Auto Repair

Fluid Leaks

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 17:54:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Fluid Leaks

The first step in diagnosing a fluid leak is to familiarize yourself with the various colors of fluid used in the components on your vehicle and the color of the leaking fluid you are looking at. Knowing the color of fluid and which components use it will help to isolate the areas you will be looking at.

An example of this is the color red or pink, which is the color of the fluid used in automatic transmissions. If the leaking fluid color was red or pink, you would not be examining the engine or brake system, which have either a brown or light yellow color fluid. However in some vehicles the color of the fluids used in standard transmissions, power steering units and radiators is also red or pink.

Light or dark brown fluid can be engine oil, or differential fluid, but once again this same color not type of fluid is used in some power steering units and standard transmissions. Bright green is the color of the older type of antifreeze. A clear color fluid is usually normal water from the vehicles air conditioning unit but on some vehicles this could be the color of the power steering fluid. Brake fluid has a light yellow color and the windshield washer solvent color is dependant on the type of washer solvent used, usually blue or pink. Gasoline is an amber color fluid.

After identifying the color of fluid leaking and knowing which components on your vehicle use that color of fluid, you are ready to start your examination. Begin this process by equipping yourself with a good strong light and planning a safe way to gain access underneath your vehicle. Remember this in your search; fluid always flows down then back. Gravity will always cause the leaking fluid to flow down towards the ground, it never flows up. The wind currents under the vehicle caused by the fan and force of the air hitting the vehicle when driving will always blow the leaking fluids towards the rear of the vehicle, never to the front of it. When you begin your search, you are going to follow the trail of the leaking fluid in the reverse direction in which it flows, until you get to the component that has the color of the leaking fluid. The reverse direction of the fluid leak is forward to the nearest point front on your vehicle and then to then up to the highest point on your vehicle where the leaking component will be found.

Auto Repair

Radiator & Heater Hoses

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:16:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Radiator & Heater Hoses

The checking of the radiator and heater hoses is one of the simpler checks we can make on our vehicles and yet the failure of these parts remains one of the more frequent causes of mechanical breakdown.

The first inspection is to visually look at every hose clamp for signs of leakage where the hose is clamped. Tighten or replace any hose clamp that has signs of it permitting a loss of antifreeze. Next squeeze every hose with your fingers. You will be looking for hoses that are hard and brittle and may have signs of cracking. Hoses in this condition will eventually break and should be replaced before this happens. Less frequent are hoses that are too soft and will blow up like a balloon while the vehicle is running.

Auto Repair

Air Condition Checks

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:50:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Air Conditioner Checks

In front of the radiator on air conditioned vehicles there is a part that resembles a radiator. This is the A/C condenser. Air flowing thru these fins is what dissipates the heat from the Freon in your A/C system. One of the simplest things to check is that the fins are not blocked with dirt, bugs or bent over preventing air from flowing thru them. A gentle brushing, as the fins bend easily, and air blown from the exhaust of most vacuum cleaners or an air compressor will do a great job of cleaning the condenser. This check and cleaning should be done at least once a year to insure maximum A/C cooling.

Now check the belt that drives the A/C compressor. Checks here are to make certain the belt is not missing, cracked, glazed or loose. A missing belt could mean a part driven by the belt seized and will need to be replaced. Check the inside of the belt for cracks. A belt that has cracks will eventually break and could also be the reason why the belt was missing as previously stated. A belt that is glazed or somewhat hard and shinny are indications of a belt that has been slipping. All three of these conditions will require a new belt. Belt looseness can be checked by applying a little pressure to the belt. There should be about ¼ inch give on a properly adjusted belt. If more then ¼ inch looseness is found, the belt tension will have to be adjusted on vehicles with manual adjustments. If equipped with a belt tensioner, the tensioner will require replacing to correct a loose belt condition.

With the engine running turn the A/C system on and watch the compressor to see if it cycles on and off and the electric fan, in front of the radiator on vehicles so equipped, runs whenever the A/C compressor is running. This is how a normal A/C system is to work.

Last check is to look closely at all the visible A/C hoses, parts and connections. Any visible oil residue on any A/C hose or part is a sign of a Freon leak.

If all your checks are satisfactory, its time to see if you’re A/C system is working properly. You will need a small thermometer that can be inserted into the center duct of the A/C vent. With the thermometer in place, put the A/C settings on maximum and the blower speed on it highest settings and take your vehicle for a drive. If all is well, the air temp from the center duct should go to 50 degrees or under after driving a mile or two. Note# on extremely hot and humid days, you may have to drive a further, but the temp should be in the low 50 degree range.

Auto Repair

Vehicle Shakes When Braking

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:49:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Vehicle Shakes When Braking

Vehicle shakes when braking, known as brake pulsation, is caused by the brake rotors and or drums being out of round or warped.

Overheating of the brake rotors and drums are the main cause of this warping. Prolonged braking and riding the brakes will cause heat to build up quicker then it can dissipate. The slower dissipation of heat from the prolonged braking will cause the rotors and drums to warp. Changing of ones braking habits can help prevent this warping. Example, on steep down hills, maintains a safe speed with less braking by downshifting the transmission to a lower gear. Most people who ride their brake pedal do so because they are following to close.

Another cause of warping is from some of the lower costing brake pads and shoes. The materials in some of these less expensive brake pads and shoes heat up much quicker with less braking and warping will occur more easily. In the end, the cost of the repairs caused by the less expensive parts will far exceed the money initially saved.

A third cause is improper tightening sequence and torque of the lug nuts. Check the owner’s manual here for proper tightening sequence and torque.

Once the warping occurs, the only repair is machining of the warped brake rotors and drums or their replacement.

Auto Repair

Vehicle Will Not Crank

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 01:42:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Vehicle Will Not Crank

Things to check when your vehicle will not crank:

First check is to turn your vehicle head lights on and see if the lights stay bright or go dim when you attempt to start the vehicle.

If the lights stay bright the problem is with the starter or starter relay.

If your headlights go dim, you have three possible problems. A dead battery, bad alternator or loose or bad connections.

The following checks should now be made. Check your battery cables at the battery for corrosion, clean cables and attempt to restart. If vehicle now cranks, problem is fixed. Still no crank, check the other ends of the battery cables for possible loose connections, tighten as needed and attempt to restart, if vehicle now cranks, problem resolved. Still no crank, then jump start vehicle. When vehicle is running momentarily disconnect the negative battery cable. If vehicle keeps running, the problem is the battery. If vehicle stalls as soon as the cable is disconnected, the problem is in the alternator.

Auto Repair

Flat Tire Emergency Repair

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 01:01:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Flat Tire Emergency Repair

There is never a convenient time to have a flat tire. Putting the spare tire on can be dangerous, time consuming, frustrating and dirty. A lot of people don’t even know what the jack thing a ma jig looks like, much less how to use it. Here is a product that every car owner should have. It will repair your flat tire without jacking up the vehicle and get you back on the road safely in just a few minuets.

Click On The Link Below

Lil Buddy Smart Spare Tire Repair Kit

PS: This is qiucker and less costly then being towed.

Auto Repair

Tire Wear

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:59:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Tire Wear

There are only three things that will cause improper and premature tire wear.

One, tires that are over inflated: Over inflated tires will cause the tread in the center of the tire to wear away faster then the tread on both outer edges of the tire.

Two, tires that are under inflated: Under inflated tires will cause both outside treads of the tire to wear away faster then the tread in the center of the tire.

This quality easy to read digital tire gauge will help in maintaining proper tire inflation and extend your tire life.

Click on the link below.

Digital Tire Guage with LED Light

The third is, suspension out of alignment or loose or damaged steering and suspension parts: One side of the tires tread, inside or outside will wear away faster then the opposite tread on the same tire. In some cases, the tiers can also be cupped all around the circumference of the tire. . Because of tools and equipment required, these repairs will have to be done by a professional repair facility

Auto Repair

Engine Tune Ups

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:25:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Engine Tune Ups

Engine tune ups have become a whole lot simpler since about 1992 and further back on some vehicles. Since then, distributor points, distributors and setting of the engine timing have slowly been fazed away. Today’s engines are now fuel injected which made those tricky fuel and engine idle adjustments obsolete. Now all those precise engine settings and adjustments are controlled by the vehicles computers and its many sensors. When a problem arises concerning any of these many computer controlled settings, your check engine or service engine light will light up on your instrument panel. When this happens, unless you left your gas cap loose, take your beloved chariot to the repair facility. Without costly test equipment and specific information, you will not be able to diagnose or repair the problem. Guesses here are costly.

A tune up today consists of replacing the engine spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter and PCV valve if it is the replaceable type. Check the owners manual for the intervals these parts should be replaced. Rule of thumb is all these parts get replaced every 30,000 miles except if the spark plugs are platinum... Platinum spark plugs get replaced every 100,000 miles.

When it comes to cleaning of the fuel injectors, many dealers and repair facilities choose to ignore the warning given by many of the manufactures. The manufactures state that damage to the injectors could occur from the traditional cleaning and an inexperienced person could cause major damage to the engine if done improperly. The preferred method is to simply purchase a recommended additive that gets added to the gas tank when the tank is filled. The injectors are then cleaned as you drive. Note of caution here is, beware of some of the additives on the market... If in doubt, check with your local dealer. The dealer can advise you on the additive in question and provide you with the recommend intervals the additive should be added. I myself like to see this done at least every 15,000 miles.

Auto Repair

Windshield Cracks And Repairs

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 04:59:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Windshield Cracks And Repairs

Windshield stone chips, like in the above picture, can easily be repaired for about $50.00 or much less if you do the repair yourself. With the kit below, all repairs are quick, easy to do and transparent.

If you ignore the stone chip, moisture in the air will get into the chip or crack. Couple the moisture in the stone chip with the difference in temperature between inside the vehicle and outside of the glass and mix this with a few bumps on the road and the little stone chip will grow into a big crack, like in the second picture above. This condition will happen more frequently in the winter, but with air conditioning in the vehicle and the hot summer sun outside, this condition is not exempt from the warm months.

The full fledged crack like in the second picture will require a windshield replacement. The price of a windshield can range between $180.00 to $1200.00 or higher. The price is dependent not only on the year and type of vehicle, but also if the glass was new from the manufacture, used from the salvage yard or from an independent source other then the manufacture of the vehicle.

Places to contact for this repair: New and Used car dealers: Windshield repair facilities: Glass specialists:

For the Do It Yourself-er the stone chip or crack can be repaired for less then $20.00. Follow the simple step by step instructions and you will find the repair quick to do, easy and professional.

Click On The Blue LINK Below.

RII WINDSHIELD REPAIR KIT

Auto Repair

Oil & Filter Change

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:52:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Oil & Filter Change

Tools needed: Jack to raise vehicle so you can get underneath it. Jack stands to keep vehicle from falling on you. Drain pan to catch oil. Wrench to loosen engine drain plug. Oil filter wrench to loosen oil filter. Note #: Some vehicles have shields or covers blocking access to the oil filter and other tools may be required to remove this covering.

Parts required: Oil filter: Note #: I prefer OEM filters as they are designed by the manufacture specifically for your vehicle, but there are many good quality filters on the market. Oil: Usually 5W30 or 10W30 oil is recommended. Synthetic motor oil is required in some vehicles... Check under the hood or the owner’s manual for the type of oil required. Note #: On some vehicles you can not get the filter off without spilling some oil on the engine or frame. A spray cleaner in an aerosol can will help clean up this mess.

Procedure: Raise vehicle in the air and secure it safely so it won’t roll back or fall on you. Position drain pan to catch oil. Remove only what is needed to gain access to the oil filter. Turn drain plug and filter in counter clockwise direction for removal. After oil is drained, turn drain plug in a clockwise direction to install. Clean surface where filter seals and put a light coating of oil on new seal. Install new oil filter by turning it in a clockwise direction and tighten. Fill engine with manufactures specified amount of oil. Lower the vehicle and start the engine and make certain the oil light goes out. Run the engine a few minuets before shutting it off. Check dip stick for proper oil level. Check for oil leaks and clean up as required.

Things to be careful of: Avoid cross threading of drain plug and oil filter by spinning then on first with you fingers before putting a wrench on them. Check drain plug for condition of metal, copper or fiber seal. Replace if needed but don’t forget it. Make certain old oil filter seal came off with old filter and that the new filter has a seal on it. This is usually not a problem if you use OEM or good quality filters. Don’t over tighten the drain plug or engine oil filter. I like to turn the oil filter on until it is snug then tighten it ¼ to ½ turn with the oil filter wrench. Don’t leave drain plug or filter loose. If engine oil light doesn’t turn off soon after you start the engine, turn off the engine right away. Something is wrong.

Note #: If you are concerned about oil from the filter spilling on the engine or frame, here is a tip that may help. Put a hole in the end of the oil filter before you remove it and let the oil drain. Since the end of the filter is several inches from the engine and only holds a small amount of oil, you can usually get a small container there to catch the draining oil before it hits the engine or frame.

Auto Repairs

Pricing Of Repairs

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:37:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Pricing of Repairs

So you decided to pay for someone to repair your vehicle. When you enter the repair facility you see a sign on the wall, Labor Rate $94.00 An Hour and your heart stops beating. Nervously you ask the person, “how much is this going to cost?” The person says about $310.00 dollars. After gulping, you nervously ask “how long is this going to take”? The person says a little over two hours. So in your mind you quickly conclude about $200.00 in labor and the rest in parts.

Its now 9:00AM in the morning when you reluctantly give your approval to do the repairs. A little after 10:00 AM, you are told your vehicle is finished. Great! You think, they must have put a fast guy on the repair and I am going to save about $100.00. You are feeling just fantastic until you look at the bill for $206.80 in labor and $93.20 in parts. Your blood begins to boil and you scream, “HOW CAN THIS BE! YOU ONLY WORKED ON MY VEHICLE ABOUT ONE HOUR?”

Now’s the time for a little education on how this business works. All reputable repair facilities, independents and dealerships alike, have books to look at or software on their computers called labor time guides. Labor time guides are time studies done on many different technicians by the manufactures and independent companies to find out what time it should take an average technician to perform any given repair. These labor time studies are then published and sold yearly to the different repair facilities.

When it is determined what repair is to be done on a vehicle, the owner or manager of the facility checks the published labor time study for how much published time is listed for that repair and multiplies the published time by their posted labor rate. Thus in our story, the published labor time for the job being done was 2.2 hours. Multiply the 2.2 times $94.00 which is the posted facility labor rate and you have $206.80 labor for the job being done.

Most repair facilities do not pay their technicians by the physical time they are there. Most technicians get paid for the published labor hours they complete. The published time listed on our job here is 2.2 hours. That means the technician will be paid 2.2 hours of pay for doing this job. It doesn't matter if the technician spends one hour or two full days doing this job. When the job is finished, the technician is due 2.2 hours of pay as published in the labor time guide So if a time study was done on all these published jobs, how does the job get done so fast?

Technicians are responsible for purchasing all their own hand tools and are experts when it comes to tools. A good technician will study tools like a fishermen studies tackle. When a tool is discovered that is believed to save a little time on the job, a good technician will purchase the tool in order to beat the published labor rate time. It is not uncommon for a good technician to have purchased $18,000 to $20,000 worth of tools. It is also not uncommon for a good technician to get paid 60 hours and more each week for 40 physical or actual hours on the clock. Nor is it uncommon to see a technician paid only 25 hours for the same 40 hours on the clock.

Auto Repair

Who Repairs The Vehicle

noreply@blogger.com (ed&ann1) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:15:00 +0000

Auto Repair

Who Repairs Your Vehicle

When it comes to having routine auto maintenance or needed repairs performed, we have three choices. One choice is to do the maintenance or repairs ourselves. Another choice is to have an independent repair person or independent repair facility perform the maintenance or repairs. Our finale choice is to have one of the auto manufactures dealership perform the maintenance or repairs.

Each choice should be thought through carefully as there are positive and negative things in each to consider.

Our first choice is to do the work ourselves. On a positive note, this is the least expensive of the three choices, providing we are not just guessing at what needs to be done and we have the skills and knowledge to perform the work. Another positive note is we can have the work done at any time of the day, night or week we choose.

The negative side of this choice is the person's lack of proper tools, equipment, training and informational resources available.

Our second choice is to have an independent repair person or facility perform the work. Some positive notes here are better equipment, tools, training and informational resources available to the independents. One might ask, "isn't the lower price the independents tend to charge when compared to dealerships a big positive?" While many folks look at the lower prices of the independents work as a positive, we must understand the reason for the lower prices. More often then not, the reason for the independents lower prices is not in the price of the labor as most folks think but it comes from the price and quality of the parts used for the repairs. Many will argue that the quality of these lower priced parts are equal to or exceed those made by the manufacture. I have no information to say yea or nay here so you will have to form your own opinion on this matter.

The negative side here is the technology used in each make vehicle, model and year is so different and changing that the independents can't keep up with all the equipment, tools and informational resources needed to efficiently diagnose and repair all the items on every make, model and year vehicle that may come into their repair facility.

Our third choice is the manufactures dealerships. Some positive notes start with the manufactures unique relationship with their dealerships. They provide to the dealerships technicians, training, tools, equipment, informational resources and a direct connection to the manufacturer's engineers that is second to none. When it comes to diagnosing and repairing the vehicles made by the manufacture, no expenses are spared. The manufacture realizes that if their products can't be repaired properly, no one will purchase them. The parts used in the repairs are direct from the manufacture and made with specifications exclusively for the vehicle being repaired. In most cases the warranties given on the repairs and maintenance performed, exceed the warranties given by many of the independents.

The negative side here comes with how each individual dealership is staffed and run. Due to the management of the individual dealership and how much emphasis is given to profit, not every technician is permitted or encouraged to take advantage of all the training and resources offered by the manufacture. Appointments sometimes are not convenient. Prices are higher on a lot of the competitive repairs and maintenance which most of the repair industry competes for. As mentioned earlier, this higher cost of repairs is not in the labor but in higher price of the manufactures parts used. The manufactures justifies these higher parts prices with the claim of higher quality. A comparison given to the difference in parts is to think of the difference in terms of a wool suit verses a polyester suit. Both may fit but which one will wear better and last longer?

Auto Repair