Whenever the Check Engine or service light comes on in your car and it seems to still be running fine it is probably an emissions related issue, like the previously mentioned loose gas cap.
Check the oil and whatever else you are knowledgeable about and don’t panic. Also look at your mileage. Did it just turn over to 10k, 20k, or other even numbered mileage? Could be a factory set number for some maintenance. I spent a weekend in LA one Christmas over that stupid light when I was young. The pre-mechanic guy coming down a long line of cars waiting to get into the service dept to find out what the issues were, took one look at my speedometer and told me to go home to Oregon.
The EGR valve needed to be cleaned sometime in the next 10 or 20 thousand miles.
“If it’s already broken, don’t be afraid of breaking it.”
I’m pretty sure I destroyed a $1300 computer by doing this. My advice for computers, if it appears to be a power problem and it’s plugged in, call a pro.
With very little effort or self-education, anyone can change the innards of a toilet. Depending on your physical state, you can also easily replace the faucets in your sinks. Consider that the cost of bringing a plumber into your house to do toilet or faucet changes is going to be $200 minimum; then consider that the cost of new flush parts is about $20.
You can usually easily replace the ice maker in your freezer, which generally involves loosening two screws and unplugging the electrical octopus.
Replacing electrical outlets or switches involves a bit more care than the stuff above, but it isn’t rocket surgery. A cheap voltmeter to make sure you’ve shut off the right breaker, and a screwdriver, and you’ve saved another $200 for an electrician to do it for you.
You can avoid garbage disposal issues by not putting things like bones in it. They’re not made for that or for large pieces of meat, etc. In fact, I heartily recommend not using them at all, if you can avoid it.
I’d rather spend the money than 1) learn how to do it. and 2) risk doing it wrong with disastrous results. I installed a new light fixture once and did some kind of damage (shouldn’t be used with a dimmer switch or something) and ended up needed a pro anyway. Some people are handy with such things, and some of us just are not.
Not necessarily. The last time I replaced the innards of a toilet, it was a bitch getting the whatchamacallit unscrewed so I could take the old innards out.
Go to youtube and see if videos exist telling you how to do the task at hand. If it’s a common fix, you will probably find several.
It’s how I found how to re-caulk our bathtubs very professionally and how to treat the grout between kitchen counter tiles so that it looks like new. I can also find computer how-to advice for Word or Outlook if I’m stuck.
My husband performed a complex repair on a Bosch dishwasher just by finding a video showing him how to do so step-by-step.
Well, one thing that someone trying this MUST know is that the threads on the flush handle are left-handed. If you try too hard to loosen it in the conventional direction, you can crack the tank. And then you’re fucked. How-to videos abound on all of these things. Some people are just not willing to try it, but for those who are, it’s not too difficult. And some folks are just inept at mechanical chores, which I understand completely.
I wish parents would spend more time teaching their children life skills like these, along with other skills. When I fixed the toilet at my son’s house a few years ago, I asked my granddaughter, who was about eight at the time, if she wanted to come and watch me. She was so excited about it, and really curious as to what was inside that tank.
Barring an actual frayed wire I’m guessing you had a bad connection on one end of the cable or the other. Kinks do not cause problems in ethernet cables. You can tie them in knots and they’ll still work.
Don’t even need a voltmeter, the hardware store sells a pen-looking unit that, when you put it next to a wire & press a button, will light up if the wire’s hot. About $8. Saved me a tingle when I cut some wires that used to go out to the old barn!
First time I had to do it, I was enroute to a temporary duty station in the winter, so my car was packed full and there was snow. I pulled out my owner’s manual, unpacked the trunk to get to the spare and the tools, followed the steps, put everything back together, and got back on the road.
As an aside, the circumstances were suspicious. This was somewhere in Alabama and my car had Maryland tags. I decided to drive thru a car wash to clean the road spray mess off, and when my car came out, the “kindly” owner pointed out that my tire was going flat, but his buddy in the garage next door could take care of me. Yeah.
I pulled into an empty parking lot across the street and changed it. When I go to my destination, surprise surprise, I had a puncture. Maybe it was a coincidence…
A squirt bottle with soapy water is the best tool for finding leaks of any pressurized gas, whether a punctured tire or a leaky gas line on your stove. As few squirts and then look for soap bubbles forming. And if checking a tire be sure to check the valve itself as well as the bead (where the tire meets the rim).
You can learn to do a basic tire plug. It is easy and can be done roadside so long as tire is low but not completely flat…
Spray soapy water on tire to find the nail/screw causing leak. Reposition car to expose other part of tire if no leak initially found. If leak is at valve stem or tire bead you will need to go to a tire shop.
Insert plug into applicator tool. Apply tire cement to plug if your kit has it.
Remove nail/screw with pliers. You will probably hear air start to rush out more quickly now.
Insert rasping tool into puncture hole. Vigorously push and pull rasp in hole to smooth out edges of puncture.
Remove rasping tool and quickly insert plug applicator tool with plug until plug is half to two thirds of the way in the hole. You will still see ends of the plug poking out.
Quickly pull applicator tool out. This will leave the plug in the hole.
Use a razor blade or pen knife to cut off excess plug that is poking out.
Spray soapy water to be sure plug is secure and tire is not leaking.
Success!
You have to plan ahead and have plugs and the rasping tool with you. I bought such supplies after a hurricane tore through my island. There was construction debris blown all over and many, many nails and screws littered the road. I probably plugged at least two tires each week over the first two months post-storm. A few of those were my car, but more were friends or even strangers. One of those little cigarette-lighter powered air compressors can refill the tire in a few minutes and off you go.
I was quite proud of myself a few years ago when my computer powered down and refused to turn back on (no lights, no sounds, just nothing).
I tried the usual first steps (hit it with a hammer. If that doesn’t work, use a bigger hammer).
Then I poked around inside and inspected everything- no signs that the magic smoke had been released from any of the components.
Now, I could have immediately bought a new computer, spent a few days getting all my programs onto it and pulling the disk from the broke system and pulling my most recent data onto the new computer. Or I could do a rebuild, buying a new mother board and HD, reinstalling the operating systems and transferring everything from the old HD. Or I could try systematically replacing components and connectors in hope of finding the problem component.
But I had a suspicion about the power supply. The fan had been pretty loud and the supply was pretty old and uncared for (sometimes it reminded me of jet taking off). I went online and I could get the exact power supply on eBay for about $30.00 (it was an old computer). Not a certainty, but the risk was worth the cost and I wouldn’t have to do any adaptation to fit it into the case.
I ordered the power supply, a week later I popped the power supply in, and it booted right up. Used the system for another couple years.
As far as rules of thumb I try to follow:
Don’t panic, it will just end up costing more
Try the simplest, easiest fixes first
Don’t assume you didn’t do something to screw it up
Don’t take it apart if you don’t know how to put it back together
A solution of dollars, applied to the correct area and used vigorously, will cure just about anything
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then give up. Don’t be a damn fool about it (W.C. Fields)
Those, IMHO, are dangerous. Personally, I usually tell people that it’s fine to confirm that there is power, but I would never touch a wire that a non-contact voltage detector said wasn’t live. Just get a neon tester. They’re dirt cheap and much more reliable. I think I have three or four of these laying around. Simply because they’re cheap enough that if I’m doing something electrical and don’t have one on me, I’ll buy one while I’m at the store getting whatever I’m fixing (ie outlet, light socket etc).
But, IME, those non-contact testers will give both false positives and false negatives and they’re useless if there’s more than one circuit in the area that you’re working with (ie a box with a switch that you want to replace, but also another pair of wires running straight through it going elsewhere in the house).
About the only time I use them is when, for example, an outlet appears not to be working. I can use that as a preliminary check to see if it senses power around the outlet. And even then, it’s usually just because I saw it first and didn’t go looking for a regular voltage tester or DMM.
Actually, one place it does come in handy is that it can sometimes sense voltage through drywall. That’s often helpful to get a general idea of which way wires run after leaving the box (ie, do I need to go into the basement, the attic, over to a switch…)
A common problem - most standard wheeljacks only come with a fairly short bar for leverage. If you can find a longer bar to fit over it (e.g. a scaffold pole), that can provide enough leverage to loosen an overtight wheelnut.
I’ve had some success in the past with simply taking the apparently broken appliance apart - sometimes just cleaning out dust and grime and making sure any metal contacts are shiny can get things working again. Most recently I did this with our electric bathroom scales - found a tiny wire had broken free from its contact. I don’t even have (or know how to use) a soldering iron, but with a bit of blu-tack I was able to secure the wire enough to keep contact, so no need for new scales yet. I was less fortunate with a handheld kitchen mixer - it worked when I put it back together, but under load it just broke again, the sprockets driving the mixers were just too worn. I could have replaced them, but it turns out the cost of the part, including postage, was about 50% of the cost of a whole new unit, so not worth it in this instance. You win some, you lose some.
I had that problem with an old beater. I positioned the tire iron where I could kick it with my heel to start it—more power in the legs, of course. It worked lke a charm.
