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Checking Fluids
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Keeping your vehicle in tip-top shape requires constant monitoring of vital fluids. Read you owners manual and look for a diagram of the engine. Most times there will be a diagram showing where to check all the major fluids. This should be your starting point. If your manual is lost in the glove box or you never had one, then ask your mechanic or a friend who knows cars to show .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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Auto Tools For The DIY'er
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If you are a car owner who occasionally works on his or her own car, please don't go out and spend thousands of dollars on high priced tools. Professional mechanics make a living with their tools and need the best. If you are doing minor repairs on your own vehicles a lower cost tool set will do just fine. We have teamed up with AutoBarn.com to bring you the best price on t .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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3. |
How Your Cars Suspension Works
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"Suspension," when discussing cars, refers to the use of front and rear springs to suspend a vehicle's "sprung" weight. The springs used on today's cars and trucks are constructed in a variety of types, shapes, sizes, rates, and capacities. Types include leaf springs, coil springs, air springs, and torsion bars. These are used in sets of four for each vehicle, or they m .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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4. |
Your Cars Electrical System
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When the automotive industry was in its infancy, it used electricity only to ignite the fuel inside the engine. By the late 1920's, the electric starter replaced the hand crank, electric headlights made acetylene lamps obsolete and the braying of the electric horn drowned out the squeak of the hand-squeezed air horn. Today, an automobile requires an elaborate electrical sys .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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5. |
Changing a Tire
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It always happens at the worst times! You need to know how to change a tire even if you have an auto club membership. Depending on where you get a flat, there may not be a phone nearby to call a tow truck. Let's take is step by step and always remember to read your owners manual, there will be detailed instructions relating to your car there. I should mention also a few tip .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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6. |
Your Fuel System
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The fuel system feed your engine the gasoline/diesel it needs to run. If anyone of the parts in the system break down your engine will not run. Let's look at the major parts of the fuel system,
Fuel tank: Basically a holding tank for your fuel. When you fill up at a gas station the gas travels down the filler tube and into the tank. In the tank there is a sending unit, wh .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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7. |
Oil / Lubricants
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I receive a lot of questions regarding oil and the least understood part is the number system used to rate oils.
Oil weight, or viscosity, refers to how thick or thin the oil is. The temperature requirements set for oil, by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) is 0 degrees F (low) and 210 degrees F (high).
Oils meeting the SAE's low temperature requirements have a .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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8. |
Your Drive Train Explained
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The drive train serves two functions: it transmits power from the engine to the drive wheels, and it varies the amount of torque. "Power" is the rate or speed at which work is performed. "Torque" is turning or twisting force. Multiple ratio gearboxes are necessary because the engine delivers its maximum power at certain speeds, or RPM (Rotations Per Minute). In order to use the .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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9. |
The Engine Explained
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The engine is the heart of your car, but instead of pumping blood, the engine pumps air and fuel. The engines main function is to convert air and fuel into rotary motion so it can drive the wheels of the car. How does it do that ??.... Well let's start with a cutaway of the engine and see all the major parts then we will get into the actual mechanics.
Pistons: Most common .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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10. |
Auto HVAC
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Not only do we depend on our cars to get us where we want to go, we also depend on them to get us there without discomfort. We expect the heater to keep us warm when it's cold outside, and the air conditioning system to keep us cool when it's hot.
We get heat from the heater core, sort of a secondary radiator, which is part of the car's cooling system. We get air .....
Author: Kevin Schappell
Category: Auto & Trucks
Date Posted: Aug 19, 2005
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