Verb
relent - To surrender or agree after resisting or opposing, often due to persuasion, pressure, or changing circumstances.

Our of pride, he would always refuse to accept assitance, but when things hit rock bottom, he relented, and finally accepted help from others.
tinker - To attempt to repair or improve something in a casual way, often to no useful effect

Mitch tried to tinker with his computer before realizing that it was more broken that he had thought, and that he had to bring it to the computer store to have a professional repair it.