Tech Tip: Maintaining Fluids in Import Vehicles
Picking the proper lubricant for your customers’ import car will depend on the application. For example, serious track racers with large ponies under the hood will want heavy-duty, high-performance racing lubricants designed specifically to stand up under the stress. For the average high-performance import car, quality products will provide good functionality and durability for almost any application.
The Circle of (Engine) Life: The Important Role Water Pumps Play in Engine Preservation…Restoring the Engine to Precise OE Tolerances
Amazingly, up to one-third of the heat energy produced inside an engine’s combustion chambers ends up as waste heat that goes into the block. This heat must be eliminated, otherwise the engine will overheat and self-destruct. The water pump keeps coolant circulating between the engine and radiator to get rid of the heat. The pump
Why Bearings Fail
When a bearing wears out, it is usually a case of inadequate lubrication, faulty installation or improper adjustment. For the repair to be successful, you must first determine why the previous bearing failed. For sealed hub units, examining the internal bearings and races is impossible. The most common failure pattern for bearings is for those
Mitch Schneider: Mistakes that Go Uncorrected Really Make My Blood Boil
The ‘chirp’ was unmistakable, the kind of noise that could only come from one wheel locking up while the other three remained free. The fact that the vehicle, a 1990 four-wheel drive Suburban, "symptomized" directly in front of the office door didn’t hurt either. An inspection revealed a host of problems, not the least of which was oil-soaked friction material at the right rear axle caused by a leaking axle seal.
Servicing Solutions: GM’s Durable Duramax Diesel
General Motors launched the Duramax Diesel 6.6L V8 engine in the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500HD and 3500 Series trucks with Allison automatic transmissions in 2001. The application expanded to the Chevrolet Kodiak and GMC Topkick medium-duty trucks for 2003, with 16,000-, 18,000- and 19,500-lb. gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR). According to its engineers,
Tech Tip: Maximizing Ride Control, Steering Response and Handling
Any spring, whether it’s a leaf, torsion or coil spring, must compensate for irregularities in the road surface, maintain the suspension system at a predetermined height and support added weight without excessive sagging. As you’ll read, each of these functions is extremely important in providing comfort, precise handling and load-bearing capability in the modern import vehicle.
Diagnostic Solutions: Springs and Things
Maximizing Ride Control…Steering Response & Handling
Kia Tech Tip: Front Hub Seal Change on Sportage Models
This bulletin provides information on a change to Sportage 4WD hub seals. To improve hub vacuum sealing during 4WD operation, a new inner seal along with corresponding revisions to knuckles and CV shafts has been developed. This new seal design was incorporated from Oct. 21, 2000 production.
Selecting the Right Friction Material
How do you select the right brake pad for a vehicle? And, how do you select the right friction line to stock at your shop or have as your first call? These are difficult questions to answer. Every time your shop installs a set of brake pads on a vehicle you are taking a gamble
Wheel, Rotor and Drum Removal
The traffic whizzed by at seventy plus. The good news: The flat is on the rear passenger side and the lug nuts came off with little strain. The bad news: The alloy wheel is seized on the hub and it isn’t going anywhere. Twist of fate: I forgot to chock the front wheel and the