Joel’s garage automotive repair

10/03/2026

Knocked a bunch of vehicles out the past couple weeks so I’m Gonna have a bunch of time next week for jobs in the shop so if you or anyone you know has a vehicle that needs inspected, diagnostic work, and or repaired please reach out so I can get ya taken care of! And if you don’t I’d still appreciate a like and a share of this post for everyone else to see!

09/25/2026

Another weekend job in the books! Had a customer reach out to me for help explaining that her vehicle was in dire need of some routine maintenance and on top of that the vehicle at some point in time had gone into limp mode and wouldn’t go over 30mph. She explained that an ex boyfriend had replaced the engine his self and it had been running alittle on the funny side ever since. When I got ahold of the civic I immediately scanned it and observed it had over 15 fault codes. After looking at the codes individually I quickly determined that the knock sensor was the main culprit and needed to be replaced. After I replaced the knock sensor and both upstream and down stream oxygen sensors the car was back to running like a top. All in all the vehicle had all 3 sensors replaced, new pads and rotors all the way around the vehicle, one replaced rear brake caliper, exhaust repair, and battery cable repair. I also took the time to do a basic inspection of the vehicle and created a list of some other things that will need to be addressed in the future for the customer and will be working together soon to get those issues taken care of.

09/21/2026

You have to learn to be creative if you’re gonna a mechanic of any kind. I always find a way to get the job done in my shop! And no before you ask I do not own a set of crows feet wrenches but I will now lol 😂.

09/13/2026

You won’t catch me praising gm or duralast engineers very often but they actually gotta good thing goin this time lol.

09/09/2026

2015 Kia soul came into the shop last week and the customer stated that her brakes had failed on her while driving through town and she rolled through an intersection narrowly avoid a wreck. After the vehicle was dropped off I put it up on the lift and quickly realized that the two lines running to the rear brakes had completely rusted in half and all the fluid naturally bled out causing the no stop condition. Considering the rest of the brake lines were in very good condition I had cut out all the rusted line and mended it with new line and the proper flares and fittings (we don’t use compression fittings on brakes in my shop lol 😂). With that being said I wanted to note that Kia souls have a bad reputation for having rusted brake lines and actually have a recall on certain models. So if you or someone you know that drives a Kia soul and is having brake issues you should get in touch with me and let me get your vehicle taken care of before end up in a much worse situation than my customer had!

09/09/2026

Verification is always key! I’ll explain why I said that later on in this post. Earlier this month a customer brought in a 95 ford explorer and stated that he had recently replaced the engine and in doing so he had no forward or reverse gears. I had advised him via messenger that if he had removed his torque converter in the process that it probably wasn’t seated properly. He had attempted to remove the transmission himself and reseat the converter but was unable to due to lack of time and proper equipment so the vehicle was brought to my garage to have the issue handled. After the removal of the transmission it was noted that the torque converter had a bluish tint on the snout indicating that it had gotten really hot really quick. Once I realized the original setup was no good and in need of a rebuild the customer purchased a new converter and transmission and I had them reinstalled and had it back in his possession. Now back to the original statement on verification. It is always important when working on vehicles that you verify your work before moving on to the next step. Had the customer verified that the torque converter had been seated properly before moving forward with his engine swap he could’ve avoided a whole other headache and saved himself some money in process. I will be working with this particular customer in the future with rebuilding his original unit (Ford A4LD) myself so he will have a spare transmission for his daily driver that he likes to take out wheeling on occasion. Please note that all though I replaced this customers transmission with a different unit that my shop also rebuilds most longitudinal transmissions so if you or someone you know has longitudinal transmissions (gm 700R4, th400, ford AOD, A4LD, and dodge 48RE to name a few) that needs overhauled please give me a call or send a message and let me help you out!

08/23/2026

This was anything but an easy job but I mean if it were easy everyone would do it! 2015 Chrysler 200 with a 2.4L. A regular customer of mine had contacted me yesterday stating his sons starter went out and needed to be replaced. They had attempted to replace it themselves over a few days time but were unable to do so with the location of the starter and lack of proper tools to reach the top bolt. These are very tricky to remove from on these particular units for numerous reasons and unless you’re a contortionist I definitely don’t recommend attempting this yourself. Luckily they were able to drop it off this morning and by later on in the evening I rolled it out the door ready for pick up. Another prime example of the tasks my shop can handle with ease with peace of mind to the customer knowing they’re vehicle and is being properly take care of they don’t have to do a thing except drop it off and pick it up when it’s completed.

08/21/2026

96 jeep grand Cherokee came into the shop a few weeks ago for a no crank no start condition. Customer informed me that he replaced his transmission mount and then immediately after doing so the vehicle wouldn’t start. After being told this I started looking into the NSS “neutral safety switch” since they are both in the same general area. Not sure if it got bumped in the process of changing the mount or what but it was indeed a bad switch and it was replaced and now it cranks just fine. Unfortunately however for my customer it is leaving my shop as crank no start. During their troubleshooting before it was brought in a lot of electrical components were tampered with it now has an electrical issue of some sort that I was unable to diagnose myself. I will always be the first person to admit that even though I am very good at what I do mechanically in my shop that I’m definitely not the absolute best at what I do especially if it’s electrical and that I am not an auto electrician. But this is a good example for if you have an issue with your vehicle and aren’t quite sure what you’re doing that you should stop immediately and get ahold of my shop so we can get you taken care of before you potentially make matters worse. I have since referred my customer to RK Electric in columbus because they are primarily auto electricians and are the best in our area for all auto electrical work.

08/09/2026

08/09/2026

Sorry I haven’t been posting a lot lately I’m not the best at recording most of the work that comes in my shop but I am working on that 😂. Had a regular customer of mine bring in a 05 dodge ram 1500 4.7L for a lifter replacement. These are hydraulic lifters “lash adjusters” and are a critical component to your valve train and need to be maintained and replaced before they get too far gone and create more problems. This isn’t a very fun job once you start working your way to the back of the block these can be a real pain to get to so you have to have a lot of specific tools just for this job. So if you’re ever in this situation instead of dealing with this headache reach out to me at my shop and let me take care of it for you!