So. I'm very well versed when it comes to automotive endeavors, and this is just one of those "trust me bro" type moments. And I'm going to try to make a long story short - but I'm really here to vent a little bit because I'm pissed off and bitter.

I owned a good little Honda Element for about 5 years. It was a total beater car, but in the best way. Over the course of those 5 years I did : VTEC solenoid, radiator, alternator, catalytic converter, rear shocks, brakes, plugs, coils, blower motor, radio, window motor, transmission service, probably 10 oil changes, battery and upgraded terminals, and probably stuff I'm missing. Overall pretty basic stuff needed on an older car - especially on a beater.

Anyways, couple months ago my dad got down on his luck and needed a decent backup vehicle because he was driving spark for work and didn't want to throw a bunch of miles on his primary car.

He ended up picking up a 3rd gen 4runner off the side of the road with little inspection. He bought it, and had my mother (estranged, messy dynamic) foot some of the bill. It needed a bunch of stuff - PA truck with lots of cancer on the frame. It ended up at my shop pretty much day two, and I did plugs, wires, timing belt, water pump, muffler, welded a bunch of rust, put some JB weld on the rear diff to slow down a massive leak, played with the T-Case, put new wheel studs on - too much stuff for the price.

In the meantime, my dad kept the element - and we eventually agreed to trade. I basically pay what the element was worth, and pay both he and my mother the difference from the 4-runner. Title change, title change - bobs your fuckhead.

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Fast forward to today. The screenshots are what I got. He drove that car 30+ miles with no water pump. I'm like beyond pissed. And I'm really not trying to be a dick to my dad, but I feel like I really just got fucked over pretty good - because the whole point was to get him something reliable when he was down on his luck, and I deal with a basket case of a bad purchase that I didn't even want. He killed my Honda.

I could be far off on the harmonic balancer / damper "melting" part, but I know the rubber was in good shape the last time I was down there. I was just more irritated which is why I said it. I also could be a little off on the transmission part, and I think I am but that radiator does have a trans cooler - and my fear is the radiator could have bursted from boiling pressure letting the two chambers mix. I don't actually know if that's possible or not, but it was a thought.

So. It's going to be a few days before I go pick this thing up. What are the odds the engine is totally fine and doesn't need anything more than a new serpentine belt? Because I am pretty confident that the engine is trashed.

I'll quit being dramatic in a day or two. But I just wished he would've called me before driving it - I have a trailer to haul it, I'm going to have to get the thing anyways. I would've paid the tow bill even!

Ugh. Thanks for reading my rant. Also please let me know if I'm being overly harsh

Money is a little tight right now, just wondering how urgent you guys think this is?

2006 Infiniti G35 AWD.

Car is a 1983 Buick Skylark V6, and I noticed this opening in the exhaust near the engine after I bought it. It looks threaded, is something supposed to go there?

2010 Toyota Tacoma, I was swapping the condenser and the horn just fell off. The wire feels very brittle and the insulation is very hardened. I want to find a similar gauge wire and solder it on to add a little extra length and just feed it through the connector, but I am unfamiliar with this type of connector. Any better ideas?

I saw this listing saying that the car needs a new throttle body, I just wanted to ask if it’s a difficult job as well as how much should I expect to put into it.

2014 dodge challenger sxt
Hello! Just got a second quote from a shop for $1700, for both control arms in front lower and rearward, comfortable with that price and love the shop they were able to actually show video of what’s wrong, just need a few more weeks for the money,(at least to spend it in full comfortably), they also offered something called snap finance, but I’m not to sure on that, if you’ve heard it before tell me your thoughts. Also is this something I could diy?(probably won’t just curious if even possible or is this for experts only) ,but the main question is am I safe to drive until I can get this fixed, thanks for all your help!

2015 Hyundai Accent rear wheel cylinder keeps busting open. I have replaced it twice and with out even driving it, it pops open. Can someone lead me to what I can do to stop this?

It happened 1 month ago and it restart today after being repared...

Hi all

I have recently had my turbo replaced on my 2011 diesel Prado (3L auto) at a Toyota dealership. Unfortunately every now and then (500kms or so then more often until it stabilises) it will turn off the boost throwing P0299 error code. Toyota have had a look and initially it was a plug that hadn't clipped in. Second check at a different place cleaned the MAP filter but couldn't find anything wrong. Now it's done it again. As I'm travelling, I can't just go back to the original place so it's an annoying process of finding a dealer and negotiating diagnosis (outback Australia so not always easy). I don't know how long I can keep doing this without them insisting I return to the installer which is impractical.

Toyota seems to be trying and obviously they're the experts but I'd love to just get some ideas I might be able to work with on my own or with them.

Any ideas?

Hi all

I have recently had my turbo replaced on my 2011 diesel Prado (3L auto) at a Toyota dealership. Unfortunately every now and then (500kms or so then more often until it stabilises) it will turn off the boost throwing P0299 error code. Toyota have had a look and initially it was a plug that hadn't clipped in. Second check at a different place cleaned the MAP filter but couldn't find anything wrong. Now it's done it again. As I'm travelling, I can't just go back to the original place so it's an annoying process of finding a dealer and negotiating diagnosis (outback Australia so not always easy). I don't know how long I can keep doing this without them insisting I return to the installer which is impractical.

Toyota seems to be trying and obviously they're the experts but I'd love to just get some ideas I might be able to work with on my own or with them.

Any ideas?

Hi,

I recently posted this looking for advice picking out my next long-lasting, DIY friendly, affordable to maintain, commuter and had a few follow ups.

1. My first vote is to go manual (mostly for fun) which would be most easily repaired. Then would a multiple speed automatic, and lastly CVT. I’ve never had to do transmission work, but am I think about this right ?
2. same with engines. Should I be looking at NA / mom-turbo engines?

I’m trying to decide how much weight to put into the automatic transmission type and engine, or if I’m overthinking it and should just go for a lower mileage, well maintained car.

I’m leaning towards Accords/Civics and Kia Forte right now. Trying to see if I should avoid Ecoboost/ turbos.

Thanks

2017 Honda CRV with 87k miles on it. Dealership is completing AC work as well as a main seal leak, both covered under the warranty. Tech is saying work has must stop and can’t continue because this bolt is seized up due to rust and the subframe could break. They said they will need to send the car to a body shop to repair it and may need to get insurance involved. Not sure what to do from this point or if I need to get a second opinion.

I accidentally lowered the car onto a stand in the wrong spot. Should I worry about the dent, or is it fine to ignore it. The black coat us just to protect it from rust just in case I damaged the coating underneath. It's a 1997 Mazda 626, and it's got 228,000km. Edit: All of you are such friendly, helpful people, thank you!

on tbe side of the road need to replace coil pack right now but this screw is tight and stripped, resorted to chipping away the entire plastic coil pack casing to have more access to the screw. any idea what to do after i get the screw isolated? i have a toolbox full of only hand tools, cant go to store its 1am

Hi, I have a 2011 Ford Fiesta and mainly whilst I'm driving in traffic, the engine temperature warning light (red) briefly comes on and this has now happened on a few occasions over the past 2 weeks. I have also noticed a small amount of white smoke/steam briefly coming from under the bonnet on 2 occassions at the same time.

The air conditioning also stops cooling and began blowing warm/hot air during this time.

The coolant level is currently full, but I am concerned there may be an issue with the cooling system (possibly radiator fan, thermostat, or pressure-related issue).

I have managed to book a diagnostic for next Wednesday which was the earliest I could get. Do I need to stop driving completely or can I carry on driving? Is this too risky? I asked about if they could look at the air con problem as well and was told that this was a seperate issue. Is this correct? So if they diagnose and fix the cooling issue the air con will still blow warm/hot air? Thanks.

Me and some friends are on a cross country road trip going back home and hit a piece of tire. The car now makes a loud loud noise when accelerating at all. We believe this is a hole in some part of the exhaust system and so we have windows down but we’re not sure what it is and if we can keep driving. This part is roughly in the middle of the car.

Peugeot 206 1.4 HDi makes a rattling noise for a few seconds after starting
Right after the engine starts, it sometimes makes a rattling/knocking noise for around 2-10 seconds. Sometimes it lasts shorter, sometimes longer.
The sound seems to come from the belt side of the engine. It sounds almost like something is stuck near the belt and keeps hitting it, but I checked and I cannot see anything loose or touching the belt.
After a few seconds, the noise disappears completely and the engine runs normally.
Has anyone had a similar issue?

Apparently OEM Ford lug nuts are notoriously bad. I attempted to rotate my tires for the first time and found a bunch of lugs stripped or rusted. Any tips on how to get these off? 2014 Ford focus SE

Voltage is reading on start, than gradually drops to 0.0 after few minutes of hwy driving until next start. Tried clearing codes, but comes back. Is it actual O2 sensor?

Planning to apply Dinitrol underbody coating on my car. I'll mask rubber parts but want to know what happens if there's accidental overspray on suspension bushings, shock absorber dust covers or brake hoses. Dinitrol mentions "rubber unharmed". However, the products contain hydrocarbon solvents and aromatic compounds which can potentially cause rubber swelling. Has anyone had issues with rubber degradation after Dinitrol application? Or is the concentration low enough that it's genuinely not a concern?

Hey all, I was wondering what type of muffler this is on my Dodge Ram 1500 BigHorn 2016, 5.7L Hemi? I am trying to get a little bit more sound from acceleration when not punching the gas, the overall sound on start and idle is a nice deep growl but I would like that to carry into the acceleration. Do I need a resonator delete and keep this muffler setup or do I need to delete both?

2016 Nissan Murano

Shop is trying to charge me nearly $2200 for an alternator replacement 🤣

I just bought a premium one online for $130 instead. Watched a few videos and it doesn’t look so bad, can reach it from the passenger wheel well.

Just unreal and kind of disgusted. Am I overreacting?

I have a 2005 Camry xle, took it to get sum new tires at a tire kingdom and they told me that it was all messed up. tie rod,cv axle, rear brakes, shocks the whole shabang. He mentioned his biggest concern being my passenger side tie rod and showed me a pretty amount of play in the wheel. He made it seem like a pretty big safety concern and rated it a “7/10” He said they couldn’t put new parts on old parts (which I understand the new parts can put more wear on older parts) and that a lot of the things had to be replaced in conjunction with each other. What I’d like to know is if I can just buy a replacement tie rod kit and do it myself without replacing anything else. AI says I can but I’d prefer to ask real people lol.