It’s great to share all the possibilities available to you when equipped with a Ferret inspection camera, but we believe it’s also important to show real-life instances where the Ferret camera proved to be the right tool for the job. Having the proper tool can make all the difference in the difficulty and time spent on any given task, so you owe it to yourself to see what a Ferret camera can do for you. In this case, we’ll look at a submission from one of our users, David, and how the Ferret Plus gave him the extended reach and vision needed to find a leaky part on his car.
A Mazda Miata with a Mysterious Leak
David had recently purchased a gorgeous, deep crystal blue Mazda Miata, a vehicle he’d been eyeing for quite some time. On Wednesday, he secured his new ride from a private seller in Chicago, Illinois, and was excited to get it home for a proper initial inspection. He’d checked it out to the best of his ability before finalizing the sale with the previous owner, but there was only so much he could see with the car on the ground.
While he got a great deal on it, the Miata needed some work. David, an avid car enthusiast, was more than happy to have this project to keep him busy over the weekend. There was a catch, however; he’d at least need to get the car roadworthy enough to get to work the following Monday. While there were some minor electronic issues, the mechanical issues proved to be a bigger barrier to a safe commute. David noticed a mysterious leak of fluid that looked plainly like dirty oil. Upon checking the fluid reservoirs, nearly all the fluids looked the same dirty oil murky brown color due to the age of the vehicle. While he was aware some brake work was needed, his hopes were that this leak wasn’t originating from the brake system, as that could spell out some laborious (and pricey) repairs.
An Initial Inspection Begins
Wary of the strange fluid leaking, David began his vehicle inspection, intending to quickly determine the cause. Under normal circumstances, a brake fluid leak could be eliminated as a suspect by simply checking the reservoir to see if it’s low. But, since he’d just purchased the car, that wouldn’t suffice; sellers tend to top off fluids so that the vehicle looks good upon a quick inspection. So, David put the car up on a lift and moved his examination underneath the Miata. To his dismay, he found a complete mess of oil-covered components, which made understanding where the leak was coming from near impossible. The leak must have been from higher up in the engine bay, causing the fluid to cover almost everything. That also eliminated the possibility of a simple oil pan gasket leak fix, unfortunately. While he knew disassembling the engine bay from the top down could lead him to the leak, he was also aware that this task could take him hours that he did not have at his disposal. David needed a quicker and easier solution.
How an Innovative Tool Helped Find the Leak
A bit frustrated, David got out from beneath the car and began running through his mind about how he could figure out where the leak was coming from. Eureka! David recalled a handy tool he had at the ready, the Ferret Tool: a lightweight, innovative, and easy-to-use inspection camera. He’d received one as a birthday gift and now it was time to put it to use. With the Ferret app already installed on his smartphone, he attached the camera to a Ferret Stick for added range and increased maneuverability. He then snaked it up into the engine bay, and since the Ferret streams live straight to a smart device, David simply whipped out his phone and could see all the Ferret saw. Plus, with the adjustable LEDs, it didn’t matter that the engine bay was dark; David could see perfectly. David was able to trace the leak and discover the source in no more than five minutes from start to finish—it turned out it was the power steering return line that was leaking. A sigh of relief overcame him, as the new part could be swapped in under an hour.
A Mystery Solved Thanks to the Ferret Tool
Saving him time, further headaches, and a pricey trip to an auto repair shop, the Ferret Tool was able to spot David’s leak swiftly and efficiently. Thanks to Ferret, David could plan accordingly and order the correct parts to make this crucial repair well before Monday rolled around. If it wasn’t for the Ferret’s compact stature and intuitive design, he might have spent hours, even days, attempting to locate the leak; however, he was able to do all this in under five minutes. So, let a Ferret inspection camera assist you like it did David by adding one to your toolkit today!
