We keep hearing that we need to “torque those lug nuts” But Why?In my years of service as an Automotive Professional, I have seen too many reasons as to why you should torque those lug nuts. I’ve seen wheels come off, brakes damaged, broken/stripped lug nuts, bolts and studs, etc., and I have seen this repeatedly by Technicians as well as the Do-It-Your-Selfers for one simple reason – they don’t properly torque the Lug Nuts on their vehicle…Lug Nut, and Lug Bolts, are designed with a specific grade of bolt/nut with a certain amount of “stretch.” Why do they Stretch? Through proper torque, which stretches the bolt, stretching is what allows the threads of the stud/bolt to tightly mate and secure to the counter part nut or threaded hole (the axle or wheel mounting hub) without working themselves loose. It’s almost like mechanically welding the nut to the bolt – except that you can remove and re-tighten it repeatedly. Yet, most bolt grades for this purpose, will retain it’s original size and properties (un-stretched) when torqued to spec. and then loosened – the properties of the bolt have a slight spring affect when loosened.Some other results of improper lug nut/bolt torque are as follows:Warped Brake Rotors – brakes grabbing, pulsating or overheated.Damage to the lug nut seating surface of alloy wheels.Wheel hub damage – threaded wholes stripped out.etc. It’s very important to tighten lug nuts, incrementally, to the final torque spec. There are specific tightening sequences depending on what lug nut/bolt pattern you have – 4, 5, 6 or more… The below example shows the 3 typical bolt patterns and tightening sequences for most automotive applications. Moreover, It is always a good idea to test drive the vehicle, then recheck your wheel lug nut/bolt torque – especially with alloy or painted wheels. I have seen too many times when you have a “false torque” due to paint, debris, corrosion, or a tight and binding centering hole over the wheel hub that allows the bolt or nut to come loose after driving. The wheels of a vehicle is probably the “MOST IMPORTANT” safety feature of the vehicle. Don’t take a chance of improper lug nut/bolt torque causing serious injuries to yourself, your family or other opposing motorists.Below are a couple of great Internet sites to obtain free torque specifications for your vehicle. Additionally, most (probably all) Owners and Repair Manuals have these specs as well. So please, “Torque Those Lug Nuts!” Lug Nut Torque Spec Sites:TorqueSpec.comAutoZone.com

Ah, the slow leak. It’s infuriating when you constantly have to stop at gas stations to keep your tire properly inflated. Since the roads are full of hazards, it’s easy to pick up nails, screws, or other objects that puncture your tires and create slow leaks.Luckily, there’s a quick and easy way to fix your tire without having to go to a tire repair shop. Most good auto parts stores will carry a small kit (here’s an example of one brand) for tire repair, which includes a rasp, a needle, and several thick, sticky black threads. The tools have either a T-handle or a screwdriver-type handle (T-handles are best, in my opinion).Get the kit, and get ready to fix your tire. First, block the other tires for safety. This should be done every time you raise your car, to prevent accidental slippage.Remove the tire, and inspect it for “foreign objects.” Double-check the tire once you think you’ve found the puncture point, just to make sure you don’t have more than one.Once you have found the object, pull it out with pliers. You might need to work at it for a while, especially if the nail is between the treads of the tire, or if you have driven for a while and the outside part has been ground down. Don’t give up!Once it’s out, you’re ready to repair the tire. Let the air in the tire drain out, so it’s easier to work with. Get the rasp from the kit (it’s like a file, designed to be pushed into tire holes). Force the rasp into the hole and work it in and out for about 20 to 30 seconds. This will remove any bits of metal or whatnot that might still be in the tire. It also prepares the hole to be plugged. Some kits have rubber cement or vulcanizing fluid, and if so you can apply some of it to the hole. I’ve never used that, and I’ve plugged many tires successfully.After filing the hole, take a thread from the kit (about 5 inches long, sticky and black) and work it onto the needle (the other part of the kit). Pull the thread about halfway through the needle. Knead the end of the thread so that it will go through the eye of the needle.Once the needle is threaded, force the tip into the tire’s hole. It will take a bit of work, but if you twist and maneuver the needle, it will go in. DO NOT force the thread all the way into the hole; you will need to leave about a quarter to a third outside the tire so it will plug properly.Now that the thread is in the tire, you’ll need to pull the needle out. Give it a firm tug. Don’t yank it; it should come out with a bit of effort. It must leave the thread in the hole.Now, trim the thread that remains outside the tire. Just clip it even with the tread of the tire.Inflate the tire to the proper psi, re-mount the tire, and, just for good measure, once the car is down from the jack check the pressure again. All should be well, and now you are good to go. Keep an eye on the pressure for the next few days, just to be sure you got the leak.Voila! You just fixed your tire and saved yourself a bit of money, and you can brag to your friends about your new mechanical skill. Beware, if you do it right, your friends may demand you do it for them, too…A last word: I’ve been told that newer tires don’t accept the threads to plug holes, and that this technique only works for steel-belted radials.Crew Chief does not recommend this type of repair for any tire and do not put a plug in the sidewall. It may also void your tire warranty. News source: DIY LIfe

Tight budgets are causing car owners to put off minor repairs, and the result is more expensive repairs in the future. When you wait to have repairs done, a $100 job turns into a $400 or $500 job.As a result some small shops are in danger of going out of business for lack of customers.The price of gas is so high; people are using their cars less. If its not being used it won’t break.”The price of crude oil has doubled since 2005 from $50 per barrel to $104 a barrel.With labor rates between $65 and $110 an hour, it drives customers away.Tools cost $10,000 to $15,000 for the average Tech so these labor rates are not out of line. When the cars are finally brought in, it is far more expensive then the original repair would have been.One trend is that parents of young children are having repairs done quickly.This is a sign that the dollars are there just where do you want to spend them.Another trend is that, as shops slow up they tend to get picky on what is needed for repair and what can wait. Don’t have an answer for this but I still think the honest shops that do good work will come OK in the final result.Also this has be a boon to the DIY industry but for some reason the aftermarket sales are falling I think DIY are still doing just what has to be done.

I believe it is time for a discussion on serpentine belts. I know many of you cringe at the thought but they are not that scary. Serpentine belts came about so an engine could be installed transversely and the old belt system took up to much space at the front of the engine. True on some of the newer vehicles they are almost impossible to install in fact on a few newer vehicles they are hard to see. One trick is to either buy or rent one of the new ratcheting belt tools and a belt installer, which is only a rod with a fork on the end. They are both a knuckle saver. Serpentine belts are one of the most oversold items in the quick lube bays, behind transmission flushes. If no one has ever tried to sell you one check yours because you probably need one, as they didn’t want to sell you one as it was to difficult to install.In over 30+ years I have only seen 2 or 3 belts actually fail, usually they fail because of a driven component locking up and destroying the belt. It is surprising how cracked a belt can be and still perform and usually they will make noise before failing I think this is why we see few actually fail as the noise they make is unbearable.A good rule of thumb is if you have cracks that are starting to line up across the belt or more than 4 or 5 in an inch then replace the belt. Or if the edges look frayed or the belt has become stiff replacement is in order. If the edges are frayed check the alignment of the pulleys, as they may be a problem. One again they are not that scary just take it off and install a new one.

Few people realize what you can do with an automotive repair manual, a little bit of free time, some basic automotive tools, and a bit of cash to throw around. A lot of people take it for granted that you have to have all of your auto repair done by professionals, but this is not the case. It depends a lot on the model of the car and type of problem, but most auto repair is actually pretty simple to do. Sometimes, you can save hundreds of dollars on fixing your car by taking a simple shortcut. For example, I used to own up an old and clunky Voyager with a rusted out rear air-conditioning unit. All the coolant leaked out of it, and they said it would cost hundreds of dollars to fix. Instead, I used a clamp from a normal hardware store to cut off the rear air-conditioning unit. It cost me less than a dollar, took me no more than an hour to do, and completely solved the problem!I guess I learned this from my father. He is a retired aircraft Master Mechanic and can fix anything. At least until all of the computer diagnostics came into play on new cars. But for small auto repair jobs, you can feel confident that it is possible to fix things yourself.Nevertheless, for more serious problems, auto repair is definitely a must. I know some people who do automotive engine repair on their own, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you really know what you are doing. Today’s cars are more sophisticated and complex than ever, and it takes a quality automotive technician to really diagnose and fix the problem. Don’t get me wrong, if you have someone there to help you who knows what they are doing, you can probably get enough help to work your way through. Nonetheless, if you are even the slightest bit unsure of your abilities, you should probably leave the auto repairs to the expert.One of the best compromises is to let your mechanic diagnose the problem, then go and repair it yourself. One of the biggest dangers with trying to perform your own auto repair is not knowing what the problem is. Amateur mechanics can jump to conclusions and miss out on the whole issue at hand. This can cause all kinds of problems, and will usually lose you more money than you can gain by not hiring a mechanic. If you have your mechanic figure out what is wrong, however, you can still save a lot of money on labor costs by doing the job yourself. It doesn’t make sense for everyone, but for some people it really does. News source: Car Parts Automotive

You’re late for work, the traffic is terrible and you’re practically in the middle of the highway when all of a sudden you see smoke rise up. You’re thinking that you’re imagining things and it’s just the heat wave playing tricks on you (or some idiot decided that revving up their engine and have smoke come out is a cool thing to do). But then it starts to increase and you know for sure that it’s no mirage. You’re engine is overheating. So being a good citizen, you slowly (and painstakingly) pull yourself to the side of the road to avoid causing more traffic to the already heavily populated highway. I’m about to say something which may actually cause you folks to react violently but let me assure you that this type of mishap is normal. At one point in our lives this has happened to us. Most of the time, the causes of this could be a busted radiator hose, one of the auto parts in your car’s cooling system. If you find yourself in this situation, the steps below will help you temporarily fix the problem giving you time to drive yourself to the nearest service station and to call your boss so you can file a leave (Trust me and take the day off. It’ll do you wonders).Open your cars hood, let out some steam (from your car not from you) and locate its source. Remember, before you touch anything, make sure your car’s engine has cooled off. The engine can give off an intense amount of heat and can cause burns if you make a mistake of touching any of its parts while it’s still hot. Check the radiator hose, look for the hole and dry it completely. Get a piece of duct tape (about 2 to 3 inches will do) and use it to cover the hole found in your radiator hose. Make sure to press it firmly at the center to keep it in place. Once done, get a longer piece of duct tape and wrap it around the hose and over the damaged portion. Start slightly above the original patchwork you initially did. Again, make sure that it’s tight and secure. Before starting your way home or to the nearest service station, make sure you have enough radiator fluid. If you feel like you don’t have enough, you can just use plain old H20 (that’s water folks). Once you have this done, make sure to have your radiator hose replaced immediately. Most auto parts and discount auto parts shops carry this. Don’t rely on the patchwork you just did. Unless you enjoy making your life a living hell. News source: Automechanics-word-press

Okay, it happened again. A buddy of mine is a contractor and spends his spare time buying houses and flipping them for a profit. He’ll do all of the wiring, plumbing, heating and air-conditioning work on a house. He’ll even tackle the framing, drywall and finish work, too. He’s got some nice old stuff in the garage, and he has no problem ripping into the engine of his 30-year-old muscle car or his vintage Norton motorcycle. He’s good with tools and a very competent mechanic. But he won’t work on the modern car he drives everyday–or his new truck or his wife’s car. “Too hard,” he says. “The computer controls everything, and I can’t figure it out.” I get that line all the time. They say modern cars are way too technical to be repaired by ordinary folks. And I hear that from average PM readers all the way up to the professional restoration mechanics who work in the aftermarket auto repair side of the business. You know what? It’s a bunch of baloney. First of all, 90 percent of the stuff on a new car today hasn’t changed since the ’50s. For example, look at disc brakes. Yes, they have ABS added on, but there’s still a caliper full of hydraulic fluid that squeezes a pair of friction pads onto a cast-iron disc. Driveshafts still have U-joints that need to be greased, and half-axles still have CV joints with rubber boots that crack and split open. Oil filters still dribble oil down to your elbow if you’re not careful. Fuses might be blade-style instead of glass cartridges, but you still hold them up to the light to see if they’re blown. Tires still wear out and go flat. Exhaust systems are made of much better steel than they used to be, but they still rot out their hangers and leak after you run over a stump. Fenders and doors are sometimes made of plastic instead of metal, but they’re still painted with a spray gun, not a molecular bonder. Common people, replacing a light bulb might be a little different in detail, but it hasn’t turned into rocket science. “Aahhh,” they say, “What about the computer?” What about it? Okay, twenty or more years ago, if the throttle linkage had a problem, you opened the hood and wiggled the rod that moved the throttle blades. If it didn’t move at all, it was stuck. If it moved poorly, it was just sticky. If one end moved and the other end didn’t, something was broken. Pretty cybernetic. Most cars today are throttle-by-wire. The computer sends electrical signals to an actuator and that device moves the throttle blades. Your foot moves a pedal with a variable resistor attached to it to send data to the computer. It’s a layer of complexity removed from a mechanical linkage, sure. But the systems analysis to figure out what’s wrong is the same, and systems analysis runs on the same basic principles for mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic systems. You don’t need to be a poindexter to figure this stuff out. Hundreds of thousands of high school and vocational ed students learn how to repair cars every day. Being good at math helps, but mostly you need to know how to read a shop manual and use a computer, in addition to the usual mechanical skills. You might need some new diagnostic devices, starting with a scan tool. They’re only a couple hundred dollars, and not significantly more expensive than a good tach-dwell meter and a timing light would have cost back in the day, neither of which you need on any modern car. For that matter, a lot of chain auto parts stores will loan you one for as long as it takes to download trouble codes and run a couple of simple diagnostics. That’ll be in addition to a good multimeter, which mechanics have always needed. Service data is available online from dozens of places, so you might not even need to buy the shop manual. I do realize that some of you dinosaurs out there will have to buy some metric sockets and wrenches, though. Deal with it. Most of your toolbox is still adequate to fix just about anything on a new car. News source: Popular Mechanics

beautiful Sunday is a good day for getting some car work done. The Wife mentioned that her Check Engine light was on, and the last couple of times that happened it was for the same reason: a dirty sensor that took five minutes to clean.She also needed an oil change, so I figured I’d get some Sea Foam and clean the engine and the intake.Sea Foam, for those of you who don’t know, is one of those products that a huge number of people who hang out in auto-repair forums swear by. You can add it to your gas tank to clean out your injectors, to your crankcase (i.e., your oil) to de-sludge your engine before an oil change, and even to your engine’s air intake to clean the valves.First of all, there is no auto parts store in Short Pump. Well, nothing good. The Carquest on Broad is great for getting a part or two, but it can’t complete with the selection at an AutoZone or Advance Auto.So I poured my existing Sea Foam into my crankcase, I looked up the “A” stores, and drove there, grumbling about wanting to open a franchise closer to me. Picked up what I needed and headed home. That would give my engine a nice cleaning; next I would change both our oil.That was a quick and easy job.Next, the fun part: putting the Sea Foam into the air intake. I read the instructions from several different people online, and they all agreed where to pour the stuff. I warned the Wife: “In a few minutes there’s going to be an, er, event outside.””What kind of ‘event’?””The kind that will make you raise your eyebrows and say ‘What the heck is he doing now?’,” I said. (Note: These are actual quotes.)So I started the engine, disconnected the proper hose, carefully poured the Sea Foam in, and let it do its stuff for a few moments. Then I shut the engine to let it soak, and repeated it with the Wife’s car.I called her out. “Come see.””Come see what?””Come see all the junk that’s in your engine.”While she stood on the porch I started her engine. Clouds of white smoke billowed out of the tailpipe as the Sea Foam – and a whole lotta engine crap – burned off and out.She went inside to avoid the cloud, which was spreading quickly. I shut her engine, then put all my tools and such away.”Tomorrow you get to drive to work James Bond style,” I said. “There’s more junk that needs burning off.”Wonderful.” News source: A Year In Richmond

You an save a lot of money buying used parts for your repair. Of course, it’s important to know which parts are ok to buy used, but there are plenty of them. Unfortunately, thinking about saving the money is as far as many people get. The thought of standing at a greasy counter while the assorted varieties of parts pullers check you out might not be your idea of a great way to start you auto repair weekend. So instead you break down and pay the extra cash for a brand new tail light or power window motor. Times are a-changin.’ These days you can order a used turn signal from the comfort of your living room. Thanks to services like the Automix Parts Locater you can effectively search hundreds of salvage yards at once. Order your part from one of the search results (after you see who will give you the best price of course!) and it will appear at your door. This method of buying parts won’t always fit your situation. For sudden and serious repairs most people won’t want to wait at the mailbox for their part, but when time is on your side you can take advantage and save both time and money. News source: About auto repair

When you have problems remember to check the basics first.Start with a good visual inspection take your time paying close attention to vacuum hoses and wiring connectors (easy to do if you keep your engine clean)Do you have good vacuum (is the engine allowed to breathe) (is the exhaust plugged) (Is the engine in good mechanical condition, Tired)Do you have fuel pressure and volume. ( fuel volume is to often overlooked ) ( fuel filters can cause odd problems )Do you have a good strong sparkRemember if you have fuel and spark in sufficient quantity and at the right time it has to start.