Fixing Cars

Last winter here in Seattle there was a ton of snow.  After hearing last evenings weather report about potentially getting a dusting it made occured to me that I need to dig me studded tires out of the garage.

I had studded tires for the first time on a vehicle during last year’s record breaking snow here in Seattle.  There is a very comforting feeling when you just know that the chances in getting stuck are slim.

There were so many cars on the side of the road and people just abandoning their cars it was obvious they would have fared much better with the proper equipment.  So if you are interested in getting through the winter without being stuck in the snow, I’d advise considering a good set of studded tires.

In addition to studded tires, or chains, its important to keep you gas tank at least an 1/8 of a tank when the temperatures really drop.  It can freeze and you’ll be dealing with a much bigger problem so just keep it above 1/4 tank and you’ll be fine.

Lock deicer can also be a good item to keep if you don’t have a key fob (remote) to unlock / lock your car doors.

The other thing you want to really consider is a new set of Valeo® ULTIMATE™ Wiper Blades, buy 1 & you’ll get one free! from Tirerack.com.

Wiper blades are the most important thing you can do for your car if the current ones aren’t completely clearing the windshield.  Over time the rubber strip gets worn down and does a poor job of clearing the water off the windshield.  There’s nothing like a brand new set of wiper blades to make visibility in these tough conditions a lot easier on the eyes.

Good luck with your winter car preparation and let us know if you have any tips or DIY examples of getting through these cold winter months.

So I just got a message from David of Davidsfarm on Youtube, who I blogged about recently here.  David is killing it, and its such a good indication for content creators no matter what your passion is, if you create it they will come.

The thing that I admire most about Davids work is the style of his videos.  By style, I mean no fancy graphics, or editing in music, etc. 

The reason I like it is because its so quickly produced, meaning he can grab the video camera and go.  That means he can get a video up every other day or so, and without a film crew or writers or whatever.

I happened to glance at his bio as I was grabbing the link to a recent video and I just couldn't stop laughing: 

Occupation: Self employed garbage picker, problem solver and repairman.  (that is just awesome)

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Here is an example of a serpentine belt diagram you can find under the hood.

The diagram shows how to wrap around the accessories. A 1/2″ drive breaker bar works well to rotate the tensioner. The leverage helps because of the pressure it takes to overcome the tension place on the belt.

Traveling long distances and going on roadtrips is good reason to keep a spare belt in the trunk. This is mainly because of the many different sizes available and the chances that in an emergency you aren’t spending days trying to source new one.

A new serpentine belt will help the cars performance as it drives the accessories and the alternator. The vehicle’s computer system is calibrated and dependant on the voltage coming from the alternator. A worn out serpentine belt can reduce the output of the alternator, thus reducing the overall engine performance.

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from DIY Car Repair Blog

Davidsfarm is a youtube phenomenon and the story behind it is simple. Davidsfarm is a farm up in canada where David works on cars and video tapes the activities and shenanigans that occur. His videos are entertaining and informative, a mix that has been very popular in producing a big audience. Dave is amassing a huge following on youtube, with over 50,000 subscribers to his channel and over 8MM channel views. Checkout Davidsfarm on Youtube and the following describes his channel-

From Youtube:
David’sfarm is a 100% Canadian Interactive YouTube Channel where I produce raw videos of wild redneck influenced cars I collect and build !! We take them on the wildest Joydrides!! I own a huge 100 acre Farm ,with jumps and trails, that I maintain all year round. I also enjoy making “How-to” instructional videos teaching others unique and cheap alternatives in repairing automobiles, heavy equipment and appliances. I am a semi retired appliance technician/Jack of all trades! Sit down, grab a drink and enjoy yourself! You will Laugh and Learn endlessly!!

In addition to providing entertainment to his viewers he is also satisfying the desire to learn about cars in a fun way. His information on doing budget repairs is another reason why people are so receptive. In this economy, people are looking for any and all ways to save money and DIY.

David makes a good living from his channel too, as YouTube sends him a share of the revenue his channel brings in when people click on ads. I’d argue that given this size audience on an automotive specific site would generate higher CPM’s as more advertisers are willing to spend more to be seen on niche sites where the content is focused.

This is a big opportunity for people who are willing to put it all out there and be totally transparent. Gary Vaynerchuk, who has been extremely successful and is promoting his book Crush It relys on these types of concepts in being immeresed in the community.

There is really no magic to this, building a brand is a lot of hard work, but by simply having the willingness to put yourself out there regardless of what some people might think is what differentiates your brand. Even if it means making a mockery of others, these videos are drawing a huge audience.

If I took two people who had zero previous experience working on cars and gave one a book that explained a particular repair and provided the other person a video, it would be interesting to see how much the difference in approach would be.

When it comes to cars you are either the type that would get stranded, or you are the type that would pull a MacGyver and get back on the road. If you find yourself making more trips to Home Depot than to the grocery store, you may be the latter. That isn’t to say that your totally out of luck, its just that you probably have never been exposed to information about cars in a format that delivers a “just give me the gist of it” type experience.

Having a video to watch changes this, it makes it so you can invest less time and still get the idea.

We absorb details that would take hundreds of pages to explain in seconds with video. The person has gloves on, my garage is about that size, my work bench setup will do, what a cool way to organize and label the parts coming off the car. Video that is easy to listen to and very clearly explained is extremely powerful.

It is a very exciting time to watch as the auto industry evolves and leverages social media. Its the instantaneous feedback loop, or firehose if you will, that the real time internet brings. Imagine in an instant having the attention of 50 people helping to solve a problem, or 5000 for that matter with the explosion on Twitter.

The collaboration and use of video will also accelerate our transition towards electrically powered vehicles. To understand the technology and the need for alternative energy it must be simplified, and stripped of all the media and political propaganda. Its a stream of consciousness that will propel the automotive industry to make drastic changes while keeping consumers engaged and excited.

There are those who have taken their own steps and built their own electric transportation. Its these types of projects that inspire and let others visualize their own path towards innovation. The decision to step out as an individual and make an electric vehicle is quite the accomplishment, and even more so if it inspires others to do the same.

Free iTunes App Store Gift Card with Select Epson Printers. Valid 10/4-10/31

Zipcar’s much anticipated iPhone app for cars stalls and Paul Sloan at Techcrunch decides to dish out a little.  Perhaps its time to get out of the left lane, some killer car iPhone apps are starting to surface.

Hats off to Zipcar for their PR efforts though, they certainly got the word out with Fortune calling them the best new idea in business.  So what’s this about Zipcar’s delay in launching their app and why such negative reviews in the app store?  Seems like they did an amazing job promoting their app but fell a bit short on what they delivered.  Sometimes what you can build and what you can ship puts things into a constant dev cycle and it gets complicated. Some of the other car apps getting out there include this one that turns your iPhone into a set of keys.  This is quite interesting because its actually interfacing with an external system installed on your car.

Being prepared for a roadside emergency can be a big relief and save tons of time. About every 10 minutes someone tweets that their car broke down, and its interesting to see what may have prevented it. Its everything from a bad battery, to coolant leaking, to the major one - a flat tire (about every couple minutes on twitter).
A real avoidable situation is running out of gas. I used to have this small yellow bottle, about half-gallon size that I’d keep in the back of my truck. It was emergency fuel, and I had it mainly because my gas gauge didn’t work below half tank level. I kept track using the trip odometer so I wasn’t totally in the dark. But now I can’t for the life of me find who sells those things anymore. I guess they may have been taken off the market due to saftey reasons, not sure.

I did find another emergency gas can that would work extremely well, and its cheap insurance. In addition to that you can get a cheap gas siphon and keep that in the trunk as well. That way instead of having to walk to a gas station to fill up the disposable gas can you can flag someone down to let you siphon some gas into it. This might not be the best solution, but its one that you could have in a situation where there aren’t any gas stations nearby.

There are lots of roadside kits available that come prepackaged with some good stuff but I’ve found that some of them lack a few key items. Also, there are so many different reasons a car may break down so its hard to be prepared for any situation. The best thing to do is figure out which situations would be the most disabling and prepare for those.

We are excited to be launching an iPhone application, currently its in review at Apple, that has five videos on what to do should your car break down. These were made to simply provide a quick refresher on what to do. The application is free, and hope that people share it with their family members and friends so they are prepared for these situations.

There are some repairs that can be frustrating, such as trying to fix a car that stalls which can be several issues. It could be related to a fueling issue where the fuel pump isn’t able to hold the pressure.

As you can see in that video, the use of a gauge was needed to realize the problem with the pump. Many of the systems on a vehicle work with pressure, such as an automatic transmission in need of repair can be a costly expense. An automatic transmission has a pump which contains vanes and a rotor that spins to produce this line pressure.

Another common problem is when a car overheats and you have to fix or replace the cars radiator. The coolant, which is also under pressure is regulated by the thermostat set to open at a set temperature. The thermostat is shut when the vehicle is started up cold and once the temperature rises to that setpoint it opens to let the fluid circulate. The temperature needs to warm up quickly so that the lines for the transmission which run through the radiator warm up and the fluid inside flowing through the transmission is at optimum temperature.

The electrical system, on the other hand isn’t based on pressure, but is generated by the alternator. The alternator needs to produce at least 13V to provide adequate source voltage for the computer, because that is what sends the voltage to open and close the injectors, adjusting several parameters to produce the desired performance the car was built to produce. It may seem odd, but if you install a new alternator you may often notice the cars’ performance improved. Its always nice to keep a good pair of jumper cables“>jumper cables in the trunk, for those unfortunate moments.

It is quite rewarding to learn how to fix cars and maintain a vehicle on your own. There are lots of great resources out there that will help you get started, and places like Autozone that will loan you tools, recycle oil, and generally support the DIY repair needs of anyone regardless of their experience.

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Check out additional exterior shots of the new Ford Taurus SHO right here.

Its great to see that Ford is making some great decisions in bringing back the 2010 Taurus SHO - Pro-Touring for the family. Mulally, Ford’s CEO recently visited Seattle to talk about why they decided to bring back this hugely successful model. It was quite an interesting interview on labor day covering the success of Ford amidst all the flack the industry is getting.

I first learned how to drive a manual transmission in a Taurus SHO, back in the early ’90’s. The car had leather interior, a fully loaded luxury car built with a substantial amount of power. Now with the 2010 coming out with 365 horsepower, its going to be another big win for Ford.

They’ve already got the enthusiasts heading over to the track to see what the SHO will do in stock form.  Autoblog recently posted a video of the new SHO pulling off a 13 second pass in the 1/4 mile.

The Taurus was a great all-around car, and it makes sense that Ford will try and recapture that success with what looks like a really slick design for 2010. I have to admit that I’ve not looked twice at any of the recent vehicles to come from the Big 3 but when I saw this I was really impressed.

The car even has a decent interior design, another typical disappointment I’ve seen from the domestic car companies. Lately they’ve been doing too much of the oval, round and goofy looking center console area.

I’m much more fond of the squared off look, and vertical lines from the dash down to the floor, as opposed the the 30 degree slopes that come off the dash with ugly big dials for the controls.

I’m a big fan of the lines that Volvo has on their interior:

The Taurus Interior

Overall I’m pleased to see that the Taurus is back, that the company listened to the enthusiast market, and is delivering a quality design.  The 365 horsepower is going to be a thrill to drive, and I’m sure once some of the aftermarket companies come out with a few bolt ons the car will run 12’s with mid 400 horsepower.

Check out some more great pics of the new 2010 Ford Taurus SHO photos