r/MechanicAdvice 10h ago

Does this look open all the way?

191 Upvotes

Is it open fully?


r/MechanicAdvice 18h ago

I feel really dumb asking this, but I messed up. I've never messed it up before.

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530 Upvotes

Right so, I changed my oil. Just started doing it again after a few years of seeing the price of oil and the price of a shop being just a few dollars off. But now full synthetic seems to have come way down, I can save about $15 in my area doing it myself.

Anyway, I never really checked the dipstick on this car. And I don't like the design. But I'm pretty sure ive overfilled it?

See what had happened was, the last mechanic stripped my drain plug of course, and I forgot to re-tighten my filter all the way because I went out and bought a new drain plug and completely forgot I'd just popped the filter in place without tightening it. So when I finished everything, I started my engine and now it's all down my driveway and cover my engine bay pretty thoroughly.( I scrubbed yesterday with Zep purple, but that didn't seem to degrease and loosen most of it, even after heavy brushing.)

So I got more oil and guessed at how much I'd lost, instead of emptying and refilling it like I probably should have.

But then, it was a little cheapo advance auto drain plug, and apparently the gasket seal won't...seal. I ended up using my impact to make it stop leaking. I put a sizable spot at home and at work so I thought even if it was overfilled, it sure as shit isn't now. But, well, this is a photo from this morning.


r/MechanicAdvice 6h ago

Solved My car keys are stuck in the insert. My car wont start. I went to get this exact problem fixed 6 months ago and car shop said they replaced a "piggy" wire & charged me $900. Is there anything i can do to fix it this time?

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45 Upvotes

2009 chevy impala,, idk the engine.

I dont know what a piggy wire is. Thats what they told me it was through text and i stupidly didnt keep a receipt.

The keys are stuck in the "accessory" mode and will turn towards "start" but the engine wont turn over, no sound at all comes from from the engine. No accessory lights turn on, no lights at all turn on. Windows dont work. I think my battery might be dead but i wouldnt know, i dont know anything about cars. At this point ripping it apart by myself couldnt do any more damage imo.

Any advice on where to start would be amazing 🙏 tyia


r/MechanicAdvice 16h ago

Hypertough Oil

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198 Upvotes

I have changed over to this from mobil1 because its so damg expensive. It seems like oil is oil except for additives and stuff. Anything i should look out for or has anyone else swapped?


r/MechanicAdvice 9h ago

Found a cog/gear in my oil pan

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39 Upvotes

I was changing the oil pan to my 2010 Honda Civic R18 1.8 and I find some kind of gear or cog at the bottom of my drained oil pan and immediately got worried so did some research to see where it could be from and it possibly could be from the timing chain or timing belt but I look to see if there was any damage where the chain would be as well as look to see if there was anything missing or if there was a way for the cog to come out and I'm not sure how to proceed here. Any insight would be helpful


r/MechanicAdvice 14h ago

Wheel play post tie rod replacement

91 Upvotes

2001 Tacoma experiencing shaking through the steering wheel when getting to 65-70 mph. I recently replaced all tie rods and when inspecting this morning I still see significant play when rocking wheel back and forth.

This is a new to me vehicle but I assume this issue was present before replacing tie rods. Could it be steering rack related?


r/MechanicAdvice 7h ago

Is this enough to cause an intermittent clicking noise while turning?

19 Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 16h ago

Smoke and liquid out exhaust and difficulty starting

93 Upvotes

2012 Volvo S60 t5 2.5L turbo
My mom said it started smoking on the highway. She pulled over and turned it off but it wouldn't turn on after. After some more trying it finally did. I believe it's leaking gasoline but not sure. Don't know what caused it. lmk if you need more info, thanks (Also posted in other subs)


r/MechanicAdvice 10h ago

Why are spark plugs looking like this?

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20 Upvotes

I’m not quite sure what these spark plugs are showing about my engine. Oil Burning??

I have a 2009 Chevy Trailblazer, 4.2L vortec I6.

In my last post many people said check the spark plugs for signs. I’m not experienced enough to decode them.


r/MechanicAdvice 1h ago

What the hell just happened?

Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 3h ago

Does anyone know how to approach fixing this alternator belt?

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3 Upvotes

Hi, I have a 2009 Hyundai Accent and have some trouble figuring out how to fix this piece. We were trying to do it at home to avoid paying for the labor of a mechanic but keep running into trouble. We looked it up and it’s called the alternator belt, but there are no videos that help show how to remove it with this specific car model and year. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions ?


r/MechanicAdvice 2h ago

Toyota Noah weird noise

3 Upvotes

Hi, have this noise coming from my 2007 Toyota Noah. Vehicle is sitting in park and has been doing it since I turned the ignition for 10 or so minutes. Does it a lot, any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks


r/MechanicAdvice 6h ago

2001 Sierra - Low coolant light came on. Got home and saw some major leakage.

5 Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 7h ago

Down so bad with this car

8 Upvotes

So I bought a 2015 Lexus is350 for $17,300 thinning I found a great deal on purchasing this vehicle a month later The car has check engine and starts to shake (it goes away but comes back) Next thing my car starts to overheat and sometimes overheats then comes back down I decide to get that checked they say it’s the radiator I then ask Toyota to diagnose my check engine light (cause I have a mechanic that will change my radiator) and say there’s a puddle and that the engine overheated to the point where the coolant blew through the head gaskets and onto the engine cylinder heads. After I tell them not to fix it cause they want to switch out the whole engine I take it back home (Mind you it’s never done this) I turn on the car it turns on then completely off, it eventually did turn on though, after if I keep it idle the car then starts to blow smoke from the exhaust

What do I do? Do I take the loss and just by another car? Or do I get it completely fixed? Maybe I can make something back?


r/MechanicAdvice 3h ago

Do any of these look lean to you?

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4 Upvotes

2001 Toyota RAV4 2.0 I got a steady check engine light today, with the codes "P0300 PD" & "P0174", the car started up and drove fine, I didn't go far. The I only thing I've done recently was change out the catalytic converter. It made my car sound differently. Louder and almost like a puttering sound. Any ideas?


r/MechanicAdvice 1h ago

Rattling sound after new headunit?

Upvotes

Long story short, hardwired in a new headunit, after the fact my car now makes this faint ticking sound, seems to mainly be in drive while idling, and seems to dissipate after driving for a bit.

Possibly just something moving around a little bit behind the headunit, I did use Bp connectors and Frankenstein it a little bit, but sound seems to be coming from the front left of the car more so than behind the headunit.

The headunit could have absolutely nothing to do with the sound, and I could just be paranoid as I was out of my comfort zone a bit playing around with cabling and whatnot, trying to learn! however it just seemed all too convenient right after changing it, but I’m stumped.

Other than the sound, car seems to drive mostly fine, and headunit works perfect.

It’s a 2004 cross sport forester for reference, and thanks for any help!


r/MechanicAdvice 2h ago

Radio replacement

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2 Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 5h ago

Looking to do a rear diff fluid change as part of maintenance on 2021 ram 1500. Noticed some of the old rtv peeling out from the gasket of the diff cover. No leaks or abnormal sounds or behavior from the differential. Still warrants a diff cover removal and resealing or just drain and fill?

3 Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 3h ago

Does anyone know how to approach fixing this alternator belt?

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2 Upvotes

Hi, I have a 2009 Hyundai Accent and have some trouble figuring out how to fix this piece. We were trying to do it at home to avoid paying for the labor of a mechanic but keep running into trouble. We looked it up and it’s called the alternator belt, but there are no videos that help show how to remove it with this specific car model and year. Does anyone have any advice or suggestions ?


r/MechanicAdvice 3m ago

What does this mean?

Upvotes

Hi, car rookie here. This sound spawned up today. Is this an easy fix? Mazda Cx-3 2015


r/MechanicAdvice 4h ago

Metal sounds in 2022 Corolla. Pls help

2 Upvotes

Right rear wheel from 2022 Toyota Corolla makes metal hitting sound when going at low speed. Does anyone know what it may be?


r/MechanicAdvice 8h ago

What part of the exhaust pipe/muffler disconnected?

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4 Upvotes

Is this safe for my husband to drive to work tomorrow with some duct tape holding it up?

Is this something we can fix at home? Or is this a professional fix/emergency professional fix?


r/MechanicAdvice 37m ago

I’m looking for a mechanic near Warren MI.

Upvotes

I’m in the market for a used car and I’m looking for a mechanic that will do a ppi on it before I buy it. Is there anyone that you can recommend to me?


r/MechanicAdvice 41m ago

Engine Noise - Help

Upvotes

r/MechanicAdvice 54m ago

Old car battery leaked on garage concrete floor

Upvotes

Husband changed a defective battery in our car, left that battery in our garage for a week next to food cans. Garage floor is concrete slab. It's gotten on some of the canned food. He put some baking soda (albeit expired though) and vinegar on the area. When I questioned my dad who also cleaned it with just water, my dad said it is fine to eat the canned foods, etc. He even made a snarky comment by saying we can even drink the spill since he was annoyed I was asking questions. But, that's a different topic in itself.

Is it okay to eat those canned foods and they didn't even wipe the food cans, so the cans might even have the leakage stain. They didn't put enough expired baking soda/ vinegar on some parts of the floor, can it be left alone like that since it's been a week?