I’m a mechanic with 20 years of experience – here are red flags to look out for when your car comes back from the garage
A MECHANIC has revealed the red flags drivers should look out for when they get their car back from the garage.
The motors expert, who goes by Car Wizard on YouTube, uploaded a clip detailing some common faults which are often missed, even by professionals.
Car Wizard explained why the Mazda Miata he was using as an example should never have been allowed out the door of a workshop.
First of all, upon opening the bonnet, the car whizz found melted and frayed wiring which could play havoc with the electrical systems.
While electrics are hard to check without an expert eye, any melting of the plastic wire coating should be noticeable and a cause for concern.
If you have any doubts about how your car is wired, take it in to a trusted garage as soon as possible.
However, the Miata’s issues ran far deeper than that.
Car Wizard explained: “We went ahead and did a compression test and the results were so sad.
“We had three out of four cylinders that were grossly below the absolute minimum on the compression.”
A closer look with a fibre-optic camera revealed severe damage and cracking to many of the cylinders.
Car Wizard described them as looking like they had been honed “with a cinderblock” or by “Wolverine’s claws”.
He added: “This is sickening.
“[The customer] said ‘I’ve just had that engine fully rebuilt’.
“It was just rebuilt, but it had 50,000 miles worth of carbon on top of the cylinders…they didn’t even clean it.
“I don’t think I called that a rebuild…it looks like they honed it with a brick.”
Signs of low compression can include a loss of power and/or acceleration, as well as slowed idling noise and even stalling while idle.
If you can, try and get your car to the nearest garage and ask them to take a look, especially if you have a high-mileage engine or recently had work done on your cylinder heads.
Social media commenters were stunned by the revelations.
One wrote: “Really sad, as a fellow Miata driver, I feel for the guy.
“Really hope the other shop takes responsibility and helps the guy out.”
Another added: “The experience this guy had is the reason I fix my own car.”
It comes after another mechanic advised drivers to stop buying a popular product as they are “throwing money away”.
Meanwhile, an Army veteran has gone on hunger strike to protest Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion as the measures face a backlash in London.