Reading Time: 3 minutes Defensive Driving Managing An Intersection  This article is about defensive driving managing an intersection. You need a defensive driving procedure to not become an intersection crash statistic. There is a lot of distracted driving going on. You have never needed a defensive driving strategy more. Never consider a green light a free pass through the… Read More »
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ford 2002 F350 Fuel Filter Replacement This article is about my Ford 2002 F350 fuel filter replacement. This is a V10 gas engine one-ton truck. However, this article can be used for other vehicles with similar fuel filter connection designs. I must admit that this truck has been neglected when it comes to maintenance. This… Read More »
Reading Time: 6 minutes How to Select and Use a Torque Wrench How to select and use a torque wrench is a skill you will require if you intend to work on your vehicle, motorcycle, or boat. There are many pieces on these vehicles that will require setting torque values during reassembly. This article will present the various types… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Do I Need a Line Wrench Do I need a line wrench? That was a question I needed an answer to many years ago. I was just starting out working on my car. I needed to work on my brakes and I needed to work on the brake lines. It seemed so simple. The nut… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Getting A California 2019 Smog Check I recently had a California 2019 smog check. I needed to have my car smogged in order to get my car registration renewed. I’ve gotten used to the no tailpipe sniffer/dyno check. Heck, I don’t even break a sweat that the engine oil is not changed and fresh. Also,… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes How A Car Alternator Works If you know how a car alternator works it makes it all the easier to understand when/why it’s not doing its job. Understanding how an alternator works is half of the troubleshooting job. List of parts making up a car’s alternator Stator Rotor Assembly(Made up of the following parts) Slip rings Rotor… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Troubleshooting an ignition coil problem Troubleshooting an ignition coil problem became my top priority recently. It fell into my lap out of the blue. My wife came back from the store all shook up. She said that the car suddenly started shaking, rattling and had no power. According to her it barely made it home. Brain… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Resetting the Check Engine Light Resetting the check engine light is very different than resetting a maintenance light. My Honda Odyssey recently had an ignition coil go bad. It had lit up the dash check engine light. Well, I did some troubleshooting on the problem, I found out which coil went bad and replaced it. I had everything back together and the car was purring once… Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutes How to clean headlights How to clean headlights was something I needed to learn recently. I had to venture out on an errand in the evening. It was after sunset when I was on my way home that I noticed my headlights being dim. The bulbs had recently been replaced so I knew that it… Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutes Headlight Bulb Replacement I had a headlight bulb replacement in my Honda Odyssey for the first time. The old bulb lasted fourteen years before it gave up and died. I bought this vehicle new so I have a mental history of the bulb brightness. What I mean about this is that I have watched the… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Where are the long life wiper blades? My search for the long life wiper blades that last longer than a season continues. I am totally disappointed that there is not a wiper material that can last longer than one rainy season.  Materials have gotten better, it would seem that someone would have developed a long-lasting… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Secure Your Auto Tags and License Plate Have you ever given a thought to secure your auto tags and license plate? In less than 10 seconds, your tag can be removed whole from your car’s license plate. Do you know that you could change your tag? It will break into many unusable pieces should anyone… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Tools for changing a cabin filter Tools for changing a cabin filter are probably in your home now. This article covers the tools needed for cleaning the filter area. Changing your cabin filter requires cleaning where your hands cannot reach. You will need to vacuum out the large stuff and brush loose the stuck on stuff in… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes Improve Air Quality Change The Cabin Filter Improve air quality change the cabin filter in your car. I had the dealer change it out in the past. This time I decided to replace it myself. A quick trip to youtube.com resulted in a nice video that showed me how to get to my car’s filter… Read More »
Reading Time: 4 minutes Hose and belt replacement strategy Do you know if your hoses and belts need replacing? Well if they are over four years old they probably need to be replaced. That is the time frame the Car Care Council recommends. That is if you don’t want to be towed to the nearest repair facility one of… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Wobble Extension The wobble extension belongs in your toolbox. The reasons are many. But the best reason is that it will save your bacon one day. You’re going to run up against a bolt that you can’t approach in a straight line. Something will be just slightly in the way and present you with… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Quick toolless Constant Velocity joint check A quick toolless Constant Velocity joint check. Do you want to check if your constant velocity(CV) joints are going bad? Are you buying a car? Have you been told you have bad CV joints and need to replace them? All of these questions are good reasons to know how to do… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pedestrians drivers and rolling stops Pedestrians drivers and rolling stops are a recipe for disaster. If you are a rolling stop type driver your part of the problem. Thousands of pedestrians a year are injured or killed by drivers not coming to a complete stop. What is a complete stop? Let’s define a complete stop? I guess the… Read More »
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tire Rotation Strategy Do you need a tire rotation strategy? The question is why do we need to rotate tires? Is this a strategy to relieve more money from our wallets? Is it really needed? So let’s get into this strategy thing. Why do we need to rotate tires? Well, think about what is happening… Read More »
Reading Time: 2 minutes RVs and tires Buying RV what about the tires? You can not use a visual check to determine the remaining service life of the tires. So, how do you determine how old a tire really is? This post is about how to determine the tires age. RV tires are special, they will last well past their useful service… Read More »