Automotive Repair

I got in my 2007 4runner (SR5, V6, 4WD for you AutoZone types) to go to work last night and got nothing out of my vents. Made for a chilly commute to work.

I'm not mechanic but I know how to Google a problem and can generally be trusted with a wrench or screwdriver if I know what the problem is, so I narrowed it down to 2 most likely issues- bad blower motor (duh) or a bad relay.

So I came home, tapped on those parts with a tiny hammer (allegedly sometimes that works) and poked at some things with my multimeter.

It looks like I'm getting 12v at the connector to the blower motor, so am I right in thinking that's a pretty sure sign that it's the motor itself that's bad? I'd think that if my problem was the relay I wouldn't be getting anything there.

Just kind of looking for a little sanity-check, already ordered a new blower and it should arrive sometime today (prime same-day shipping is a magical thing sometimes) but should I be steeling myself for a cold drive to AutoZone to pick up a relay?

This weekend I was replacing the crossmembers in my 2007 f150 and I have determined that, while I've extended the life of it by a lot, I think that I'm in the market for getting a less rusty bed. I have been checking FB marketplace, and I had a good lead on one that was in much better condition than mine for $300. But it was a 5.5 and I need a 6.5.

So I guess my question is aside from waiting for one to randomly crop up, how can I go about finding one for a reasonable price? I live in a pretty remote place and I'm willing to travel a bit, but I can't really just go check some stuff out on a whim.

Truck gets power and attempts to turn over.

Which made me think it wasn't the starter or battery.

Looking things up online it pointed me to the fuel pump.

I went through and did the whole diagnostics with checking that. Including checking the fuses and relay.

I found a video saying the fuel pump control module could be messed up, and it looked pretty rusted out so I changed that. But it didn't fix the issue.

So I going back to the fuel pump diagnostics of the fuel pump, it said to turn the accessory on with the key and you should hear the fuel pump kick on if you put your ear to the gas cap. I did but I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to be hearing.

I'll probably go ahead and replace it, but is there anything else that I should be checking or what?

This wasn't recent, but thought it was a worthwhile post to get this community kicked off.

A while back, my car (2011 Kia Optima) started having an issue where the gas fill nozzle would click off early during fill; I would have to fill slowly which was extremely annoying. I did all of the basic troubleshooting I found on Google with no results. I ended up fixing it, but it was a very difficult problem to track down, so I was particularly proud when I solved it, especially at no cost.

EVAP was just a nebulous term to me at the time, but I started really digging into the service manual and systematically testing things like canister blockage, purge solenoid operation, anti-siphon blockage, etc. I even made a special apparatus that allowed me to blow air (with my mouth) into the gas fill neck to rule out some final suspects.

It turned out the problem was the vent valve (ORVR, "B" in the picture) in the tank. After ruling everything else out and convincing myself it had to be that valve, I dropped the tank and removed/disassembled the valve. It works like a float, an open vent until the tank is full, but it was stuck at the top because it had swollen in its cage for some reason.

I sanded the float down just slightly, reinstalled it, and never had an issue since. Maybe it was a batch of bad gas that made it swell?