I'm not a certified welder by any stretch, but I don't remember my first welds looking anything close to this bad! Most of these look like they were done without any shielding gas, cleaning, metal prep, or even a modicum of pride. I know we all started somewhere, but my goodness! This was on an … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Don’t Weld Like Alex
Sometimes it's hard to get your hands where they need to be to start a bolt by hand, but if you put the bolt in a socket it falls out before you can reach the hole. What to do? Tape it! You can use a little bit of electrical or duct tape to hold the … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: How to Keep a Bolt From Falling Out of a Socket
Back in the day, you took your car in every 20-30,000 miles to have her “tuned up.” That meant Goober at the local filling station changed your oil and filter, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor button, replaced/adjusted/filed your ignition points, and maybe replaced the condenser. That was considered … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: What is a “Tune Up”?
Have you ever been doing a disc brake job and you just couldn't get the new pads to fit in the bracket right? Perhaps you even read through my front disc brake walkthrough or my rear disc brake caliper service posts looking for a clue and didn't find anything. Sometimes when new brake pads are manufactured a … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Making Brake Pads Fit
This may seem like an odd topic to cover during this time of year when most of you are experiencing mild to warm weather, but warming up your car isn't just for the chilly months. If you're like most people, you may let your car warm up when it's cold outside to clear the windshield … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Should you let your car warm up?
Ok, so it's not really a magic, instant step stool, but it's close. By airing down the tires of a vehicle, particularly a truck or SUV, you can lower the front or rear of the vehicle by several inches which may be just enough to get to whatever you're doing. You can let the air out … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Instant Step Stool!
Rust. It's a mechanic's worst nightmare. Rust eats through body panels and frames, corrodes bolt heads beyond recognition, seizes bolts and parts together so they can only be removed with a torch, and eats away steel brake, fuel, and transmission lines like there's no tomorrow. If you're wrenching in the north, you're no doubt intimately familiar … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Bending Brake Lines
Finding a slow leak in a tire can be tricky business, especially if you can't find an easily visible screw or nail head. I like to use a simple mixture of dish detergent and water in a spray bottle to find a slow leak. You can also use a dunk tank which is what most … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Checking for Tire Leaks
If you're mechanically inclined enough to tackle a timing belt or chain, you probably know that when you're replacing a timing belt or chain, it is absolutely critical that the camshaft(s) and crankshaft be synced and timed properly. This is usually done by a series of marks on each timed gear or sprocket that … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: DIY Timing Pointers
Ahh, the dreaded Ford "3 Valve" 5.4 V8 and it's ludicrous spark plug design. Available from 2004 (except the Heritage model) through 2008ish in Ford's full size SUVs and F-Series trucks, these engines are overall very durable and reliable. These spark plugs have stricken fear into the hearts of many DIYers (and some seasoned technicians!) … Continue reading Tech Tip Tuesday: Ford 5.4 Triton spark plugs
The Service Station Blog 