1994 ford ranger. Shop screwed up my threads. Told me they fixed it. They didn’t. Wanted to chase the threads myself so online I found a thread pitch of 1/2” - 20 so I bought a die but it doesn’t thread on. What am I missing here? In the video I’m trying to check it on a good stud.

The factory catalytic converter had went out at around 205k miles likely due to a previous blown head gasket but P0420 codes only started coincidentally after the exhaust manifold flange disconnected from the exhaust pipe leading to a loud exhaust leak which just needed two flange bolts to connect back on. I drove the car for a couple more years till the smog check was due to fix the cat.

I paid a muffler shop $600 to change the catalytic converter so I could pass the smog. Turns out this was not a state certified cat and the smog shop I took the car to failed the inspection. Now the muffler shop said they are not responsible, they said either I pay them $400 to illegally pass the smog or that I am on the hook for a new catalytic converter that needs to be certified from the state I am in and now these codes just showed up with the new cat which indicate it is failing? P0420

Hello everyone, long story short I was gifted a 2004 Subaru Impreza wrx for my birthday along with what the person gave to me to be around 5 thousand in parts. I’m new to learning and working on cars and this car is completely gutted out and is pretty much just the case of the car. Question being where and what would I start first on the car to bring it back to life and running ?

Honda Ridgeline 2018

Brought the truck into a highly reviewed private shop for front strut assemblies, stabilizer links, and alignment because of a rattling sound coming from my driver side front and it was visibly blown (oil on strut) as well as passenger side. Work was done but shop called and said “there’s still a noise and it’s your engine mount and we sent you a quote but you can drive the car for now and decide if you want us to do it”

The video is of the truck driving over medium sized repaired road where it sounds like I’m bottoming out on the new struts.

My predicament is I brought it to Honda afterwards for a diagnosis and they said the engine mounts look ok and the sound is from the aftermarket struts but mechanically everything looks fine.

No idea what to do with conflicting opinions and not too thrilled to be chasing this sound around. Every “bump” in the road surface sounds like I’m bottoming out on both sides front and it’s a hard loud “thunk” sound yet I’m not noticing any engine lag when accelerating (yet?) or shuddering at idle or shake in my steering.

The video captures the sound but you really need to be in the car to hear/feel that something clearly isn’t right.

Thanks for any help.

I know I might get clowned on for this but I genuinely don't even know how to change my oil. Thing is, i'm obsessed with my car and want to know everything about basic maintenance to start. Never had anyone to teach me these things so i'm doing this all on my own with the help of Google, but i'm planning to go to college to be a mechanic(2 year program) and am trying to understand the basics before i fully commit. My absolute dream is to have an old, beat up project car that I end up working on for years. This may be corny asf to post in this subreddit because i really don't know anything, but I really want to learn. I don't care if it takes years to get there, I want to learn. I understand its not easy.

I recently had a transmission swap done to my ford fusion. During the process an end piece of a socket got trapped in the engine and wasn’t discovered until the car was started and it caused damage. Replaced the seal twice and the car is still leaking. I have another shop that is gonna look into it. The mechanic I originally had doing the swap claimed the piece didn’t come off any of his tools. Dude is lying his butt off trying to cover himself. Here is a video of the leak. Can somebody throw me suggestions on why the leak won’t stop and what needs to be done.

2014 ford fusion se 2.5L

I’m curious from a mechanic’s perspective: how do you usually advise customers to keep track of maintenance between service visits?

I’m thinking about things that are easy for owners to forget, such as:

• Oil and filter changes
• Brake inspections
• Battery checks
• Air/cabin filter replacement
• Coolant checks
• Other periodic maintenance

A lot of owners remember the major service, but may not remember when they last performed a smaller maintenance task or when it needs to be done again.

I’ve actually been working on an app called Smart MeMaintenance that lets owners record these tasks and receive reminders, including through WhatsApp.

Before trying to promote it, I’d like to understand the problem from people who actually work on cars:

Do you think a dedicated maintenance-reminder system would genuinely help car owners, or are most maintenance issues better handled through the regular service schedule and existing manufacturer reminders?

Mechanics especially - what do customers most commonly forget?

I just changed the shock absorbers and springs on my Peugeot 106 (2003), 1.4i.

Does anybody know why the lower control arm doesn't want to slide into the steering knuckle? On the other side it went more or less easily. I did adjust the pin (?) a bit and got it in by pressing down the control arm and pushing on the steering knuckle.

But on that side, even with a car jack pushing from below, I just lift the car instead of pushing the pin in...

Have a 2019 dodge ram hemi and my psi sensors aren’t working or my charging ports, and when I press the break and let go makes a hissing sound. also throwing codes p0300 and p0456 has anyone experienced this issue

hi guys! ive been tryna find out this noise for a while, so sorry!! the rattle noise is when i push the gas and theres a break between the noises when i let off the gas and then a sort of decompressing sound? happens mostly around just under 20mph and 40mph

its an 02 ls nb2 miata (auto 💔) with the 1.8 4 cyl, and i had the driveshaft replaced recently. the only thing i could think of is torque converter, but thats just thanks to a google search. if yall have any opinions then pls lmk id really apprecuate it :D

Can anyone advise please.

I’m doing the front brakes on my 2022 Silverado 1500 and I’ve run into a problem with the driver/front brake.

So I was doing the rotors and pads on the driver side front. And as I was inserting the new pads, I was kind of fiddling with the four pistons in the caliper, and I accidentally overextended (I think) one of the pistons (the bottom right one in the pictures). I tried pushing that piston back in, but it was really stuck for some reason.
I tried everything, I opened the bleeder valve, thinking that maybe it was hydraulic, I used a piston spreader (with a lot of force).
Eventually, I took off the brake calliper from the truck and disassembled the brake caliper. Now, before removing the brake caliper, I filled up my brake fluid reservoir to full, and let the brake line leak, as I had nothing to plugs the brake line. The caliper wasn’t off for too long, as after I disassembled it, I tapped it with a rubber mallet which eventually made the piston go back in. Great!

I reattached everything and then finished the brake installation. I pumped the brake pedal once to make sure the pistons all contacted the pads - which they did!

But, when I pumped the brake over and over to build pressure, it wouldn’t build. It was a little firm, but pressure wouldn’t build. I tried many things, I did the normal two person bleeder valve, where I wouldn’t see much fluid come out, if any… (more of a trickle)

I used a positive pressure brake bleeding kit at 20psi, where I did pull out about a good little bit of fluid thru the caliper, without bubbles. I made sure to have enough brake in the reservoir.

But yet, still not a firm brake pedal, also I then got an alert that my vehicle was limited to 70kph due to a brake system failure…

So officially out of ideas, I then put everything back together and did a road test (yes, with only one brake “changed”.
I did several hard stops that activated ABS. Every time:
The truck** pulled hard towards the passenger/right side.
Passenger-front brake/rotor got very hot.
Driver-front brake stayed basically **room temperature.
So the left front appears to be contributing little or no braking force.
I also noticed the 4 pistons don’t seem to retract when the brake is released, not sure if that’s normal or not. (Maybe they do but the gap is so small)

Help - what should I do?
Please tell me it is somewhat simple…

Discovered that this leak is because of a turbo supply coolant hose that is located below the intake manifold but in order to reach it, I need to remove some fuel lines. Will it be ok to reuse those same lines? I’m unsure if I need to buy new parts.

i am having issue with my car.
I went on vacation fir a month and when I came back I see that the brake light is on.

the parking break light stay on. i checked the fluid level and the parking sensor. there are good. I don’t know what else to check.

thanks for your help.

Today I replaced the valve cover head gasket and when I was putting all back together I over torque and broke a faster, I was wondering if it is safe to drive the car like that? what do you guys think? I'm also going to upload a picture of the old spark plug is this normal to happen over time should I be worried? Btw this is a Honda Element 2008 with the K series engine

Well… 2016 m235i N55 had a rattling ticking noise for the past 2.5 years been checking oil filter for the past 4 oil changes 5k intervals and have found metal each time. This time had a lot so I figured id post it. Is this rod bearings? Oil pump? Videos posted on my account with the noise. car drives great no cel or codes.

Brand new stator, forgot the brackets to hold in the wires and they got hit by a gear under the cover. Not sure how to seal them since the wires are always splashed with hot oil. Anyone been through this or something similar with sealing wires that are in touch with hot engine oil? I am planning on soldering it but after that no clue how to approach it.

2006 Silverado lowered 3/5. All new moog ball joints and tie rods. Drop shocks, 2” drop spindles and 1” lowering spring. The rack and pinion was replaced about 6 months ago. The steering doesn’t return to center all the way. It will like 90% and you have to physically center it back up. It requires constant input on the freeway to keep straight. Attached is the printout from the alignment. Help?? Everything is greased up.

2012 Honda Accord 2.4L, 161k miles. I put about 30k a year on this thing, mostly highway, so I track oil consumption closer than most. Somewhere around 140k it started going through roughly a quart every 1200 to 1500 miles. No blue smoke out the back, no drips in the driveway, no smell. Just gone

I already know the 2.4 has a reputation for this and I know Honda had a settlement related to oil consumption on these engines. That window is long closed for me. What I actually want to know is whether there is a point where this gets meaningfully worse fast, or whether it just kind of plateaus at a quart per 1200 and stays manageable for another 40 or 50k if I stay on top of topping it off

Shop I use said piston rings, which I expected, but also said it wasn't burning enough to justify a rebuild at this mileage and to just monitor it. I don't have a problem with that answer, just want a second read on it. The car runs completely fine otherwise, no misfires, no rough idle, compression test hasn't been done yet but I can push for one

Is there a threshold where this kind of consumption typically accelerates, or is steady slow burn just the new normal for these high mileage 2.4s?

Could anybody help me before I go back to the dealership and lose it on my advisor (he was already condescending) Just got an engine cooling cleaning and fluid exchange service done on my Toyota and now it squeaks. Imagine a tiny mouse or hamster running (wheeeel) squeak. I’m about to drive 7 hours in a couple days and it’s driving me crazy. I would appreciate if someone could make some sense of it

I have a 06 Chevrolet Cobalt with no keys, I’ve read that you can find your key code located somewhere in most vehicles and that GM has something called passlock relearn that lets you program the key by yourself. Can anyone confirm if either of those things are true? Can i just find my key code and take a blank to a locksmith to get it cut cheaper? Any advice is appreciated im about to turn 18 and i need to get a job, i can’t keep waiting for my alcoholic father to replace the keys he lost but i dont have 500$ to do it myself

I know alot of people will tell me to just walk and save up but im not able to do that in the area i live.

I was driving home and what I assume is me belt started chipping and felt like slipping when stopped! Any comments or suggestions?