You are one of the few who check your tires on a regular basis and they are all fine except on one vehicle that is front wheel drive with aluminum rims. You have had it checked several times to no avail. Your problem is corrosion between the tire and the rim and it is worse because the front wheel drive causes the tire bead and rim to flex. The cure is to take it to a tire shop and have the rim bead sealed. I have a 94 Pontiac Bonneville, my second 94 Bonny, with aluminum rims and this had to be done. The other solution is to inflate with nitrogen it is very dry and has no moisture also the molecules are larger so the leak is less. The other thing you may have to do when you install nitrogen is to have the rim cleaned so you may just as well have the rim bead sealed and save the hassle of nitrogen. Nitrogen seems to have dropped out of the limelight lately I thought it would take off if the Manufactures installed it originally, but they are having trouble affording air right now.

Click&Clack , I find it hard to imagine these guys both have degrees from MIT, recently wrote about cardboard in front of the radiator. I agree it does help your vehicle warm up quicker, but it does not make it run hotter. The thermostat controls the temp, it may cause the fluid to remain in the radiator longer as it will take it longer to cool, but it will not increase the temp of your heater output after initial warm-up My suggestion is to place a piece of carpet, not rubber backed between the radiator and the condenser or in front of the radiator if you don’t have air. A sample is just the right size. This will not block the air flow but will restrict it and with today’s tight engine compartments I don’t think the air flow should be blocked totally. The other method if you can’t finds a piece of carpet is to use cardboard and cut a hole in the middle about the size of a cup saucer. Keep an eye on the cardboard as they tend to get wet and make a mess that is difficult to clean out of the radiator and or condenser fins. I know summer is coming and this is out of season but I felt I had to comment.FYI. Before it is AC time check the radiator and condenser for any junk that has built up, also check between the condenser and radiator as this is where a lot of problems originate.

Spring is here in most areas of the country, unfortunately not here as our snow is melting and we are undergoing a flood of record proportions, but none the less it is time to get the vehicles ready for spring.  Check the tires, and the spare, I know I preach this a lot but it is easily ignored Check wipers or just replace them, spend the extra couple bucks and don’t use the ones you have to build buy the exact fit the performance is well worth the extra $. Check fluids, all of them, defer to your owner’s manual for instructions on how to check transmission there are numerous methods for different models. Be sure to use the correct fluids for replenishment here again use what the manufacture recommends. Check belts and hoses as I have stated many times a visual inspection is still the best preventive maintenance. Give the hoses a squeeze checking closely by the connections if it is swelling or feels squishy replace. Lots of cracks or glazed or frayed replace the belt. Check your lights not forgetting the license plate light, usually are out on step bumpers, many law enforcement are using this as an excuse for a traffic stop. Lube all the hinges, I know this is supposed to be part of a lube but I have never seen all of them lubed IE door, trunk and hood hinges including latches if your hood sticks and the hinges are lubed, lube the latch 9 out of 10 it will fix the problem. Don’t neglect the key locks mainly if you have a remote unlock.  Check the filters including the cabin air and vapor canister if you have them. Remove all unnecessary items.  Run it through the car wash including under carriage here again spend the extra couple bucks and get the good wash I guarantee your rig will seem to run better.

Jaguar and Buick tie for the top spot of J.D. Powers’s survey this year unseating Lexus, the rice burner luxury car. They were followed by Toyota and then Mercury making 2 of the top 3 American made cars. Other Local manufactured cars were the Chrysler Dodge Caravan, rented a Chrysler Town & Country in Phoenix and it is a nice ride. Never thought I would like the automatic side and rear hatch but they are a nice option. Lincoln also received 2 awards. Buick does not surprise my wife has a Rivera and it is a nice ride, a great road car and we have had no problems with it. The Jaguar is a slight surprise to me as I repair them on occasion and use to work in a dealership as the Jag MG tech, and there quality was subpar. It was # 10 last year so they have made quite a jump.Suzuki owners reported the most problems, the survey comprises of problems owners experience over 3 years. Over the last several years the Lexus, Acura and Toyota have owned this survey I am glad to see some American cars on top I just hope that it is not too late to save the Buick nameplate.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I know it is a little late in the season but I thought a few words about anti freeze are in order. I use regular ethylene glycol, I have considered the environmental safe alternative, but feel that more info is needed. I have a dog and do worry about leaks but I keep a close eye on it. I am also set in my ways. I also do not use dex cool, it worked well but if there was a leak and it allowed air into the system it caused a major corrosion problem. GM has instituted a refund program to reimburse owners. When to flush is also a concern with dex cool as it always looks clean. To check for parasitic or residual voltage, caused by the interaction of 2 or 3 metals in the engine, cooling and heating systems. Place the black lead of your voltage meter, set to the lowest scale, to ground the red lead in the coolant. There should be no voltage or no more than .05 of a volt.This will also work with ethylene glycol but normally the condition is an accurate measure of when to flush. If you have a problem with corrosion in the cooling system check for voltage if it is present in fairly new anti freeze check your grounds. I used to do my own flushes but I just don’t like the idea of the coolant entering the river, it is also illegal in many states. So now I have it done. I try to do it every other year. I also do not use recycled anti freeze, where they clean and reinstall your old anti freeze. No reason I just don’t like the idea and have my doubts it works. If you do your own flush be sure to open the heater control valve, on vehicles with automatic air it will be necessary to bring the engine temperature up. Using a chemical is OK but only necessary in badly corroded system. Also if the heater core is badly plugged flush it separately and it also helps break loose the corrosion if you open and close the hoses by using a pair of pliers to give the fluid a chug, chug and it will break the gunk lose, have patience water is cheap.