Back to the University of YouTube

Once again my youngest daughter came to me with a car problem she needed help with: replacing a headlight bulb. One nice thing about modern cars is how well they do keeping dirt and debris out of the engine compartment. The downside is that it is not very intuitive on how to do simple things like replacing a headlight. Before committing to the work, I looked on YouTube at the process of replacing a headlight on her Jeep Cherokee.

The first video I found had a very encouraging sign: the video came in at 3 minutes. That indicated it would be a fairly simple job. I watched all 3 minutes of the video and learned the very important trick to get to bulb. While I would have tried to go in through the hood, it is actually easier to unscrew 3 bolts and go in through the wheel well. The guy did it in 3 minutes on the video but did some editing to remove some of the boring parts. I estimated it would take me 10 minutes. I found time in my schedule and texted my daughter when she should come over so we could work on her car.

My daughter arrived with the new bulb and we did the work in my driveway. Fortunately we had a bit of a warm spell this week and I didn't need to bundle up. We worked together and quickly had the old bulb removed. As you should never let oil from your fingers get on a new headlight bulb, I ran inside quickly to get a single disposable glove so I could handle the new bulb safely. Then we reversed the process and had the new bulb in quickly. It would have gone 30 seconds faster if I had remembered that you turn to the right to tighten. Once I figured that out, the car went back together easily.

When I added up the time it took me to research the most efficient way to change the headlight bulb and the time to actually do the work, I figured I saved myself about an hour. Yes I could have gone in through the hood and figured out how to change the bulb thanks to my skinny hands. I probably would have lost a lot of skin and learned a dozen new expletives so I'm glad I took the time to do a bit of research.

Tackling Problems After Sleeping on Them

Tuesday afternoon I started working on my daughter's Jeep Cherokee to replace the thermostat. We meant to start in the evening but I had some time during the day and so we could begin the work earlier than expected. I'm glad we did as I broke a part and had to make a run to the dealership to get a new one. Had we started in the evening, the parts department would have been closed and we would have had to wait until morning to finish the work. It turns out we did anyways.

At around 9pm that evening we found ourselves still trying to remove a bolt from the thermostat housing buried under a mass of other engine parts. My daughter could feel the bolt with her fingers enough to guide the 10mm socket to the head of the bolt. We loosened it only to have the socket slide off the bolt. It eventually got to the point where we couldn't get it back on. It would have helped if I could feel the bolt but no matter what I tried, I could never get a hand close enough. We decided to call it a night and pick up the next morning.

I've always been told that we do our best work in the morning when our minds are fresh. That is why office productivity experts will tell you to avoid e-mail when you first arrive in the office and to tackle any problems you are working to overcome. It is great advice and it proved true while working on my daughter's car. Amazingly I shoved my hands down into the bowels of the engine and could feel the bolt head with not only one hand but both at the same time. We maneuvered the socket with its attachment of extenders and u-joints and managed to get the stubborn bolt out. It then only took an hour or two to replace the thermostat and get the car back together.

Lately I have been going to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual which allows me to wake up that much speedier in the morning. I am using that time to tackle problems and get the most important tasks of the day completed. While I don't recommend going to bed thinking about a problem because you won't sleep very well, working on it in the morning may be the solution you are looking for.

University of YouTube

The check-engine light on my daughter's Jeep Cherokee came on and so I had her use my OBD2 reader to pull the code from the computer. Sometimes the code is a $2000 problem and other times it is a $20 one. She checked the code and found it to be closer to $20 than $2000. The code she pulled is P0128 which indicates that the engine never gets up to the proper operating temperature. Generally this means the thermostat needs to be replaced.

There are a number of tests to verify the problem. If the car is overheating or running cold, that is a good indicator the thermostat is bad. In my daughter's case it is running cold, which means that the thermostat has failed in the open position, which is what it is engineered to do. The final test is to feel the hoses going to and from the engine. If they are both cold, then it is not a temperature sensor problem. My daughter ran through the diagnostic and we are sure the thermostat needs to be replaced.

Now we have two options. We can take the car to a trusted mechanic and pay $300 to have them replace the part or we can buy the part from the auto store and do the work ourselves. Like most of us, my daughter is not made of money and would prefer to save $250 and do the work ourselves. Thermostats generally run about $10 but the Jeep Cherokee requires one to replace the entire thermostat housing at a cost of around $50. It is $42 if you buy an aftermarket part or $63 if you buy the original part from the dealership. At such a low cost differential, I suggested my daughter use an original part.

This evening I spent some time going through YouTube videos on how to pull off the old part and replace the new one. Unfortunately Jeep did a very poor job of making the repair easy. You have to remove a number of different pieces and have useful socket-set attachments, all of which I have. After reviewing the videos, I know it will take a couple of hours but is not an overwhelmingly difficult job. The trick will be to remove as many parts as possible and being able to work hands into cramped spaces.

One nice thing about YouTube is there are a number of do-it-yourself auto mechanics willing to show you the steps for engine repair. They will also show you various tips and tricks to help make the job easier. If you review the videos and feel the job is beyond your skill set, then feel free to back away and leave it to qualified professionals.

A Case for YouTube Videos

Several days ago my truck informed me I needed to change the oil. I managed to get into the specialty service station on Christmas Eve as the establishment had no customers at the time. The last time I had the service performed, they had me stay in my car but this time they invited me into their 4-person waiting room. They had a television going with various YouTube videos playing.

My oil change only took a few minutes and I have to say that I enjoyed watching some of the YouTube videos while I waited. I didn't have the option of selecting which videos I wanted to see. Instead the television just showed some of the popular videos that only lasted a few minutes each. The first video showed some guys in Australia that have a large tower where they drop various objects. The series I watched extolled the virtues of some really strong tape. They made a landing platform out of the tape on a steel frame. The objects started out small like a ball made out of rubber bands. The tape held and so they moved up to larger objects. Next came a small anvil and once again the tape held. They progressed through a number of objects with the final item dropped being a giant 500 pound fist made of metal. The tape didn't break but it did lose its grip on the metal frame.

The interesting thing about the videos is that anyone could walk in for a service appointment and not require any background as to what is going on. When it is time to leave, you don't feel like you are going to miss something important. If you really want to see what happens as the objects get larger, you can just go home and pull it up on YouTube.

I came out of the oil change feeling entertained and like the service happened quickly. As someone that creates YouTube content I now have something to aspire to. Perhaps someday I will create a video interesting enough that strangers getting an oil change will enjoy watching it.

Merry Christmas - You've Got Jury Duty

Yesterday I got in my truck to head up to the ski resort and got the message that I needed to change my oil. Sure I could ignore the message for a bit but I am one of those people that likes to take care of such things as quickly as possible. Today after skiing, I gave the local oil-change service company a call to see if they are open on Christmas Eve and changing oil. They said they were and also that they didn't have any customers at the moment. I quickly drove the quarter mile to their shop and quickly got in.

It made me proud to get something done so fast and not have it hanging over me. When I got home, I checked the mail before going inside and saw that I have been summoned for jury duty. My pride disappeared into humility. This is one of those civic duties we all have as Americans and we should be happy to perform. Unfortunately we all feel it can be a giant time-sync and nobody really wants to do it. To make matters worse, I got the notice on Christmas Eve. Fortunately I don't have to report until February but I don't think it made for a good Christmas gift.

Diagnosing a Bad Diagnostic Tool

Yesterday I woke up early and drove the 15 miles to Alta ski area so I could do some early season skiing. We received about 25-inches of snow last week and then another foot or so on Monday evening. No the lifts are not yet running and so skiing requires hiking up the mountain. When you have the right equipment, it is a great form of exercise and fun. If you don't have the right equipment it is still a great form of exercise but not nearly as fun.

Last night I took a look at the statistics from my Suunto smartwatch and realized that it must have missed a few of my heartbeats during my hike up the mountain. The watch is generally very accurate but the readings I got yesterday are definitely low. When I go running up a hill with skis on, my average heart rate is around 120-130 beats per minute. The reading I got yesterday was a lowly 65. I know that is not right as there is always an informal competition with anyone else climbing the hill. You want to pass other people and never get passed. That means I could feel my heart beating quite noticeably by the time I got to the top of the hill. It was well past the 65 beats per minute.

On Monday I had a different experience but one that sort of relates. Follow me for a moment and you'll see what I mean. My wife's Jeep's check-engine light came on. I pulled out my trusty OBD-II computer and connected it to the car using the port under the steering wheel. I waited for the error code but only got an error reading the Jeep's computer. I tried several more times making sure to re-seat the connecting cable with the same results. Our son came over with his OBD-II reader but it also failed to read the error code from the car. Now what do I do?

Fortunately Jeep Wranglers have a way to read the diagnostic codes without having to use an OBD-II reader. You just need to turn the car on and off 3 times without starting the vehicle. Then the code appears in the odometer. It took me a few times as you have to go quickly and I was going too slow. The car spit out the code and it told me where to start looking for the problem. Basically the thermostat was bad. I had to do more to make sure that was the problem but then I replaced the thermostat for $25 and about an hour of my time. That $25 included the new thermostat and a gallon of engine coolant.

So what do these two stories have in common? Sometimes your diagnostic tool will give you erroneous information. If I had been relying on my smartwatch to give me my heart rate, I would be mistaken. Fortunately there is an easy check you can do yourself to get your real heart rate: look at your watch for 15 seconds, count heart beats, and multiply the result by 4. With the OBD-II computers, I got worried that the car had another fault with the connection. When 1 reader doesn't work, you can guess the reader is bad. When 2 don't, you start to get really worried. Fortunately I ordered a new OBD-II reader as my old one is over a decade old and needed to be replaced anyways. The new reader arrived yesterday afternoon and I was able to access the code and reset the Jeep's computer.

Diagnostic tools generally work fairly well. You just can't trust them blindly as you may be tracking down the wrong problem. Verify the results through other means if possible. Once I had a starting point on my wife's car, I could put my hand on the coolant hoses and verify that the thermostat was stuck in the open position before starting any work on the car.

YouTube to the Rescue

Three years ago when we bought my wife's Jeep Wrangler we saved a lot of money by getting it with just a soft top. Then earlier this year we decided to pay the $2000 and get a hard top as well. Now as we get closer to winter, I thought I would install all the wiring and plumbing for the hard top.

I ordered the kit from Mopar and it didn't come with printed instructions. It came with a CDROM. I pulled up the instructions a few weeks ago and printed them out so I didn't have to keep a computer near me as I worked on the Jeep. My hands always seem to get dirty when I work on cars and I don't want to get my computer dirty as well.

I started working on the wiring at 9:30 this morning and quickly ran into problems. So I pulled up YouTube and found a video of someone else installing the the hard top kit for his Wrangler. I watched the beginning of the video and found a quick solution to the first problem: use a pre-run wire to pull the wiring harness through the firewall. Going back to my printed instructions, no mention of a helper wire could be found but I did discover that your run the wiring from the inside of the car into the engine compartment. Had I read the instructions more carefully I would have figured out the trick with the wire. The video did help though.

Working on the car took all day. I did stop for lunch, dinner, and to make a run to Home Depot to pick up a T50 bit for my socket set and a siphon hose so I could empty the windshield wiper fluid. At dinner, I thought about calling it a day and finishing up next weekend. Then I realized that I just wanted to be done and so I pushed through. I finished up at around 8:30. Yes, the job took me 11 hours. Any time I got stuck, I would go back in the house, wash my hands, and continue watching the YouTube video.

Having an online resource to help get through the tough spots made my job a lot easier. Unfortunately it didn't solve all of my problems. Both the printed instructions and YouTube video were for a 4-door Jeep while my wife's is only a 2-door. While I had a few shortcuts I could take, there were a few times I stood there scratching my head wondering what to do next. The video also missed a few tricks that I would have liked to know. Ultimately I am glad I had the help.

Help Forums

Several weeks ago I went to start my car and had a dead battery. Fortunately I anticipated such a problem and carry a lithium-ion battery that can be used to start cars and charge mobile phones. I connected it to my car battery and the car started right up. Then I drove around for a half hour so I could start my car the next day. Sure enough, that worked and I forgot about my battery problems until the following week when it happened again.

I had replaced my car battery only 18 months ago and figured I had a defective battery. So I brought the battery to a sister store of where I originally purchased it. They did some tests but could not conclusively tell me the battery had died. To do that would take an hour. They listened to my symptoms and agreed that the battery must also be dead and so after only 15 minutes, gave me a new one under warranty. That made me happy.

The car worked great for a few days and then I left it over the weekend. When I got back in town, I went to start the car and once again the battery was dead. Oops! My other battery was probably fine and the car turned out to be the source of the problem. So how do you find a battery drain in your when it is off? The first thing to do is check the Internet.

I did an Internet search with the make and model of my car along with the two words: "Battery" and "drain." After about 10 minutes of reading I discovered that the final sending unit (FSU) on my car often goes bad and leaves the cabin fan running even when the car is turned off. I looked for a replacement part online and discovered that if I ordered it from a local autoparts store I could have it that day for $100. If I ordered from an OEM parts supplier, I could have it in 2 or 3 days and it only cost $50. Not being sure that the new part would fix the problem, I opted for the OEM part. For those that don't know, OEM means it is the same part supplied by the manufacturer instead of an aftermarket part. I always try to use OEM parts when possible unless the aftermarket part is much more reliable and preferred by professional car mechanics.

To combat my dead battery each morning, I just unplugged the negative terminal from the car battery each night and reset my clock when I went to use the car. Once the part arrived, the Internet provided step-by-step instructions on how to replace it and I spent a total of 5 minutes doing the work. It is now a week later and my car is working very well. I don't have the dead battery problem any more.

I wonder what I would have done without the Internet to help me crowdsource the solution to my problem. Several less mechanical people had taken their cars to the dealer only to spend upwards of $1000 and still not have the problem fixed.

Sometimes online help forums can backfire but I have used them with mostly good results. This weekend I was doing laundry and noticed that my washing machine was not spinning the clothes to remove all of the water before I tossed them into the dryer. I looked at several online appliance forums to discover that I may have had a sensor problem. They told me to get the diagnostic code from the washer. I went to do that and noticed that my son had simply turned off the spin cycle. Turning it back on solved the problem. I guess I didn't need the help forum for that case as I just needed to be a bit more observant.

True Customer Service

I flew back to Utah late last night and didn't get to bed until about 1:00 am. Then I woke up at 7:00 am this morning so I could take a car into the shop to have some warranty work completed. My daughter is the one that drives the car and tried to get it fixed last week only to be given the runaround. I went in today and expressed some displeasure at how they treated her. I got a free rental car and headed back home so I could do my morning exercise routine.

The dealership had a nice service where two guys noticed a crack in the windshield. While I filled out paperwork for the warranty service, they filled the crack and charged my insurance. When I arrived back home, I received a nice call from my insurance company asking for a few particulars related to the rock-chip repair. Halfway through the conversation I realized I was having an actual conversation with someone in the United States. Compare that with some call centers located in other countries. Sometimes I can barely understand the people on the other end because of thick accents. The lady from my insurance company told me about how her son had borrowed her car while his got fixed. This is something my daughter had been doing but my car didn't suffer as this lady's had. I had to admit that the conversation went well and I didn't feel inconvenienced by the call.

Last month I wrote about working from home and how call centers are a great industry where people should be allowed to work from home. I hope that my insurance company allows the lady from my call this morning to do so. I'm not going to complain if they don't as I am glad I got to talk to a live person with no foreign accent. Considering I started the day with only 6 hours of sleep, I'm not sure I would have had such a pleasant experience otherwise.

Preventative Maintenance

Today I took my car into the shop for some regularly scheduled maintenance. I have a 2001 BMW 540i with only 67,000 miles on it. It has so few miles on it because I never drive it in the snow and there is a lot of snow in Utah. I also try to take very good care of it and so as part of the maintenance I had the mechanic perform an inspection. There are two items he suggested I perform as preventative maintenance. Since it is for a BMW, the work won't be cheap and adds up to about $1000.

One important thing I want to point out is that I trust my mechanic. There are a number of mechanics I have gone to through the years and would not trust their recommendations. The difference between them and my current mechanic is that I have had the chance to see my mechanic's work over the past number of years. He also knows how much I take care of my car and knows that I want it to last for a long time.

Unfortunately my mechanic has been working out of his home garage for the past decade and just now put up a shop. There are no reviews to check and an online search would turn up very little information. In other words, a careful Internet search would keep a number of people from using him. So if you are looking for a trustworthy mechanic in the Salt Lake area, give Kevin a call and he will take care of you.

On Monday I will take my car back  and let Kevin work on it while I am in the Bay Area. There is probably a lot I can add about preventative maintenance with your computer equipment but let's be honest: Computers are cheap compared to cars and you can replace them for a lot less than your car. So if you have the choice of buying a new tablet computer or doing a lube/oil/filter on your car, spend the money on your car. It will save you a lot more money later down the road (no pun intended).

Christmas After Christmas

I once got in trouble for telling my wife I was going to purchase something for myself right before Christmas. It was a pair of snow boots and I didn't think anyone would be getting them for me as boots really should be tried on before they are bought. I was headed out the door when my wife stopped me and told me that is what she got me for Christmas that year. I felt bad and since then we have a rule in the family: you are not allowed to buy anything for yourself from November 1st until Christmas day.

Now that Christmas is over, I have spent the past couple of days online purchasing things that I needed but didn't get for Christmas. There are a number of auto parts that I need to fix up my daughter's Jeep. I also had to get a brake kit for my BMW as the rear brakes are really squeaky.

I didn't limit my shopping to just physical goods as I also picked up some hotel reservations. My wife and I got free seasons passes to Jackson Hole ski resort, which is only a 4 or 5 hour drive. Naturally they are only good if you use them and we try to take a ski trip or two each year above and beyond the daily skiing I do when I am in Utah. We have two trips planned for the year and found a place with $65/night room rates. Normally I would stay away from budget deals, but we have stayed there before and the place isn't too bad.

Finally there were a number of flight reservations that I needed to make. I fly twice a week whether I want to or not and so that takes a bit of coordination. Most of my flights are on Southwest as they generally have the best deals. Sometimes I can find a better price on Delta and so it is nice to open multiple browser windows and compare ticket costs.

Sadly I spent more on the Christmas after Christmas than I did on Christmas. Perhaps there is a flaw in our rule of not buying stuff in November and December.

What Did We Do Before the Internet?

My wife and I gave our 2008 Subaru to our oldest son a few weeks ago. We thought we were doing him a favor. It turns out we unloaded a minor problem for us only to give it to him. Being a responsible father means that it is now my problem again. The clutch was getting really close to burning out. Now it is slipping and we get to repair it. What does this have to do with the Internet? That is how we diagnosed the problem and also the means for figuring out the best course of action to fix it.

My son described the problem to me over the course of two or three verbal paragraphs. I did a quick search on the Internet and discovered the clutch is slipping. It is only a matter of time before it burns out completely and the car is no longer drivable. Next I looked at what it would take to repair it. You can get a clutch replacement kit for about $200 online. The only question is if it is enough to completely repair the clutch. A quick search revealed a nice video talking about the problem and roughly how to fix it. Armed with a lot more knowledge and a few more Internet searches, my son and I are confident we can solve the problem on our own.

This leads me to the question of today's entry: What did we do before the Internet? It feels like any time there is a problem I need solved or a question I need answered, the Internet has one. Not all of the answers are correct, but there is a lot of guidance that didn't exist before. Now I get to spend a Saturday working on the car with my son.

A Tale of Two Projects

This past weekend I spent time digging a giant hole in my front yard looking for a water main break. Fortunately I found the problem on my first hole as there were two likely places the leak could have been. Once I found the problem but before fixing it, my son decided he would try and resolve a problem with his car. In the process he learned that you never start another project until one is complete. As the water was off in the house, he couldn't wash his hands after working on the car until the first problem was completely solved. He also managed to break both his car and my other son's car in the process and so at the end of the afternoon, we went from having one project to three.

My son's problem was actually fairly simple. In the process of replacing the cylinder head on his 1996 Jeep Cherokee, we broke one of the temperature sensors that screws into the the engine. My son wanted to replace it with a new one and so he went to the auto part store. He immediately broke that sensor in the process of trying to put it in. Naturally that was the only one the store had. Fortunately he was able to bring it back, get his money back, find another sensor at a different auto parts store, and break the new sensor. Another trip to the second auto part store and he got another one. Yes, the temperature sensor is incredibly brittle and breaks easily. One would think they would make them a bit more resilient.

The 1996 Jeep Cherokee actually has two engine temperature sensors and the one my son kept breaking is the one that sends information to the temperature gauge on the dashboard. Unfortunately the new one told my son that his engine was overheating and so my son couldn't go out with friends that evening. He was pretty bummed. When we popped the hood and checked the engine, it didn't seem any hotter than normal and didn't have the usual signs of the radiator boiling over. So we needed to determine if the engine was really overheating or if the temperature gauge was bad.

I'm a firm believer in the saying that "A man with one watch knows what time it is, a man with two isn't quite sure." In 1997, the engineers at Jeep decided the second temperature sensor in the Jeep Cherokee was superfluous and removed it. Fortunately for us, our job was to tap into the second sensor on my son's Cherokee and see if it was giving the same high-temperature results. All we needed to do was to tap into the car's OBD-II computer. Fortunately my son has a code reader that is a little more sophisticated than mine and it reads various parameters that include the engine temperature. The only catch is that the car has to throw a check-engine code first. My son tried unplugging various sensors only to have the engine keep running without any problems. He even tried unplugging one of the spark plugs with no luck. Finally he pulled the plug on one of the fuel injectors and the car threw a code immediately. He checked the code and the engine parameters and discovered that the engine was in its optimal operating temperature. That means the gauge sensor was wrong and his car really wasn't overheating. We now know why the engineers at Jeep took out the separate gauge sensor and just use one now.

The weekend is over and the hole in my front yard is now filled in. My son's Jeeps is running fine and the erroneous temperature gauge seems to be fixing itself. My son has also fixed the problem that arose on my other son's car. It took a couple of days, but things seem to be back to normal. At least until the next weekend.

The Right Tool

This morning I took my son to Snowbird and we arrived at 6:45 am. He is on the ski team and has early morning training all of this week and the next. That means he gets to race down the mountain 2 hours before the general public is even allowed to load the lifts. In the past I have just gone to sleep in the car. One of my Christmas gifts was a set of climbing skins to go with my super fat powder skis that also have backcountry bindings. So instead of sleeping in the car, I got out of the car and hiked up the mountain. It has been difficult hiking in the past because I have had to carry my skis and hike in my hard-plastic ski boots. Having the right equipment makes things so much easier.

As I have had a lot of time off because of the Christmas break, I have also been working with my oldest son to fix his car. He is driving a 1996 Jeep Cherokee that keeps misfiring. This problem was occurring when we purchased the vehicle and the dealership that sold it to us was trying to narrow down the problem before we took over. They replaced the spark plugs and distributor cap. They also gave us a fuel filter that we had to install. We also replaced the fuel injectors thanks to a local salvage yard. While things keep getting better, we are still not solving the problem completely. I have narrowed it down to 2 possible problems: The fuel pump or a broken valve spring. Unfortunately I don't have the tools to figure out either one. So this afternoon, I will head to my local auto parts store and borrow a fuel pressure gauge and a compression test gauge. Both are necessary to further diagnose the problem. Having the right tool is very important for me to finish this job.

Computers, tablet computers, and smart phones are another area where it is important to have the right tool. While you can edit an electronic photo with a paint program, it is significantly easier with a photo editing program like Adobe's Photoshop or the open source program GIMP. So if you find yourself taking a lot of time to do something on your computer, tablet, or phone, you might not be using the right tool. Chances are, there's an app for that.

Printed vs. Online Catalogs

I got a nice 4x4 catalog in the mail today. Normally I would just toss it but today was different. I spent a good part of my morning replacing the starter in the Jeep Cherokee that my oldest son drives. It was a fairly simple and painless task. More importantly, we both felt a huge sense of accomplishment once we were done and the vehicle started right up. After working on the Jeep, it was kind of fun to sit on the couch and just look through the catalog seeing what modifications we can make.

This got me thinking about paper or printed catalogs vs. online shopping sites. The last thing I wanted to do this afternoon was to log onto my computer and browse 4x4 websites. Sitting on the couch doing basically the same thing seemed like an excellent idea though. I had 10 minutes while I was waiting for something and reading the catalog was fun. Ok, I didn't really read the catalog, I just looked at the pictures and pointed out things to my wife that I might want for Christmas.

My 10 minutes with the catalog were up and it was time to head off to my next task for the day and I tossed the catalog in the recycling bin. Why? Well the store that sent me the catalog has an online store. They also have a physical store here in Salt Lake as well as in other cities across the country. If I know what I want to buy, I will just go to the website and order it. If I need something immediately, I will just go to the store and pick it up.

So the question that needs to be answered is if the printed catalog was useful? Yes it was. I now know what products are offered as well as the relative price. Without the paper catalog I would never have known I could get a simple product that turns my trailer hitch into a useful step. Now that is a sweet stocking stuffer. Oh yea, Christmas is coming so be prepared for the annual deluge of paper shopping catalogs.

Home Auto Repair

Last week I got an emergency call from my 17-year-old son. I was in the middle of something very important and so at the next available moment, I stepped out and gave my son a call. He told me that the horn on the family Jeep had just started beeping. He first assumed it was related to the car alarm. He went out and unlocked the car but the horn kept making noise. He then tried to start the car only to have it run roughly and not stop the racket. My son is a smart kid and so his next trick was to turn the car off and disconnect the battery. The horn stopped but it also meant the car was unusable until we could fix it.

The family Jeep is a 1998 Jeep Cherokee. If you are a Jeep fan, it is better known as an XJ. My wife and son only paid a couple thousand dollars for the vehicle but it came with a 3-inch lift kit and a sweet set of tires. It makes a great car for the kids even though it has a tendency to break down on a regular basis. Having it break down is part of what makes it a good car. I use it as a teaching tool for basic automotive mechanics with my kids. The XJ is incredibly easy to work on and tons of them are still on the road, making replacement parts extremely inexpensive.

Unfortunately automobile electrical problems are sometimes the most difficult to track down and fix. When my son turned on the car, the check engine light came on. I plugged in my OBD-II computer that I picked up many years ago and saw that the car thought it had a bad throttle position sensor (TPS) based on the P0123 code it was throwing. I then did a careful Internet search using the following, "1998 Jeep XJ P0123." Why did I use the term XJ instead of Cherokee? Jeep also makes the Grand Cherokee, which is a completely different SUV. Besides anyone that knows how to work on Jeeps calls them by the car's 2 letter code instead of model name.

The Internet search yielded a number of stories about people replacing the TPS only to have the problem still exist. Most had better luck replacing the clock spring which is part of the cruise control, horn, and TPS electrical circuit. Thinking about how the horn started going off while the car was just sitting in the driveway and the TPS is only engaged while the car is running, I decided to look for a quick check to verify it was the clock spring. Pulling off the steering-wheel shroud and unplugging one of the connections to the clock spring (it is located just above the turn-signal lever) fixed the P0123 code. The horn and cruise control no longer work, but the rest of the car does.

Now that I knew the real problem, I went back to the Internet and ordered a new clock spring for the Jeep. This is not one of those parts that auto stores keep in stock. Until then my son can drive the car to school and back with the help of an inexpensive air horn resting in one of the cup holders.