Feature Articles

Tech Tips

Tech Tips

Turbocharger Parts Cleaning; Toyota Wiring Harness Repair; Volvo Diesel No-Start; Digifant Flooding; Cressida Crankshaft Timing Gears; Wheel Cylinder Replacement

Mazda RX7 Turbo

Mazda RX7 Turbo

This month’s Driveability Clinic deals with combination platter of problems on a 1987 Mazda RX7 turbo. The car would start easily when cold and performed well under acceleration.

Electrical Service

Electrical Service

Each new edition of Electrical Service will concentrate on electrical tips for vehicles produced by a single auto manufacturer. We’ll begin with the cars and trucks from Nissan Motor Corporation.

ECAT

ECAT

You’re never sure if the problem is a transmission hydraulic problem, a transmission computer problem, or an engine performance problem. How do you isolate the cause of a late shift, hard shift, or no shift at all?

Diamond Stars

Diamond Stars

In baseball, most major league teams support several minor league teams. They use these minor league teams to develop the new talent they need to replace their injured or aging diamond stars.

Carside Manner

Carside Manner

Years ago, when trying out for an outfield position on a pony league team, I was chasing after a high fly ball. Since the infielder had run back to catch it, I called him off screaming, “I got it, I got it!”

Civics Lesson

Civics Lesson

We’ll be studying four wheeled Civics, rather than trying to explain how they count the votes in the Electoral College.

Carside Manner

Carside Manner

The customer’s agitation increased as he watched Vince’s finger trace the path of the circuit. Finally he asked why Vince was spending time looking in a book instead of simply fixing the car.

Tour Guide

Tour Guide

Why wander into an unknown electrical problem without an electrical schematic diagram? Think of a schematic as a tour guide which will deliver you to a successful repair with as little lost motion as possible.

Driveability Clinic – Serial Data

Driveability Clinic – Serial Data

Despite what you might have heard, serial data isn’t packaged in a brightly colored cardboard box that has Michael Jordan’s picture on the front. Now that we’re sure what it isn’t, let’s try to understand what serial data is.

J-Type Overdrive

J-Type Overdrive

What if you had the opportunity to make a few extra bucks overhauling a driveline component which is very simple, and doesn’t even require any adjustments during the overhaul process?

Return Of The Jetta

Return Of The Jetta

The engineers embarked on a mission that was daring in its simplicity: to attach a cargo carrying compartment to the rear of a proven terrestrial transporter, the Volkswagen Rabbit.

Hot Shot

Hot Shot

It’s getting harder and harder to find a car that doesn’t have some type of on-board electronics. Wiring and wire harness connectors are the weak links in the car’s electronic communication system. They are exposed to heat, moisture, corrosive chemicals, and maybe even physical abuse.

Dual Citizenship

Dual Citizenship

What if it’s assembled here, but many of the parts are manufactured in another country, what kind of car is it then? Pretty confusing isn’t it?

Carside Manner

Carside Manner

Check the basics. A recent string of simple repair problems on various vehicles have led me to believe that the basics are usually the cause of the problem…

Tech Tips

Tech Tips

Timing Belt Sales Aid; Plastic Repairs; Auxiliary Valve Carbon Buildup; Subaru Brake Adjustments Tool; Honda Timing Belts; CIS Injector Cleaning; Audi Shift Lock Wiring

Carside Manner

Carside Manner

The customer came to you from out of the blue. No matter what the reason, this is business that came to you.

Auto Pilot

Auto Pilot

If any of that time is spent traveling on a boring freeway, there may have been times when you wished there was a way to switch your car over to Auto Pilot. Airplane pilots can do it, why can’t we?

Turbo Tips

Turbo Tips

There are literally millions of turbocharged cars on our streets. Many are out of warranty, and many turbos are failing.

Tech Tips

Tech Tips

Four Volvo Quick Tips; Mikuni Carburetor Service; Audi Automatic Climate Control; Honda Distributors; Subaru Throttle Body Gasket