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?

4 comments

4 Comments

sage6753mo 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?

sage6753mo ago

Wow, duct tape over a fuel leak once.

anthony6093mo ago

It's like that with everything now... temporary fixes that just make the real issue blow up bigger later.

foster.tessa2mo 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.