If this beloved TikTok mechanic couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the vehicle, it might have had to go to the junkyard.
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Auto DIY enthusiasts, be careful not to make the same simple mistake as this customer.
What did I do wrong?
The situation is as follows. The client owned a 2015 Toyota Scion but had his own used engine in it. Usually this is done by professionals, but some car enthusiasts prefer to do it themselves for fun, to save money, or both.
The problem was that although the engine would rev, he couldn’t actually start the car, so he took it to the guys at Royalty Auto Service (@royaltyautoservice on TikTok).
Royalty Auto Service has amassed a nearly 800,000-strong following thanks to our honest car advice, friendly explanations, fun storytelling abilities, and hot opinions. They previously shared their thoughts on the best used cars to buy for under $10,000, warned about engine sludge, and shared why you should think twice before buying auto parts on Amazon. It became.
In this viral video with over 500,000 views, mechanic Sherwood runs a series of tests to find out what went wrong. During one of the scans, he noticed that the vehicle’s pattern was slightly off.
“After doing a lot of research, the Sherwood discovered that the crank sensor was misaligned with the cam sensor, which caused the tone wheel to be misaligned,” he says.
For those who read this as gibberish, basically two parts that really should be in sync (lol, NSYNC) were out of sync. Because of this, Sherwood noticed that the gears appeared to be misaligned by just a few inches.
Even if it’s only slightly off, a misalignment can throw off your engine’s timing, causing a misfire and making your car unable to start.
“We’re dealing with used engines, so we may have to cross another bridge once this is done. But we obviously know this was bad,” Sherwood said in the clip. It says inside.
Did the solution work?
As you can imagine, this simple fix got the engine running again.
He noted that without diagnostic equipment accessible to mechanics, this small mistake would have been virtually impossible to spot.
“It showed us the way,” Sherwood says.
“It was an easy mistake to make, I understand. It’s one of those things where small, small, easy mistakes happen? Hmm, it can cost you quite a bit of time,” he added.
If the customer hadn’t brought his car into the shop, he says, the car could have easily been scrapped.
@royaltyautoservice The mystery has been solved! #scion #engine #cartok #mechanic #automotive #mechaniclife #viral #fyp #foryou #toyota #technician #stitch ♬ Pop beat BGM / Long version (1283324) – nightbird_bgm
“I’m a backyard mechanic and I have to say I really appreciate what you guys are putting out into the world!” the top comment read.
“It’s a great diagnosis. It’s simple, but it was a big mistake on the part of the owner,” said the source.
“Toyota technicians here, I did it,” another added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Sherwood for comment via email and Instagram direct message.
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