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Prelude: When i bought my car back in October 2020 a combination of trust in professionals and a lack of knowledge and time led me to sign a third party service contract for my car along with (at least internally) committing to going to said garage for all my repairs and the such. Over the past couple months i've been quite disappointed with my experiences as prices were very high and as time went on kept feeling like i couldnt trust the work being done or if the work i was asking for was being done at all. This has culminated in a recent visit to my garage of choice where i presented them with a list of symptoms and observations after which i received a bill that was about half the rice i bought my car for. I will use one of the items on the list as an example: Car details i presented: CEL (check engine light) is on, the TJ has a dashboard diagnostic feature, it is basic but very useful so the code that was displayed after i input the konami code was P0431 (Catalytic Converter efficiency below expected threshold) Car passed registration in October with near perfect emissions Noticed wires dangling from the engine bay that werent there before OBDII diagnostics port broken by previous owner Garage assessment: OBDII port repair : AED1500 (they wish to plug a diagnostic tool in to figure the issue based on the O2 readings in the PCM) Replace Catalytic converter: AED1100 I then took that car back and did what i normally do, cleaned it up properly and took a look myself when i had some time, albeit this was probably a week later. My observations: O2 sensor in Bank 1 Sensor 2 had it's wires ripped clean off (my assumption is that we went over bush or something and it got caught as the connector unfortunately has a poor mounting location under the chassis. I then tracked the wires that had been tangling and they went into the connector for said sensor. A simple visual inspection in my garage with the light in my phone has given me the answer to which the solution is 10 minutes of my time (if you dont count the time it takes to ship the part from the US) and AED160. I've attached relevant files like the Locations of the cats and sensors and the old sensor. Epilogue: With all this in mind, im willing to accept that i perhaps got unlucky on many fronts. Im a low value customer because i do a lot of my own work on the car, i aslo dont have much money to spend on frivolous addons and such, and i could just have drawn the short straw and gotten the laziest of their otherwise good mechanics. This all though leads me to this, would there be any space in carnity for a DIY car maintenance section or even a day teaching each other how to diagnose issues and fix them? How often do you check your car yourself? How often do you lubricate joints and metal bits that are likely to rub? How often do you check your Oil, Coolant and Steering fluid? Are you willing do something as simple as screwing in an AED160 piece in your car yourself to save AED2600?

Hi all, I found 2 useful documents to share with the fellow FJC community: Complete FJ Repair Manual (attached) FJ Electrical Diagram and guide (link) as the above attachment is so large i couldn't include both in here so simply sharing the link. Hope these come in helpful to those of you able to take on some tasks at home (i look forward to the day where that's me!) FJ_RepairManual.pdf

Any recommendations for a laser cutting service? Probably going to design my own LED mounts. Should I deliver the design in a CAD format or can I give them a simple drawing?

I want to buy some tools, where to go in the UAE? Quality: Between home and professional. One time buy, but not daily use. looking for the following: - Torque wrench (up to 200 Nm) - Jack stands, 6T - Grease gun - Floor jack, one for at home, one to carry with me (not too heavy) maybe one that suites both? I’m thinking to go to Dragon Mart, sure I can find everything there, but would like to hear your advice/ opinions.

It's topless season! For Jeeps I mean! Along with that came the unwelcome guest - Stray cats. They have always been around no matter where you are in the UAE... keep your car in a covered parking in apartment building or park it outside, chances are you have this visitor sitting on your warm vehicle, taking creative liberty and leaving foot prints all over the windshield, trunk and roof. And if you are lucky... it will pee and/or leave scratches on your seat! Something had to be done... so I started looking for solutions... Cat Repellent Solutions... Cat have very sensitive sense of smell, so you spray some pungent odor stuff around, it can keep them away. This DIY recipe that worked for me - Water + Vinegar + Eucalyptus + Garlic + Rosemary = Mix all this good stuff up in a spray bottle and Viola! Spray them periodically around your Jeep or car or bike and you will not be bothered again. It worked for me so hope it helps others

Traditionally, in order to disable your ABS/ESC control, you have to do the voodoo "steering wheel dance" or pull out the J6 fuse from the fuse box. Well, pulling out the fuse a few times broke my fuse puller! So, I started looking out for alternatives and finally found a solution. There are two ways to do it. One (most common method you find on youtube videos) is to intercept the wire from under the gear box... this method is tideous as it involves pulling out the 4HiLo gear knob out. This method is a serious pain-in-the-rearo! Good luck if you chose this method.. this post is not for you. Second method, is to intercept the same wire from the source, which is located under the hood. Much easier. Here is a brief write up of how I have done it. Things you need: 1. Any On/Off Switch. I used an accessory push on/off button. 2. 1-1.5m of electrical accessory wire. 3. Insulation Tape 4. Wire strippers and Wire connectors. 5. Handy Drill with drill bit. 6. Lots of patience, Sane enough to Cut the right Wire and a Steady Hand. DISCLAIMER: I do not take any responsibility in case you snip the wrong wire or short anything else in the process. Do it at your own risk. Another Disclaimer: This is a quick and dirty tutorial for a kill switch. Make necessary adjustments in case you want a cleaner safer way. Yet another Disclaimer: Apologies for the dusty pictures. Hope they help illustrate the steps! Okey, now that's out of the way, here we go - 1. Locate the ESP unit under your Wrangler hood. This is usually near the Brake fluid area. Push the lock pins on either side to release the latch and it swings up to unlock. ( Fig 1 ) 2. Unplug two more plugs that branch out from the same harness ( Fig 2 ). After doing this, its easier to pull out the entire harness from underneath the unit and towards you so that you can see it clear. 3. Remove the stock wraps and insulation from the thick main harness to expose the wires. Locate the Purple with light blue wire. Make sure its the right one because there is also another purple with dark blue (leave it alone!). 4. Snip the Purple with Blue stripe wire. ( If you want to make sure you cut the right wire, you can plug everything back in, turn the car on, and it will show the ABS and Traction Symbols on the dash. Pat yourself in the back! If not, and some other symbols show, then go back to step 3 and make sure you cut the right wire! ) 5. Attach some wire connectors to the ends of the striped wire. This is so that in case, in the future, you decide you do not want the switch, or you want to swap it out with something else, you can quickly do it. 6. Drill a hole wherever you decide to place the switch. Fasten the switch to the panel. Place a metal washer behind the switch so that it doesn't press on to the cowl every time you push it. Some recommend placing metal plates, but am lazy... this is supposed to be the easy tutorial, right? 7. Feed the switch wires through the firewall hole (fig# 4 & 5). You can fetch it from underneath the dash panel. Feed it through the right compartments to where you need it to come out. (PS: If you have already soldered the wire to the switch, then do step 6 in reverse. Feed a shoe lace or wire-puller-of-your-choice through the firewall and fetch the wire in from the dash side to the hood) 8. Attach +ve end of the switch wire to one end of the snipped wire and the -ve end to the other snipped end. It doesn't matter if you get the +ve and -ve reversed as you are just extending the connection from the same wire and not dealing with a +ve or -ve literally. 9. Once all the switch and connections are tested and verified, insulate and wrap the wires back. Make sure no wire or metal contacts are exposed. Secure with zip ties where ever necessary. (Fig6 shown for reference but I wrapped the exposed contact later with insulation tape) 10. Close everything back and go through all the work again to make sure everything is where its supposed to be. The Switch pushed in, means the wire is connected, so your ABS and ESC is active. When the switch is in the OFF position, there is a break in the connection, so your ABS/ESC will be inactive. Fig 7 shows a rough wire diagram. To Reset the warning lights on your dash, turn the car off, push the switch to ON position and the ABS/ESC lights should go off. Safety note: Activate the switches ONLY WHEN CAR IDLE. DO NOTE activate while driving or you may end up doing some unexpected drifting or donuts! Tutorial only applicable for JK (07-18) Wrangler models. Refer to your manual for wire codes if needed. Enjoy and Safe Off-Roading! Follow @joshmyster on instagram in case you found this tutorial helpful.

http://www.ufixit.ae/ offers the most cost-effective solution for all car maintenance needs. As the name suggest U FIX IT, offers fully functional lifts and well-equipped garage to let you fix your car by yourself. UFIXIT.AE - Open House - Self Service Car Repair When: Saturday, 16 Dec 2017 - 12 PM - 6 PM Where: Warehouse 22, DIP2, Dubai, United Arab Emirates GPS Coordinate: https://goo.gl/maps/yRRkcrrhGgz Theme: The ‘theme’ of the event is BRAKES, i.e they will have activities and information related to brakes. Offer: All participants will get FREE 1-hour of use of the garage. U Fix It Garage has the facilities and tools for you to replace the parts and offer you a convenient, cost-effective and flexible way to maintain your car. An open-house style event invites you to come by from 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm and learns more about this new concept and what they are offering. To book a bay, go to http://www.ufixit.ae/book-your-bay/ and select the “Open House” promo. First 10 to book will get to use the garage facilities for free during this open house event. In addition, to give you the chance to check out their garage they are offering hot and cold drinks, donuts and kids friendly environment. @Alfie will be here to answer more questions or clarification for this event.