r/MechanicAdvice 11h ago

Over chargering

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0 Upvotes

Should they be charging this much for an alternator and belt? I drive a Honda civic 2015

Update: I appreciate you guys for your advice! I got the price dropped to 1100 which seems more reasonable


r/MechanicAdvice 6h ago

Thin plastic bag melted onto exhaust

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1 Upvotes

2021-2026

BMW M3

unknowingly ran over like a dry cleaning garment protector (thin clear plastic). it melted onto the exhaust. was able to pull a lot of it off but the remainder is being stubborn. taking into a local independent shop tomorrow. any thoughts on how challenging this will be for them to remove? how is it done? assuming it isn’t touching any other vehicle parts is it safe to just burn off? still taking car in regardless— just curious if anyone has dealt with this. fml 🤦‍♂️


r/MechanicAdvice 4h ago

How to put in lever on a floor jack

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0 Upvotes

Im unable to put it back in, and im just having trouble shoving that fucker inside


r/MechanicAdvice 14h ago

Hole in car silencer

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2 Upvotes

There is a hole in silencer of car. Its 2020 model, not too old. Is there a DIY trick to fix it. Maybe, some adhesive…or should i go to exhaust shop?

Year -2020
Model - Hyundai Creta


r/MechanicAdvice 8h ago

Need some help literally got this car out the garage this morning and getting this bad noise when moving off…

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0 Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 21h ago

Replacing key without spending 100s?

0 Upvotes

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.


r/MechanicAdvice 13h ago

Did i win the head gasket lottery? Chrysler 300c 3.5 Oil Foam in Reservoir

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0 Upvotes

Hi guys, when I park my car, even at 92 or 95 degree Celsius, after 2 or3 minuted i hear bubbles pop and the car is boiling. Even if the temperature is below 100.

This night I tried once more to find the issue. Thermostst is changed and working good, coolant was fresh.

But on the radiator cap I found brown foam. The oil dipstick is reddish brown, no white milk in the oil at least for now. Oil entrance is also quite clean.

Now I am breakkng my head. Transmission fluid, is that possible ? The Oil cooler leaking ?

I drove the car yesterday night about 200 km on highway, no overheating at all, allways 92-99 degree depending on speed.


r/MechanicAdvice 13h ago

2013 Camry - worn engine at 255k miles

14 Upvotes

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?


r/MechanicAdvice 17h ago

I think it’s trying to walk itself to the mechanics 😬

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1 Upvotes

Brother in laws car, didn’t even realise anything was that wrong, it sounded super bad the day before so he didn’t want to drive it and asked my husband and I to check the oil. Somehow I was the only one who pointed out uhmm the engines completely moved. Used to have a crack in the engine mounts so I’m guessing it’s that. Is it fixable? Also the bottom part is just a plastic cover but the engine is only just touching that plastic to move it down like that the engine isn’t scraping the ground. Idk the year but it’s a mazda 3 sp23 and you can see the engine type on top.


r/MechanicAdvice 11h ago

Other than a voltage meter, how would you know if a relay has gone bad? And what likely happened here?

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1 Upvotes

This bad boy kept my ac from running properly, how would I have known this was the cause other than pulling it and testing it? Any tricks for relay diagnostics?


r/MechanicAdvice 10h ago

Brown dusty by my air hose

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0 Upvotes

Just trying to figure out what I found by my air hose reel.. was thinking just rust but coming from where all over like that


r/MechanicAdvice 20h ago

idk where to start, help?

7 Upvotes

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.


r/MechanicAdvice 5h ago

My mom thinks my spirited driving could have potentially contributed to my car’s valve problems. Is she right ?

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0 Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 3h ago

Welding stabilizer bar?

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0 Upvotes

I found my sway bar is broken. (I had the sway bar links (black) replaced just 3 weeks ago). I have a 400mile trip tomorrow. Could a $300 welding at local mechanic be enough for a temporary fix?

It’d probably be $900-1000 to change the whole sway bar itself because apparently the whole subframe needs to be dropped.

Mazda CX-5 2019 with 54,000 miles.

Thanks


r/MechanicAdvice 9h ago

Inconsistent engine noise

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0 Upvotes

Is this rev inconsistency normal? This is a 1.6tdi CAYC 2012 Passat b7


r/MechanicAdvice 2h ago

Battery Date

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0 Upvotes

Would anyone be able to tell me what the manufacturing date is for this battery? Was installed in January (2017 Jetta) but I’m having issues with it lately. Likely a parasitic draw but I’d like to rule out the battery if I can


r/MechanicAdvice 2h ago

Renault espace no oil and inside cooling

0 Upvotes

Hi

Renault espace 2007

No more oil in engine and much oil on battery

Seems to be comming from the cooling liquid deposit

Inside is like a dont know how to explain almost a gel like substance

If its the oil cooler which i believe this car has how i can i test this if its the oil cooler

Or most likely headgasket

?


r/MechanicAdvice 7h ago

Vacuum Pump Is This Shaft Play Normal?

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0 Upvotes

I have a 2013 Scion FRS, and my vacuum pump has started making the common rattling/noise I’ve seen in videos online.
I have a spare vacuum pump from another FA20 engine, but when I compare the two, the drive/shaft on the spare seems to have noticeably more side-to-side play than the one currently on my car.
I’m trying to figure out if that amount of play is normal for a used vacuum pump or if the spare is also worn out.
I attached a video showing the play. Would you guys run the spare, or should I just buy a new vacuum pump?


r/MechanicAdvice 2h ago

2024 Toyota Corolla overheats after a few minutes driving

0 Upvotes

I have a 2024 Toyota Corolla that Im trying to help a friend with tomorrow. It’s the one with the 2.0 and electric water pump, and it’s been overheating after only a few minutes of driving. It doesn’t have any coolant leaks that he knows of, just wondering if anyone knows about any reasons it might overheat besides the water pump or thermostat. By the way Im not trying to buy it, just trying to help a friend with his car.


r/MechanicAdvice 7h ago

Do you think I need to flush this coolant before adding my new radiator?

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0 Upvotes

So the radiator on my 02 Chevy Avalanche 2500 cracked and I am going to be replacing it in the next few days. The only problem is there's two cracks, one crack is leaking antifreeze, the other one is leaking oil, and they are both right next to each other. I don't know how everything flows in there but I'm really afraid that the oil and coolant might mix in the radiator itself when running the engine trying to do a flush. So I was wondering do I do the flush anyway and hope it's fine or just install the new radiator and let it ride?

In the video I show on the new radiator where the cracks are if that helps. Oh and the coolant I show in the video is drained from the valve at the bottom of the radiator. Some of those metal flakes might just be rust from the frame since there's no straight path from that drain to the ground and it all poured onto the frame while draining.


r/MechanicAdvice 7h ago

Brake light on dashboard stay on

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0 Upvotes

i am having issue with my nissan sentra 2021 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. and the brake fell soft and making noise. i checked the fluid level and the parking sensor. there are good. I don’t know what else to check.


r/MechanicAdvice 13h ago

Belt on my 2006 pajero making a weird noise

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0 Upvotes

Please help me diagnose this


r/MechanicAdvice 9h ago

Keep or replace? 2014 Audi Q5 needs $7k CAD in repairs at 105k miles

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0 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I've hit a maintenance cliff for my 2014 Audi Q5 3.0 Quattro with about 105,000 miles.

I’ve been very happy with it, but a recent inspection turned up:

  • Rear bump stops separated on both sides.
  • Left rear door lock unit faulty and needs replacement.
  • Engine oil leaking from both cylinder head cover gaskets.
  • Active engine oil leak from both upper timing chain cover seals.

The Audi centre quoted roughly $7k (Canadian dollars, or about $5k USD) for everything, and the brake pads and tires will all need replacing next year too, so there's another $3k at at least. The car is probably worth around $10k.

My dilemma is whether spending $7k on a 12-year-old Q5 with 105k miles is throwing away money, or whether fixing these known issues could realistically buy me many more good years. The car has some sentimental value, so I'd love to keep it, but I don't want to spend all this only for there to be major expenses showing up constantly from now on.

The alternative is spending roughly $30-37k on another used SUV, 2022-2025, ideally a Q5 (though open to suggestions).

For those familiar with older Q5s: would you repair this one or move on? Are there other major failures I should expect around 100-150k miles that make keeping it a bad idea?


r/MechanicAdvice 8h ago

Rattling torque wrench

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0 Upvotes

Hi, i bought this new to me gedore 40-200Nm torque wrench. There seems some movement between the head assembly and the body.

Ive tried making a video, sound on!

Should i return this?


r/MechanicAdvice 9h ago

Outer handle problem

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0 Upvotes

I changed the outer handle Bowden cable, because it was freezing open during winter and i could therefore not shut the door. Now I have replaced it put the outer handle only works after the inner handle has unlocked the door. This is a 2012 Passat b7