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I finally saw a customer try to fix a check engine light with a piece of electrical tape
This guy came into the shop in Toledo last week, and he'd put a small square of black tape right over the light on his dash. He said his buddy told him it was 'just a sensor being dumb' and that covering it would reset the computer after a few drives. I had to explain that the light is a symptom, not the problem itself, and his scan showed a real P0420 code for the catalytic converter. What's the weirdest 'fix' you've ever had someone try before bringing their car in?
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sage6756mo ago
My uncle in Dayton swore by the "reset by disconnecting the battery" method for everything. He'd pull the cables for ten minutes to clear a check oil light, then drive another thousand miles. Sometimes the simplest "fix" is just ignoring the actual problem until it gets worse, right?
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sage6756mo ago
Wow, duct tape over a fuel leak once.
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anthony6096mo ago
It's like that with everything now... temporary fixes that just make the real issue blow up bigger later.
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foster.tessa5mo ago
Remember that battery trick only works for clearing the temporary memory, not fixing a thing. It might turn the light off for a bit, but the car's computer will run its tests again and find the same problem. Like with your uncle's oil light, disconnecting it doesn't add oil or fix a leaky sensor. The car just doesn't know it's low for a little while, which is actually more dangerous.
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