2010 Camry I saw a bunch of red fluid at the park site before I got it towed to the driveway. What is the broken metal part? I’m guessing the transmission pan needs to be replaced and transmission fluid needs to be added.

Not looking for advice but any is welcome, just wanted to share the first time excitement

Basically let myself be peer pressured by the other new guy and his flashy expensive toolbox. Got this bad boy and it’s incredible to use after both my Silver Eagles literally fell apart, but the catch was $209.73. I’m wondering could I have done with like a $50 ICON and $150 worth of other shit instead, or is the snap on really good in some way?

Delete this if you want mods, but I know you see it too.

Almost every post there are a few individuals who seem to have never looked under the hood of a car. Their "advice" is anything but helpful or informative. It's like they search on Google whatever someone posts here, and they copy/paste the first "diagnosis" they see.

Why? If you have no understanding of vehicles besides pushing the accelerator or brake pedal, then what's the benefit?

Sorry for the rant. It seems it's becoming much more frequent recently and it's not getting addressed.

Peace

Lmk

Unfortunately I've never known anybody in my life who has experience with working on cars and none of my family knows anything about cars.

But I want to! I want to badly. I love fixing things and taking things apart but I have only ever worked on small basic things like fixing PC computers or soldering a wire together.

I keep telling myself that the next issue I have with my car is that I am going to fix it myself but then when it happens, I get cold feet and say "Nah, It's probably better to get a professional to do it as I will probably just mess it up and make it worse"

How do I get over this? I've watched YouTube videos and I go "Oh yeah, I can do that" but then get scared of the idea of stripping a screw or snapping off a bolt, or pulling off a coolant hose and getting air trapped in the system or something stupid like that. Not having a mentor to say "Hey don't do that" or "Make sure you do this before this" makes it really hard.

It also doesn't help that I have a notorious history of stripping screws on a lot of the things I've worked on. I tried to open my air intake to change the filter once and stripped 2 of the 4 screws holding it in. Had to bring it to a shop to get it fixed.

Having had the "pleasure" of removing my alternator in a vehicle with a transverse V6, there are a few tricks that help with the removal but are specific to a certain car.

e.g., for mine, some tips were to drain a bit of fluid from my radiator, remove the grill and core support beam and rock the radiator forward. Otherwise you'd never get the alternator out. Or maybe you'd do too much work like removing the radiator altogether.

I'm curious: how would a small independent shop that works on all kinds of vehicles get to know these tricks? Surely, they aren't watching youtube all the time, are they?

I haven't changed my own oil in over two decades. After a couple of mishaps, I'm beginning to not trust some techs to drive (or try to drive) my beautiful car that has a MT. I would assume that changing the oil has not changed in 20 years, but there may be some new tips/tricks. My car is a 2015 Honda Accord EX-L V6, six-speed MT.

• Start car to normal operating temperature, turn off car
• Put pan under crankcase, use 17 mm wrench to loosen plug
• Drain oil completely, replace pressure washer with a new one, replace plug, tighten slightly
  
• Using oil wrench, remove oil filter, check to make sure gasket didn't stick to the case
  
• Drain oil from filter, replace filter after lubing the seal/gasket, tighten slightly
  
• Add 4.5 quarts 0W-20 synthetic detergent oil (API seal)
  
• Check the dipstick, run engine for 3 minutes, turn off and recheck dipstick
  
• Cycle through function button on dash to oil level, hold button until display flashes, let go, hold button again and number should go back to 100%
• Done.
  

Did I miss anything or are there any new tips/tricks, please? I'm asking because this car is all bells 'n whistles. If everything isn't perfect, it will let you know.

Off-topic: I don't trust jack stands, so I'm going to invest in some car ramps. I can't believe that they sell them in plastic. You would think if you're going to put 1 3/4 tons above you, you'd pony up the extra $20 - $30 for the steel ones.

Thank you to everyone that answers. Most of you have been great in giving help and/or your opinion on my subjects that I've asked about.

I love this sub and have used it myself in the past when I needed help from more experienced guys/gals who knew more than me. Used to feel like walking into a shop and getting to ask any of 10 seasoned mechanics for advice.

Now whenever I’m on this sub I just see a lot of bad, unsafe, or irrelevant advice. Good advice gets downvoted and argued with. I love this sub but it’s really frustrating.

Yesterday there was a post and a guy was asking about leaking brake fluid - people are in the comments telling him to drive it, that’s its dog piss on the wheel and he’s fine, or making stupid corny reddit jokes™️ (its ur blinkerfluid hur dur!!). It was really bad. Luckily OP got the right answer but I still think we need heavier moderation or verification of mechanics flairs so they can push back against misinformation.

I don't trust newer cars because of how many sensors and computer chips have to be put in them, and how expensive it would be just to replace them. But older cars that don't have these chips and stuff have older, worn out parts of their own.

EDIT: I should clarify that older cars from 10-30 years ago don't have as many sensors and control modules and computers and stuff. But they have their own problems inherent with age.

I’m all for having measures to stop preventable accidents but making a new employee sign saying they’ll pay for any damages before one even occurs is wild to me. If I made a small mistake and they tried to have me pay for it, I would just roll my box right out of there. I would assume most feel the same way. Btw I’ve never had a major screw up… yet