Natural Laws

The Edge Effect is proud to present our first law of auto repair -

• The likelihood that any part of an automobile engine will fail is directly proportional to the difficulty of accessing and servicing that part.

The primary practical application of this principle is in the field of diagnosis. If a car should need service, but the problem is not immediately obvious, simply crawl under the car and find the part that is wedged between the oil pan, transmission, and transfer case such that it cannot be serviced without removing at least one of those major pieces. In a bit of empirical research this weekend, I discovered that it is the starter in the case of the 2001 Ford Ranger.