Rtfm

[WanderingOak]

For those of you who don't know, RTFM stands for Read The <Fine> Manual.

Case in point, I was attempting to change the turn signal bulb on a 2000 Hyundai Elantra. It should be straightforward right? Right? Not so fast. It seems that the ABS module (the little octopus-like box with the lines going to each brake cylinder) was in the way. It looked to be a very complex bit of hardware, and was probably a PITA to move out of the way. I could barely turn the bulb loose, but didn't have enough clearance to pull it out. No matter what I did, I could not get that blasted bulb out of the car. I ranted, I raved, I began foaming at the mouth. I wanted to turn green, bust out of my shirt and throw the blasted car up into a tree.

After about half an hour, I decided to open the book(s) that I have on this car to see how I was supposed to change the bulb. I had both the Haynes manual and the dealer shop manual on hand, but figured that I didn't need them to change a dadburn lightbulb. Well, it turns out that there was a screw that I had overlooked. I was supposed to remove this screw, pry the turn-signal housing out of the car, and then replace the bulb. The housing was a bit stiff in it's socket, having never been removed in the past seven years, but with a bit of gentle persuasion, and two screwdrivers, it finally came loose. Of course it slid back in as easy as you please. The light works, easy as pie.

Of course if I had RTFM from the start, I would have saved myself quite a bit of aggravation, but then I wouldn't have had so much fun telling y'all this little story now, would I?

[joelyle]

...join the club! Most things are not as easy or hard as we make them out to be? I prefer the adventure of discovery without the manual. Then when I can't solve the puzzle, so to speak, I turn to the answer page(manual). My funniest car story involved change my own oil and trying to put the new OIL down the dip-stick rod (I didn't know there was a cap to remove...)