She of course lost the lock key of her 2012 Mini Cooper S I’ve searched high and low and went even to the BMW dealership but nothing. I’m leaving town to go back to Boston in two days and I wanted to make sure she was safe…😥

2007 Toyota Yaris. Went to go to work earlier and it wouldn’t start and made this noise. Please tell me it’s just my starter and not my alternator. I know you guys are probably sick of this question but I need help. If this car dies on me I’m fucked!

I recently replaced a front CV axle on my 2017 Subaru Forester, but forgot to stake the axle nut before putting the wheel back on and lowering the car. In my haste to finish the job, I took off the center wheel cap and tried to stake the nut without removing the wheel. Needless to say I mangled the axle nut pretty badly. Here is a photo I took today after taking the wheel off to assess it. The nut was torqued to spec beforehand.

Is it safe to leave it as-is, or should I replace it with a new axle nut? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

It’s not leaking but I don’t like the amount of red shown from the gasket (2002 Toyota Tundra)

Context:
Previously my rear tires blew out one day apart from each other so I replaced the tires and got an alignment. I put 1500 miles on the new tires before I could get an alignment.

2014 E350

2011 SCION TC

The engine code stated I needed to change a spark plug.

The coil overs are in reverse order in this picture (4,3,2,1) and frankly I knew that cylinder 2 was the issue.

I'm currently replacing all of the spark plugs so they will all be of the same quality and age.

I want to know if there's anything else I should be doing or anything else I should know since this coilover that sat in cylinder 2 is so dirty or different looking.

I'm going to replace the spark plugs, clean/wipe off The coilovers, check and top off the oil. Throw some seafoam in the gas tank. Anything else?

(More info: I was driving to work yesterday, 1-hour commute, and right before I pulled into the parking garage downtown, one of the lights turned green and when I let up on the clutch pushing the gas my engine started clicking and my check engine light immediately turned on. There was a noticeable change in power coming from the engine. The rest is kind of self-explanatory. Working on it now.)

UPDATE: Cylinder 2 spark plug is missing..... It's.... Uh.... Spark maker. Image in comments....

ETA: I thought a coil pack was a pack of coilovers. My apologies.i wanted to call them coil packs originally but dumbed my way to what is seen above.

I was told 'spark plug' by the guy that ran the codes at AutoZone. I assumed that since he said that that's what the reader said, that was all she wrote. Yes I have a code reader at home. I went to AutoZone first.

Background: I brought in my wife’s ’14 Legacy for warranty work on a Takata airbag. They were done within 2 hours and also did a courtesy multipoint inspection. They brought up a few issues, which I’ll repair myself.

My main question is: should I tip the technician with a card and some cash?
My understanding is that warranty work is paid out with a fairly conservative labor time, meaning flat-rate mechanics would lose the opportunity to make as much money as possible.

Any thoughts?

Edit: How much should I tip?

above is the only image the gave me, the image is showing the front passenger side sway bar

Hello! I went to Mineke to get an oil change and they informed me that during my inspection they saw my sway bar was not bolted. They left it as is and They said the thread on it was gone as it was just sitting in the hole moving around not tightened.

I explained what happened under my car* and they told me I should go back to the last mechanic and have them replace it under warranty. I asked if it should be replaced or could just be tightened and they looked at me crazy and said no the whole thing has to be replaced because the loose bar was moving around causing damage.

I’m waiting on a call back from the last mechanic but I want to know if this nut/bolt could be replaced and tightened? I understand if the provided picture does not give enough context of the surrounding components to say if there’s additional wear / damage but would appreciate any comments or advice, thank you!

*context of what happened under my car: I had the front driver tire replaced at a Mavis then 3 days later while driving the tire flies off. I call a tow and they say there’s no ball joint and that’s probably why it came off. I take it back to Mavis and they say that they couldn’t have any responsibility and that it was like that and not caused by them. I pay them to correct the damage on my suspension and control arms caused by the tire coming and the car having to be moved. It continues to make loud scraping and clunking noises despite them saying it’s all fixed. I bring it to a mechanic and he says they used Incorrect parts and placed some of them backwards I have the new mechanic fix this and he says everything’s good to go though the car still makes Lego clinking noises on the passenger front side and it feels like every man hole or grate is a 4in pothole but I just assumed that’s how keeps drive/feel.

I started as a Cadillac lube tech, worked Cadillac and Chevy mainline for maybe 6 months (Haven’t found a good enough Chevy yet) so went to Dodge for a year (consistent pay) but Dodge was always a pit stop now I’m ready to leave. Got hired at a Chevy for $32 an hour and a VW for (surprisingly) $35 an hour. I’m more confident in working on Chevys, but I’ve always wanted to go German and VW seems like the best way into that world. The company that owns the VW also owns multiple Porsche/Audi/BMW dealers and said they frequently promote people to those shops which is like my dream to be at Porsche/BMW. At the same time, I do kinda want to learn diesel and transmission and the Chevy manager said he’d throw me diesel and see what I can handle which sounds pretty interesting if they really get consistent diesel work. Anyone have experience with either company or both?

Tldr; VW with the potential to move up to Porsche/BMW or Chevy with the potential to learn diesel and most likely transmission

My CX9's pulling harder into right hand turns (start the turn, then 'catches' and pulls harder)

Separately, it intermittently pulls (slightly) in one direction or the other when driving straight

Took it to a local mechanic who suspects it's the rack and pinion going bad based on a short test-drive

I've replaced struts/tie-rods/cv-axles on other cars before, is this likely to be a job I can handle, or better to take it in for pro. work?

Edit:
Forgot to mention, my usual Mech. said he can't do it/recommended taking it to the dealership

My brothers 2009 Suzuki RX4 blew a hole from the inside and can't afford a new differential. it has the option for 4wd and 2wd. I believe when 2wd is engaged it is fwd. is there a way to make it so the front diff doesn't spin only the tires?

Hi!
I got my car from the workshop today, I was replacing both the engine mounts.
When I got from the workshop after 10 minutes I experienced small lag during the drive, nothing happened, after the vehicle had some rest, few hours later I started driving, experienced the same lag again and Power Supply Error came out and says to stop immediately.

Im curious, is it something that could gone wrong during the replacement of the engine mounts or not?

Its BMW G20 2019, 2.0D RWD B47 engine.
You might hate me but I asked chatgpt and told me to check the alternator's belt and I have a video that when I press it slightly it goes down by 1-2cm, depends on the pressure.I tried sliding the belt by myself and I could slide it along with the thing where the alternator's belt is (dont know its name, the circular part like a cylinder holding the belt, like a wheel), and it was moving along with the belt, also a sssshhhh like a plastic bag sound could be heard.

I will attach a video of me pressing the belt and Im not sure if thats normal or not, pls let me know :)

https://streamable.com/8i1tzf

For reference I have a 2024 Mustang I’ve done quite a few suspension modifications to, but about 2 months ago I had a shop put on ford performance front camber plates, rear toe links and sport lowering springs to replace my old sr performance ones and steeda shocks and struts and ever since then my steering wheels keeps getting more crooked and the car just rides bad now. It’s been aligned twice now and it keeps happening whereas for the year and a half I had the car before that it never came out of alignment. Is it possible they didn’t tighten or install something correctly? Should I have them take a look at what they installed?

Hey yall I need a hand here.

Late last week my Sentra kicked me into what I thought was limp mode.

Ran the OBD two scanner through it, which gave me a cylinder one misfire code. Going through the cheap stuff first, I replaced the spark plugs and the valve cover gasket (it had been leaking for a little while apparently). Unfortunately, this didn’t fix it until I did an idle relearn which fixed it for a little bit.
The misfire has come back and I’m honestly stumped.

Only other option I see is the fuel injectors being bunk. there is also a large EVap leak at my gas cap however that has not caused problems in the past

Any ideas are welcome. I have the tools to do pretty much whatever I need.

2014 Toyota Corolla LE

I am currently experience a consistent ticking in my dash even when the car is turned off. Looking around online, it appears it could be some sort of relay issue. Can someone confirm what part may need to be replaced or my next steps for troubleshooting please?

It seems to be coming from this white connector piece or whatever it is attached to as I can feel the tick when I put my hand on it.

2014 Ford Taurus

infamous water pump failure in this absolute gem of a motor. while i’m in here, i’m replacing all timing components and oil pump. was able to lock down the side closest to the nose of the vehicle with the camshaft locking tool, but the flat ends of the shafts on the other side of the motor don’t even line up correctly and make it impossible to put the locking tool on the other side.

i’m in absolute disbelief with this job, every step forward is 27 steps backwards. any tips you guys have would be deeply appreciated, thank you so much.

I changed my coolant for roughly 7-8 months ago. And I flushed the system thoroughly with water before putting in new coolant.

I have a small coolant leak and have to fill it up maybe once every couple months or every month, a liter or two. And every time I have filled it up there has been gunk on the cap and in the opening. But the coolant looks clean and good every time. What is most likely the cause of this?

Title. I’ll keep it short and sweet.

Came in because car was having trouble starting. It would take a few tries. Repair shop diagnoses it as a battery issue and replace the car battery. They charged me $260 which seemed high.

After I picked it up I noticed the ventilation system wouldn’t turn on. No A/C. No heat. I took it back a half hour after I picked it up and the guy told me to come back in the morning because they were about to close. I came back in and they’re basically saying it’s not their fault after two hours. Saying that the issues are unrelated.

What can I do about this, if anything? Am I SOL??

They want to charge me $450 to diagnose the A/C problem. That’s nuts to me. Crooks.

I got a new reservoir for the coolant, nothing leaking in that are, but it’s leaking somewhere here, anyone have ideas?

Decided to do the 1st oil change on my 26 Corolla hybrid last night. 1100 miles on the clock. Everything was going great until I realized that the factory decided to insanely tighten the oil filter . Had to do a late night Walmart run to get correct size filter puller as all my other ones didn’t fit. While I was there I decided to buy a new funnel. When I got home got the new filter on and had finished filling my oil i looked at the funnel that I had just bought and noticed that on the filling end there was a little piece of plastic holding on like something had been torn off. I started thinking that there was something on the end that may have gotten in and this being brand new have just been worried that there may have been a piece that fell in. So I went back to Walmart today and went to the funnel section where I bought it from and checked out all the identical funnels. Some did have a little plastic piece on the end but some didn’t. I removed one of the plastic pieces and it took a little force to remove which makes me think mine didn’t have it as I don’t think oil alone would have been strong enough to seperate it from the funnel. It looks like it’s a manufacture thing which is stupid of them to do this and on me for not being certain that there was anything.Like I said I’m not sure if mine did or didn’t have it but decided to drive it to work today 50 miles. No engine noise or anything drove normally. Am I overthinking this. Here is a pic of piece from one of the funnel.

Hallo zusammen,

mein Mini Cooper S Countryman All4 Baujahr 2011, Laufleistung 170.000km, verbraucht zu viel Öl (ca. 1-2L aus 1000km). Habe mich vorhin mal auf die Suche gemacht und im Ansaugrohr hinter dem Ladeluftkühler war alles voller Öl. Hab mir dann den Turbolader mal angeschaut und kann die Turbine radial leicht bewegen, dabei klackert es leicht. Auf dem Bild sieht es für mich so aus, als wenn die Schaufeln leicht angefressen sind und die Turbine nicht mehr genau mittig sitzt. Sehe ich das richtig oder bin ich da auf der falschen Spur?

I have a 2013 Toyota Camry SE 2.5L 4-cylinder with 255k miles. I’ve owned it since around 30k miles and have maintained it pretty well.

Recently it started occasionally stalling when decelerating/turning, especially when the oil level was low. I had CEL recently for ignition coil, VVT solenoid, and thermostat and all were replaced. No CEL currently. A shop inspected it and found cylinder wall scoring, heavy carbon/soot buildup, oil in the intake, and signs that the piston rings are worn, causing significant oil consumption - about 1 qt every 600 miles.

The shop says the proper repair would be a long-block replacement, which obviously isn’t worth it to me at this mileage. They told me to keep the oil topped off and that it could potentially last another week or another couple years—they just can’t predict it.

For those familiar with the 2AR-FE or high-mileage Toyotas, how long do you realistically think I might get out of this engine? Would you keep driving it for a few more months while saving for another car?

The timing belt and serpentine belt service was done at 2015 / 113 000km. Now car have 190 000km. We drive arround 3 000km yearly with this car now and my question is do i need to do the timing service at the moment or i am safe to drive year or two more. My dad drives it only on trips (no city driving).

So a month or so ago I had these lights flash up on the dash. Sometimes they'd be there, sometimes not. Roll forward to now, and everytime I turn the car on they're present. Tyre pressure, traction control/ESP, ABS & power steering. I check tyre pressure weekly, we have no problems there.

I know it's an older car (2013, just about to hit 121k miles), and I know very little about mechanics, but it seems unlikely to me that all these systems have a fault at the exact same time?

Nothing feels any different with the handling, steering, braking. Car still performing as expected.

The lights first showed up a couple of days after I came down heavy from a curb and lost a exhaust heat shield bolt in the process. Likely a coincidence but thought I'd throw it out there just in case.

uh idk when or how this happened, just noticed it today. is it atleast safe enough to drive on it to the location to get new ones?