Diagnotic flow charts for non-mechanically minded?

Question

I have two daughters who have their own cars but unfortunately they didn't inherit my interest in things mechanical. When they have a problem with their cars, the message I tend to get is "It's making a noise".

On its own, a description like that isn't terribly helpful and taking a car to a garage with no more information than that is pretty much like giving them a blank cheque.

Are there any good on-line flow charts for mechanical novices that can help them do a bit of fault diagnosis? I've found this one

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but I wonder if there aren't some better ones out there?

Tim

Pete M · Accepted Answer

I had a phonecall from a female friend a week or so ago, she's got a Polo TDi.

Her "My car is poorly" Me "Why? What's wrong with it?" H "It sounds like its got a cold, and it's shivering"

When I got there it turned out her little 3 cylinder engine was only running on two cylinders...

Chris Whelan · Answer

[...]:-)Chris

Tim Downie · Answer

I remember how rough my father's fiat 500 used to sound when it it was only running on one cylinder. ;-)Tim

Gordon H · Answer

In message , Mrcheerful  writes8-)I had a thump from the rear end of the 1936 Standard 10 I inherited from my dad.      At first it was only noticeable on LH bends, but it got slowly worse, and reminded me of when the crown wheel lost a tooth on his old Morris 8.The mystery was solved when I looked at the car from behind when  it was parked on a sloping drive.There was a huge bulge in the inside of one of the rear tyres, and the inner tube was about to peep out through a split.It caught the chassis on LH bends.   :)

Gordon H · Answer

In message , Tim Downie  writesI had to drive 100 miles home from the lake District in our Viva HC on three cylinders on a busy Sunday with the wife and three kids aboard.I tried the AA for over an hour but couldn't get through.The tough part was starting up a slight slope with pathetic power.The Viva HC used to be very temperamental about plugs, I think there was only one make that seemed to last any length of time,  AC?

Chris Whelan · Answer

[...]All Vauxhalls of that era ran better on AC-Delco plugs.For a journey of 100 miles, I'd have looked for somewhere to buy a plug and plug spanner...Chris

Gordon H · Answer

In message , Chris Whelan  writesOn a busy Sunday?     I didn't know that it was the plug at that stage, and it only occurred under load.       Once cruising on the motorway the miss-firing stopped, but I would have had to do something if we'd been in Derbyshire!

Paul - xxx · Answer

Tim Downie  said ini6d1gk$8gi$    Teacher at my school asked me to look at her car " it's making a horrible noise when it's moving, wobbling and won't turn corners very well.  It can't be much 'cos it's ever so quiet when stood still!!"Front wheel missing, driveshafts torn out, suspension dragging ..."Oh.  So would that be what the bang was when I hit the kerb then?"

Duncan Wood · Answer

Must have been a hell of a wallop to lock the diff.

Mrcheerful · Answer

maybe it was a 4x4?

Paul - xxx · Answer

Mrcheerful  said inc46jo.251752$    Nope, Corsa.  She hit the kerb while on full lock, and it looked to me like the wheel folded over, outwards, from the top, breaking the hub and suspension and simply pulling the wheel/hub/driveshaft out the side of the diff!She'd somehow carried on driving ... as you say, I guess the diff still had bits in it that somehow locked it up enough.  She only drove about 300 yards to the school carpark after the hit.  She was AA'd away ... ;)

Diagnotic flow charts for non-mechanically minded?

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