Foreshadowing: I used my daughter in law’s Honda CRV to deliver a refrigerator to my son in laws mother with a rented trailer. It’s the only car we have access to with a hitch. And in the process I used a chain and a come along to move things around. Okay.

And a few days after my daughter in law said “it’s making a loud clunking noise”. And I drove it. Yep. Something is wrong. So I jacked it up, set up jack stands, pulled the wheels and started looking. Hmm… bushings are a bit worn. Tie rods are a bit worn. Hubs show some grease leakage. CV joints show a little leakage on one. Struts are okay. Nothing should make this noise.

I gave up and took it to my favorite garage. And they called me. Laughing.

“So we found the noise. The spare tire was loose and there was a chain the compartment bouncing around”.

OMG Massive facepalm.

I paid for the diagnosis, and I’m having doughnuts delivered tomorrow morning.

TL/DR: Thought car was broken. It was just junk in the trunk.

Sometimes discovering your own mistake is the best resolution to a problem.

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Last week I was on this board asking for a diagnosis of a suspicious sound. TL;DR: Garage put it up on the rack, found $2000 worth of things to fix. We said no, they took it off the rack, and it hasn't made that sound since.

I should have said that in the original thread, as that has happened to me, too. Only in my case it was the set of tools next to the tire.

Better slight embarrassment and a big box of doughnuts than a couple K$ for repairs.

Well done!

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=wr=

Quote
cbelt3
Foreshadowing: I used my daughter in law’s Honda CRV to deliver a refrigerator to my son in laws mother with a rented trailer. It’s the only car we have access to with a hitch. And in the process I used a chain and a come along to move things around. Okay.

And a few days after my daughter in law said “it’s making a loud clunking noise”. And I drove it. Yep. Something is wrong. So I jacked it up, set up jack stands, pulled the wheels and started looking. Hmm… bushings are a bit worn. Tie rods are a bit worn. Hubs show some grease leakage. CV joints show a little leakage on one. Struts are okay. Nothing should make this noise.

I gave up and took it to my favorite garage. And they called me. Laughing.

“So we found the noise. The spare tire was loose and there was a chain the compartment bouncing around”.

OMG Massive facepalm.

I paid for the diagnosis, and I’m having doughnuts delivered tomorrow morning.

TL/DR: Thought car was broken. It was just junk in the trunk.

I had the SAME THING happen to me once. I felt like such an idiot.

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Ways to improve web conference image and sound quality. [forums.macresource.com]

I have a 1980 MGB convertible that sat in the garage for a while--it wasn't running well, needed work, took too much gas to drive to work and back, that kind of thing. Besides, a convertible in Oklahoma is only drivable spring and fall, as summer gets too hot (especially for a black interior, even with the top up) and winter gets cold (snow and ice isn't a good combination). All the jokes about electrical (made by Lucas!) and oil use (it ain't real if it doesn't make a puddle) are true, so I kept a quart or two of extra oil in the trunk. This is normal SOP, so I didn't think about it.

One day I noticed a LOT of fluid down on the garage floor, originating from the MG. The REAR of the MG, so it couldn't be oil from the crankcase. As the car hadn't been driven much, I thought the seals had probably finally given up and it leaked from the rear end, or something just as catastrophic, so the car was parked until I was able to make arrangements for it to be put on the back of the flatbed tow truck and had it towed about 40 miles or so to the garage of the only guy in town who works on these things.

He called me a couple of days later to tell me that the fluid was oil from a now-empty quart of oil that had leaked everywhere.

The car hasn't been tagged in a while now; the engine still will turn over, but there seems to be a problem with the clutch, as in no pressure. It probably needs a thorough check-over as well. I need to call Mike and see if he still works on them.