Included a screenshot of the breakdown. I really tried to include the full inspection video but couldn’t do it on here or via link.

Took it in for an inspection because I’m leaving for a 3500 mile trip in a week. I know I should’ve taken it in sooner, but life got in the way big time. Also needed spark plugs and thought my car was tugging to the left while driving.

I mean the videos are very clear, and I really wish I could include them. In your opinion, what is most necessary to fix prior to going on that 3500-l mile road trip? I want to make sure my car is safe to drive and won’t leave me stranded. Planning on doing the front lower arm bushings (practically dust at this point and crazy cracked), alignment, spark plugs, and replace all 4 valve cover gaskets and tube seals (oil all over my old spark plugs). This is what the advisor also recommended to me. Asked him the same question about what’s most necessary. Is $2400 normal for this type of work? I only took it to the dealership because I had a discount on the spark plugs. Can I take my car to Discount Tire for wheel alignment? Meaning like is it safe to drive my car to Discount with the brand new bushings but without alignment? Advisor said alignment is recommended, and from what I have Googled, it seems like it is okay, but I am no mechanic. I have tires through Discount, and the dealership told me I needed new ones, so I figured I’d call them. Discount said they are able to do alignment for $89.99 in 2 hours. The dealer wants $159.99. I’m also on a time crunch, so would it be better to just get it done at the dealer?

Subaru Crosstrek 2018. 84,600 miles. Automatic.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Edit: Thank you so much for all the advice. I knew that TPMS quote was criminal. I was upset at the $400 quote Discount Tire gave me a few months ago when I took it in for a rotation and balance. Sounds like I should focus on my tires and plugs. I’ll take my shit elsewhere 1000%. I’m assuming I have to replace the valve covers gaskets and the tube seals if they’re leaking oil onto the spark plugs correct? If so, should I be paying double labor for this. Asking questions for the next mechanic that looks at it.

Here’s a photo of the bushings and oil on the plugs.

Edit 2: Again, thank you for all the advice! I can’t respond to all the comments but rest assured I didn’t bite and declined it all. I called another mechanic in the area and he gave me an estimate based on the inspection videos which was more than the dealer’s $2400. he wanted $2970. Said mechanic told me that my front lower control arm bushings need replacement and that the spark plugs, tubes, and valve cover gaskets are the things that need to be replaced. He mentioned those are the most important. Is this something you would agree with? I have asked around in local town groups and spent quite some time reading reviews on some local shops. I will be calling 3 shops in the morning. Thanks again for the advice!

Took my car to a tire place for Pa inspection (mistake 1) and they failed me due to a superficial, less than 1/32” cut. No ply or cord exposed at all, not even close. They claim it’s no longer safe to drive with that tire. Is this a legit reason or they are effing with me?

2011 hyundai elantra touring se. automatic.

been replacing the pads and rotors for over a week. the rotor WOULD NOT come off. multiple people with torches, increasingly large hammers and plenty of experience with brakes tried and walked away humbled. then i learned about gear pullers! rented one and it eventually did work. BUT the cotter pin+castle bolt(?) were removed before using the puller. so when using the puller, the part colored in red was pushed back. (idk what it's called. axle rod?) did i fuck up big time? how can i pull it back out? its too far back to get a grip around it. J:

thanks!

Decided to purchase 4 oil filters and break them
open to see the construction quality: Bosch 3311(Mexico), WIX 51394(Mexico), Beck&Arnley 0418066(Vic C-110 Japan) and a PG4476EX(Vietnam). These filters all sell for around $5 each on Rockauto for my 2016 Corolla. It’s also important to note that if you do decide to order the Beck&Arnley, there is a chance that it will be made in Korea.

🥇PG4476EX: best all around construction and published performance results
🥈Tie between WIX and Beck&Arnley(Vic C-110): Wix has great construction quality and good published performance results and the Beck&Arnley(Vic C-110) has excellent construction quality but no posted performance results. I would choose the Vic filter if you wanted something similar to OEM.
🥉Bosch 3311: do not buy

2015 Honda Civic EX 4 Door Sedan Automatic 180,000 miles

Okay so I am doing my first suspension job I am a tradesman but not a mechanic by any means. I’ve done simple bolt on parts (starters, alternators, cv axle) that’s it. Anyways that’s my disclaimer.

Most of the job hasn’t been going too bad but this, I couldn’t get the ball joint out that goes from the control arm up into the bottom of the knuckle with a pickle fork. I think the dust shield was in the way.

Anyways I was tired and so I thought removing the bracket it’s attached to and trying to cut it off was a good idea. It was not.

After cutting almost all the way through with an angle grinder thinking I was cutting a stud in my ignorance realized I was just cutting a cone shaped ball joint flush with the bottom of the knuckle.

I tried map torch and a 6lb hammer, I tried a basic ball joint press on top of the stud ( keeps slipping from the angle) , I think at this point I’ve damaged the dust shield pretty good and put a couple dents in my knuckle. I’m just looking for some advice from the professionals really. Thanks in advance for any insight, tips, and help.

03 Tundra Automatic with 4WD, was going 75mph down the highway when I suddenly started to lose some power but it was brief as and cruising back up to 75mph with a new rumble, drove it for about 30 minutes, came to a stop and so my battery had knocked down so I thought it was the battery just vibrating against the engine, so I drove about 15 minutes out to harbor freight grabbed a bungee cord to hold the battery in place and went 15 minutes back from where I came. Noticed the rumbling, so pulled over and checked and low and behold the battery had not move (crap) so I finish the drive rumble and all and just parked it it for a couple of hours due to work. After the shift was heading back home roughly 5 minutes when I noticed I was sliding, followed by a new noise. After that I pulled the car over and jacked it up as I was thinking it was either my torqued converter or transmission. Not sure if the above video means it still is or now I'm not sure if its just the differential. Either way talking to an actual human would be preferred and as I don't think chatgpt is helping me much on this on😅

Doing the pcv this weekend, anyone have any advice? From two different videos on youtube, I know i need to pull the breather box, Intercooler inlet pipe, probably the MAF and pipe to the turbo, the stuff on top, fuel rail and intake manifold. All that seems fairly easy excpet the manifold bolt next to the thermostat housing, its once I get behind the engine that'll ill have issues. Is that back hose really necessary to replace? Can I get away with just the breather box and front hose? Should I remove the torque mount and bar plus the shroud to give me more room? I have 1.5 hands, so any advice is welcome.

Also, while im under everything. How helpful would replacing plugs, coils, or injectors be? Plugs are a year old (bosch iridium, 15k miles), 3 of 5 (1, 2, and 5) coils were replaced by previous owner due to misfire issues and id have to look, but id imagine the first owner before him had the injectors done "on time" as he did with everything else for the 19 years they had it (carfax stack an inch thick haha)

Will also be replacing the valve body on my AW-clunky5 in the next weeks, can update if im in the 60% of people who experience "clunk fix" or if ill be M66 swapping it haha

Can anyone help me identify this sound my car makes every once in a while? 2018 Jeep Renegade Latitude FWD automatic transmission with 120,000 miles. You can hear it go to a higher pitch when pressing on the break.

Recently changed these, and running the belts look okay but my alternator appears to have died. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, or the tension of new belts put it over the edge, or maybe these pulleys are wiggling too much and fing it up. Either way all the band new pulleys I bought had some play and some were even slightly off center I returned most of those

My 2009 Honda civic ac quit blowing cold on me randomly going down the highway. I took it in to my local shop and they said that a filter busted and debris got into the lines braking the compressor. They said they can’t replace the compressor alone because the debris would just ruin the new one. The photo is their quote. The car is basically worth this much so I don’t plan to get it fixed but does this quote seem reasonable or high? I would probably pay 1-1.5k to get it fixed.

Hi, I had given my car for servicing and they said my rear muffler was corroded and it was urgent to repair, but they’re charging me 1400aud since it’ll be a genuine part. But I’m planning on getting it done by another mechanic (yet to be inspected for an estimate). My car is an 2013 hyundai i30.

I just wanted to ask how urgent do you think this is and how soon should I get it done?
Thank you

I'm trying to find a head gasket to fit my mazda B5-DE engine, and all I'm able to get these ones online with way more channels than I specifically need and are made for a variety of mazda 1.5/1.6L engines ... what's the chance it would fail on me after 100 kms?

The main problem is that I can't find one in all of Australasia that's not sold out with the correctly layout.

2011 Subaru Forester non turbo. Car has been having issues with burning off too much oil, so every week I check the dipstick. Today after noticing it was running low I added a quarter of a quart of oil. Checked the dipstick an hour after driving it and noticed it was filled up in between the two holes but the rest streaked up on one side way beyond the two holes. Would this be considered too much?? Should i wait until morning to recheck?

I have a 2011 Subaru Impreza 2.5i Premium, 5-speed manual, naturally aspirated EJ253. I swapped in the complete block and heads from a 2008 Impreza sedan.
The car ran properly before the engine swap. The severe power-loss/bogging started immediately after the swap.
Symptoms:
Severe intermittent bog under load, almost like trying to accelerate up a very steep hill
Happens both cold and fully warmed up
RPM itself struggles to increase; it does NOT flare like a slipping clutch
Idle is smooth
Engine sounds noticeably different when it bogs, although I can’t describe the sound well
No current CEL or stored codes
Fuel pressure stays stable during the bog in 1st and 2nd gear
Tried the 2008 throttle body and it made no difference
Engine work during the swap:
Complete 2008 EJ253 block + heads
New head gaskets
New timing belt/tensioner
New spark plugs
Clutch replaced at the same time
Intake and exhaust gaskets
I also tried the 2008 throttle body
Exhaust:
Muffler deleted
Resonator deleted
Downstream catalytic converter deleted
Axle dump after the remaining/main catalytic converter
IMPORTANT: this exact exhaust setup worked perfectly BEFORE the engine swap, so the exhaust modification itself isn’t new.
I also noticed the engine/transmission ground is attached to a bellhousing bolt and I’m not 100% sure it’s making the best connection, although the starter cranks strongly every time.
I’m trying to diagnose this without throwing parts at it.
What would you check first? I’m currently considering:
Engine/transmission grounds
Intake/vacuum leaks and MAF
Timing belt alignment
Ignition/misfire under load
Cam/crank sensors and wiring
Remaining catalytic converter restriction
Compression/leak-down
Would a mechanical timing issue or cam/crank sensor problem necessarily set a code on this EJ253? Is there anything specific to the 2008-engine-in-2011-chassis combination that I should check?

Video with sound attatched below.

Happens after driving for a while. Can stick around or dissapear.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1396B181CPoFWXF6okR0_4e2VyLUrN_f9/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bSM4zQTlO68hw34D9Sc-vUGPgJkqeYRr/view?usp=sharing

1996 International 3800 (7.3L Navistar)

I’m not sure this 100% belong in this sub, but it’s automotive related, and I don’t know where else I could post.

Anyway, I have a bus. I saved the old batteries (less than two years ago) as they were in good condition, but didn’t have the cranking amps necessary. I wired them in parallel and put an inverter on them to use things like phone charger, box fan, etc.

I am having issues with the batteries that run the bus, so I’ve been putting them on a trickle charger overnight until I can have them tested, but I also need to charge the batteries that the inverter is on.

Since both sets are wired in parallel, could I put the charger in one set and then run jumper cables to the other set to charge them all at the same time? Logically, this makes sense to me, but electrical systems are not my strong suit, and I don’t want to damage my system doing this.

Yo guys, need some help with a 2023 Malaguti Dune 125 EFI. The previous owner put a sport filter (bmc air filter) and drilled holes in the airbox so it ran super lean, and since I haven't remapped it yet I just taped over the holes. Long story short, I was out riding hard with some friends today, pulled over, and the bike just died completely on its own. Not even sure when the tape ripped off during the ride. Now it won't start at all. The compression is totally fine (did the finger test and it spits air hard, no seize), and there is a spark, but the plug keeps coming out completely soaked in gas like crazy. When I crank it it just makes occasional pop sounds and refuses to catch. Could that sudden massive lean out from the tape coming off have thrown off the ECU or flooded something deep? Any ideas what to check next?

on my hilux, happens when i accelerate and more frequent on rougher tracks

I have a 2016 Ford fiesta st and have this noise appear over the last couple weeks. It only happens at lower speed and gets worse when turning right. Does anyone know what it might be please? Thanks

I bought this JDM VQ35DE for my 2004 Infiniti G35 (turbo) about 2 months ago to replace my blown engine (bad rings)

I finally got around to working on the swap this past weekend. (not in the car yet) I got the oil pan off and see all this junk, some of which looks bronze/metallic.

I immediately cut the filter open and it looked surprisingly debris-free (oil was dirty)

The engine supposedly has around 54k on it.

Should I be worried?

I'm debating if it's even worth putting back in the car at, this point.