Once again it is that time of year to store the snow blower and break out the lawnmower, here are some hints Grease the fittings on your snow blower, usually on the wheels and auger mounting points.Change the oil Spray off the entire machine and let dry thoroughly. I use a spray wax on a few spots. Lube the cables and pivot points and pulleys. Check the belts, and clutch.Spray some WD-40 on the augers and chute pivot points; I also spray the augers and any rust spots.A couple of cap full’s of Sea Foam in the gas tank and let it run for several minutes to get it into the carb. If you serviced,changed the oil and put Sea Foam into your mower last fall it should fire right up fill it with gas and start cutting.When I was in Arizona I said I was not coming home until I heard lawnmowers’ running, but I had to come home to face the flood.
All posts by John
Tire Pressures
How many times a day do you walk past your tires, do you ever really look at them, with a few exceptions they are the least appealing part of your car. They are also one of the leading causes of accidents. Low tire pressure can be a killer if left unattended. There are many reasons why we don’t pay attention to the tires. Most do not have a compressor so it would require a trip to put air in; it is also to hot, cold, windy and many other excuses. It is one of those chores that is easy to put off, the garbage is noticeable so it has to be done but who knows if you check the tires or not. On the other hand nothing can ruin your day quicker than a flat tire, also today’s tires are really quite forgiving they can be low on air and still do their job. They of course will not have traction on rain, ice or snow as they would if they had the correct pressure, or if you are on an interstate ramp and the tire rolls off the rim you are in big trouble. Low profile tires are a different ball game, the quantity of air is considerably less and they need attention on a frequent basis more so in cold climates. Tire pressure increases with temperature so in the spring you may have to let some air out and increase pressure in the fall. Tire pressures can also increase up to 4# on the highway during warm weather. Tires seem to leak easier in cold weather worse with aluminum rims so again they need extra attention. Do not use a can of tire sealant except in an extreme emergency many of the gases in them are explosive and be sure to tell the tire repair shop you have used a inflator. Tire gauges come in many different types and prices. Almost any gauge will do the job but the cheaper ones will not last as long and may lose their accuracy after a short period. I use a digital (about $10.00) except in extreme cold then I use regular metal one. Checking the two on the same tire will assure their accuracy. The recommended tire pressure can be found on the door post of most vehicles or if you have had your tires replaced discuss recommended pressure with the shop that installed them. When you have new tires installed check the pressure many shops will run on the low side for a better ride. I run my tires about 6# less than the maximum for my highway car and right at the recommended pressure on the rest of my vehicle except for my pickup which I run on the low side. Hint: Next time you use your car walk around the passenger side and check the tires, we are always looking at the driver’s side.
Skimping On Repairs
The one place to not cut expenses during these tough times is on car maintance. In the end it will increase the cost to keep your vehicle safe and serviceable. Something as simple as an oil change can extend the life of your engine and avoid a very expensive replacement later on. When oil reaches the end of its serviceable life it will lose its lubrication properties and turn to sludge which will plug the passages causing engine failure. This condition is worse on newer vehicles where the cramped engine compartments and lighter metals cause excessive heat buildup. Also most shops do a safety inspection while servicing and this can also help prevent expensive repairs in the future. I know your first thought is I am being ripped off and that is a possibility and I will cover more on that subject in a later blog.If your car develops a miss IE rough running or vibrating engine, locate and repair the cause, as this may cause excessive fuel to build up in the cylinder as it is not being burned completely. This will contaminate the oil and in time cause bearing failure it can also lead to a carbon build up which can also lead to problems. Using cheap fuels can also cause a carbon problem. More on fuels later.Brakes are another place where we tend to ignore the problem but trust me it will not repair itself. It is one problem if your car won’t start but it leads to a completely different set of problems if it won’t stop. Here again the longer we put off the repair the cost increases.Many years ago when I was a tech A fellow tech used to say he felt like Scrooge around Christmas time ,because he knew he was taking dollars away from Xmas for car repairs, he used to console himself with the thought “fix it now or pay more later”.Bottom line, putting off car repairs because of cost will come back and cost more in the long run. I know it is sometimes tough to spend the money and I wish I had some kind of hint that could help put off needed repairs but there is no short cut.
Spring Melt
As the spring melt starts the most critical time to grease your suspension is after the melt. The boot should be filled until water and or grease come out. If the tech tells you it can’t be greased find a new shop or at least get a second opinion. There are several tools on the market that allow greaseless components to be serviced. There are also sealed components that should not be serviced any good shop can tell the difference. Remember there is a difference between non serviceable and sealed. Also be sure the rear components are checked and greased as many front wheel drives have serviceable suspension parts in the rear. Remember to keep an eye on tire pressure as the temperature raises so will the tire pressure. Of course if you live in the warmer parts of the country you can ignore most of this.
Las Vegas Race
Personal Thank You to NASCAR Now for showing Jamie McMurray save, I just don’t know how in the world he saved that car. A lot of the credit goes to the COT as one of the goals in the design was to make the car handle better when out of control. This was accomplished with a lot of wind tunnel testing and placement of wickerbills. I just could not stay awake during the 14 cautions and 2 red flags; even as I watched the recorded show I had a quick nap. Another 117 commercials and way too much about Digger, come guys enough with the little fellow. I enjoy him but it is becoming a bit too much.Kyle Busch did his best to beat himself and still won the race when he pulled to the front he was flying, as his spotter said “say good night gracie”. What is the problem on pit road these crews work too hard to have the drivers who show up to race on Sunday try to run them over and lose spots on the track due to over driving the car. Sliding through the box is a rookie mistake and Jeff Gordon missing the commitment line. Hey Jeff Joey made it so I guess I have to quit picking on him. Sure the tires were hard but everyone knew it from practice. They don’t run in the rain but how about snow doesn’t look good for parts of the South. Do you have race snow tires Goodyear.
30K check
A pair of brothers publishes a syndicated column in our local paper on Sunday. Yesterday they wrote about 30K, 60K and 90K service on a new vehicle. Several items were of use to a new owner IE they stated that if can produce a receipt for the parts necessary to do the checkup, you are covered under your warranty. They also quoted the price of a 30 thousand mile check at $300.00 to $600.00. I would like to know what is checked on a car with 30,000 miles that would cost that much. Change the oil check the filters and the fluid levels. Maybe adjust the valves, true on some older rice burners, but is unnecessary on many newer vehicles. Sounds to me like a very expensive oil change. If it was necessary to change the fluid in a variable speed transmission I could justify the cost but these are few and far between.They also discussed Dealers to independent shops. True dealers are more expensive but they may be worth it as they said if you have a problem the independent may only see your model vehicle a couple times a year while the dealership will see numerous ones. As most problems in today’s vehicles’ tend to be the same this could lead to cheaper diagnostic times. I hope that with the downturn in the economy more shops and dealers do not turn into crooks to stay open. We have had 3 service stations close in the last couple of years on the main street by my house. I understand that these repair shops are open to make a profit and my hope is that they can do so and still provide decent service to the motoring public.
Cooling Leaks
Wife backs her car out this morning and you notice a puddle, not large but none the less a puddle. Upon investigation you decide it is antifreeze. Has to be fixed so the dog doesn’t have it for lunch. So the search begins when she returns home. There are several methods you can use to find the leak depending upon the severity and location. The first is the tried and true searching a hot engine with the cooling system still pressurized. Of course this results in a burn or two from crowded engine compartment. You don’t find a leak. The common method it to pressurize, with a coolant tester, a cold engine, antifreeze leaks with less resistance on a cold engine than hot. Do not exceed the pressure of your cap. You can usually hear the leak if it is too small to locate. While you have the tester out check the cap as many leaks are caused by a cap that does not release pressure correctly, this can also affect the heater worse, if the cap is not holding pressure. My preferred is dye in the cooling system, after running the engine to circulate the dye use a black light to locate the source. It’s amazing how easy a leak is to trace back to its origin by using this method. If the leak is small you may have to run the vehicle or even drive it for a few days to locate the source. Check the cooling system regularly if you have to drive it as today’s cars have a low cooling system capacity. Check first for low coolant when a heating system looses efficiency or has heat at all.
Coolant Confusion
Coolant is getting to be confusing, best advice, as with all fluids, is check your owner’s manual. Except for dex-cool I would us ethylene glycol or the newer non toxic. GREEN Good old American ethylene glycol with silicates and phosphates, my choice.YELLOW GOLD Same as green in fact some say it has a green tint.ORANGE Dex-Cool, uses 2-EHA and sebacate as inhibitor, both are under question. Original equipment in some GM also made by Zerex, Prestone and Havoline. I would not use has had too many problems and GM is reimbursing for some repairs. GREEN Japanese a darker green and has no silicates. Has a short life span 2- 3 years. RED Toyota Same as the green be careful it looks a lot like Dex-cool. Again short life span.PINK Toyota Extended life Japanese coolants. Uses sebacate and phosphates but not 2-EHA. Seems to be trouble free.GREEN Honda same as the Toyota pink. PINK VW Organic acid type some do have 2-EHA and some don’t would not recommend using it there are several others that meet the VW specs. The American green is the preferred replacementYELLOW European Ford Mostly used in Europe but starting to see it in some Fords. Low silicates no phosphates. It is just starting to be seen in the US as G-05 in the aftermarkets.ORANGE Chrysler same as the yellow ford.BLUE Korean same as the yellow and orange. BROWN oopps you mixed 2 or more coolants or added to much sealer.Many techs are still recommending Dex-cool and as long as your cooling system stays completely full this is fine. With the low capacity of many of the newer systems this can be a problem. I recommend American green or the newer G-05. These 2 should cover all your needs. The most important items are to change it when necessary and if you switch types to remove all the old coolant. This is almost impossible. The exchange machines leave about 10% left so to do it yourself is difficult to say the least. The best method I have found is the air powered vacuum. I have tried to blow out the excess coolant but still feel there was some residue.
Spark Plug Replacement.
Spark plugs, as long as you can’t see them why worry about them? They will last for a 100K says the manufacture. OK so they are tough to remove after that many miles but don’t worry we will sell you a special tool to remove the broken shell. Many techs are saying to give them a twist or 2 at 50K and this will prevent removal problems, or remove and clean them. On many of the newer vehicle you have a hard time seeing the plugs let alone giving them a twist or 2, also I do not believe in cleaning plugs, without special equipment it is almost impossible to remove all the crud from a plug. They are also cheap except for the platinum which they recommend not cleaning. So bottom line about 70-80K replace them. When replacing the plugs pay close attention to the insulator for carbon etchings or tracking if any are present replace the wires also. When installing the wires a touch of dielectric grease is a good idea, also remove the wire from the coil pack and place a touch there. Running a tap through the threads is also a good idea; clean threads allow more efficient heat transfer and prevents a lot of problems. This also provides an accurate torque value, and yes torque them. If you find any damage usually from preignition, this can be from an air/fuel ratio or cooling problem among others. For several years, with the advancement of ignition systems, I expected to see an advanced design replace the spark plug, but so far nothing is replacing the plug. So replace yours before they cause problems. One last hint use only the recommend plug anything thing else is going to cause problems and will not improve performance or mileage.
Serpentine Belts
In the late seventies a few manufactures decided to try a front wheel drive car so they shoehorned a 4 cylinder in along with a transmission and the public loved them. They had some problems, I was service manager at a Dodge dealership when the 1978 Omni came out and they had their share of new design problems but the public loved them anyway. Then in the earlier eighties they decided to put a V6 in but there was a lack of room. So the serpentine belt came into the picture, instead of 2, 3 or 4 belts do it all with one. Only one problem how do we keep the belt tight and from flopping and so came the tensioner pulley. Great idea, many a quick lube manager put their kids through college on belt sales. Gates has a great sales tool that shows the allowable cracks per inch before the belt should be replaced. Check the belt for cracks as long as none of the pieces are missing it is fine but more important it should feel soft to the touch, not hard or brittle; there should be no side wear or fraying, and it should have good black color not a grey chalky look. If any of these are present replace the belt. The appearance will tell you when it needs replacing or if it noisy replace it. If it is noisy check for leaks a small amount of anti freeze can make for a noisy belt. In over 40 years I only saw a couple of belts actually fail because the belt was badly worn.The tensioner can have several problems, lose its spring tensioner, bearing failure, or it can have a limited range of motion. All are simple to diagnosis. As with many things, fluids, tires and spark plugs among others, touch, appearance and smell can be the best judge if a part needs replacement.