In this video we prove again the power of the visual inspection. We see here it is used to nail an intermittent complaint from the customer of the battery light coming on. This vehicle was taken to the deal and has had several alternators and batteries replaced. However if they had just taken a look at it, they would have seen the issue. -Enjoy!
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Thank you for all the continuing support!
--Eric & Vanessa O.
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Just ship it here:
South Main Auto Repair
47 S. Main St
PO Box 471
Avoca, NY 14809
Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. South Main Auto Repair assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. South Main Auto Repair recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained
If an SMA Video has helped you out please consider giving using "Patreon" to help support us. The videos take real time to create and pull us away from real work that pays our bills. CLICK HERE: https://www.patreon.com/southmainauto
CHECK OUT OUR "SMA SWAG" STORE! Go on Teespring and get your very own SMA merch!
https://teespring.com/stores/the-sma-store
If you don't like Patreon feel free to use the "PayPal Me" link: https://www.paypal.me/SouthMainAuto
The South Main Auto Amazon Store:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/southmainautorepairavoca
AES Wave Automotive Diagnostic Tools: https://www.aeswave.com/cart.php?m=affiliate_go&affiliateID=2525b91fc8e906e8215984074c9d9e8f&go=https://www.aeswave.com/Miscellaneous-p9347.html
Thank you for all the continuing support!
--Eric & Vanessa O.
Feel like sending some swag to SMA because you love the videos but don't know where to send it?
Just ship it here:
South Main Auto Repair
47 S. Main St
PO Box 471
Avoca, NY 14809
Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, it cannot guarantee against unauthorized modifications of this information, or improper use of this information. South Main Auto Repair assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. South Main Auto Repair recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of South Main Auto Repair, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained
Great job!
Let’s go brandon
Great video! My truck had same issue. My question is how did you fix the wire? I cut and spliced my wire and I still have battery light on. New battery and alternator. Just curious how you fixed the wire
Thank u for this video. This helped me to figure out the same problem with my customers F-150! He was ready to throw in alternator but when o started looking at it I noticed the #45 fuse (alternator sensor) kept blowing out after driving for a while. I Knew it had a short somewhere and when I got on YouTube just like magic your video popped up!! It was the exact same location where his short was
Found the same thing on my 2011 f150 -5.0 …… thanks to you sir!!!!! 👍🏼💯
Eric O. You have taught this Master to be your student. Thank you for all your posts!!! You make us all better tech’s
the ecu receives the signal from the eld which sends the signal to the alternator or pcm>alternator depending on the vehicle
I have the same issue. My mechanic says it'll take 8 hrs to get the wiring harness out, because he can't get in there. Was it enough to just take those bolts out to remove the harness? Do you have a video as to how you did that?
FORD is an acronym for “Fix or repair daily”
What a conundrum: Your customer base growing exponentially as word gets out about your thorough troubleshooting and repair skills,and dropping just as rapidly as customers start watching your channel and realize that if you can do it they can do it….
Great video love your approach to repairing ppls vehicles
So I would take this video to the dealer and show how easy it was to fix it and demand my money back for the parts replaced. Got to love swapanostics.
You are Da Bomb!
You have all the great qualities of a great mechanic. Good troubleshooting skills mixed tons of experience and common sense. I enjoy watching you figure stuff out and talk about random bs as you go
You see thats the beauty of having common sense and being in the business as long as you have…as always good video and keep up the good work!!!!
Don't overlook visual inspection, pure GOLD! 😂
I had a similar problem with a 09 SantaFe. Had a cam/crank dtc. No one could figure it out. All it took me was a mirror and led light to find out it had rodante damage. That turned into a 10hr cash job 🙂 extended warranty paid for a new wiring harness. Took me 20mins to diagnose and 4hrs to install the new harness.
I also had a kia Sorento with a crank no start and a immobilizer dtc. That one kicked my ass and tech line for about 2days. Turns out the coil packs were toasting the pcm. The vehicle came to us from a bodyshop. I could’ve sworn it was a damaged cable somewhere but nop.
nice video.
Good Catch, Making customers happy and being impressed with your work ethic, will give you a lot of repeat business and word of mouth advertising is nearly priceless.
Eric. In my dreams I could not do what you do.
At any rate, I am inspired!
You are a modest man. You don't even know how skilled you are. Diagnostics, visuals, knowledge, patience and good humor.
"Beans"
"Scope on a rope"
"BIG nasty"
"140 psi line pressure!"
and many others. super enjoy you, and your family.
GREAT thanks.
Dave in L.A.
today I learned the term "tesa tape". Always picking up little tidbits in every video. Thanks.
Another good trouble shooting video! Eric reminds me of an old wise hvac instructor I was lucky enough to study under many years ago, he would say " sometimes you have to think think and think" please keep the good stuff coming Mr O.
You sir, are why I love YouTube! I was faced with a big multifunction copier yesterday that threw codes that weren’t in the book. Story short, the paper deck can throw codes the service documentation didn’t have. Fixed it right with no parts—visual inspection revealed a sprag roller in the wrong place, move it, it cleared the jam code and all was well. “The POWER of visual inspection” was going through my head while digging through the beast.
Best part? Customer admitted after it had been moved and quit working after it was moved—movers apparently tried to use the slot in the bypass assembly as a handle, which is how the roller got moved. Eric O truism #2: “there’s always more to the story.” 🙃
It’s really sad that dealership mechanics these days aren’t capable of finding a broken wire. Make she wonder what the world is coming too. This guy should go get his money back for the unnecessary alternator replacement they sold him.
Damn wth happen to that wire look like it pulled through oil factory. Id get some electronic cleaner clean it up and shrink tube it . Ship it. Dealers are trolls.
Great job again my friend A+
Hope he takes this video back to dealerships and shows it to them and insists they give him back his money back cuz you have incompetent parts changers that all they know how to do is throw darts at it.
Thank you Eric. Good job.
Don’t you know that dude from PA will get a thrill showing off this YouTube vid to his buddies. Even better would be seeing his Ford dealer techs watch this vid. Watch and learn from the master.
Your amazing. With every SMA vid I watch, I think “it would be worth it to haul my 06 Pilot from north Alabama to NY so you could do your magic.” But it running great today, maybe tomorrow. You do great work.
more reasons why I will never buy a ford. Who runs a wire over the top of a rotating object.
In the 70's I had a Ford stake bed truck that kept cooking the batteries. We went through several batteries before we could corner one of the drivers and question him. Found out that they had no problem during the day but smelled rotten eggs at night. In other words, when they had the lights on was when the problem started.
Finally got the truck back into the shop and recreated the circumstance where the battery started cooking.
At that time, Ford used external alternator regulators that were usually mounted on the frame next to the radiator. What we found was that the ground strap between the engine and the cab was loose and corroded. The battery grounded to the engine and the rest of the truck grounded through the cab and the ground strap between the cab and the engine.
So whenever the lights were turned on, they were grounding out through the alternator regulator which caused it to stop grounding through the frame and made it think the voltage from the alternator was too low.
Result, the regulator was increasing the voltage to a level our test gauges could not read (100+ volts) and was sending that voltage into the battery.
Removed the cab ground strap, cleaned everything off, put it back together nice and tight with dielectric grease to prevent corrosion. Problem solved.
Do look over, don't over look
good fix, congrats
Gotta love it when even the dealerships fire the old parts cannon at your car. Eric uses common sense and solves the problem.
The big Name brand shops rely to much on their technology tools, they just don't have the old school mentality, they just start chucking parts at the problem at the customers expense.
Wish it was you teaching all the future techs!
Well now your snappy meter copying a windows screen of death you going need do more visual inspection .
I feel your grief 🙁
I would not send it into snappy service as waste of money . borrow a card ar test your card in another one or just buy a tidy used one .
Best rebuilding those batteries yourself, decent cells 1/4 the price. 120bucks for new battery pack is a ripoff .
Another tip is always get your snappy driver test any batteries or charger on your tools and be sure hand it to them with bit of a working demo, learnt that the hard way though with a dead scanner 🙁
Really best avoiding snapon electrical and air but that old vantage pro is nice graphing meter …
Best mechanic ever.
Wow dealership missed that! Here I tough those guys were top of the game. Just goes to show you Eric knows his $hit
Alright!! I had one just like this, once!! Except, it was a Chrysler, not a Ford! And it was two wheel drive, not the "MOST TERRAIN VEHICLE"! And it wasn't a battery problem, it was a fuel problem! And there was no chaffing thru of a wire! But, I did fix it! Well sort of! The owner walked to the gas station for gas!! But, I watched!! Over the fence! Ok, it was my neighbor!! Well, it wasn't my neighbor, I was at a friends house! Ok, ok! He wasn't a friend!! I broke into a house, and as I was leaving with a pillow case full of junk, the next door neighbor ran out of gas! Geesh, I didn't know I was gonna have to tell the whole story!! Well, almost the whole story!! The cops showed up, and we'll never mind!!
Hey hey hey!! I went down and subscribed, rang the bell, and all that stuff!! Do I win a prize?? Is it a trip to my favorite vaca destination? A new car!! Dinner with Mrs. O?
Tell me it was all worth it! Tell me I didn't waste my time, subin, ranging, sharing, and all that jazz!! I gotta know!!
I think the poor quality of wiring and the increased amount of sensors and crap it is a wonder anything works good find
I enjoy your videos. I like to think I'm handy, not a mechanic by any means , but watching your videos is a favorite of myself and my 4 year old. Not much content we can both enjoy in the safe for kids category however your vids are the exception. Thanks for keeping us entertained!
You are part of a dying breed. An honest mechanic. Part swapping is not the way to fix a problem! I detest mechanics that do that because they don't take the time to diagnose the root cause of the failure. I miss Click and Clack!
Cool find
Eric…Eric (Head bowed shaking my head ) When will these people learn you are the MAN….. They dont learn dude…come to you 1st.
How much money they would have saved…..
people that live near Eric O's shop will realise just how lucky they where to have him in the area and will surly miss him and the quality of work he provides when the day comes that he decides to retire and put his feet up somewhere where rusty vehicles are a rarity.
With all due respect, you have complained about your phone ringing, and so many Youtubers calling you….
Are you starting to get the idea, how truly frickin impossible it is, to find a good auto technician????
These people came from Pennsylvania…. What does that tell you????
Why do you think 200 thousand home gamers are watching your channel, trying to learn, buying tools, crawling around on a cold garage floor with a flashlight in their mouth, trying to do it themselves?????
I'm just saying… It's darn near impossible, to find someone like you….