Does your vehicle engine run ok?

Or does it cut-out on you sometimes when your are going to visit your in-laws?

Does it *spit* and *sputter* and *backfire*, then start running ok, again?

Symptoms of this nature can be several things.

o You could have a sparkplug wire shorting out.

o You could have an electrical wire shorting out.

o You may have some water in the fuel tank.

Let’s take the most common of these three mentioned.

Over the years you cannot keep they fuel tank full at all times.

With a fuel tank half full, the upper part can cause condensation.

This condensation will slowly build up and run down into the bottom of the tank.

When you start to pass another vehicle you call upon the fuel pump to give me more gasoline.

The fuel pump starts working overtime and picks up more fuel, then the water goes into the line along with the gasoline.

The fuel filter catches this water and since water is heavier than gasoline, it drops to the bottom of the filter.

After awhile though, you come up behind me, and I’m not driving quite as fast as you would like to go, so you floorboard it and go around me.

What happens when you floorboard it?

Right, you are asking for more fuel.

With the filter partially full of condensation, water, some of it gets picked up into the fuel line and goes to the carburetor or injector.

“Chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug, Pow!”

Purr, purr, purr.

See what happens?

You can solve this problem, most of the time, by changing the fuel filter two or three times a year.

Now, if you have just filled up at the pump, and your car starts acting this way, you may have to take the fuel tank off and clean it out.

Or, pay someone else to do it!

What are tie rod ends? Your life depends on them!

All vehicles, no matter what make or model have tie rod ends.

On vehicles with Rack and Pinion Steering there are only two, but on others, there are four.

The tie rod end attaches to the steering knuckle on each front wheel on Rack and Pinion Steering.

On non-R&P steering, there is one attached to the steering knuckle on each front wheel and one attached to the long bar that controls both wheels for steering, called a Tie Rod Drag Link.

This link is connected to the pitman arm coming from the steering gear-box and also connected to an idler arm for stability purposes.

The little tie rod ends on non R&P screw into a sleeve with both right-handed threads and left-handed threads.

When you have the toe-in set on your vehicle, the technician can loosen two bolts and nuts and twist this sleeve�…this makes the tires go out or in.

It is very important to have these tie rod ends greased every time you have the oil and filter changed in the engine.

Why? Well, if you don’t grease them then, when will you?

The importance in greasing them is to keep them moving freely.

If they get dry they will wear out quickly.

If they wear out, they can come apart.

If they come apart, you won’t be able to steer your vehicle. Not a good thing.

Now, grant you, on some of the newer vehicles the manufacturers decided to leave off the grease fittings.

These tie rods come pre-packed and will last a very long time.

But, you should have them ‘checked ‘ at each oil change.

Some have a threaded hole for the grease fitting, but they have a small cap over them.

You can remove the cap and add a fitting so you can grease it.

Any time you replace a tie rod end, be sure to grease it, and the others if you can.

Take care of your vehicle so it will take care of you and your family!

You may have heard rumors that it’s possible to get paid to drive your car, or in some cases, get a car to use for free. While participation is limited and luck is needed along with living in the right place for a particular campaign, it is possible to get paid to have your car (or a car given to you) turned into a moving advertisement. If you drive 800 miles or more a month along heavily populated routes in your normal driving habits, you may want to check out the companies that offer car wraps.

The concept is fairly simple. Advertising space on billboards along busy roads and highways is limited and in some places not allowed at all. It’s possible, however, to reach many of those people another way. Companies advertise on the outside of cars to reach those same people. The problem is that purchasing an entire fleet of cars for an advertising campaign can be overly expensive, so a solution was developed.

Instead of purchasing their own cars, companies will sometimes “rent” space on individual private citizen’s cars. In return for letting a company “wrap” your car with their advertisement, they will pay you a monthly fee. The fees can be as high as $400 a month for a full car wrap and lesser amounts for a partial car wrap or a window wrap.

Another option that some of these companies offer in place of car wraps is giving you a free car with advertisements already on it. You usually don’t get paid in this deal or get to choose the type of car provided, but you do receive free use of the car for the period of the campaign. Your only costs are gas and insurance meaning that you are getting transportation at a fraction of the cost of owning your own car. There are some rare cases when you can get paid when receiving a free car. Some companies will pay you to drive the free cars along certain, specified routes each day.

So what is the catch? The main one is there are far more drivers wanting the positions than advertising campaigns available. If you don’t drive a lot of miles or live in a highly populated area (large college campuses seem to be an ideal location) where the advertisement will be seen by a population the advertisers crave, your chances of being chosen are slim. Most companies require you to drive a minimum of 800 miles a month. Not driving enough miles can negate the contract and most companies utilize global positioning systems (GPS) in your car to track the miles and places you go each month.

Most programs require you to be 18 years of age, have a clean driving record and your own auto insurance. Traffic violations will in most cases prohibit you from being considered. Contracts vary in length and amount paid depending on the type of advertising in the campaign involved. Most companies don’t let you pick the advertiser, but will let you bow out if the advertiser goes against your moral values (cigarettes, alcohol and sex).

With the concept there are a growing number of websites that don’t actually offer the service of car wrapping, but claim to be a data base for advertisers to find people willing to advertise on their cars. Many offer free sign up, but then encourage you to purchase a “premium package” that is supposed to move your name higher up on the list. The fact is that you are very unlikely to be picked from these services so it isn’t worth the time (and definitely not the money) signing up with them.

While the chances of being picked are slim, they are better than playing the lottery. If you meet the requirements and live in an area you believe would be desirable to advertisers, it could be worth the 15 to 30 minutes it takes to fill out the online forms. If you are lucky and do get picked, you will significantly reduce your driving expenses with little effort on your part.

When do you need to replace your lubricating oil? If you have a large quantity of lubricating oil to change, it is going to burn a hole in your pocket. So most plant operators try to preserve the properties of the lubricating oil for as long as possible.

One of the most important functions of lubricating oil is to reduce the friction between the moving parts of machinery. But there are other features to look at.

When do you know that the oil needs to be changed? Below is a rough guide:

1. Viscosity has changed by 10%

2. Flash Point has dropped to 150 degree Celsius

3. Water Content has reached 2%

4. TBN, or Total Base Number has reduced by 20%

5. Insoluble Content has increased to 5% of the oil

Due to the oxidation of the oil when exposed to heat and oxygen, the viscosity of the oil tend to reduce. With the reduction of viscosity, the film of oil between rubbing metal surfaces becomes more difficult to maintain. This results in metal to metal contact, micro seizures that leads to scuffing, abrasion and other damages.

In large diesel engines, fuel oil from dripping injectors or fuel pumps sometimes finds their way into the lubrication oil sump. This has the tendency to reduce the flash point of the lubricating oil. In addition to reducing the viscosity that is detrimental to lubrication, this contamination with fuel oil can be quite dangerous. If there is a hotspot in any of the rubbing parts, this can lead to a crankcase explosion.

Water can also find its way into the lubricating oil from leaks in the cooling water system o-rings or gaskets. In addition to reducing the lubricating properties of the oil, the presence of water in the oil can give rise to bacteria or fungal growth, which will quickly damage the oil properties as well as contributing to acid corrosion and oxidation of the oil, changing the chemical composition of the oil itself. However, if the water content is below 0.5%, it can still be removed by centrifugal purifiers.

The total base number is especially needed for the cylinder liner lubrication of engines that run on poor quality fuel with high sulphur content. The base additive is used to reduce the corrosive effects of the sulphuric acid fumes on the cylinder.

With large diesel engine installations, the lubricating oils are continuously filtered and purified to reduce the insoluble particles in the oil. Special strainers containing magnets are used to trap particles of carbon or iron particles. In large diesel engines, the carbon particles are byproducts of combustion while the iron particles comes from rubbing of gears, cams or other parts where wear down still occur.

The presence of these particles interferes with the lubrication of bearings, most of which contain soft white-metal coating. The particles can become embedded into the soft metal and cause abrasion of the metal parts.