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'16 Sentra sedan w/1.8 + CVT. Car recently hit a deer in the front-left and was repaired, but some of the wiring and plugs in that region are visibly worse for wear. Complaint: blows fuse #28 in the fuse block right next to the battery, 10A that according to the wiring diagram goes directly...

I have two customers with 4th gen Honda Odysseys. Both vans live a typical life of lots of around-town, sub-15 mile trips. No other complaints about the vans except the danged alternators - one failed at 99K, the other at 114. The Honda dealer is an hour drive away, and the OG alternators are...

2016 Hyundai Tucson 1.6 T-GDI and 7-speed DCT trans., 76,000 miles. I recently tore down this engine to fix a burned valve, which I learned these engines are known to do at varying not-high mileage after diagnosing a misfire which revealed 0 compression on #4 cylinder. I have no idea how...

My customer pool and willingness to work on older, even classic vehicles means it takes me a while to get much hands-on time with cars of about 10 years of age or newer. Even though I specialize in 70s/80s Mercedes and currently have an air cooled Beetle, FJ40, and BMW E28 at the shop I shy...

Professional solo mechanic of 8 years here. I've worked on very few Volvos in my time, but one that I have quite a bit of history with is a 1st gen XC90 T5, owned by the same family since 2017, now has over 220K on it. While it hasn't been driven off any cliffs or through any lakes, they've...

Had to break the news to a long-time customer of mine that the block on their 2010 SX4 (2.0L, 192K mi.) is cracked. I find mention online of a substantially extended warranty for the 2.4L version of this motor used in the Grand Vitara, etc. If there any such coverage for the 2.0 in the US?

I've been a small town, solo mechanic since 2016. Work on a little bit of everything, lots of semi-new and some old. The other day a repeat customer dropped off their 2017 Buick Encore because the wipers (that had only worked on high for several months) quit altogether. Looked up the wiring...

Looking for recommendations where to send a sample from my first batch of black diesel to get some data on how well my setup is filtering, and the lubricity (HFRR) of my initial blend. Suggestions?

Second run of a 10w30 in this engine, continuing to debunk the fear of 30 weights and thin 40 weights in these engines. Other columns (L to R) are Schaeffer's 5/40, M1 euro 0/40, Schaeffer's 5/40 in my other 617, and T5 10/30.

Since Walmart has had bay boxes of this oil out on the retail shelves lately, I tried it in my OM617. The right column was T5 10w30, under slightly harder usage because I was driving the car more on that OCI vs. my wife on this one. :p While some points look better, concerning a normal OCI it...

Just replaced the intermediate intake (between the "lid" and the aluminum lower intake) to address a lean code on both banks. Upon test-driving, the "check transmission" and "check advancetrac" messages flash on the dash and it throws U1043 after 2-3 mi. driving, repeatedly - still runs and...

Looking through the owner's manual for my '78 Mercedes 300D, with a 4-speed manual trans. the recommended oil is a 10 or 20W engine oil. Later manuals (early 80's) call for ATF. Having already drained the fluid of the Dex/Merc ATF I put in when I got the car, I found some Supertech SAE30 rated...

First UOA I've done on this engine, but I was surprised. Runs excellent, has normal oil pressure, uses less than a quart between 5K intervals - mostly steady highway driving. Not original to the car, but if the seller was correct it has a bit over 450K on it at this point. Comments? Is it...

A friend bought a '16 Silverado 1500 a year ago - 5.3/auto, double cab, 4x4 - and has been pulling a 33' camper with it extensively since then. (To the tune of about 10K a year, total mileage is more like 25K a year. Camper and cargo total about 7,500 lbs.) He's generally happy with the truck...

I have several '80's Mercedes with the OM617 IDI diesel, and also run a shop so I have a steady supply of used motor/transmission oil. I don't want to compromise the cars' injection systems but it would pay for itself to invest in equipment to filter and clean the waste oil if it can be run...

The first UOA I've done on an OM617 or this oil - very pleased! Also reaffirms my hunch that 40 weights aren't a necessity in these engines like a lot of the owners preach. This OCI had a pretty varied operation schedule - lots of short trips, 1000+ miles of 70-80 MPH highway running, and a few...

My wife and I both drive Mercedes W123's with the OM617 turbodiesel. This is a 3.0L IDI 5-cylinder mill breathing through a Garrett T3 turbo that holds 2 gallons of oil and has an air>oil cooler. On all the enthusiast forums they preach nothing but 40 weight - but there are also a lot of people...

2002 Ford F150, 4.2L/auto 2WD. Approx. 213K miles. Background: did intake gaskets on this truck about 2 years ago and has run well since. The downstream O2 sensors were hacked off during an engine swap before it came under my care but that hasn't affected its operation since, that I could tell...

I may have gotten myself in a pickle, but maybe somebody can help me out. I'm putting a transmission in a '98 Chevy K1500. While waiting for the customer to come up with the money for a reman unit, I heard about a well-regarded transmission rebuilder that had passed away and his stock of...

3800 V6, only DTC is P0172, bank 1 rich. Also a complaint of hard shifting. The "code helps" on my OBD-2 app show mostly MAF sensor fixes for this code, but the MAP value at idle is 8.6-9.2" vacuum when actual reading on a gauge is about 20" via a gauge. Removing the MAP sensor, plugging the...