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?

3 comments

3 Comments

sage67529d 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?

sage67529d ago

Wow, duct tape over a fuel leak once.

anthony60929d ago

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