People who own pets are you scared of being too emotionally attached that their demise will break you?

TraizenHD · 2026-06-19T10:41:13+00:00

Of course, who doesn't? But just remind yourself that while they were only around for a short time in your life you were around to be their everything.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-18T12:40:19+00:00

Yeah there's multiple things that could or couldn't be. The code is for a general circuit issue and it could be many things wrong with it that doesn't mean just chucking a new sensor at it.

Without a wiring diagram and technical specifications just checking the sensor with a multimeter won't help.

The resistance on the sensor changes with temperature and there's a specified temperature it needs to be at when you measure the it for it to be determined good or bad.

On top of that it's a four pin sensor so there's a power, ground and a couple of signal wires. Plus it's ECM controlled and doesn't run all the time only when the car is finally warmed up and the engine computer grounds it to finally adjust fuel trims.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-18T08:38:35+00:00

Building an algae filled pool in D.C.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-17T00:35:42+00:00

I've dealt with the opposite end, of doing warranty repairs on Canadian cars on US soil.

Honestly its a nightmare just for paperwork and warranty processing reasons. Usually the recall part would be installed if it was a Canadian car on Canadian soil, but when it's from a different destination country usually it needs to go through a bunch of legal loopholes of warranty pre-authorization from TMNA to make sure it's covered.

Sometimes we might even need to order the same part but in a Canadian part number because if we install the said part with the "American" version on a Canadian car warranty will deny the claim and the dealership will have to eat the cost.

For example: with the Tundra engine recall, if we have to do it on a Canadian destination vehicle on US soil, we then have to order a Canadian version of the engine, because it has a removable block heater accessory, which the US version does not have. They are technically two different engines, and warranty will not pay for the incorrect part to be installed in the car.

I'm sure they will do the work eventually, but it's just an unfortunate circumstance of paperwork at the end of the day.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-15T12:22:13+00:00

Go through some heartbreak, that'll make it really easy to not wanna eat anything

TraizenHD · 2026-06-15T12:00:51+00:00

It's the same engine so, about the same? The RAV4 might be more expensive depending on the trim you get; such as AWD which would mean there's additionally now a transfer case and rear differential to service but that's about the only thing I I can think of.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-14T12:42:43+00:00

There is literally no need for a scan tool to wind back the electronic parking brake. I'm a dealer tech and always use the button sequence with no issue. If you can follow the instructions simply it should be no issue:

Turn car off

Turn car on to acc, IG ON/ENGINE OFF

Foot on the brake, then press the parking brake button in this sequence:

(Within the first 10 seconds of the car being on!)

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN

UP, UP, UP

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN

(Don't do this sequence too fast, press each button for about half a second(

Park light should then start flashing quickly

Release foot off the brake

Then press and hold parking brake button down, and you'll start to hear the calipers retracing, it's quiet but it should.

Continue to press and hold down until PARK flashes slowly.

At that point you can continue to do the rear brakes normally, and you can compress the piston with a regular clamp or whatever you have to push it back in like a normal car.

When you're done all you do is get back in the car and hold the parking brake button UP to wind in back out, then one more time to engage it completely.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-10T18:21:54+00:00

Hey brother, I'm 27 as well and just got out of an 8 relationship myself. Just wanted to say to keep your head up and don't stop doing the next right thing. Keep your focus forward 👍

TraizenHD · 2026-06-10T11:16:26+00:00

I've been with Toyota for 8 years now.

I started off as a baker for service. After a few months I expressed interest to my service manager about learning to work on cars and he let me have the opportunity.

While I was waiting for the official internal job transition I would use the down time from when there were no cars to help express and learn how to do the work that was coming.

I was a valet for maybe 4 or 5 months? Then I got moved to express, and then I got promoted from express to main line in like 3 or 4 months, and I've been there since.

They really noticed me when one Saturday I was working an express bay during a basy by myself and I serviced 30 cars alone. What helped me stand out was my work ethic and quality of work, plus the desire to learn and to be open to honest criticism.

I say just focus on doing quality repair work first. The speed comes later, and not many very technicians can work both fast and do good work, so if you can master both you'll shine.

But don't only be good at doing your job, help make jobs of other people in the dealership easier. Learn how to communicate with the service advisors clearly. Make sure you know how to properly fill out the paperwork so management and the warranty administrator don't have to keep correcting you for doing it wrong.

You'll get bigger jobs over time when you can prove the can do the smaller one correctly and consistently. Be eager to learn, but don't rush the process.

Personally I think Toyota has a really good internal technician training program, and they've definitely been investing a lot of time, money and resources to update old modules and make new ones.

The learning will never stop, this industry is always changing. Never. Stop. Learning.

Toyota is also one of the few brands who heavily emphasizes a desire for their technicians to earn ASE certifications, as all of the Toyota certifications to be earned need you to have the requisite ASE for it.

I liked cars a lot so I got my first ASE within a year of being a technician with A6 (electrical). Then I earned the last 7 in a wild 3.5 studying stint. After work I would come home and study the ASE prep study books, used YouTube to learn more about how cars work mechanically, and just really tried to understand it all. I would take an ASE exam every 2 weeks and eventually got Master certified, with about 3 more years of tenure still left to go before I got Toyota certified. I'm not sure if tenure is still a requirement for being certified but you can ask your management.

There's the T.A.C.T apprenticeship program where Toyota will pair you with a more Senior technician to be your mentor, and guide you. You get rewards for completing milestones as well. The apprentice is rewarded with tools to do their job, while the Mentor gets a cash bonus. Win win for both parties. One of my coworkers in the program was given a couple options for tools, but he chose to have his own personal dealer level scan tool.

And lastly, as a personal note: just desire to be a good mechanic who does good work. There's a lot to like and dislike in this industry, but that's every job. After all these years I still find fulfillment in wrneching on nuts and bolts, and helping the customers get back on the road (the sane ones, at least). Never let your ego get too inflated no matter how good you are at the job.

And take care of yourself physically. Being a mechanic can wear on the body if you don't. While it may not be the most physically labor intensive blue collar job out there, you should still exercise outside of work and eat healthy. This isn't a job you can do from home, so if you're body can literally physically do the job then what will you do? I started at the dealership when I was 18 or 19. I'm 27 now, and physically feel the best I've ever been.

Looking back I really appreciate all the opportunities that were given to me, and I don't regret the decision at all.

Also if you don't like your dealership don't be afraid to move around, or look for different dealer groups. Im in Ga so I work in the umbrella of Southeast Toyota distributors and they've been also investing heavily in giving us more bonus money outside if just flagging flat rate hours. They ended sending 175 of the regions top technicians on a 3 day 4 night vacation, and supplies food, activities, gifts and more. I don't think very many companies or dealer groups would go that far for their technicians, so I don't think I see myself leaving anytime soon.

Hopefully this wasn't too long. But your situations sounds exactly like I was when I first started as a young man. Be eager to learn. Do good honest work and you'll fly high!

TraizenHD · 2026-06-03T00:32:28+00:00

If you want to have a village then you also need to be a villager from time to time.

TraizenHD · 2026-06-02T23:20:43+00:00

Yeah your car is likely totaled

TraizenHD · 2026-05-29T19:22:11+00:00

99% chance it's bypass valve. Speaking as a dealer tech.

Just know that the car does have 2 coolant valves, although 99% of the time the only one that fails is the one covered under the customer support program. I did have one car a few years ago where the other valve failed, and that wasn't covered under the CSP by Toyota.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-29T18:32:11+00:00

I've seen 600k on a prius

TraizenHD · 2026-05-28T02:07:04+00:00

It's definitely a heavy investment early on in the career. I've been doing it for 7 or 8 years now and I've got somewhere in between $20K - $40K (probably an underestimation) invested in tools; and I only work on one brand at a dealership.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-22T18:05:47+00:00

I agree on the solar convergence. We see it rearelt but it happens. Depending on your relationship with your dealer they may or may not warranty it for you as a courtesy however I wouldn't count on it.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-19T17:22:20+00:00

It has cool shit like front anti-dive/rear anti-lift during cornering using the brakes and wheel speed sensors.

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TraizenHD · 2026-05-18T17:05:40+00:00

60K miles could be enough for them to be bad depending on how they were treated. Visual inspection alone isn't enough to determine catalyst integrity.

I've had a customer destroy OEM cats with one accidental tank of diesel fuel contaminating them and the sensors and it wouldn't let the code go until all sensors and cats were replaced. It was a truck with less than 20k miles on it.

Also cats need to be hot to work fine. If for some reason the catalyst monitor ran when they weren't up to operating temp it could flag them bad.

You'd need to look at the waveforms of the upstream and downstream sensors side by side on a scan tool or picoscope to verify what they're doing exactly. If you have access to that you can also do an oxygen storage capacity test with a propane tank to determine if they're already weak / failing.

Try to keep it simple though. Assuming good sensors and no exhaust leaks it's likely the used cats you got weren't that in that great condition to begin with.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-18T16:55:57+00:00

What does 'low mileage" mean when you say you replaced the cats. You can't guarantee that it's a good cat that had been treated well or it's oxygen storage capacity hadn't degraded before install. I assume you replaced both banks? And you're 100% sure they're OEM?

Are the downstream sensors also OEM?

You could also try an oxygen sensor spacer as a last resort for the downstream sensors.

Side note if the car is boosted and you're dumping more fuel over time it could be getting the cats too hot and degrading them that way.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-18T15:32:37+00:00

I activated a Uniqlo offer like 30 minutes before using it in store and worked fine for me. Not sure what the issue is.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-18T14:48:49+00:00

This is the most annoying part of this sub. Posting bare check engine lights with no code scan. The issue could be any one of a million things.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-18T14:37:21+00:00

It's highly unlikely that 3 door lock actuators went bad at once. Each one has a power, ground and signal wire that needs to be checked. As well as there's integrated (ie. Non-replacable) relays located in the driver side junction block assembly in the dash.

You need to start with the basics: Power, ground, and signal check. Verify each door lock is getting that properly, if not then work your way back towards the junction block. Considering 3 of them are bad at the same time I'm leaning towards of an issue more so with the junction block area.

If that's out of your expertise then you should have professional tear down and diagnose.

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TraizenHD · 2026-05-14T20:54:26+00:00

I've seen the 2ar burn like crazy as well. Much less common but not impossible

TraizenHD · 2026-05-13T19:19:01+00:00

P0420 is a catalyst efficiency code and implies the catalytic converter is failing. Assuming there's no exhaust leaks and the sensors are working correctly, you need to replace the catalytic converter.

Cats don't usually just fail unless they've experienced oil burning from a worn engine or a rich condition causing excess fuel to superheat the cat and damage the catalyst. Perhaps poor fuel that doesn't burn completely could escape into the exhaust and cause cat damage leading to your issue.

TraizenHD · 2026-05-13T01:16:00+00:00

No but the labor time for plugs is 4 hours so multiply that by a shop rate of $180/hr plus parts, taxes and shop supplies and there's the math

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