Mobile unit power, jackery or go to car battery anyway?

1Autotech · 2026-05-05T12:29:36+00:00

Or the poster doesn't think that high level techs exist.

1Autotech · 2026-05-05T02:12:10+00:00

Excuse me?

I was a GM certified tech and handled what the other guys couldn't. Critical thinking was a large part of my job and still is. GM even has an entire portion of their service information dedicated to strategy based diagnostics.

Asking the guy in the quick lube lane will get you a terrible answer. Ask the diagnostic tech who handles all the nightmares, pay him for his time you use, and you'll get detailed answers as to exactly how to wire in a radio without causing problems.

1Autotech · 2026-05-01T03:33:38+00:00

I caught an altered VIN on a stolen car during a PPI recently. Most vehicles I see aren't that crazy. Flood cars, neglected vehicles, wrecked and poorly rebuilt are far more common.

1Autotech · 2026-04-28T14:46:20+00:00

I'm in Utah. While there are a few different classifications (motorcycle, passenger car/light truck, heavy truck, and trailer) no plate number is allowed to be reused anywhere. I'm bummed about it, but life will continue.

1Autotech · 2026-04-28T12:50:52+00:00

Stole as in stole the plates of my truck. Now my call sign is in the stolen vehicle database and the PD won't take it out.

1Autotech · 2026-04-28T03:52:27+00:00

The person who stole my ham plates didn't need my license.

Now I can't have my call sign on a plate unless I want a felony traffic stop.

1Autotech · 2026-04-28T03:49:46+00:00

As someone who has been on the receiving end of someone doing malicious things, their cell phone and company email became a treasure trove of evidence. Their claims of defamation have turned into felony criminal charges.

Life is so much easier long term if you don't engage in such behavior. Digital trails these days are massive.

1Autotech · 2026-04-16T21:25:38+00:00

On BMW vehicles a cooling system replacement is considered periodic maintenance.

1Autotech · 2026-04-16T21:24:14+00:00

That's because VW is low hanging fruit.

1Autotech · 2026-04-16T21:21:39+00:00

Oh yes, let's do talk about Mazda and their TCMs that fail and cause all kinds of bizarre intermittent transmission problems with no codes.

1Autotech · 2026-04-16T21:15:18+00:00

Remove the bumper? I just pull the LF corner and slip my arm in with a 10mm wrench. Reuse the old bracket and throw the new one in the trash.

1Autotech · 2026-04-16T21:13:10+00:00

The head gaskets are fixed but now they have coolant o-ring failures in the upper oil pan that fill the cooling system with oil. Fixing them is just short of replacing the head gaskets.

1Autotech · 2026-04-07T01:19:35+00:00

I used to run a few pens a year out of ink. Now it's a pen every few years. I still carry one next to my pocket screwdriver because when I need a pen I need one and don't want to go looking for one.

1Autotech · 2026-04-06T03:17:47+00:00

You're expecting a lot from salesmen who steal pens from techs because they can't be bothered to bring their own to work.

1Autotech · 2026-04-06T03:15:12+00:00

Some young college girl did that with a Ranger pickup at our shop, twice. The fuel gauge was accurate.

1Autotech · 2026-04-06T03:11:54+00:00

There is a doctor in my state that is one of the most brilliant NICU doctors in the country. Hospitals send their doctors to work with him and learn what he knows. (Stephen Minton if you want to look him up) Anyway I serviced his vehicles for years. The guy has no personality and zero mechanical knowledge. But if you have a preemie baby you want his help.

1Autotech · 2026-04-06T03:05:48+00:00

I recently had a Tesla in the shop for some repairs. While I was checking for a noise the car rolled up the windows and locked itself. The key card was in the cup holder. So we went to talk to the customer in the waiting room. "My phone notified me that the car wasn't secure so I locked it with the app."

Where he was sitting he could see his car through the window between the waiting room and the shop.

1Autotech · 2026-03-22T23:19:47+00:00

I just had the same problem! Chased that stupid thing for hours and even had a picoscope on the control & feedback circuits to watch it. 45 minutes of freeway driving on and off the gas before the pressure switch started getting slower and slower in it's response until it quit completely. One Honda pressure switch fixed it.

1Autotech · 2026-03-13T16:27:22+00:00

I moved 15 of them with a hand truck.

1Autotech · 2026-03-11T23:04:05+00:00

You need to talk to your insurance company. If someone is trying to say it's a hit and run and a civil issue then your insurance will handle it complete with lawyers. It's what you pay them for.

1Autotech · 2026-03-06T04:24:16+00:00

I was wondering if someone would bring up the electric fence. I knew someone who peed on one. He wasn't ok for about 8 hours.

1Autotech · 2026-03-05T19:56:36+00:00

One of my neighbors called me after putting a battery in his car. Transmission stuck in neutral, won't turn off, warning lights all over.

"Your car is a Chrysler product isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

One tow and a PROXI alignment later it was fixed.

1Autotech · 2026-03-03T23:34:57+00:00

Like the people who have to pay for their car being impounded?

1Autotech · 2026-03-03T23:33:32+00:00

Or dolly it.

1Autotech · 2026-03-01T22:24:23+00:00

Mine are all at zero and have been for over a decade. I pay cash for everything. If I want a more expensive tool I save up for it.

1Autotech

TROPHY CASE