The Complexity of Modern Cars: A DIY Guide to Troubleshooting and Maintenance

When it comes to modern cars, troubleshooting and maintenance can be a daunting task for even the most experienced mechanics. One common issue that many car owners face is the "maintenance required" light on their dashboard. But what does this light mean, and how can you reset it? The answer lies in understanding the intricacies of modern car systems.

The Maintenance Required Light: A Simple Fix

The maintenance required light is a common feature found on most cars today. It's usually triggered by the car's onboard computer system when a scheduled maintenance task is due. This could be anything from oil changes to tire rotations. The light will remain on until you reset it, but how do you do that? According to Tom Baldwin, a seasoned mechanic with years of experience, the solution is surprisingly simple. "You push a few buttons on your dash, turn the key off and on, and voilà! The light goes away," he explains.

However, this fix assumes that there's nothing wrong with the car in the first place. In reality, many modern cars rely on complex systems to operate efficiently. But what if you're not sure what's causing the maintenance required light? According to Scotty, a long-time radio host and mechanic, the key is to stay calm and not jump to conclusions. "It's just a scam to get you to take your car to the dealer for an unnecessary oil change or other repairs," he says with a wink.

The Art of Spray Painting: A Matter of Skill

When it comes to customizing or repairing your car, one popular option is spray painting. However, this process requires skill and patience, as well as a bit of creativity. "I've seen some amazing airbrush artists at work," says Tom Baldwin, "but I'm no artist myself." According to Scotty, if you want to try spray painting yourself, you'll need to invest in an airbrush kit. These kits are available online and can be had for as little as $49.

Airbrush kits allow you to mix your own paint colors and control the application process with precision. However, this level of control requires practice and patience. "I've seen people try to use a spray can, but it's just not the same," says Scotty. The key to successful airbrushing is understanding the principles of color mixing and atmospheric conditions.

Scanning Cars: A Tool for Mechanics

For mechanics who work on cars occasionally, a good scanner can be a valuable tool. According to Tom Baldwin, one popular option is the Blue Driver scanner, which works with your cell phone and offers a range of features at an affordable price point (usually around $99). This scanner provides access to diagnostic information, allowing you to diagnose issues and perform repairs.

However, if you're serious about car repair, Scotty recommends investing in a more comprehensive scanner like the Autel Autolab. These scanners offer advanced features and capabilities that can help you diagnose even the most complex issues. "It's worth the investment, especially if you plan on doing regular maintenance work," says Scotty.

Conclusion

Modern cars are complex machines that require a certain level of expertise to maintain and repair. However, with the right tools and knowledge, DIY car owners can tackle common issues like the maintenance required light. By understanding the basics of airbrushing, scanning, and troubleshooting, you'll be well on your way to becoming a skilled mechanic in no time.

As for Scotty's advice on hiding mirrors as we age? Well, he sums it up succinctly: "Stay the heck away from mirrors that's my advice to people as you age." And Tom Baldwin's take on spray paint? "If you want to be serious about painting your car, get an airbrush kit. But for touch-ups and small projects, a spray can will do the trick."

So there you have it – a comprehensive guide to troubleshooting and maintenance in modern cars. With the right tools and knowledge, you'll be back on the road in no time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enrev up your engines Honda's recalling a whole bunch of their vehicles over defective engine parts now this is a big deal the engines could blow up right now they've recalled over 250,000 Hondas that is a lot check for recall and they'll give you a website and you just type your VIN number in the website and it'll tell you if it's recalled or not this is a big recall because they saying that these engines could have been equipped with faulty rod bearings the wrong one well you got your piston you got your piston Rod then there's a bearing connects to the crankshaft that spins around right and if those bearings go bad boom your engine blows up like I said you can look it up by VIN number and it includes 2015 to 2020 Acura TLX 2016 to 2020 Acura MDX 2016 to 2018 Honda Pilot 2017 and 2019 Honda ridgel line and 2018 to 2019 Honda Odyssey Vehicles Honda attributes the defect to an error during the manufacturing process of the bearings says it will instruct the dealers to inspect and repair replace the engines as necessary free of charge here's the thing I know the BS they do with dealerships right the rod berings are inside the engine in order to access them you would have to take the engine apart they'll probably just oh it doesn't sound bad we're not going to fix this right total bunch of nonsense you can't check it without taking the bottom of the Eng off the oil pan taking it apart taking the rod bearings off measuring them see if they're within spec see if they're the wrong ones right and what's there oh we will inspect them and fix them free of charge if needed you know they're always going to say it isn't needed that is a super expensive job and if they got to replace the engine you would have a good leg to stand on say your engine already blew up right well your engine blew up so hey they're going to have to fix that and replace it they can't Weedle their way out if it's one of these 100 thousands that they have recalled right Honda quality isn't what it used to be they never used to have problems with their engines blowing up they can't even make rod bearings correctly and I always hate these recall fixes Oh They'll inspect it they're not inspected they're not going to take the engines apart and measure the clearance the rod bearings No way they'll probably just listen oh it's not making any noise and the problem with the rod bearings are they can work perfectly fine until they finally go out and then boom the engine blows up you can get very little notice if one lets loose it might not do anything until let loose as the engine goes and the only way you could tell that it's warn by taking the engine apart measuring it and you know they're not going to do that I'm surpris they didn't say we'll try to fix it with a software update at least they didn't go that far well it looks like Tesla has a worldwide problem with their suspension systems that they've been hiding one Tesla owner got a $14,000 bill for a Tesla that he had just bought a model Y and this problem occurred one day after he bought it now Tesla has had tens of thousands of complaints over steering into suspension problems Mr Jane who was a former Tesla owner once he got a fixed he sold it he got a 14,000 repair bill from an issue we encountered less than 24 hours after taking his brand new model y home now you can imagine you buy a car and it breaks that fast you'd think they would have fixed on their warranty but they wouldn't they always try to deny claims and of course there's a class action lawsuit that's coming up for sure listen to this while Tesla publicly denied some of the issues the automaker was more aware of the issues than it had indicated publicly here's what Elon mus said about it when you go faster you discover these things if we knew that in advance we'd fix them in advance but he's not fixing them for free he's making the people pay for it the guy doesn't know about making cars He rushed them into production poor quality control you imagine buying a car and then the next day you got a $144,000 bill for the stupid thing and they refuse to fix it for free under warranty and then when they do break and serious suspension stuff oh they tell it's your fault you we're not going to pay for it you damage the car blah blah blah right see the problem is if you got a car and let's say suspension piece breaks right it breaks you're going to hit stuff right so they'll just say what came first the chicken or the egg and they just say well you idiot you ran into the curb that broke the car but it could very easily have been the car broke then it hit the curb right you can't prove what happened first one way or the other at least this guy wised up he got it fixed and then he sold the car he lost 10 grand he had to sell for 10 grand less than what he paid for it but at least he wise D got rid of the stupid thing Phoenix S7 say Scotty I own a 2023 Buick Enclave what do you think I should to make it last as long as possible what's the weakest point of the car well the weakest is the automatic transmission so don't be Johnny burn out and de burn it out slaming on the brake slam it on the gas just drive it normal maintain it I would change the fluid and filter every 30,000 mil on that thing I change the engine oil every 5,000 mil with full synthetic oil and everything else I do normal I change the coolant like every 3 4 years or every you know 70,000 miles and basically take care of the car it's 2023 should last you know but don't do burnouts and drive it hard because the tranes are weak Zack Barry says Scotty I'm 16y old I've been driving a while looking at buying a 350Z what are your thoughts what do you mean by driving a while you're only 16 been driving a while you 40 50 years right okay 350 Z's if they're taken care of they are excellent vehicles but you're 16 years old those cars are probably way too fast for you those are screaming race cars I'll give you a 350Z story I had a friend in Houston and he was 30 and a girlfriend who was 18 so he bought her one of those used right I said why are you buying her to the car she's going to wrap it around the tree well I mean did I call that one about a month later she wrapped it around a tree and she left him for a guy with a Porche so in your case you don't have to worry about that you're getting it for yourself but it's an awful dangerous fast car for a 16-year-old to be driving around anty Nester time five I've got a 2012 Cora has a maintenance required for a while what could the problem be it doesn't have any problems at all the way it's set up is the way they build the stupid cars is every 15,000 miles your maintenance light comes on it is programmed to do that all you got to do is watch some of my videos or just Google turning maintenance required light off on Toyota Corolla and you'll see there's just buttons you push on the dash to do the tripo diameter you push it a certain way then you turn the key off turn the key on and you'll see lights go flash on off on off on then it'll go off and then it's reset and then 15,000 mil it'll come on again so there's nothing wrong with your car that's just a maintenance reminder that they want to rip you off and have you go to the dealer and charge you $600 to change the oil or something so no there's probably nothing wrong at all just as long as you change your oil filter regularly turn it off whenever it comes on it just comes on every so many miles just another scam they pulled to try to get you to go to the dealer Tom Baldwin said Scotty tell us how you really feel okay well you know this rest is a little bit sore and I got a kink in my back you know I got a few warts here and there my teeth aren't falling out though so that's you know positive I broke my toe the other day slamming it into something but you try to forget all these things that you age and just forge on in a fantasy world where you still think that you're 18 years old just stay the heck away from mirrors that's my advice to people as you age hide the mirrors or throw them away as she says Scotty are you a fan of spray paint in general well I don't sniff it you know it depends on what you want to use it for right try spray painting a car man that's a hard thing to do CU it was done by machines and they knew how many thousands of an inch thick to make the paint and there's various layers of paint so you think you're just going to get a can of paint That's match the color of your car and spray it on Good Luck how you going to match that it's almost impossible to do if you are good with painting and you really want to paint up stuff on your car forget a spray can what you want to do is get one of those airbrush kits right and they don't cost much I got an airbrush kit I think it was 49 bucks on Amazon it's its own setup you plug it into 120 and you just buy the paint then and you can if you're good with an airbrush I've seen some airbrush guys who were phenomenal right and they all paint designs on cars but you can use it to touch up cars and those work quite well if you're good at using an airbrush right I'm no true artist well the only thing I ever fix is the bottom panels CU you can't see them there so as long as you're spray them pretty good they look okay because you're standing up and that's on the bottom of the car right I would never attempt to paint a hood or something it would never look right but there are people there that have the skills that can do it but very rarely can it be done with a spray can you really need to get into at least an airbrush setup where you can perfectly control it and mix it just right depending on the atmosphere outside see spray can is a spray can it's set what's in there is in there if you get a touchup kit then you can do a little test and you can see what's the humidity today it'll tell you how much paint thinner to mix with the paint so it will dry perfectly for that conditions of that day that's how they paint cars right they don't have a generic can that works the same it doesn't it might work at one temperature and one humidity but not another where if you get a spray kit you can do it yourself whole kit where you can actually mix it put in the container put a little thinner a little of the paint and it does a much better job the Carolina boss says what's a good scanner every now and then for a mechanic who works on cars once in a while all right you just going to work on cars once in a while you might try that blue driver the Canadian guys it works with your cell phone and you can get it for as little as 99 bucks when they're on sale and it does quite a bit of stuff it's got quite a bit of information it for 99 bucks it's probably the best one out there for 99 bucks you know if you want to be serious you get an all for 500 does a lot of stuff right but 500 bucks is 500 bucks for 100 bucks that does an awful lot the blue driver and you can have some fun with it learn a few things you might not know so if you never want to miss another one of my new car repair videos remember to ring that Bell oh\n"