If you get your car serviced, do you generally have a good time or bad? As it turns out, most people tend to consider the time and money they spend (and the quality of the work) at automotive service locations to be pretty consistent. That is to say: fixed and mostly forgettable. Sometimes this is more time/money/anguish than average, sometimes less, but overall somewhere in the fat part of the curve which averages out to be quite forgettable.
It is therefore interesting, as a result, to find service locations which have acknowledged this fixed badness and decide to do something else. Today we received an email from an old friend in Los Angeles wherein the subject line was titled, “Objectively excellent customer service.” The email said:
“Miller Honda in culver city, ca: all employees really nice and polite, free 5-mile-radius shuttle, free wi-fi, free Starbucks, lounge area with premium cable, wide selection of magazines, walkable to vibrant downtown area.”
“You think this might work on the Honda?” Rich mumbled as he read the instructions on the back of the bottle of Flitz Aluminum PreClean. The bottle says the stuff will remove diesel and fuel stains, encrusted calcium and lime, heavy green tarnish and heavy oxidation, plus oil, rust, corrosion and water stains. Wow! With advanced press like that we had to give it a try.
Rich is building a “new” 1972 Honda XR250 vintage motocross racer. The bike was rescued from its place leaning against a garage in southern California and is now in pieces all over the shop. The rear hub was ugly even after pressure washing and the crud inside looked like a perfect test piece. I’m fairly sure Flitz never intend this product to be applied in this manner but if it works here think how easily it will clean your diamond plate tool box. (Click through the jump to read on.)
While most auto parts stores are staffed with employees who can help you change a light bulb or replace a bad battery, we wouldn’t really recommend checking them out for emergency medical attention. But a Cocoa, Florida woman didn’t have much choice when she pulled into the neighborhood Advanced Auto Parts store parking lot, as she was on the verge of giving birth.
A passing customer saw the woman ready to deliver in her car, and ran inside the auto store to look for help. Assistant managers Nicole Laskowski and Christine Hartman called 911, and then ran outside to assist the woman.
(Click through the jump to read on.)
In the early 1980s many American manufacturers decided to put their vehicles on “low carb” diets, doing away with the carburetor and instead using a newly-developed fuel management system: throttle body injection (TBI). This fuel injection system, used primarily from 1980 through 1995, was developed by the American automobile companies as a simple, low cost solution to supercede the carburetor.
Mounted atop the intake manifold, the system employs between 1 and 2 injectors to control fuel delivery (smaller engines generally use 1 injector, while larger engines employ 2 injectors). These injectors are solenoids that are pulsed by the vehicle’s computer (aka “ECU”) according to the amount of fuel delivery desired: the longer the injector remains “on” within a certain period of time, the more fuel that is delivered to the cylinders.
(Click through to read more about throttle body injection.)
Old-time mechanics and nostalgic car aficionados are generally some of the carburetor’s most unflappable allies. Long ago outmoded by high-technology fuel injection and computerized engine control, the carburetor remains the choice for fuel delivery among these individuals. If you’ve never driven a car with an “Engine Starting Instructions” label glued to the driver’s side visor, then you’re probably not a member of this loyal faction. Nonetheless, we will discuss the basics of carburetors for those who wish to know a little about this device that’s been used on vehicles even before the turn of the 20th century.
The carburetor perhaps achieved a renaissance in the late 1960s when General Motors introduced what was, arguably, the most reliable automotive carburetor to date: the Quadrajet. This carburetor was one of the few known for its ability to provide good starting and drivability, even when badly neglected. (Click through to read more about the carburetor and how it works.)
Storing a vehicle is never easy. Even if you have a nice garage to store your prized rides in, there are a number of problems to overcome. Old gas, moisture, and dirt are only a few of the problems that could wreak havoc on your collection. Unless you have the CarCapsule, that is.
The CarCapsule is constructed of PVC and designed to form a bubble around your vehicles to keep dust, dirt, moisture, rodents, and greasy fingers away from your sheetmetal. The zipper is even 100 percent nylon to be sure it won’t scratch your vehicle. It can’t protect against dead batteries or flat spots in your tires, but the CarCapsule looks like a wise investment for collectors who need some extra protection for their less-used rides.
+ AutoSport Catalog: The CarCapsule
Nissan has issued a recall for 650,000 Altimas and Sentras from model years 2002, and 2005-06. Recalled vehicles are only those equipped with Nissan’s 2.5-liter four, which may, apparently, just stop running.
Reportedly the problem is with the crankshaft position sensor, which, when overheated, can stop sending a signal to the car’s ECU. When this signal is lost, the ECU may not be able to diagnose the problem, and may respond by shutting down the whole operation; otherwise known as your engine.
Owners of the troubled Nissan’s should get themselves down to the dealership, where a simple reprogramming should right the ship with very little bother. Nissan, of course, will be picking up the tab. Safe driving.
As a professional mechanic once commented to me “The tool box doesn’t make me any money, it just holds the tools which do.” The topic at the time was how to justify the four figure price of a Snap-On roll away tool box, commonly referred to in the trade as an “aircraft carrier.” Obviously he appreciated the value of being able to find the right tool when needed and the benefit of preventing expensive wrenches and such growing wings over night, but several thousand dollars for a shiny metal container you can’t even drive is indeed hard to swallow.
At the recent SEMA show in Las Vegas I enjoyed chatting with a product manager and one of the engineers for the Craftsman line of tool boxes. Craftsman tool boxes, as opposed to Snap-On or Mac for instance, have traditionally been intended for the home owner or serious amateur mechanic. Heavy sheet steel, ball bearing drawer slides and strong wheels which will actually roll over cracks in the floor cost money. The Craftsman line has included a Professional series for some time. These boxes have many of the features of the pro boxes, but with lighter material, slightly less engineering excellence and somewhat looser tolerances. At a substantial discount from other pro boxes, these tool storage packages serve well and offer good value. But they have never carried the cache of the big guys and therefore have never effectively penetrated the professional market.
(Click through to read about the new Craftsman tool boxes.)
The basic “work under the car” technology is an old blanket or piece of cardboard from a washing machine box. Being able to move about is rather nice, so someone stuck skate wheels on a piece of wood and the “creeper” was born. For many years, innovation ignored the humble ground crawler until new materials and technologies encouraged fresh designs. The key challenge for a creeper is to provide the absolute minimum ground clearance, combined with comfort for the mechanic and an ability to roll over cracks in the floor and the occasional tool. We decided to check out one of the latest generation which claims to meet that challenge.
The Kreepster from 4Tek, LLC is built of TIG welded aluminum, powder coated either silver or black with six roller blade style wheels. Rated for a maximum of 450 pounds, the Kreepster sits just 5” tall with an inch between your posterior and the cement. On each side a tray is provided for tools. One of the uniquely useful features is the adjustable head rest. Ever have to hold your head up to see where the wrench must go but need to periodically rest those neck muscles before the bolt is finally out?
And you thought adjusting your clocks for standard time, which arrives this weekend, was easy…
If you own a Mercedes-Benz, that’s not necessarily so.
Owners who are in the company’s online database received an e-mail earlier this week as the answer to a frequently asked question: “How do I set the time?” Note this information was transmitted BEFORE the expected flood of questions.
(Click through to find out how many steps it takes to change the clock in your Mercedes.)
Sure, we’ve all wanted to try it from time to time, but how many among us have had the car, the opportunity, and the sheer heartlessness to intentionally blow the motor in an old car?
Thank goodness for the like-minded devils at Fifth Gear. Check out this video in which, fan favorite, Vicki Butler-Henderson attempts to make an Audi 100 go “bang.”
A few weeks ago I advertised my 1966 Fiat 1500 Spider on eBay. The winning bidder was from Redondo Beach, 400 miles south. At about the same time, I saw, on eBay, a 50,000 mile 1977 Toyota Corolla SR-5 Liftback that I needed for my growing Japanese car collection. It was in West LA, near Redondo Beach.
I offered to drive the Fiat south, if the buyer would meet me at the home of the Toyota seller. Agreed.
(Click through to read more about Martin Swig’s adventure.)
Diesel with Attitude: The Audi A3 TDI Clubsport Quattro
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More Spied Images of New Camaro Interior
Early Scoop on Volkswagen Tiguan's U.S. Launch, Diesel Delayed? Not Coming? 
Report: Mercedes-Benz to Leverage Aluminum for Next E-class
