😳 DIY Gone WRONG! Customer turns small problem BIG

[@williegreen7148]

Doctor I think you made the right decision, on letting it go to the dealership, it's to time consuming! Great job!❤

[@williamjoseph98]

I swear you make the best car repair vids! Keep it up boss.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

I appreciate that!

[@buddyluv4200]

No bullshit, out doing every mechanic on here

[@wendwllhickey6426]

People don't know a thing about a car then try to fix it that is the problem

[@guianders]

I'm glad you got that whole diagnosis on video not only for us ,but nobody would believe the mess😂

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

That’s part of why I do KZbin, evidence incase somebody wanna be starting something.

[@llwizzoll]

Your videos are very detailed. Keep up the good work.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Thank you very much!

[@mightyprophet4581]

Been working on cars since i was 14y old, never knew you can put the battery in wrong lol to simple symobls postive (+) & negative (-). thats crazy. keep up the good work by the way🙂

[@wendwllhickey6426]

That's what happens when stupid people work on things

[@Petermomo5050]

Always make great decisions about these crafts, would you have to pay for the work out of pocket? Enjoy your video and I am learning so much thanks!!!!!!!

[@antoniomarc7174]

Yeah I don’t blame you for letting that one go that definitely can be a nightmare of chasing down all the electrical faults for sure. The recommendation of taking it to the dealership is a good one but it will cost a lot of dollars to make it right again that’s if they will even work on it.

[@ralphvaccaro2638]

Good job on the videos

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Thank you! I try to make it quality for y’all!

[@davidbabin387]

Great video! Too me, it is your decision on whether to take on a problem which may take more time to diagnose, as opposed to perhaps, repairing more other cars. It's really your call, and I would not spend anymore time on it. Your decision to tell the customer to bring it to the dealer would be the best decision for you, as a mechanic shop owner. When you come across a DIY persons mistake which causes much bigger problems, then at some point you should show the customer what they did wrong, and let them pay the price for their incompetence. Great video Alex. You are a good mechanic.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Thanks so much for your advice. It’s refreshing to hear from someone who understands the risks I try to avoid as a shop owner.

[@AndrewSowerby]

This was a great video. Really interesting to see your troubleshooting process and also your final decision to pass this join into the dealership. That lack of understanding the difference between + and - may have cost that customer big bucks... Ouch.

[@sheerwillsurvival2064]

They have batteries with switched terminals for different vehicles. I remember going to autozone to help a friend. The parts guy gave us wrong battery for his Camry . I noticed it right away but also the battery cables would not allow you to not have right orientation battery due to length. Great video

[@Jayosf415]

I bought a car from a guy who not only put a reverse battery, but even changed the terminal colors. He had positive going to ground 😂. Luckily just changed the main fuse and brought it back to life.

[@jimsix9929]

hello Alex hope you Shon and the kids are all well and happy, I am just at the beginning of this video and I am already scared, glad that one is not at my shop, hope it turns out ok

[@Retrocidal]

The first thing I would have checked was the battery you hooked it up with out checking my man even thoe they did it to start with your on camera hooking it up backwards

[@Codyjrt]

You did the right thing, sometimes you need to walk away. Two weeks ago I had to walk away from changing the rear differential on my wife’s SUV. Working my regular day job and my second job left no time for that part replacement. I brought the vehicle to my friend’s shop and had them do it. I like to guess the solution to the problems on your videos before after the first 30 seconds. I was guessing the BCM on this car. Maybe I was right but I guess I’ll never know. Do you need to tell the BCM that you installed a new battery on this car? I needed to do that on my wife’s car. Kind of weird. Thanks for another outstanding video.

[@blumobean]

A few years ago, a customer at my nephew's shop was recommended a battery replacement on his Mercedes. He didn't want to pay the price for the Interstate battery at the shop. A few days later the car came back to the shop riding of a rollback truck. The customer had pulled out the back seat and replaced the battery. It was tough because he put the battery backwards, so he struggled to get the cables to reach the battery post. $4000, and countless modules later, he had a good running big Mercedes sedan.

[@DependableAutoTruck]

i am in the middle of a 1977 IH Scout i think that they left it switched on it had been changed to points system burned the wire in distributor back to coil then the wire from the coil back to the ignition switch. odd thing about the IH most wires are green and have numbers on them so tracing without wiring diagram to refer to would be ruff but looks like only a few wires touching the burned wire and the ignition switch and pigtail burned off. so odd orielly had switch and pigtail in stock

[@skylinegt6]

Darn I was hoping you we're going to complete it. I'm having the same errors and came to the conclusion it must be one of control modules but the dealership isn't an affordable option and i've had 3 mechanics already give up. Hopefully in the future maybe you'll have time to do a car with similar issues.

[@bonishabrown5260]

You get the pcm tcm, and or ecm refurbished for cheaper if you haven’t went to the dealer yet

[@dannyh773]

I hear you Alex. Electrical can be very time consuming. Especially when you have cars waiting for repairs. Some are not worth the time put into them. Because the diagnostic fee can get expensive. And some customers don’t want to pay that. Good move on that one. Doesn’t mean you can’t fix it. Just have to see the bigger picture. 👍

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Absolutely!

[@RoberE.Hernandez]

Might be a case scenario where the battery was changed on the side of the road late night and without proper light and possibly working too fast, they messed up.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Potentially

[@drivingreview1578]

Thank you for the video. What model multimeter are you using?

[@truth4reel]

That TCM is most likely the reason it's not starting. If powers and grounds good to the TCM change it, it's likely the com lines are good

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

I agree

[@trevor6125-z7g]

Thanks for sharing.

[@dannyh773]

Scanner asks if has Cruze control. 😂. I hate that. I had a customer do this. Fried an expensive alternator. Luckily that was the only damage.

[@DavidWilliams-vc2ms]

That car TAPPED ol Alex out 😆

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Hey, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose But we live to fight another day

[@DavidWilliams-vc2ms]

@@AlexTheCarDoctor 😆 exactly! Let someone else fight that battle.

[@graffitifilmz4901]

As a Sr. Design Assurance Engineer just so you know in the future reverse polarity is a failure mode on the DFMEA (Design Failure Mode Effects Analysis) it is expected that people will install the battery backwards. When a car battery is connected backward, a fuse designed to protect vehicle electronics should blow. If your vehicle doesn’t have a fuse (almost all cars do) designed for this purpose, you will send electrical current backward through systems in your car, including ECU, transmission control unit, and more. If current flows backward through lights, that’s not a problem when current flows backward through electronics with diodes such as the ECU / ECM (Engine Control Unit / Module). It is not common to damage the Engine Control Unit / Module by disconnecting the battery cables. Most of them are designed to withstand reverse polarity. In the worst case, the ECU/ECM can be removed and inspected if a diode has failed. But reverse polarity does not damage anything as their is a fuse designated just for this. I heard a pop also and that is the fuse located somewhere. I don’t think that’s what’s happening, that dude didn’t pop because of the reverse polarity as the damage was already done to the other blown fuses. The pop at the ignition turn is most likely something is touching or it’s the ignition fuse.

[@DavidTMSN]

It's ungodly hot in the summer in Georgia.

[@williambohon3093]

yo i love ur videos and short concise explanations. U and eric the car guy are the best. I want ot ask you one question. What is a good scanner for under 1k?

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

I love Autel! They got a good one in the $500-$800 range

[@MTTech]

Send that Mazda to Eric O at South Main Auto, hes good at electrical diagnoses. If only he wasn't so far away.

[@Tavayneparkins]

When i had my first car a 95 Honda civic i changed my battery myself and it never dawned on me there was achance to put it in wrong.

[@markmorales9764]

I’m still watching the video but how long does it take him to realize the battery is installed incorrectly. It’s one of the first things I noticed as he moved the camera around

[@hilltop565]

@@markmorales9764 ok so? What's your point? What's the purpose of your comment? Did your comment help getting this car fixed? Please enlighten us 🤔

[@markmorales9764]

@@hilltop565 haha are you sleeping with him or something like why are you defending this man lol. If there is a known electrical issue and the customer states they just replaced the battery, it’s the first thing I’m checking. Secondly, what is your comment to my comment going to accomplish. He already fixed it before he posted the video, it was simply a rhetorical question, because this is only entertainment for me. Why so serious lol you must really like him 🤡😂

[@Cesarrivera-pj8rx]

South main auto can fix it . He’s a master in electric

[@VinnyVarious]

Hot sauce packet!?!? I’m crying 😭

[@jimsix9929]

Alex I think you did the right thing, if it was at my shop I would have done the same thing, if it was a gm car I would have stayed with it ( I worked at a cadillac dealer for 10 years), but a mazda, I would have bailed out too, it is going to be all dealer parts anyhow, better to let some poor guy at the mazda dealer deal with that one, time to move on to the next job

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

I’m the same way if it was GM or Mopar I would’ve probably took this job on

[@thagerdorn2009]

Alex, checking fuses is WAY simpler than using a DVOM...get a test light. If it lights both sides of the fuse it's good. If it only lights one side or neither, it's bad. Way easier than using a DVOM. Eric O with South Main Auto is fantastic for teaching electrical stuff. And you can't put a wrong fuse in man. You put a 10a where a 15a goes. That's a huge no-no, especially on modern cars. And that jcase fuse you put in is the wrong one too, may be the same amp, but it's the wrong one.

[@blazeandcyrus]

I can't imagine how angry that battery was when getting hooked up backwards, that thing must have sparked like crazy. I'm thinking they melted some wires throughout that little car. Have you ever heard back from them about what happened to the car?

[@innovaemployee]

This was such a good watch! I work at Innova Electronics, anywhere we can talk more about a partnership?

[@michaelpatton5012]

Good job. I would have past to

[@johnkent6866]

Maybe a stupid question but is this what it means when they say modern cars have too much electrical lol can this happen to older cars ? Btw I think more people should learn basics before attempting to do it themselves it does suck though for that customer

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Modern day vehicles are filled with tons of different modules that can burn out versus older vehicles, no modules, or only one and very simple Meaning if he would’ve done this, it probably would’ve just popped a fuse or created a spark show

[@johnkent6866]

@@AlexTheCarDoctor a spark show doesn’t sound good either and thanks for explaining I wasn’t sure if my assumptions were correct. Enjoy your content btw 👍

[@christophermcbride3284]

yeah I would of let it go also due to the fact it's a brain aching electronic nightmare but if my schedule was light I would do it

[@bluesmiller7398]

Could that be an insurance claim, total it out ?

[@vampedkitty]

Maybe if someone else did it, like an autozone employee or something, even then that would probably be something to settle with the company and not through insurance. If the owner or a friend of theirs did it, then most likely not an insurance claim.

[@WISHBONEL7]

Did the customer ever figure it out ? .

[@ganeshnarayan5505]

thanks for sharing

[@markiewodi3371]

There’s a fuse box under the passenger side floor

[@mdmoore1984]

im gonna guess before finishing the video that they probably hooked the battery up backwards

[@grominwithrob1339]

Some people don't understand you don't want to hunt it down through the electrical system. These are the same people that don't understand the bill or how to install a battery. Good call on this one.

[@SLF-nw2yc]

I just got myself one of those electric ratchets and oh man it changed the game. I've been working on everything lol.

[@regiment6541]

I’m shocked a modern car doesn’t have a failsafe device or something for the battery being put on wrong. Something like automatic shut off of all systems and throw a code saying something like “battery polarity”.SMDH

[@agostinodibella9939]

Wow, someone that doesn’t know better shouldn’t be working on cars. They better not work on their brakes!

[@buddyluv4200]

Spicy!! Lol

[@jeffreydeleon5630]

People always want to be cheap and try to do things themselves and this is exactly what happens

[@SDMF5000]

I can't believe you didn't see/check that before you jammed the negative cable clamp onto the positive battery terminal post.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

I got so wrapped up in my process, I didn’t notice it at all 🤣 It’s called being Human 😊

[@truth4reel]

He's human. I just finished repairing a 08 TL with electrical/computer issues, but when the customer arrived to pick up the vehicle the battery died. In my haste I reverse hooked the jump box and the ground terminal sparked which made me catch my mistake. Car was fine. Things happen we are humans.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

@@truth4reel thanks not everyone is robots, even though robots are trying to taking over

[@jackelineescobedo969]

Men you so funny 😂

[@vbarbee1]

That's going to be expensive fix for what $130 battery 🤦🏽‍♂️. Think you did the right thing, it's going to potentially take some time for that. Get one thing fixed that run something else fot that not to be working. Then you will have to call the customer tell them what they need. That's itself is going to be a ongoing process. Electrical problems will make you pull your hair out lol.

[@james8717]

You sound like Bizzy Bone!

[@AlonzoJohnson-l4m]

Google maps for business

[@WeUpYn]

As a master Mazda tech I can tell you they don’t break down much at all. Most of our work is scheduled maintenance, most of our issue cars are from when ford owned Mazda, and the few issues the new Mazdas have they are pretty much very common stuff don’t typically have very weird issues.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Thanks for this comment! I am always recommend people buy Mazdas based off my own experience. Glad to hear from someone who actually works on them more than me!

[@BobbyBurns-o8o]

Just over your head buddy..... @South Main LLC Auto he would have figured it out

[@guytowers8479]

Lawd 🤦

[@AlonzoJohnson-l4m]

Mechanic confessions

[@biggchill8176]

Yeah changing a battery isn’t what I would call diy. You put batteries in tv remotes. There’s a plus and minus🤷🏾‍♂️

[@jameslewis1175]

Yeah man u look wore out. And yeah when it's too much refer it to the dealer.

[@chris2773976]

Why have a shop if you're afraid of the big jobs, just have a brake and tune shop so customers don't waste your and their time.

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

I’m definitely not afraid. When you are trying to run a shop and be a technician and shop helper all the same time, you really have to be time sensitive. That being said I found that job to time consuming to take on at the time.yes I could have made about 500$ for example but I would have missed out on $3000 literally

[@joeyjustin6895]

THIERS AN ACUAL TRADE MARKED CAR DOCTOR AND ITS NOT YOU. IT'S RON ANANIAN

[@AlexTheCarDoctor]

Yeah but I’m ALEX the car doctor…. That changes things …and there are plenty car doctors out there…

[@Kingmuhammad92]

Is “There’s” smart guy 😂

[@ianscott9797]

He so handsome

[@davidc7196]

U don’t have time , that’s why they pay u for your time . I think way over your head . And u couldn’t figure it out. Just say that