The "Ask a Mechanic" Thread

[Dan T.]

Any recommended way to remove the cataract-like haze from the surface of headlights?  Someone said toothpaste and some elbow grease.  Any good products out there?

[Kosher Ham]

If you use toothpaste, use the kind with baking soda. 

 

Lots of videos on YouTube with different methods. 

[Springfield]

1 hour ago, Dan T. said:

Any recommended way to remove the cataract-like haze from the surface of headlights?  Someone said toothpaste and some elbow grease.  Any good products out there?

 

3M makes a good headlight kit.

[twa]

4 hours ago, Dan T. said:

Any recommended way to remove the cataract-like haze from the surface of headlights?  Someone said toothpaste and some elbow grease.  Any good products out there?

 

3m rubbing compound works well with a buffer(bit pricey though)

I usually water sand with 1200 then buff.(unless they want them recleared)

 

the old style toothpaste works with some effort,even just baking soda and a wet rag work.

what you have is clear paint on the lens degrading.

some models ya can order aftermarket lens online for cheap

[Dan T.]

Thanks guys.

[youngestson]

Bit of a resurrection for this thread.

 

I took my jeep in for a manufacturer recall and a question about a rattling muffler.

 

The service counter called back with their customary list of things they'd like to do for way too much money, but one was the front breaks. My daughter drives the car and I thought being able to stop would be good, so I said go ahead. 

 

A couple hours later they call to say the calipers are stuck so it's going to be even more money.

 

My question is if the calipers were stuck, wouldn't the car have been making squealing or grinding sounds? It had made no sounds at all, and I am frankly suspicious. I had to use a dealer for the recall work to be done, and they don't have the best reputation.

 

[Elessar78]

On 3/8/2018 at 1:37 PM, Springfield said:

 

Radiator seems pretty rational to me.  The $800 price isn’t too bad in my opinion.

Radiator leak confirmed by independent garage. Installed new OEM part and cost me $450. Plus $50 for the Honda dealership diagnostic. 

 

I didn't bite, but Honda told me that "it was leaking badly". Independent garage said "you'll be fine over the weekend" (this was Friday). I filled reservoir Thursday night and it barely lost any coolant until we brought it in again on Tuesday. I don't like the dishonesty. 

[twa]

2 hours ago, youngestson said:

 

 

My question is if the calipers were stuck, wouldn't the car have been making squealing or grinding sounds? It had made no sounds at all, and I am frankly suspicious. I had to use a dealer for the recall work to be done, and they don't have the best reputation.

 

 

Not really, though it will cause pad wear leading to squeeling

It depends on where they stick, they can stick fully locked(tire won't roll ) or anywhere in between there and fully retracted.

when they install new pads it needs to fully retract since they are thicker and a abrasion or rust buildup can prevent that.

 

Don't care for dealers myself.

 

[Malapropismic Depository]

I've got a crack on the top of my radiator, that's barely visible.

Wondering if the whole radiator needs to be replaced, or can I use a patch repair kit, like JB Weld, or is that not advisable for a radiator ?

[twa]

23 minutes ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

I've got a crack on the top of my radiator, that's barely visible.

Wondering if the whole radiator needs to be replaced, or can I use a patch repair kit, like JB Weld, or is that not advisable for a radiator ?

 

Best to replace, but you can clean it and melt it together with a soldering iron ect, then patch

 

Just depends on how much of a problem it is to you if the leak returns or worsens.

 

I'm assuming ya have a plastic tank

[Springfield]

On 3/21/2018 at 3:39 PM, youngestson said:

Bit of a resurrection for this thread.

 

I took my jeep in for a manufacturer recall and a question about a rattling muffler.

 

The service counter called back with their customary list of things they'd like to do for way too much money, but one was the front breaks. My daughter drives the car and I thought being able to stop would be good, so I said go ahead. 

 

A couple hours later they call to say the calipers are stuck so it's going to be even more money.

 

My question is if the calipers were stuck, wouldn't the car have been making squealing or grinding sounds? It had made no sounds at all, and I am frankly suspicious. I had to use a dealer for the recall work to be done, and they don't have the best reputation.

 

 

Sorry it took a while for me to see this but twa did a fair job of explaining it.  I’ll expand a little bit.

 

As for the caliper, they can fail in multiple ways.  The caliper simply clamps the pads against the rotor.  A caliper can fail stuck on, always applying the brakes.  It can fail stuck off, never applying the brakes.  What likely happened is that when the shop went to replace the brakes, the old caliper piston wouldn’t depress back into the caliper to make room for the new pads.  Wouldn’t give you any symptoms but also wouldn’t be able to install new pads/rotors without replacing one or both.

 

Another point is the list of stuff with a warranty repair.  I see more and more often that dealers use warranty/recall repairs as an opportunity to actually make money.  From a business standpoint it makes sense.  Just have to make sure that what they are telling you is accurate and factual.

On 3/21/2018 at 3:55 PM, Elessar78 said:

Radiator leak confirmed by independent garage. Installed new OEM part and cost me $450. Plus $50 for the Honda dealership diagnostic. 

 

I didn't bite, but Honda told me that "it was leaking badly". Independent garage said "you'll be fine over the weekend" (this was Friday). I filled reservoir Thursday night and it barely lost any coolant until we brought it in again on Tuesday. I don't like the dishonesty. 

 

It is possible that the shop wasn’t being dishonest, just uninformed.  What I could see happening is a technician bringing a list of needed repairs to a service advisor, then the service advisor writes up the needed repairs without ever looking at the vehicle.  Then, said advisor just says whatever they have been trained to say.

 

In my experience, dealers especially can have some very unqualified sales people (people who don’t quite know very much about cars).

 

Like everything in business, it’s a race to the bottom.

[Elessar78]

29 minutes ago, Springfield said:

 

 

Like everything in business, it’s a race to the bottom.

You saying this in the context that I got the work done for less than the dealer? 

 

It could be true that way. But I think it's more that we live in a rural area and the delaership is priced like it's in the ritzy suburb 20 miles away and I brought it instead to a local mechanic who is priced more for the local economy?

 

As an aside, came across this today. Guy left his dashcam on while at the dealership

 

 

[Malapropismic Depository]

49 minutes ago, twa said:

 

Best to replace, but you can clean it and melt it together with a soldering iron ect, then patch

 

Just depends on how much of a problem it is to you if the leak returns or worsens.

 

I'm assuming ya have a plastic tank

 

It's cracking on the plastic part. It's also bubbling as you can see in the pic.

You can't see the crack, but it's located where those bubbles are on the radiator right where the hose connects.

 

[Springfield]

42 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

You saying this in the context that I got the work done for less than the dealer? 

 

 

Not really, it’s just that the trend seems to be to pay people employees less and charge the same amount.  You pay employees less, you get unethical or (more accurately) unskilled employees.  It’s that way across many “sales” industries.  An unskilled service person doesn’t have the ability to accurately communicate something to a customer who may not grasp the subject matter.

 

Leads to an overall bad product.

 

 

[twa]

5 hours ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

 

It's cracking on the plastic part. It's also bubbling as you can see in the pic.

You can't see the crack, but it's located where those bubbles are on the radiator right where the hose connects.

 

 

 

I'd replace it, but it is much cheaper for me 

 

Patch is fine if you don't mind risk.

[Malapropismic Depository]

2 hours ago, twa said:

 

I'd replace it, but it is much cheaper for me 

 

Patch is fine if you don't mind risk.

 

Yea, think I'll take the risk, as I imagine I'll be okay as long as I keep a sharp eye on the temperature and fluid level, and drive around with plenty of spare fluid.

Thanks very much.

Gonna go with this product, based on some good reviews and recommendations...

 

[skinsmarydu]

I watched that whole dashcam video piece. 

Good grief. If that's what goes on at a Mercedes dealer....

[Springfield]

6 hours ago, skinsmarydu said:

I watched that whole dashcam video piece. 

Good grief. If that's what goes on at a Mercedes dealer....

 

I wouldn’t stand for that at a shop of mine.  I’d assume that the leadership of the shop was not aware of what that technician was up to though.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Springfield
Had to add the word “not” to change the entire meaning of the statement.

[Elessar78]

Not exactly a mechanic question, just a car question...

 

i hve a shop vac I use to clean out my car. It’s okay. I have attachments and it still doesn’t get in between the seats well and doesn’t have a lot of suction.

 

anyone recommend a great vac for cleaning out cars?

[Springfield]

12 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

Not exactly a mechanic question, just a car question...

 

i hve a shop vac I use to clean out my car. It’s okay. I have attachments and it still doesn’t get in between the seats well and doesn’t have a lot of suction.

 

anyone recommend a great vac for cleaning out cars?

 

Just take the seats out brah

[twa]

8 minutes ago, Springfield said:

 

Just take the seats out brah

 

 

I use compressed air

 

add

if you have a shop vac w/o much suction you have a dirty filter,clogged hose or bad shop vac

Edited May 23, 2018 by twa

[Elessar78]

13 minutes ago, Springfield said:

 

Just take the seats out brah

I have toyed with that. Worry about safety issues? Can I tighten those bolts enough?

[Springfield]

27 minutes ago, Elessar78 said:

I have toyed with that. Worry about safety issues? Can I tighten those bolts enough?

 

Just make sure everything that you unplugged is plugged back in and the bolts are good n tight.

[mark327]

Quick question for anyone. 

I have a Ford Excursion with V-10 .

Blew a spark plug , sounds like it is either #9 or #10. Drivers side hardest to reach plugs. 

What's a reasonable price for this repair 

[Malapropismic Depository]

Hey guys, wondered if I could get an opinion on something, where I'm getting 2 different diagnosis from a couple places.

It's a 2000 Buick Century. Started out, it had what appeared to be oil present in the coolant.

Took it to one place, and they said the "oil cooler" for the radiator is what was causing the oil to leak into it, and that it needed a new radiator and thermostat, due to the oil damage ($800)

Took it somewhere else, and got a totally different answer. First, they said this particular car does not even have an "oil cooler" attached to the radiator.

And that the oil getting into the radiator was due to the head gasket gone bad. So, the head gasket, hoses, and system flush would be about $1400.

Does the 2nd diagnosis sound like the accurate one ? I'm just curious what might cause one guy to say this model car possesses an "oil cooler" on the radiator, while the other one says it does not contain one

Is there a way I can find out ?

Probably a dumb question, but if it's the head gasket, and we keep an eye on the oil and coolant and temperature, can it reasonably be driven much longer like that ?

Edited May 25, 2018 by Malapropismic Depository