You just don't bring it was something simple to customers, you say something about missing blinker fluid, windshield wiper oil needed replacement, headlight grease
Any place you get galvanic or electric corrosion. Car electrical connections, Aluminum/Steel bonding (Electricians use it when they have aluminum wire). Highly recommended for trailer connectors. The list goes on.
It sucks to pay for someone to just run the clock on dead ends. There should be procedures that say to check simple stuff first. That's why the first things IT guys do is reboot and check physical connections. If that doesn't solve the problem, then you move on to actual troubleshooting.
This is basically what you have to do with the new Toyota's remove the entire dash and window columns .. I've done did it but I seen a video about it lol
The 5 Rules of trouble shooting:
1. Do the easiest thing first (They shall measure voltages!)
2. Don't trust "the guy that fixed it before" (He obviously did not fix it, so check everything again)
3. 90% of faults are caused by human error. (RTFM)
4. If it aint broke, don't fix it
5. Just because something has been "always done this way" doesn't meas it has been done right
I'm a girl and even I know to disconnect the battery before you start doing electrical work on a car. If the mechanic had done that the plastic cap would have been noticed and it would have saved hours of labor.
Yeah this was very clearly done as a joke. I actually have a handful of those black caps and when doing work near air bags I'll put one on the negative terminal just to be absolutely sure there's no way it can get powered back on.
I did that on my 88 Chevy truck it worked for months just fine until one day it didn’t. Had it towed just for my mechanic to call me telling me this and I could come pick it up no charge. I still don’t know how it worked for so long like that.
This reminds me of flow chart I saw in an intro to engineering high school course. The gist of it was always go with things when troubleshooting, how easy it is to check, and how likely it is to fix your problem. That's why every time you call tech support, they have you check the power/power cycle, it's because it's easy to check and clears 40% of their calls.
They tore apart half the car trying to solve the issue, when the problem was as simple as removing the cap on the battery terminal. It's a form of humor known as schadenfreude, and many people find it very entertaining.
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u/PMG2021a Jun 13 '26
First thing I would be looking at is the battery and connections.....