I left the gas cap off after filling last week, and when I got home my Mercedes had its check engine light on. Unfortunately it's due for inspection! I didn't want to spend a half hour of my mechanic's time to turn it off, which would have been around $50. For half that, I've resolved it myself and now have a neat diagnostic tool!
Basic auto maintenance
If the check engine light is on, one of the first things to check is the gas cap -- the light comes on when the cap is not on, or not on tight.
I drove the vehicle another hundred miles or so after this happened, and it still didn't turn off. With the end of the month approaching, I didn't really want to get pulled over. So I researched it, and found an OBD-2 device which communicates via Bluetooth. It was $20: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NLQAHS/ ; image from Amazon:
From the YouTube videos I had watched, I knew I'd need to spend another $10 on the phone app. I never buy phone apps, but this one was worth it. And, it turned out to be only $5, so beat my expectations.
Plug it in, turn the car on
The plug is "backwards" in my car, meaning when I have it plugged in, the lights on the device are facing the front of the car and I can't see them. I wanted to be sure I could see the lights before moving on to the next step, so I used my phone as a "mirror" (using the front-facing camera) and saw them.
It connected just fine, using the "free" version of the program ("Torque Lite"), and I could see the fault but not clear it. So then I spent the $5 on "Torque Pro".
Resource contention
Note that you should exit Torque Lite before attempting to connect Torque Pro! I had a momentary feeling of buyer's remorse, but then realized that I had left the Lite one connected; exiting it fixed the issue.
Some vehicles reset while running, others while not
I tried three times to reset it with the car running, as the YouTube video I had seen demonstrated. (However, while that video did show a Mercedes, the dash was different from mine -- mine has the words "CHECK ENGINE" whereas this had an image of an engine.) After it failed the third time, I looked at the instruction booklet in the "troubleshooting" section.
It had a section on resetting the check engine light, and the answer included that some vehicles must be running to reset it; and some vehicles must not be running. So, I turned the car off, put the key in "ACC" mode (almost turned on), and reset it and it worked!
Any car since 1996
I can now diagnose any car sold in the US since 1996. Not saying I'm going to start an auto mechanic's shop, but I am very happy with this outcome, as I didn't just hand over some cash for a result -- I spent half the cash, got the result, and can now achieve future results with this new tool and skill set!
Side note none related. BCC chat. I'd love to hear your opinions. I want to avoid making mistakes.
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Hey save money when you can. Props to you
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Thanks! Of course the next thing I want to write is, "what right does the state have to annually inspect your personal property?" :)
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To make money...ah, I mean to ensure the safety of everyone...
HEY, You have given us this power so we can do what we want with it as long as the POWER exists.
This should be an interesting paper on this topic.
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We didn't give them that power.
When I get pulled over I ask the cop if I can search his car.
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and he said...
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Actually it hasn't happened yet, since I made that decision. :) But I expect it to soon as I've let the inspection-by-others lapse. (I know my car works.)
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and another post is born!
Oh yes, I am going to be interested in the conclusion(?) of this story.
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I've driven it 50 miles so far since I reset the light, and my wife has cautioned me to go over 100 miles before having it inspected.
So, we're driving like rebels for a few more days! :)
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Wow! and Wow! You have so much potential with your inventiveness, forced frugality and improvisational skills...
A New Life is beginning?
So much to be grateful for ......
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Thanks! As I'm reading your comment, I'm hearing the lyrics, "You should always remember, who you are." The end of this song:
-- just a little tearful. :)
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My emotions RULE, to my detriment, and music can be so influential. I believe it is physical and cannot be influenced. It is who we are.
It just is real and has to be recognized and dealt with...just like those grasshoppers eating your eggplant leaves...one at a time, constantly.
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I think there is a strong link with music. Do you know about 432 Hz? Back around the two wars, countries got together and agreed to change the A above middle C from 432 Hz to 440 Hz. This cased the music produced to make people angrier and more war-like, because the music was more dissonant: 440 is divisible by 2, but not 3, whereas 432 can be divided by both -- meaning, there are richer harmonies etc with tuning to that frequency.
Combine that with our bodies being 70% water -- researcher Masaru Emoto was showcased in the movie and book, "What the Bleep Do We Know?", with his water crystals showing that they're symmetrical and beautiful when "good" words are spoken to them or written on the container; and asymmetrical, muddy, ugly crystals are formed while freezing when "bad" words are used.
So, "good" sounds (vibrations in the air) affect our bodies as well, since they're 70% water.
There is a filter one can use with audio software (e.g., Audacity) so you can convert your music collection from 440 Hz to 432 Hz. I've also purchased music by artists who specifically write in 432 Hz -- Brian T Collins is one composer: http://briantcollins.com/btc/
And I know of three recent popular songs that were recorded in 432 Hz tuning as well: in fact, one is the "Life is Good" t-shirt I'm currently wearing! "Imagine" by John Lennon. The other two are by Bob Marley (funnily enough, his t-shirt was underneath this one in the drawer!), "Three Little Birds" and "One Love". Enjoy!
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I am going to pass this one to my husband as he will find it very interesting. If it looks like an answer from me you will be able to tell if it is written in a different stye. He started singing with a group, then taking sax lessons and then voice lessons recently and I think he will find this very interesting.
Later...
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bchick's husband here:
Tuning instruments has been an "art" for probably thousands of years. Ever since Phythagoras' theory of fifths, different muscians and composers have been experimenting with slighty different tuning arrangements. The current concert A = 440 Hz derives from a British standard set in 1939. My sax is manufacturered to harmonize with instruments tuned to A = 440 Hz and it is impractical to try change that pitch (although adjusting the fit of the mouthpiece to the neck can "flat" my pitch).
It is my understanding that the pitch of A has varied in the range of 400 - 460 Hz since 1880. (see https://ask.audio/articles/music-theory-432-hz-tuning-separating-fact-from-fiction)... rising in that range to accomodate a higher, brighter concert sound (and steel, rather than wood, ribbed pianos). IMO, the importance of any consistent tuning system (whether A = 432 Hz or 440 Hz) is that various instruments can sound in harmony when playing together.
Harmonies are the result of relative pitch ratios, not the base or concert pitch... so in theory the same harmonies are available regardless of the base pitch.
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Cool thanks! :)
Makes sense that instruments might be constructed specifically for a particular tuning frequency, I hadn't considered that.
I just convinced my wife to join, perhaps you might convince him to as well? I just shared an "introducing my wife" post, but she'll write her own more comprehensive one. :)
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I saw that and immediately followed her so I should see it when she makes it.
P may join someday when he has time but since he has incorporated sax lessons and daily practice and voice lessons with practice every day into his already busy schedule, plus gardening and Bible study and more. I doubt he will take the time. (He is the out going one in this relationship, you see.)
I send him good posts I think he will be interested in, like yours. And we talk about it.
Steemit is time consuming at first while you learn what is here and I think it might be the last straw.
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