Why This Customer’s Suspension Clunk Cost $1,200 Instead of $50: A Ball Joint Post-Mortem
The tow truck brought it in on a flatbed. The right front wheel was canted outward at roughly 20 degrees, the CV axle had separated at the inner tripod joint, the brake flex hose was stretched and weeping fluid, and the lower control arm had a visible bend in its forward leg. Six months earlier, […]
We Put Diesel in a Gasoline Engine: Exact Damage Progression and Repair Log
We deliberately misfueled a 2018 Honda Civic Sport 1.5T with a 50/50 blend of #2 diesel and 87-octane gasoline, drove it until it stalled, and documented every symptom, every code, and every part we touched to bring it back. The car made it 4.3 miles. Here’s the full failure sequence by mile marker, the system-by-system […]
Cheap vs Expensive Catch Cans After 10,000 Miles: Volume and Fluid Composition Test
We ran three catch cans a $22 Amazon baffle-less aluminum cylinder, an $89 Mishimoto single-stage unit, and a $195 Radium Engineering dual-port simultaneously across two direct-injection platforms for 10,000 miles, draining and measuring every 2,500 miles. The cheap can collected 14 mL of mostly-emulsified fluid the engine could barely separate. The Radium collected 71 mL […]