Car question

[plthijinx]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

And that, folks, is a really good mechanic/engineer.

lol, hardly. i hate not being able to do/complete a job. this one won. it beat me. what can i say? still irritates me though.

[ZenGum]

That's exactly what I mean. I also hate starting a job and not finishing it, I'm sure we all do. But I hate it more when I over-reach my abilities and break something and turn a maintenance need into an emergency fix. Recognising when you are at the limits of your abilities and the tools at your disposal is a prime skill. Well done.

[tw]

Originally Posted by plthijinx

i hate not being able to do/complete a job. this one won.

Not necessarily. It may have set a trap. What were consequences of, for example, a partially removed pipe? You would have to replace an entire exhaust manifold and catalytic converter that cannot be removed.

You may have outsmarted a car that had laid a trap.

However, just as fun is getting into that mess. And then discovering how to solve it. Either you outsmarted a car. Or you just missed out on having fun. Either way, you did not lose. Only and maybe did not win.

A simplest ‘shotgun’ solution is replacing an oxygen sensor. Soaking in WD-40 for at least 24 hours may be helpful.