[Racer X 69]

The cost of a decent OBDII reader is almost exactly the same as the cost for the garage to read it. The most common errors are emissions related, and often are simply that the gas filler cap is not tight. If that is the case, turn the air blue for the lazy attendant, tighten the cap and reset the warning with the reader.

Around here the auto parts stores have code readers, and will read them for you for free.

I own a generic code reader, from my days as an automotive and heavy truck mechanic. I don't tell everyone I know I have it, but do offer to help close friends. The thing will also clear codes after reading them, a useful tool when the malfunction is corrected. Most cars will clear codes after a certain number of KOEOKO (key on, engine off, key off) cycles, but when making repairs it is nice to be able to see if the repairs resulted in correcting the problem.

It can also turn off the annoying "Service Needed", or "Change Oil" (or whatver it may be called on your cars) light.

[Canada_Rockies]

Turning off the $%^Y& light is perfect. My aged Tundra every now and then pops up a Check Engine light referring to the fuel vapour canister. For several hundred dollars to replace the whole government required system vs. turning off the code ...

[crossed-up]

An OBD reader is pretty much a necessity these days, even for routine service work. Given the number of FCA vehicles have and look after I invested in a specific PC based diagnostic package and it's payed for itself just in terms of service costs. As well as the usual code reading, service and MIL resetting, you can actually activate individual components such as relays, pumps, lights, dash and infotainment functions, fans etc, to check their function. You can capture and graph the data too if you need to track down an intermittent fault.

I think the worst things about ODB is that mechanics are losing their common sense diagnostic thought process and tend to immediately change the component that a code relates to. A colleague took his Audi in to the dealer as it was throwing a low fuel pressure sensor reading code and running roughly intermittently - so they changed the pressure sensor. This didn't clear the fault. The problem was actually the fuel pump genuinely not delivering enough pressure! Needless to say they then charged him to change the pump as well! If they had thought about it logically it would have been much more likely to have been a fuel pressure problem given the rough running symptom.

[slartibartfast01]

An OBD reader is pretty much a necessity these days, even for routine service work. Given the number of FCA vehicles have and look after I invested in a specific PC based diagnostic package and it's payed for itself just in terms of service costs. As well as the usual code reading, service and MIL resetting, you can actually activate individual components such as relays, pumps, lights, dash and infotainment functions, fans etc, to check their function. You can capture and graph the data too if you need to track down an intermittent fault.



I think the worst things about ODB is that mechanics are losing their common sense diagnostic thought process and tend to immediately change the component that a code relates to. A colleague took his Audi in to the dealer as it was throwing a low fuel pressure sensor reading code and running roughly intermittently - so they changed the pressure sensor. This didn't clear the fault. The problem was actually the fuel pump genuinely not delivering enough pressure! Needless to say they then charged him to change the pump as well! If they had thought about it logically it would have been much more likely to have been a fuel pressure problem given the rough running symptom.

Exactly. When my dashboard lights came on it was purely down to a bad connection on the instrument panel but the mechanics acted as if all the faults existed even though it made no sense for all of the faults to suddenly appear and tried to treat the symptoms rather than the cause. They failed but still charged me for their incompetence.

[surfar]

I recently pulled the car from storage,

You sprayed it TimTam Brown(milk version)!

[disconnekt]

Got a roll of Kodak Vision3 50D in the mail today, gonna shoot it & develop it in the last bit of hc110 I have.

[Racer X 69]

You sprayed it TimTam Brown(milk version)!

That is the original finish. The car has never been repainted in 48 years. It did have some repair done on the right door and front fender, mid panel, and although the color is a perfect match, it only covers about 30% of each panel, and the blend at the edges is visible.

[steamloco76]

Turning off the $%^Y& light is perfect. My aged Tundra every now and then pops up a Check Engine light referring to the fuel vapour canister. For several hundred dollars to replace the whole government required system vs. turning off the code ...

My 17 year old GMC will set a CEL for “Cylinder 8 misfire” if it idles too long. I had a tune up done. Light came back, a noted gremlin of the GM 4.8L & 5.3L V8. I clear the code, and after 20 start cycles, the light goes out. Not spending hundreds of dollars chasing the cause.

[Marcus Rowland]

A couple more job lots - nothing especially exciting but three nice Adaptall lenses, some weird accessories, a 1.6x autofocus teleconverter which is unfortunately for the weird Kyocera-Yashica 35mm autofocus system I was asking about a few months ago rather than anything digital, and so forth. I won't bore everyone with the details, it's just stuff to keep things ticking over until I can go out and hunt things down for myself once the lockdown ends, will make a small profit but nothing spectacular.

Also a new battery for my Macbook Pro - fortunately it's a 2010 model, old enough that it's still possible to do it myself, rather than paying Apple a small fortune. I've done it before, it's a sod to keep track off all the teeny screws in three or four different lengths but otherwise not too difficult. I'll probably sort it out on Sunday.

later - small error - the Kyocera-Yashica thing is a converter for using Contax-Yashica lenses on the Kyocera-Yashica cameras, which for some reason is also a teleconverter. Not sure if it makes the lens act as autofocus, but it's possible I suppose - there are adapters like that for e.g. Minolta MD on Minolta A-mount AF bodis.

The battery turns out to be the wrong one - the one I ordered was an A1331, advertised as correct for the model and date of manufacture of my MacBook Pro, but when I opened the casing the installed battery turned out to be an A1322 and they are slightly different shapes and sizes. REALLY annoying!

In slightly better news, the Kyocera-Yashica adapter turns out to be autofocus - when I tried turning the little worm screw in the lens mount I could see the lens assembly of the converter moving in and out. It would be worth a small fortune if it was for Nikon manual focus to AF, Minolta MD to AF, or something else that people actually want. Unfortunately the Yashica AF cameras are pretty much dead, doubt I'll get more than £20 for it.

[VSTAR]

I think the worst things about ODB is that mechanics are losing their common sense

Exactly! This is happening in all professions, whether you are a car mechanic or an eye surgeon! My VW new Beetle’s air bag light when on many years ago. In those days my ODB reader could not be used for checking the air bag codes or resetting it. Dealer scans it and says it needs a new air bag for the side of the drivers seat, new harness, second ODB test, and the bill is just under $2 thousand CDN dollars. So I say...what caused this, because there are 5 more air bags and the car is several years old. Answer “age”. So I again say, excuse me , but you don’t hear of air bags becoming defective do you? Not satisfied, went back to my original dealer where purchased, explain the situation, pay for another scan. Result-harness goes under seat and with movement wires got pulled. Cut, spliced, taped, good to go. I go back to 1st shop and explain the result and ask to speak to the mechanic, who is in his early 20’s. I ask him...did you inspect the wiring? Answer, no! ODB code read it was a bad air bag, you need a new one! I told the manager- refund what I paid for the diagnostic charges, and sit down with your mechanic and explain what an ODB reader does and does not do.

[steamloco76]

LBA strikes again. A really clean SMC-A 135/2.8 is on the way from a Mercari seller. I paid more than some of the eBay priced, but this eller had good pictures and a full description. Lately, many eBay sellers only state “condition is used”, a very vague description.

[WPRESTO]

With respect to broken parts. When I got my rather expensive elliptical because I have no idea when it will be safe, if ever, to back to the gym, the plastic cover over one of the joints was broken. I called the company and a very polite young woman took the information = the cover that fits over where the arm with the foot rest attaches to the flywheel. Weeks later I received the wrong part. I realized then that the part numbers were molded onto inside of each piece. So I wrote a note explaining the error, typing out very carefully the correct part number, returned the incorrect part and the broken pieces of the part I needed. TWO MONTHS LATER I received a new part, the same wrong part that they sent the first time! I returned it with a new note, the correct part number in bold and extra-large type, with a copy of my first note with the part number I needed highlighted so they'd know I had correctly indicated which part was required the first time. How long will I wait to hear from them? What random plastic piece will they send this time? I am not holding my breath.

[tim60]

I have not been impressed by home gym equipment.
The best value I bought was the cheapest - a KMart (Australia) treadmill. Lasted a few years before the smoke came out.
My wife wanted a better one. We bought a treadmill for four times the price. During warranty it blew up three of the main board, located where muck from the motor blew onto it and other muck from the tread belt. That board could be replaced for what we paid for the KMart machine and it would only give 6-9 months before another failure. You could see the blown up components on the board resulting from shorting the mains.
Here we bought an elliptical. Work for 2.5 years. Then something broke in the control panel so could not control the load to work against. It can still work with inherent load and display exercise measures. The company told me the replacement part and fitting would be £750. Four times the price of the original KMart machine.
Overall I think home gym equipment is designed for display but not for real fitness use at home. We only had two or three people using each of them for most days each week. Not an unreasonable workload for a home exercise machine.

[WPRESTO]

Sorry to hear of your bad experiences. So far the unit I bought is fine, made by a company called SOLE which I selected after reading many reviews, with the most common criticism of other units being "flimsy, will not last." I doubt I will put sufficient strain on this elliptical to wear it out before I wear out. After eight months being off a machine at the gym because of the pandemic, my speed and especially my endurance are shot. I've been on the SOLE for five months, but I'm nowhere near the performance level I had in January 2020 and I doubt very much I'll ever recover the fitness I lost. At my age the performance curve only slopes down.

I have not been impressed by home gym equipment.
The best value I bought was the cheapest - a KMart (Australia) treadmill. Lasted a few years before the smoke came out.
My wife wanted a better one. We bought a treadmill for four times the price. During warranty it blew up three of the main board, located where muck from the motor blew onto it and other muck from the tread belt. That board could be replaced for what we paid for the KMart machine and it would only give 6-9 months before another failure. You could see the blown up components on the board resulting from shorting the mains.
Here we bought an elliptical. Work for 2.5 years. Then something broke in the control panel so could not control the load to work against. It can still work with inherent load and display exercise measures. The company told me the replacement part and fitting would be £750. Four times the price of the original KMart machine.
Overall I think home gym equipment is designed for display but not for real fitness use at home. We only had two or three people using each of them for most days each week. Not an unreasonable workload for a home exercise machine.

[FreeSpirit9]

Just bought:
Metz 52 af-1 and Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6

Should arrive this Thursday.
👍