Transmissions & Clutches
The Ins and Outs of Manual Gear Box Repair
Salem on Service: Handling the Damage in the Shop
Mrs. Smith’s car is being backed out of the bay after an oil change and Joe, the driver and tech, hits the wall with the car. The wall is fine, but the same cannot be said for Mrs. Smith’s car. I would never suggest that my way is the only way, but here is how
Understanding Today’s Multi-Coil Ignition Systems
Distributorless Ignition Systems (DIS) have been around for more than two decades, but in recent years the trend has been to multi-coil systems such as Coil On Plug (COP) or Coil Per Cylinder (CPC) ignition systems, and Coil Near Plug (CNP) ignition systems. COP systems have become the hot setup for a number of packaging,
Flash Reprogramming
Would you believe flash reprogrammable PCMs have been in vehicles for more than a decade? The first such application was the 1990 Geo Storm. Why a humdrum car like the Storm would be the first to receive a flash reprogrammable computer system is unknown. You’d think GM would have chosen a more high profile vehicle
Sensing an Emissions Problem
Oxygen sensors are a product that have been around for more than 20 years, yet most motorists don’t even know they have one or more of these devices on their vehicle – let alone what it does. The only time customers even become aware of oxygen sensor existence is if they get a Check Engine
‘Court’-ing Disaster
I just returned to the shop after what felt like the longest three hours of my life. I spent the afternoon in Small Claims Court, and while fascinating — the same kind of fascination that won’t allow you to look away when trains collide, planes fall out of the sky or fast-moving brush fires head
Installing Quality Disc Brake Pads
Because today’s lighter and more friction-efficient disc brakes have become very sensitive to differences in friction materials, the issue of selecting a quality brake pad is becoming increasingly relevant to the quality-conscious installer. To illustrate, aftermarket manufacturers of high-performance disc brakes offer literally dozens of racing pads that are qualitatively equal, but vary widely in
Analyzing Ignition Misfires and Plotting a Diagnostic Course
Uh oh. The Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) is on, and you’ve just found a misfire code. It’s a code P0304, which tells you cylinder number four is misfiring. There are no other codes and the engine has a steady miss. Now what? Misfire diagnosis in this kind of situation should be fairly easy. You have
Cooling Off: Cooling System Parts and Service
Cooling system service is an absolute “must-do” on any import nameplate. Once a cooling system suffers long-term neglect, it turns into an on-going source of problems for the owner and his servicing technician because, when corrosion starts to take place, the effects can’t be reversed. For that single reason, it’s important to sell your customers