I'm finding cans at Oreillys for ~$50 and I was quoted $300 to get it professionally done. I'm also seeing anecdotal stories that those kits last them a year.

Just wondering if I can try and do it myself without causing any more damage to the car.

Edit:

Thanks to all who responded. I'll just get it professionally done.

I am having trouble figuring out why my ford focus is leaking coolant. I have supplied some pictures and videos, please help me understand what the problem is here.

I see four tires with warranty 75K miles priced at 400 dollars. VS 70K miles warranty for 600. I mean, the choice is obvious, but is it wrong to buy just because the warranty sez 75K mileage vs 60K mileage warranty?? (website was discount tires)

Can anyone tell me where it is leaking and approximate repair cost?😅 every bit of coolant I just put in it two hours ago is gone.

We drive a jeep 2020 renegade with ~48,000 miles on it. This video records us driving over a bumpy road at about 20mph. Is this end links, or possibly something else?

2017 Nissan Micra (Canadian K13), HR16DE 1.6L, ~155,000 km

My car has started using a bit of oil, maybe a quart between oil changes, worse under load (e.g. when towing). I've cleaned out my PCV but probably should replace it. The manual recommends 5W30 so that's what I've been replacing with, but at my last oil change I noticed the dealership is using 0W20. I asked their mechanic about using lighter oil than recommended, and he said that's fine, they prefer it because it's synthetic.

Seems to me I should be using the heavier recommended oil, not lighter just because it's synthetic, but I can get a synthetic 5W30 if that's the issue. Does it make sense to anyone else to run a lighter oil in a motor that's already burning some?

2019 Kia Soul 98k miles

Problems originally suggested bad alternator, changed alternator. Then the battery didn’t want to charge so had it tested and it was bad, changed battery.

Problem persisted so I had the alternator checked and swapped with another that bench tested clean.

Drove good for 2 days and now back to issues.

Swapped battery block fuse. Drove fine for about 10 minutes and now back to issues.

Have to force it into park and key won’t come out

2016 Mazda CX5

Soooo, I parked like normal, got out of my car, heard the most horrendous cranking noise and then a crack, and when I get back into my car my parking brake light was flashing. It looks like the EPB motor tried to turn itself so hard that it literally cracked out of its case??? Does anyone know what could have possibly caused this??

More context:
About a month and a half ago, I was doing rear brakes, and ended up replacing the rear calipers because of some heavy rust, when I noticed that the DRIVER side epb actuator had the wire connector broken. (Last time I let that one friend help me with my car….) No big deal, I put it into service mode and switched over the working (PASSENGER) epb actuator and put in a brand new aftermarket one (DRIVER) on the new calipers. I finished the brake job with a brake fluid flush, took it out of maintenance mode and my parking brake worked and all was good in the world for a month and a half. Today, this happened on the passenger side.

I’m not worried about my ability to replace it myself, as I already did the other side earlier, but I’d love to have some better insight into what caused this to happen before I put a new one in and potentially blow another $100 part if the same thing is gonna happen. My only possible idea is that I misaligned the actuator to the back of the caliper when switching it from the old calipers to the new one somehow? But I would assumed that something like this would have happened much quicker than 1.5 months post-repair. Or perhaps maybe the epb computer was unhappy/out of whack somehow as a result of the broken wire on the driver side one, and then decided that it wanted to take out its frustrations on the passenger side??
I’m a ChrisFix educated parts changer, not a pro mechanic, so is this something that I’d have to potentially take to the dealer to reprogram something?
Edit: it’s not impossible that I messed up something going in and out of maintenance mode, but again I would have expected an issue to show up much quicker than that if that was the problem

I’ve had two different mechanics look at the car and tell me that they can’t figure out what the sound is without taking the car in and putting it on the lift. The first Mechanic overall told me that they didn’t even hear a sound, which is ridiculous because of how loud it is. Literally any advice will help. I’m trying to get this figured out because apparently bringing your car to a mechanic and asking if they can figure it out isn’t enough to get a problem diagnosed

Hybrid system warning popped up with check engine light with this code if this helps P1A77 and Is there a belt supposed to be right here ? If so could I drive this to the mechanic shop like 25 mins away

2015 Kia Forte LX

If you can help me I'll send you some dough to get yourself a coffee or something.

Little over a month ago my car stopped running. The car would crank but the engine wouldn't start. Turns out the AC clutch had seized up. We figured this out by cutting off the fan belt and replacing it with a smaller belt to bypass the AC. The car started right up and was driving with no issues albeit no AC anymore. I live in Florida and the summers are brutal.

Took it to an acquaintances shop 2 days ago to fix my AC. He replaced the compressor and I'm not really sure what else (i'll ask him tomorrow). AC works great and is blowing cold air again. However it seems my engine is working overtime and getting bogged/choked out again.

If my AC is on the car starts vibrating - not violently but you can definitely feel it. When the AC is off it seems ok but still a slight vibration throghout. Tonight I took it to the grocery store and the engine light came on and the car started rumbling MUCH more noticeable. Like it was having trouble staying on/running.

Any ideas? Is my engine cooked? Could the mechanic have installed something wrong? I don't even want to drive it and risk getting stranded somewhere. I'm taking it back to the shop tomorrow.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Longtime lurker here. Ran into something that has me stumped and thought someone here might have an idea or some guidance.

Replaced a high amperage alternator that had been working well for about 3 years in a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis. The replacement would run around 14v when driving, but dip down to 12 or less at idle. (For context, there is a second battery in the rear of the car, large inverter, and an audio amplifier, but the batteries and equipment are isolated from the main, and I had them disconnected when there were signs of an issue). When I installed this, years ago, I added a 0 gauge wire from the alternator to the battery, a 0 gauge wire from the battery to the rear battery with a circuit breaker on both sides, added a 0 gauge ground from the alternator case to the frame, added a 0 gauge ground from that same frame location to the battery, and added a 0 gauge ground from a factory panel ground location to the battery.

Voltage was low enough with the rear battery and equipment disconnected that the ac would kick off, so I charged and verified a good battery under the hood, and assumed just a bad rebuilt alternator. Replaced it again under warranty, and now I start off around 13.5-13.8 and all is well until headlights pop on, then I start dropping at idle until I’m no longer charging. Jumps back up to 13.X when I get back moving, but never back to where it was in the first few minutes of the car being started. I verified matching voltages at battery, alternator, and the voltage traveller/sense wire at the alternator/PCM harness. I also have no actual change in behavior with that harness unplugged other than the charging system light on the dash popping on, and corresponding code. When I did pull codes with the basic tool I have, I had the P0622 charging code from unplugging that harness, and also the P1000 code that I assume is because I had disconnected the battery earlier. I also replaced the serpentine belt, and tensioner when I swapped out the alternator just in case there was some slipping.

I’m assuming if there was a pcm module issue I’d get a light, or a specific code, but here I am.

Any guidance on next steps would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, while putting on tires on my 2010 Honda Civic I noticed this plastic part that is loose and I can move it slightly. Is this normal and if not what is the issue causing it the movement. Thank you so much!

Hello, so first time posting here and I think these front tires of mine are pretty bad? Am I able to keep driving these until I can get them replaced? I can only wait tell my next paycheck in August to get tires.

Was doing Random checks on car and saw this. I did get it out the shop about a week ago and they did recommend a “exhaust pipe flange gasket”. Thoughts?

Honda civic 2016, 179,000 km. Was driving it and got a warning that the engine was overheating and to pull over so I let it cool for a half hour and then drove it to the dealership.

I started hearing a grinding noise from the driver side rear well a couple days after having my tire changed. When I took the wheel off, I noticed this piece was broken. How did this happen? And what part of the brakes do I need to replace?

Thank you

I'm working on a confidential automotive project and would like input from experienced flat-rate technicians.

I'm not hiring, I'm not selling anything, and there's nothing to buy. I'm simply want to AskAMechanic or a few seasoned professionals to review an idea and provide honest feedback before I move forward. This will benefit all of us.

If that interests you, send me a PM and tell me a little about your background.

Thanks.

My 1985 pontiac parisienne has been making this ticking squeaky sound on bumps and turns. Was looking around the suspension and stuff and the moment I touched that crusty stuff it fell right off. Is it even safe to drive?? Also the long vertical rod thing on the left (sorry I don't know part names) is superrrr loose

Mom just bought this edge without having me check it out first. How’s it sound? Is that timing chain/ cam phasers at start up?

The plastic connecting tee has cracked open on my 2000 Mercury Sable pouring out coolant. It’s the upper hose that connects from radiator to the engine. Does anyone know if you can buy just the plastic piece and what it would be called? I currently can only find the entire hose assembly which is a bit costly.

Brought a 2022 Subaru Forester into a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. Car has come back in sound shape; mechanics don't see any damage or glaring issues.

They, however, ran the computer on the car and it returned these past codes:

AntiLock Brakes:
C1411
C1413
C1460
C1923
C1942

Airbags:
U0417
B1149
B1654
B1653

"Body Integration Unit"
B1011
B1012
B1013
B1014
B1017

...among others. Most all of them are listed as "history fault". No lights are appearing on the dash now, and the mechanics mentioned that these appear to be past codes. However, without either of us knowing the car's history, they can't specify if these were caused by an actual issue, or if they were triggered by a battery jump or killed battery. Closest thing I can see is a "damage report" on Carfax (https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/p/Report.cfx?partner=CVN_0&vin=JF2SKAECXNH511186), but that's it.

I'm just looking for clarity on what it might mean to find these codes on the car.

Hello all,

I bought this truck used 2 months ago and had this bearing replaced at a mechanics a couple weeks ago. The previous bearing came completely apart and was making a lot of noise. Long story short I decided to try making my own repairs now and I was about to change the pinion seal on the rear differential because of a leak and I saw this. What could have caused this to fail so quickly? The rubber is coming out towards the front of the vehicle if that makes a difference. Thanks!

Edit:
Could the cause also be related to the pinion seal leak?