4x pads and rotors on a Mazda CX5

9/29/2026 6:36:05 PM

Put the plugs in the Mercury and fixed the vacuum leaks. Fuel trims are improved. The misfire followed the coil. Ordered a coil.

Alternator in a Lexus ES 350. Alternator changes should not require draining coolant.

9/30/2026 6:22:21 PM

God thats awful(alternator/coolant thing)

9/30/2026 7:18:57 PM

It's really not that bad if you're in a shop, but I guess I come from the school of thought where an alternator is something you can easily do in the parts store parking lot in about 15 minutes. Hell, I used to do them there just so I didn't have to find a ride or make another trip to return the core. The car was at a Sheetz and when she said alternator, I was like, hell yeah, we'll knock that out right there and then she said ES 350 and I was like you're gonna need to figure out how to get it here if you want me to fix it.

9/30/2026 7:39:37 PM

Charged the AC on a G37.

Buick guy called me worried about a low oil pressure warning. Confirmed oil pressure was good. Oil pressure switch was leaking and connector was full of oil. Replaced the switch.

Somebody brought a 1992 Maxima that is running like shit. Found a dead miss on 3 cylinders. All have spark at the distributor. Compression is good on all cylinders. Spark plugs look decent, but I need to check for spark at the plugs themselves. I suspect fuel injectors. Need to spend some more time diagnosing it. It's cool to have to go old school with no OBDII scanner and data to rely on. Reminds me of working on my first car, a 1991 S-10 Blazer.

Went and diagnosed a 2011 CX9 with that 3.7L abomination from Ford. Coolant pouring from the water pump weep hole and a busted seal around one of the VVT solenoids letting oil spray out of the valve cover. It had some codes for cam timing, but they were gone when I was there. I think the oil got in the solenoid connector and caused the timing issue. Recommended that stupid chain driven water pump if she wants to sell it and the whole timing set with phasers and solenoids if she wants to keep it. Honestly hope she just sells it as-is with the coolant leak. Fuck that timing job on the transverse mounted version. Probably easier to just pull the engine than work in that tiny gap between the front of the engine and the frame.

[Edited on October 1, 2026 at 8:12 PM. Reason : df]

10/1/2026 8:10:32 PM

lol I checked alldata and step 1 of that CX9 water pump job is remove the engine/transaxle unit fml

10/1/2026 9:05:10 PM

Lol damn step 1 is a doozy

10/1/2026 10:40:45 PM

Complete and total garbage design. It's only designed so they can hit you with a quote higher than the car's value so you junk it and get another car payment. I wish people would google this shit before they buy a car.

10/2/2026 9:19:42 AM

Checked injector coil resistances on the Maxima and 1 was slightly over spec and 2 were way over spec, but there was no correlation to which cylinders were missing. Put new plugs in and it seemed to be hitting on all but #2. #2 actually showed only 30 psi compression yesterday, but I thought it was because I could only get my gauge screwed in a thread or two before the hose started spinning in the threaded fitting (that plug was tight the whole way out and I guess the threads are boogered up). I figured the compression was just leaking past the threads, so I screwed it into a good cylinder only a thread or two and it still tested over 130 psi. Customer says it broke a timing belt and someone else put a new one on and then this issue started, so maybe it bent a valve. Didn't see any damage with the borescope. I guess I could do a leakdown test. Dude was seriously considering pulling the head and replacing valves. I tried to talk him into a $2k-3k marketplace car, but we'll see.

10/2/2026 4:16:25 PM

Quote :

"I could only get my gauge screwed in a thread or two before the hose started spinning in the threaded fitting (that plug was tight the whole way out"

Man i had that hose come off once...i thought i was supremely fucked for like an hour cause the fitting was screwed in well

10/2/2026 8:19:46 PM

My kit has a hard tube that I try to use, but the wings on it interfered with the intake on that one cylinder.

It does run a lot better on 5 cylinders now. Not sure what the dude is gonna do. Apparently the lady who drives it loves it and has had it forever. It's not in terrible shape and like 210k miles iirc.

10/2/2026 9:26:11 PM

Replaced the belt tensioner on the TL. Way quieter now. Owner is happy. Also replaced one of the eBay headlight ballasts with one from before the wreck. It was heating up and flaking out. Unfortunately junkyard OEM seems to be the way to go on those, or maybe change to LED, but not sure what's involved there.

Rear pads and rotors on an Altima.

Started disconnecting everything on the Equinox. Planning to pull the engine tomorrow.

10/3/2026 8:04:39 PM

Engine out of the Equinox. What a garbage vehicle. Don't think I'll ever work on one again. They all belong in the crusher, honestly.

Jeep Patriot came in with xmas tree lights on the dash intermittently at highway speeds. Tons of communication loss codes and most significantly a CAN B (-) ground code stored. Found a very shoddy aftermarket stereo installation. The CAN B (-) that goes to the factory radio connector had a wire in the aftermarket harness adapter that was soldered to another wire in the adapter that went to the antenna. I think that at highway speeds, the antenna would get to flapping and ground intermittently. Snipped the solder joint off and taped up the ends and it seems good to go.

Went and picked up an engine stand from marketplace. I have to swap the oil pan from the old AWD Equinox engine to the FWD donor, so that will be a little easier with the stand.

10/4/2026 8:00:28 PM

Let my 13yo son take the lead for the first time on 2 of 3 oil changes this weekend (Cayenne and Cayman).

Dropped some shit in the oil drain pan. Dripped oil onto concrete and cardboard. Over-torqued oil filter housing (spec is 19 ft*lb) when I got distracted. All in all, a pretty good start

After 1st car:
"Having fun?"
"Yeah it's actually kind of fun"

After 3rd car:
"Had fun?"
"Nah, not really. I mean, it was OK but I'd rather be playing Roblox"
"Well obviously"

[Edited on October 5, 2026 at 11:49 AM. Reason : ]

10/5/2026 11:49:07 AM

^^Love this insight.

10/5/2026 1:22:12 PM

Replaced radiator and radiator hoses on a Lexus ES350. It was leaking pretty bad.

Went mobile and replaced an alternator on a Honda Odyssey. Kind of a pain, at least compared to the usual non-van J series alternators.

Didn't have much time to make any headway on the Equinox. I'm waiting on some seals for the oil pan swap anyway. I did pull a few things off the replacement engine and went and got some bolts to put it on the engine stand. Gonna try to have the bellhousing bolts in before I go to bed tomorrow.

[Edited on October 5, 2026 at 8:21 PM. Reason : adf]

10/5/2026 8:19:33 PM

Also put the coil in the Mercury. Misfire is gone. No CEL on the test drive. Fuel trims could be a little lower, but I think it's good.

10/5/2026 9:28:41 PM

Got the remaining wiring harness off the replacement engine. Swapped over the oil pans and some other small stuff. Got it in the hole and bolted up to the transmission and the engine mount. Tore the old engine down to a bare block for scrapping. Maybe I can crank it up tomorrow.

10/6/2026 10:11:37 PM

I changed an oxygen sensor on an equinox once...it was a pleasant experience. I just assumed they were kinda an "easier" vehicle to work on because of that

I just noticed last post of last page you mention "that equinox" but trying to find post you originally mentioned it...curious the year etc

10/7/2026 7:14:35 AM

Is the Equinox yours? Or this for some unfortunate customer?

10/7/2026 1:12:44 PM

^^It's a 2019 AWD. There's just no room to access anything with all the turbo and CAC piping and the AWD PTU behind the engine. Seems like everything just requires dropping the subframe, which I did not do. That 1.5L turbo engine is junk. Anytime I'm working on one, I'm just thinking the whole time about how I'm wasting my time and their money. Seems like they run about 150k miles before head gasket or piston rings take them out. They consume oil, so they end up running low on oil and that kills the timing chains and oil/VCT systems. This one made it to 180k and I'm sure the transmission won't be far behind the engine. I found a used engine with about 120k on it for $500 and told the lady to be saving for something else. I will say, the replacement engine was way cleaner on the inside than hers. Somebody kept up with the oil changes on it. The original had a thick layer of sludge in the lower oil pan and varnish all over the internals. The replacement was nearly perfect. Unfortunately, I had to clean all that out of her original oil pan to make it work with the AWD configuration.

^It's not mine. It's a charity case. Trying to help somebody out. I'm still not sure what the failure mechanism was. Supposedly it started as just a single injector code. She bought 4 Amazon injectors and had some jackleg mobile mechanic install them. Then it sounds to me like it went to a series of hydrolocking events and somewhere in the parts cannon firing it got a new starter and alternator. I figured the cheap injectors were hanging open, causing fuel hydrolocking and the dummy thought it was a weak starter. Not sure why he threw an alternator on it, but I do run across a lot of morons who think an alternator will fix a no crank. Anyway, since she'd already thrown away the 3 good injectors, I had her get 4 OEM injectors and went ahead and threw new plugs in since I needed to pull them to get the gasoline out. Changed the oil as it was way overfilled due to gasoline leaking past the rings. It ran good after that and I thought I was done. Next day she says she's got CEL, reduced power mode, and losing coolant. I pressure tested and found no external leaks. Pulled plugs to borescope and found #1 slap full of coolant. Like pouring in. No sense in a head gasket on one of those with 180k. I'm not sure if hydrolocking caused the head gasket failure or what.

So anyway, I got the engine finished up today. My misses were the bolt under the fuse box that connects the battery positive bus to the underside of the fuse panel (not sure why I even removed that, took a bit to figure it out because it was under there hidden out of sight), the crankshaft position sensor left unplugged (that was a pain to plug in with the engine in, it's tucked behind the PTU, I laid on top of the engine and got it by feel), and an oil leak from the lower oil pan (the RTV doesn't actually need to be where it looks like it should go on the oil pan, you need to use the upper oil pan surface as a guide). It ran good in the shop. I drained the oil and resealed the lower oil pan. Letting it cure overnight before filling the oil and test drive tomorrow.

10/7/2026 8:31:01 PM

Man here is to hoping for less bullshit like that

10/7/2026 8:39:47 PM

Oh, it will never end. I've got a easy RSX radiator and some Chevy Trax brakes up next, but then I've got a half torn apart ES 350 in a parking lot needing a transmission that some mechanic walked away from in the middle of the job.

10/7/2026 8:46:42 PM

Forgot, I also plugged a tiny leak in one of the tires on it. Had to baptize the tire to find it.

10/8/2026 7:32:13 AM

You ever had a situation like karl in Sling Blade("it aint got no gas in it") where it was super stupid fix?

10/8/2026 5:17:47 PM

^Called out for a no crank a few weeks ago and the shifter wasn't in park.

The Equinox holds oil now, but on the test drive I got P0299 for underboost. It's making pretty much no boost at all. I do see small spikes when I rev it up, but not nearly what it should be. I verified the boost sensor is working with a hand pump. Waste gate appears closed, turbo bypass solenoid valve is clicking, no charge air piping leaks. The compressor and turbine fans look fine and spin freely. I'm stumped. This is the turbo that came with the salvage engine, so I guess I could throw the old turbo on it. Ready to move on from this one.

The RSX got a new radiator, transmission fluid drain and fill, and an AC charge. It needs a condenser fan, but the lady couldn't afford one. The AC only blows cold when engine RPMs are up. It needs a compressor.

[Edited on October 8, 2026 at 8:01 PM. Reason : niu]

10/8/2026 8:00:44 PM

Please tell me it was a chick

10/8/2026 8:55:43 PM

It belonged to a woman. Her coworker got up with me and asked me to come. I went underneath to see if we were getting power at the starter solenoid when turning the key. I said, "nope, no power" and he said "oh man, I think the shifter isn't in park".

10/8/2026 9:10:28 PM

I'm not a chick but something similar has happened to me

10/9/2026 1:20:23 AM

The lady came to pick up the RSX and wanted me to listen for a noise while she drove it. I did hear the noise, but she had to really saw on the wheel and weave back and forth to produce it. I jacked it up when we got back and can't really tell what it is. Maybe in the steering rack. Doesn't really matter as she can't afford parts to ever fix anything anyway. But then when she went to leave, it wouldn't crank. Battery was at 11.9V. I beat on the starter some and no joy. I put a jump box on it and it barely turned over fast enough to start. Seems like a combo of weak battery and weak starter. Advised her to park it until she can afford a starter.

I pulled the turbo off the Equinox and found the catalytic converter completely clogged up with soot. Seems common on the 1.5L Ecotec with its oil consumption issues. Thought for sure that was the cause of the low boost. She can't afford a catalytic converter, so I offered the option of just knocking out the catalyst and letting it ride with a CEL until she can. So I did that and put the turbo back on. Still has really low boost. And now has a misfire, presumably due to the lack of catalyst. Told her to come pick it up. I'll put a converter on it when she can afford one, but I'm out of ideas on the boost problem besides a new turbo. The turbo looks perfectly fine inside.

[Edited on October 9, 2026 at 7:35 PM. Reason : asdf]

[Edited on October 9, 2026 at 7:36 PM. Reason : adf]

10/9/2026 7:34:46 PM

Guy dropped off an Infinity QX80 with a rotational noise on the front passenger side. Another mechanic was "sure it's the axle". Not sure what he was on, because it's RWD and there is no axle in the front. Anyway, I took it around the block and heard the noise. Suspected wheel bearing. Jacked it up and wiggled the wheel to confirm. Ordered a wheel bearing/hub assembly.

10/10/2026 8:21:55 PM

The Trax brake job ended up being a Rogue. I pulled the wheels off and the brakes looked nearly new. Customer had no complaints, just "thought it probably needed brakes". I told them I'd do them, but they were wasting their money, especially on a Rogue with 100k on it that's never had any transmission service. Put the wheels on and they left.

Went and picked up a battery and threw it in that RSX. Starter still sounds weak to me, but it starts ok.

Inspected suspension and steering components on my truck. Ordered all the stuff to replace all the wear components. Bushings, ball joints, tie rod ends, pitman and idler arms, leaf spring shackles and bushings, torsion bar mounts, shocks, etc.

About to go mop the shop floor.

10/11/2026 1:12:46 PM

Also went and looked over a 2008 CRV for a lady who just bought it. Needs front brakes and all the usual suspension components due to 20 year old rubber. Also has a oil leak, which surprisingly doesn't appear to be from the VTEC solenoid. The VTC screen on the front side is definitely leaking along with the VTC oil control solenoid valve o-ring, so I recommended starting with those and working our way down. Possibly front crank seal and/or oil pan leak, but I'll know more once I get it degreased. Needs an alignment pretty bad. Solid car with only 117k on it. Love to see people buying these instead of going in crazy debt for the newer junk.

[Edited on October 11, 2026 at 9:09 PM. Reason : oh, it also has a bit of a longer crank that would need some diag]

10/11/2026 9:07:45 PM

What you thinking with longer crank?

10/11/2026 9:12:39 PM

I'd start by cleaning the throttle body and MAF, then check fuel pressure at the rail and see if it's falling off after shutdown. Check the spark plugs. Maybe a dirty injector. Also could scope CKP and CMP during startup, but that's less likely. Dirty throttle body was definitely my first thought. I'll investigate it if she brings it for brakes.

10/11/2026 9:46:45 PM

Did a couple pre purchase inspections for the lady with the CX-9 that needs a water pump.

First was on a RAV4 with a shitty paint job. Heard the cam phaser rattle on startup. It also had an evap code and bad valve cover and spark plug tube seal leaks. Recommended skipping it based on the cam phaser. Sure, it could be fixed, but it's a sign that it didn't get regular oil changes to me. She was not digging it.

Second one was a 2007 Lexus RX350 with 250k miles on it. Pretty decent condition. Pretty big oil leak from the oil cooler, which seems common. Has a steering angle sensor code and some SRS occupancy detector codes and a window regulator that clunks pretty hard. Nothing major. She bought it and I think she did alright.

10/13/2026 9:25:42 PM

She brought that RX350 by for another look. I screwed the license plate on, calibrated the seat zero points for the occupancy detection codes, lubed the sunroof tracks. The spare tire was in the rear cargo area, presumably because someone installed a towing hitch that interfered with the normal mounting point under the car. She wanted me to remove the hitch and put the spare under there, but I found the spare tire hoist cable had been cut off. Also found that the rear seat belts had been cut off for some reason and I missed that when I looked it over last night. She transports people to medical appointments and needs the seat belts, so I got some ordered. Provided estimates on fixing all the other stuff.

Put the hub assembly in the QX80 and got it out of here.

10/14/2026 3:51:59 PM

Wish you knew the shop so you could let us know where not to go if we are in the area

10/14/2026 6:27:35 PM

The one who told him it was the non-existent front axle? I doubt it was even a shop. Probably just some dude he knows who works on cars. Which I guess I am, too, but I do know how to use my eyeballs.

10/14/2026 9:47:56 PM

You should start a youtube channel

10/14/2026 9:49:19 PM

Somebody tells me that a couple times a week.

10/14/2026 10:01:05 PM

I also went and picked up a parts washer and an under dash creeper off FB marketplace this evening.

10/14/2026 10:04:04 PM

Just kinda came to me. I bet you'd get like 300k subscribers

10/14/2026 10:04:22 PM

Cleaned up that parts washer, replaced some seals and hose, and filled it with 15 gallons of PSC 1000.

Replaced the brake booster and a tail light bulb on that Buick that keeps coming to me. At the end, he tells me he had to top off the coolant again. I looked underneath while it was running and it's leaking coolant yet again. I couldn't tell where it was coming from as it looks like it's hitting the subframe and running before dripping. I was out of time, so I told him to keep it topped off and I'll look harder when he brings it back for the next oil change.

10/15/2026 7:12:51 PM

He also wants to try flushing the heater core. Back when I did the intake manifold gaskets on it, I noted that the heater wasn't blowing hot when I was filling the coolant. Before that I had to replace the radiator because it was all clogged with dexcool sludge and rust, so I figure the heater core is the same way. So I guess I'll try to locate that leak before doing the heater core flush so I don't have to drain it twice.

That brake booster was kind of a pain. You have to unbolt the torque strut engine mounts and twist the engine forward with a ratchet strap to get enough room. I still couldn't get it out until I unbolted the EGR valve and unbolted the ABS control unit from the fender. I also didn't have the special tool for turning the booster itself in and out of the locks on the firewall. I was planning to make one, but didn't take the time and just did it with a prybar across the master cylinder studs.

10/15/2026 9:56:03 PM

Looked at a Civic. She took it somewhere for an oil change and they recommended serpentine belt, air filter, cabin filter, and rear shocks. Belt needed replacement for sure. Air filter was dirty. I didn't check the cabin filter, but it's cheap, so if I'm pulling it out to check it, I'm just replacing it. One rear shock showed a little bit of a leak, but I recommended riding it some more. I ordered her a belt and filters and also convinced her to let me restore the headlights when she brings it back to get those installed.

A friend came by with another Civic leaking a bunch of oil and low on refrigerant. This is the same one I helped install an evaporator in. Couldn't find any dye anywhere, but I did detect a small leak from the service ports with my sniffer. I put new cores in them and detected no leaks after charging it. Cleaned up all the oil leaks and added dye to the engine oil to try and pinpoint where it's coming from.

Got my truck on jack stands and started tearing into the suspension. I got the left front upper control arm replaced and put all new bushings and ball joint in the lower control arm. Got the LCA and torsion bar back in. Discovered that two of the parts boxes had the wrong part in them, one upper control arm and one outer tie rod end, so I got them boxed up and shipped back to RockAuto. That's super annoying because I was hoping to have this done this weekend.

10/16/2026 9:28:12 PM

I had to change the shraeder valves on the ports in a car once. Luckily i had someone like you to help lol

10/16/2026 10:20:28 PM

Got the pitman arm, idler arm, and idler arm bracket replaced. Right front torn apart and the lower control arm redone. Replaced the torsion bar crossmember mounting brackets/bushings. Was planning to replace the leaf spring bushings, but I discovered you have to drop the fuel tank to get one of the bolts out on the driver side and the bushings look fine, so I'm skipping it. In the process, I had to drop the spare tire and the cable hoist thing for it decided to lock up, so I ordered a replacement. Did put the new shocks on the rear.

Everyone says those LCA bushings are a pain and to just replace the whole LCA, but they went right in with my shop press and some silicone paste.

[Edited on October 17, 2026 at 8:07 PM. Reason : and I recovered refrigerant for a guy who is planning to do his own compressor replacement]

[Edited on October 17, 2026 at 8:09 PM. Reason : df]

10/17/2026 8:07:23 PM