Ask the Mechanic

By Dave & Katie Neer

Solomon’s Garage Owners

Q: “It just started doing that; should I just keep an eye on it?”

A: There are certain things you learn after spending enough years in the automotive repair business.

One of them is that “It just started doing that” is one of the most dangerous sentences a mechanic can hear.

Because sometimes it really did just start doing that.

But sometimes “just started” means three months ago… or last summer.

Or, my personal favorite:

“Well, it’s been doing it for a while, but I figured it would go away.”

Ah yes. The famous self-repairing automobile.

Unfortunately, they don’t make those yet.

I’ve had customers bring in vehicles making noises that sounded like a washing machine full of bowling balls. When I ask, “How long has it been doing that?” the answer is, “Oh, it’s been getting progressively louder for about a year.”

A YEAR?!

At that point, the car isn’t making a noise. It’s filing a complaint.

And I get it. Life is busy. Nobody wants to hear that their vehicle needs repairs. Sometimes you hear a funny noise and think, “I’ll keep an eye on it.”

The problem is, “keeping an eye on it” doesn’t actually fix anything.

Neither does turning the radio up.

We’ve all done it. Hear a strange noise? Turn up the radio. Hear it again? Turn it up a little more.

Pretty soon you’re driving down the road listening to classic rock at a volume that would make your teenager proud, and you’ve convinced yourself the noise is gone.

It isn’t gone.

You just can’t hear it anymore.

The truth is, your car will usually give you some warning before a small problem becomes a big one. A new vibration. A squeak. A clunk. A burning smell. A warning light. Maybe it starts pulling to one side or taking a little longer to start.

Those things are your vehicle trying to tell you something.

And you don’t have to know what it’s trying to tell you. That’s our job.

When you bring your car in, don’t worry about using the right automotive terminology. If you tell me, “It makes a noise when I turn left, and it sounds kind of like a disgruntled goose,” that’s actually useful information.

We’ll take it from there.

What matters is telling us when it happens, what you’re doing when it happens, and how long it’s been happening.

And please—if that check-engine light came on six months ago, went back off, and then came back on yesterday, tell us. If you’ve been adding oil every few weeks, tell us. If you’ve been putting cardboard under the car to keep an eye on a leak, tell us.

We aren’t here to judge.

Well… maybe a little on the cardboard.

The more information you give your mechanic, the better chance we have of finding the problem quickly. We’re not just looking at what’s wrong today. We’re trying to figure out what your vehicle has been telling you that you may or may not have been listening to.

So the next time your mechanic asks, “When did this start?”

Please don’t automatically say, “It just started.”

If it started yesterday, tell us yesterday.

If it started last October, tell us last October.

And remember: your car doesn’t have a snooze button.

Eventually, that little noise you’ve been ignoring is going to get your attention.

And usually, it chooses a very inconvenient time and a very inconvenient place to do it.

Until next time, keep the shining side up and the rubber side down!

Call Dave and Katie at (937) 887-0029 for questions or to schedule an appointment for your vehicle. Visit https://www.solomonsgarage.com/ for more information.

Do you have a question for ‘Ask the Mechanic?’ Email your questions to [email protected], and your question could be answered in a future edition of the Logan County Chronicle.■