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The day a 2002 Civic taught me to always check the simple stuff first
Had a car come in last week with a rough idle and a check engine light, owner was convinced it needed a new throttle body. Spent about an hour running diagnostics before I just popped the air filter box open. Found a mouse nest the size of a softball clogging everything up, problem solved in five minutes. Anyone else have a story where the fix was way simpler than the customer thought?
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jade321mo ago
Gotta disagree a bit here. Sometimes the simple check is obvious, but a lot of times it really isn't. Like a rough idle could be a dozen things, from bad plugs to a vacuum leak. You can't just open the air box first on every car that comes in. The diagnostic steps exist for a reason, to rule out the complex stuff. That mouse nest was a lucky find, not the standard procedure.
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christopher_west11mo ago
Tell me about it. Spent a whole weekend chasing a weird electrical drain on my truck once. Turned out to be a glove box light that wouldn't turn off.
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pat_hall8726d ago
@christopher_west1 that glove box light got me too once in an old Subaru. Dead battery in the parking lot of a grocery store for no reason. Pulled the fuse for the interior lights and it was fine for a week before I found the little switch was stuck.
For rough idle, I still always check the air filter first. Takes 10 seconds. If it's clean, move on to the other stuff. Saves time and customers feel better watching you do the simple checks before digging deeper.
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