Repairing Auto

A lot of people don’t fully understand the importance of tires to the safety of your car or truck. Tires should be a top priority any time of year, after all they’re the only thing connecting two tons of steel — and you — to the asphalt below. If you’re expecting winter weather in your area, be sure your tires are up to the task. A proper tire inspection is a must-do procedure to prepare your car for cold weather driving. And while you’re at it, you may want to consider whether you need snow tires or not, it’s a real consideration.Winter driving doesn’t have to be dangerous, just be sure you and your vehicle are prepared.

This just in from the folks at RightToRepair.org:

… We have collected 106,658 signatures from voters in Massachusetts to have our right to repair ballot question included on the November 2012 ballot. Not only did we do this in 19 days, but we far exceeded the 69,911 signatures that are required by the state for ballot questions.

While the ballot question is gaining strong public support in Massachusetts, many independent shops around the country also are taking notice of the major change in the direction the right to repair debate is taking due to the ballot measure. The new approach in the measure seeks to address a key problem now facing independents — the cost and practicality of obtaining the tools and information needed to repair late model computer controlled vehicles.

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Build a model car engine from the ground up. This 1:4 scale car engine is 22 inches long and weighs 3 pounds. It’s the same model that I built as a kid.

When you think of winter, you might not be thinking about rain, especially if you live in a region that sees any amount of snow. But snowy weather is prime windshield wiper time. It’s easy for tired, worn wipers to do at least an adequate job of clearing rain from your windshield, but those same wipers will fail miserably when confronted with the slimy, gritty, slushy mix of melting snow and road salt. Here in New York I’d say I use my wipers more often in the winter than summer. This is why fall is a great time to replace your wipers. It’s a 10-minute job that will make your life so much easier down the road.

These days it’s all the rage to talk about how infrequently automotive coolant needs to be changed. The truth is the new coolant formulas are far superior to those of even a few years ago, and they don’t break down as quickly as the old versions. Most of the information about the lifespan of coolant comes from laboratory tests, not real world use. Using a coolant that last longer is great, as long as your cooling system is brand new. For the rest of us who are driving cars in the 100,000-mile range, it’s still very important to flush your cooling system and add new coolant. As your car or truck ages, there’s no way around the fact that some of the parts of its cooling system will start to age, too. As they do, they will drop flakes of rubber, plastic or aluminum into your coolant. With no filter, this stuff circulates all over your engine and can clog or damage things over time. There are other more complicated reasons to change your coolant, too, but suffice to say that it’s an important job to the life of your engine. Flush your cooling system today.

A heads up if you are looking to add some items to your tool corral. Harbor Freight is holding a big online tool event from today until Monday, October 17 for home mechanics. There are a lot of discounts on Harbor Freight’s already cheap prices. If you are looking for heavy duty tools that you won’t be using too often, Harbor Freight is a great place to shop. We use our bench polisher and heavy vise almost every day and have been very happy. But the announcement of this sale comes with a warning — these are Chinese tools for the most part and I don’t recommend stocking the tool box with them. If it’s a big, “stupid” tool, meaning it doesn’t have to do anything fine, you’re probably okay. Things like air tools, small hand tools and small electrical tools might be better bought at a more expensive retailer. It’s up to you, and depends on how much use and abuse you plan to dish out to these tools. Find the Harbor Freight sale here and shop wisely!

It’s almost time to start thinking about cold weather. Here in the Northeast we are hanging on to our fall days with desperation, knowing the great thermometer plunge won’t be far behind the leaves hitting the ground. I know you’d rather be frolicking in the warm air, but if you get started with your seasonal maintenance today you won’t be singing the wintertime blues in a month or two. There are lots of maintenance tasks you can do in less than an afternoon. Not only will you be saving your car from a cold weather breakdown, you’ll be saving loads of cash in the process!

If you’re trying to narrow down your choice of new car, you should be thinking about more than leather interiors and alloy wheels — you need to consider maintenance costs. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but you could be adding hundreds or even thousands of dollars to the regular cost of owning a vehicle just in maintenance bills! Brush up on the real cost of buying a new car before you sign on the dotted line. These are sometimes referred to as hidden costs, but they are hardly secrets. The information is at your fingertips if you know where to look. Check out this discussion on new car maintenance costs and you’ll thank me later!