Anyone who’s ever watched a detective show knows that when a black light appears, things are about to be discovered. In fact, this also applies to car repairs.
TikTok creator and mechanic Pete (@slapmehard77) recently posted a viral video in which he uses UV light to solve the dilemma of a customer’s submerged 2021 Honda HR-V. “Today I learned something new,” the author wrote in a text overlay on the screen.
The video has been viewed 2.1 million times and has around 38,000 likes.
“Customer states that water has collected on the rear floor of the passenger. We found a spare tire that was well filled with water. The clue turned out to be hidden in the headliner. Something like this “I never thought I’d use a UV light for that,” the video’s caption reads.
Pete demonstrated the process in front of the camera. “I spent several hours looking for this leak,” he wrote, eyeing the fluid-filled spare tire compartment.
Trying to guess the cause, he removed the interior trim around the spare and poured water onto the roof with a hose. He also put the car through a pressure wash. No clues have been revealed.
“It turns out that UV light can be used to track down the source of water leaks,” he wrote, and he used a hand-held UV flashlight (and appropriate eye protection) to do just that.
The video shows a comparison between areas of the car without UV light (looks clean) and areas with UV light (water stains are visible).
According to Pete, who is the culprit? A previous sunroof drainage issue caused water to collect in the spare tire compartment. When the driver stops the car, water splashes onto the floor of the back seat.
“The floor of my friend’s 98 Accord is wet, but the headliner seems fine. I want him to use the black light I gave him for the uranium glass,” one commenter wrote. wrote.
Another commenter wrote: “Great tip about the UV light…I’ll be ordering one in case I need it.”
Most viewers reported that they had seen sunroof drainage problems like this before.
“This is why I’ll never own a car with a sunroof. They all leak eventually,” one viewer chimed in, while another added, “It takes 30 minutes to clean the sunroof drain. It takes seconds. My car is a 15 year old BMW and there are no leaks.”
“In our car, one of the roof drains in the back had slipped out of its holder and was hanging inside the car,” another source commented.
One person said: “My grandpa’s car has a sunroof and it makes a lot of noise and I get mad when I hear it. Thanks for the video, check it out now!”
Another viewer said: “I have a 22 year old car and it has a sunroof and it still doesn’t leak. Has technology gone backwards? I’ve heard too many problems with sunroofs on new cars. .”
“I bought a used CRV and when I got it home from the dealership there was water in the spare tire so I returned it the next day. “I thought I washed the spare, but it wasn’t dry when I put it away,” someone said. I commented.
“I drilled a hole in the trunk to let the water escape and moved on with my life. It’s been good ever since,” a viewer wrote.
“The UV light trick was something that came to mind when I was trying to answer the question, ‘Where does this water come from?'” Pete told the Daily Dot in a TikTok direct message interview . “In this case, we could clearly see that the sunroof drain backed up and the water went over the headliner to the C-pillar and from there into the spare tire well. It’s hard to say, but it’s one of the useful tools for diagnosing leaks.”
UV leak detection is a common method and many kits can be found online. including Amazon. Commonly used in HVAC repair scenarios. Many of these UV leak detectors are JB Tools says it uses fluorescent dye to find those pesky leaks.
“If an object contains chemicals called phosphors that absorb energy and re-emit it as visible light, it will appear to glow when you shine a black light on it.” According to science. “The black light emits light [most] The light waves are just beyond the range that humans can perceive and are known as the ultraviolet (UV) portion of the spectrum. A black light converts ultraviolet light into visible white light as a type of radiation. When ultraviolet light waves from a blacklight hit objects containing phosphors, those phosphors glow. ”
Pete told the Dot that no dye of any kind was used in the test. He speculated that there were various ways in which UV light could have brought out the stains in the water. Probably headliner glue, mold, sunroof his truck grease, etc.Several Common substances that glow under ultraviolet light According to the helpful website ThoughtCo, these can be anything that contains quinine, such as body fluids, laundry detergent, certain minerals, antifreeze, and tonic water.
@slapmehard77 2021 Honda HR-V. The customer states that there is water on the floor behind the passenger seat. I found a spare tire that had enough water in it. It turns out the clue was hidden in the headliner. I had never thought of using a UV light for this. #Mechanic #automotive engineer #water intrusion ♬ Five Nights at Freddy’s – Newton Brothers
Pete told the Dot: “I make these videos for pure entertainment. After being in the field for so long, I started to feel like I became a robot. TikTok just became my outlet. I’ll be a sad boy if they decide to enforce a ban on the app.”
Daily Dot reached out to Honda via email.
*First published: March 23, 2024, 6:06am CDT
Eric Webb
Eric Webb is a Texas-born, nationally award-winning pop culture critic, arts & entertainment journalist, and editor.
