Brake NVH: What Does Your Shop do When a Brake Complaint Due to Noise Enters the Service Bays?
What does your shop do when a brake complaint due to noise enters the service bays? Is it a mark of shame for the technician that hurts their productivity for the rest of the day by randomly applying lubes, pastes and sprays to the brake system in hopes that the problem is at least temporarily
Get the Drift: The Ins and Outs of Sport ‘Drifting’
Drifting is not a sport for SUVs. If it were, it would probably be called “rollovering.” Nor does it lend itself very well to cars with front-wheel drive. Drifting is all about sliding around curves with the rear wheels smoking all the way. Drifting sounds like an activity dreamed up by the tire manufacturers to
Tech Tip: Diagnosing Ford Explorer Rear Wheel Bearing Noise
Some 2002-2005 Ford Explorer Mercury Mountaineer and 2003-2005 Lincoln Aviator vehicles may exhibit a noise from the rear wheel hub bearings. Previous service procedures required replacement of the wheel hub bearing assembly. This new service procedure allows replacement of just the wheel bearing to repair the noise condition. To replace the rear hub bearing and wheel bearing retainer ring, refer to the following manufacturer’s Service Procedure ….
Carley’s Corner: Training Is Not a Dirty Word
When some technicians hear the word “training,” it doesn’t interest them in the least. They think it means giving up an evening or a Saturday to sit through a long, boring lecture that may or may not teach them anything new. Maybe they’ve been duped into attending a “training clinic” that turned out to be
Rotor Debate: Installing New Problems?
We have seen a slow increase in rotor prices over the last year. Every link in the supply chain from manufacturers to your local parts supplier has adjusted its prices. This is due to rising raw material costs. Also, the cost to manufacturer and ship rotors to your bay has increased dramatically. Resurfacing can restore
Engine Tuning & Chassis Upgrades
When car manufacturers come out with a new engine design, some car enthusiasts eye the new technology from a perspective of how to squeeze more performance out of it. The smaller displacement engines that are turbocharged or supercharged tend to be the most likely chosen because of their power-to-weight ratio. When Saab introduced a turbocharged
Brake Hydraulics: Don’T Overlook the Obvious
Basic Checks Go A Long Way In Restoring System Integrity Brake work is fairly routine for most technicians. Even so, it’s easy to overlook some obvious problems with the hydraulic part of the system when replacing pads and rotors. So, following are some things you should always remember to check. CHECK THE FLUID LEVEL If
Tech Tip: Heavier Hybrids Require Attention when Customizing
Sales of hybrid vehicles have been increasing every month, especially now that you can get a hybrid system in many of today’s popular body styles instead of just the early models that screamed, "I’m a plastic-baggy-recycling tree-hugger!" Now just a subtle badge is about the only visible difference. With fuel costs continuing to soar, what does this mean for ….
Transmission Service and Clutch Replacement Essentials
You’ve probably all heard of the 15-minute clutch replacement time for a classic Volkswagen Beetle. The “fact” that you could pull the engine, change the clutch parts and reinstall everything with just a penknife and screwdriver and do that on the side of the road. Then there are the tall tales of pulling the engine
Tech Feature: Update on CAN Diagnostics
Whether you like it or not, Controller Area Networks (CAN) have taken over. CAN technology has been steadily creeping into more and more new vehicles since it first appeared in 1992 on certain Mercedes-Benz models. Thanks to federal emissions rules, it is now required on all 2008 model year vehicles, and will be forevermore. What exactly is CAN? It’s basically a ….