LED Bulbs in then just two days later on the 23rd I first saw this happen. It won't cause any further problems will it? Funny thing is the old LEDs I had didn't do this. 

[bashbarnard]

I have a feeling its most likely the LEDs. Was looking back at old posts and found that on the 21st July was when I put the new LED bulbs in then just two days later on the 23rd I first saw this happen. It won't cause any further problems will it? Funny thing is the old LEDs I had didn't do this. 

Some LEDs, usually better quality ones. Have a resistor built in to fool the car into thinking it's a regular bulb with same amperage draw. You may have had one set and now the other.

[Miggs2002]

if your looking for the leds with the built in chip as mentioned by Bash look for ones that say canbus, the canbus system on newer cars doesn't like plain leds as they draw less power so the car thinks a bulb has gone and you get the bulb fail warning, the chip makes the led look like a bulb to make the car think its halogen thus no warning/error messages/lights, this is more evident with indicator leds and the indicator will blink faster with a blown bulb or stock led

 

*edit* i have found the auxito leds from eBay to be quite good quality and the some of the 501 type ones are just a tad smaller than the original 501 bulb so they fit better in side lights and interior lights than the big blocky ones

Edited September 6, 2019 by Miggs2002
addendum to original post

[Leedslad78]

Ford galaxy 20071.8tdci coolant leaking from this weep hole would this be water pump failure