Musing about "Trouble Codes"

The trouble is that acting on guesses can lead to expensive unnecessary parts replacement.
Sometimes, you do whack the mole though.
That’s why many of us encourage load testing the 12 volt battery in many instances, cheap low hanging fruit

 

There are different ends of the spectrum on opinions and guesses.

One end is the guy who has no real knowledge or hands on experience with specific symptoms of a specific car or piece of equipment, but is happy to provide guidance, right or wrong. If he can't dazzle you with knowledge, he's going to try to baffle you with BS. This guy is very likely going to lead you down a path of gloom with WAGs.

The other end is the guy that has many first-hand hours of troubleshooting and repairing failures of a specific car or piece of equipment. If symptoms are described to him, he's typically a bit careful, but will make recommendations based on how those symptoms match his experience. This guy provides educated WAGs. If not, he's also the guy most likely to tell you he needs more information to develop an accurate answer. He's the guy you want on your side because he's not going to be the guy blowing smoke up your ***.

One thing I've learned over the years is that mechanics are now a dime a dozen. What's rare and extremely valuable is that person in the crowd who understands and comprehends well enough that they can explain how something is expected to work, how it actually works, why it works and can immediately recognize when something abnormal is occurring, however minor. Bonus points for knowing how to fix it and having the drive to fix it.