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TNT News Magazine |
This page is dedicated to the maintenance of motor vehicles. Here we will run the Automotive articles written for the TNT NEWS MAGAZINE. Each Subject will have its own link for ease in finding answers to many auto related questions.
AUTO MAINTENANCE & MECHANICS TIPS. Courtesy of CHECKERED FLAG AUTO-PARTS: For more information or with questions please contact our Professional Auto Staff. |
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| Should You Choose ECONOMY or TOP of the LINE PARTS? | ||||
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Looking for the Value of a vehicle, Chevy Classics, Hot Rods, or have Other common Interests? Follow a link below.
Money Saving Tips That All Drivers Should Follow. By: T. Roenneburg II "Know
The Code" In Automotive Language EEC
ECM EGR MAP MAF?? “What do all of these three letter words stand for these days?” This is a question that I hear in the auto parts business day after day. It is essential that a D.I.Y. (Do it Yourselfer) knows what all of those abbreviations mean to help troubleshoot today’s vehicles made up of sensors and switches. I have put together two lists that you may follow next time you hear someone say “Well I think that your EGR VPS failed along with your CTS and TPS. So is that a MPI engine or TPI with DOHC?” The first list is basic vehicle and engine abbreviations; The
second list is engine component abbreviations with a definition of
what the component does. BASIC ABBREVIATIONS ABS- Antilock Braking System A/C- Air Conditioning AOD- Automatic Over Drive Transmission- Ford Design AWD- All Wheel Drive CFI- Central Fuel Injection ( TBI- Throttle Body Fuel Injection) DEFI- Digital Electronic Fuel Injection DOHC- Double OverHead Camshafts ECU- Electronic Control Unit EEC II, III- Dura Spark Ignition System- Ford Design EEC IV- Hall Effect Ignition System- Ford Design EEC- Electronic Engine Control EFI- Electronic Fuel Injection FWD- Front Wheel Drive GVW- Gross Vehicle Weight HEI- High Energy Ignition MFI- Multi port Fuel Injection MPG- Miles Per Gallon MPI- Multi Port Fuel Injection OEM- Original Equipment Manufacture OHC- OverHead Camshaft OHV- OverHead Valves RPM- Revolutions Per Minute SEFI- Sequential Electronic Fuel Injection SFI- Sequential Port Fuel Injection SOHC- Single Over Head Camshaft TBI- Throttle Body Fuel Injection
ACTS
(Air Charge Temperature Sensor)- This
sensor, usually located on the Throttle Body Fuel Injection System,
reads the air/fuel mixture temperature and relays a voltage signal to
the engine computer which uses the input to help adjust the air/fuel
ratio. If this sensor
fails the engine may run rich or very poorly.
Testing this sensor requires a repair manual specific to the
vehicle. The ACTS can
only be bought new and is widely available through an auto parts store.
Prices range from twenty dollars to eighty dollars depending on
application. AFM/AFS
(Air Flow Meter/Air Flow Sensor)- Located
in the air intake tube before the fuel injection unit.
It measures the amount of air flowing into the fuel injection
unit and automatically compensates for the density and temperature of
the air. The AFM/AFS then
sends a voltage signal to the engine computer, which uses the input to
help determine the correct air/fuel ratio.
If this sensor fails it may cause the engine to run rich or
very rough. The AFM/AFS
is widely available remanufactured in most auto parts stores.
The OEM number stamped in the side is needed to determine the
correct part number and will cost fifty dollars to two-hundred dollars
depending on application. CPS (Crankshaft Position Sensor)- Located around the front of the crankshaft. This sensor is an electrical device that measures the position of the crankshaft for the sole purpose of triggering the ignition and fuel injection at the proper time. If this sensor fails the ignition system may not receive any spark or the fuel injectors may not work properly. The CPS is found on most vehicles without a distributor and is readily available for most applications at your local auto parts store. Engine size and model may be necessary to determine the correct part number. Normal cost may vary from twenty dollars to in upwards of one hundred dollars. MAP (Mass Absolute Pressure)- This sensor is located on the inner fender-wall of most fuel-injected vehicles. The MAP sensor is easily located because of its single vacuum line hooked to the intake manifold. It reads change in manifold pressure (vacuum) and sends a voltage signal to the computer, which uses various adjustments, such as in air/fuel ratio, spark advance and torque converter clutch operation. To help determine if this sensor has failed, first check to see if there is vacuum coming into the sensor and then follow troubleshooting instructions in a vehicle specific manual. The MAP sensor is readily available from your local auto parts stores with a cost of twenty dollars to seventy dollars. Although this guide is full of information, remember that a vehicle specific repair manual is always a must. The manual will give test procedures that change with model and make of each vehicle. Remember if there are any questions please feel free to Email: Contact PRO - Auto - Staff. I will try my best to answer any questions. RETURN TO TOP When one is faced with the question from the counterman at the parts store of "Do you want the lifetime warranty brake pads or the economy brake pads?" what is one to do? This is a questions that Do It Yourselfers are faced with all the time when purchasing auto parts. One has to know a few answers when faced with that question:
With answering just those three questions a consumer can determine which grade of part to purchase. When answering the first question of " Will the Economy line affect the safety and overall drivability if my car?" safety is the number one issue here. If a cheap set of brake pads are installed on a vehicle that does a lot of commuting and driving, therefore a lot of stop and go traffic, those pads could easily heat-up and not stop the car as well as the OEM pads did. Most people don’t know that if they are involved in a traffic accident, state or local inspectors could easily inspect their vehicle. When an inspector looks at vehicles that are involved in an accident they look for safety related items such as brakes, tires, suspension, a faulty horn and drive-train problems to determine who is at fault. If there are a cheap set of brake pads installed on one of the vehicles they are more than likely not stopping the greatest after a few miles. So when buying brake pads or shoes it is suggested that a mid-level or high-grade brake pad/shoe is installed instead of the economy set. This rule goes into play for other parts on a vehicle such as suspension parts, tires, u-joints, cv shafts and other drive train related parts. This is not to say that the most expensive part is always the best, but make sure that the part that is purchased and installed meets or exceeds OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture) specifications. When answering the question of "Are the advantages of the Top Of The Line Part really worth the extra cost?" usually the pocket book has the answer to this one. There are occasions that the most expensive part for a vehicle is really not worth buying unless the vehicle is used for car shows or off road racing only. For example there are spark plug wires that cost a ton of money, and have no noise suppression so they will interfere with the vehicles radio. Another example is the many grades of oil filters on the market that advertise longer drain intervals. Though a good oil filter can prolong changing oil, there is no oil filter that can retrieve the acids that are so harmful in a combustion engine. Spark plugs are yet another example of a good marketing scam. The suggestion to this day by many top mechanics and manufactures is to stay with what the vehicle came with. A good platinum plug never hurts, but don’t go overboard and expect a nine-dollar spark plug to be the cure-all of a tired or high mileage engine. The bottom line is to ask two questions:
Now although the other questions are important, "Do I regularly maintain my vehicle?" could be the ultimate question. If the vehicle doesn’t receive regular tune-ups then and only then would it be recommended to go with the longer life platinum spark plugs to help prevent costly break downs. If the oil changes are not done on a regular 3000-3500 miles, then the synthetic oil may be a good alternative. Lets face it, many people just have to many things going on in their life to worry about changing oil or changing the fuel filter right? WRONG! Try to take an hour a month and look at the vehicle and it’s service records to see if an oil change will be needed, or if the timing belt is coming due for a change. Making time for a vehicle is saving you time in the long run. Just think how much time and frustrations would be saved if that belt were inspected before it snapped and left the vehicle stranded on the way home from school or work in traffic on a Friday afternoon. RETURN TO TOP Coming soon: I have assembled, with the help of many mechanics and manufactures recommendations, an easy to use maintenance guide for the Do It Yourselfers out there or those who are concerned with the state of their car or truck. Always let your vehicle warm up. Oil sits at the very bottom of the engine until the engine is started. Therefore there is no lubrication in the middle and top of the engine until it has been running for a few minutes. This is especially important to do in the wintertime because the oil is very cold and it doesn’t flow very well. It will take a lot longer to pump it though out the engine. Remember inside of the engine there are several metal components moving against other metal components at very fast pace, and with a lot of force. It would be like rubbing a piece of sandpaper against wood, it would immediately wear the wood down. Now try to put some oil on that sandpaper and then rub it on the piece of wood. There will be hardly any wear at all because the oil is lubricating the sandpaper and wood. The wood and the sandpaper experiment represents the engines metal to metal moving parts, but imagine moving the piece of wood and sandpaper two-thousand times per minute. That’s how fast your internal engine parts rotate and scrape against each other! As you can imagine just by letting your vehicle warm up, the engine will last longer therefore saving costly repair bills down the road. I have even seen cars with well over 300,000 miles on them, just because the cars oil is changed on a regular basis and the car is warmed up before driving away for the day. RETURN TO TOP
When was the last time you priced out new cars? For me, keeping an eye on new car and truck prices and the changes the manufactures make is essential. If you have been watching the prices with me you have seen them skyrocket over the past few years. This means that buying that nice Honda Civic or Chevy S-10 truck may cost you $20,000 or more! Now even though there are great loan rates out there you will still be looking at a monthly payment of at least three hundred dollars or more. To me growing up in the eighties I can remember that cool Z-28 Camaro with a gas guzzling V-8 engine selling for a mere $12,000. So it very apparent that prices for new vehicles have risen in the past few years. That brings me to this months tip; oil changes; why and when? We recently discussed the importance of the oil and why you should warm up the vehicle before running the motor throughout the day. But I would like to touch on the importance of regular oil changes. For most gasoline-powered vehicles the engine should be changed every 3,000 to 3,500 miles with regular petroleum based oil. Your engine oil is a vital part of money saving routine maintenance that needs to be done. If not the acids and engine combustion deposits that are mixed in the oil will contaminate it through time. Acids in your engine will eat away at bearings and cylinder walls causing the engine to work harder over time. I am sure that you have driven on roads with pot holes and uneven surfaces and you probably know what a nice new road drives like also. Well the bearings and cylinder walls inside of an engine that hasn’t had the oil and oil filter changed on a regular basis is like driving down that road with several bumps and pot holes. The oil filter on the vehicle is just as important as the oil you put in it. It filters all the large deposits out of the oil so bearings and oil passageways don’t get clogged causing no oil to flow at all. Make sure that you install a premium oil filter, don’t buy the one that’s on sale at the discount store for one dollar, it will not have the protection your engine needs. Usually a good oil filter will run in the three to five dollar ranges. Recently I had the privilege of disassembling an engine that had ONLY two oil and oil filter changes in its entire life, and the horrible part is that this engine had 80,000 miles on it! I examined the bearing surfaces and found many discolorations where the acids actually ate though them to the point that they were almost totally gone. The cylinder walls were etched also with carbon deposits on the entire length of the cylinder causing other components to fail. If this engine were to have run for another five hundred miles it would have left the owner stranded somewhere and in need of help. This particular engine could have easily seen another 100,000 miles if the oil and oil filter were changed every 3,000 miles. This customer had to pay $2,000 for a new engine and another $800.00 for the shop to install it. That is $2800 that the customer had to pay for a car that was worth maybe $4000. If they would have had the oil and oil filter changed on a regular 3,000-mile basis this car could have easily lasted another six years. In the following months I will discuss some tips on changing your own oil. Whether you do it yourself or you have a trusted mechanic do it for you, changing the oil and oil filter is money saving maintenance that no engine should go with out. Because who wants to spend $300 plus on a monthly car payment when you could be buying the new Creed CD to play in your car stereo while cruising down the road? RETURN TO TOP THE EMERGENCY BRAKE The emergency brake is a vital part of the safety on your automobile. In vehicles equipped with a manual transmission it is a necessary safety feature that must be used whenever the vehicle is parked or the engine shut off. There is a safety concern when the emergency brake is not used because the vehicle, if parked on any kind of a slope, has the possibility of rolling out of the space in which it is parked. Of course you can imagine the damage that could be done if a vehicle is left parked on a slope when you go shopping, then when you return to the vehicle you see that the car has rolled down a hill into other vehicles or even worse people. Also, as a Liability Issue, note that if a vehicle does roll and injures a person, and the emergency brake is not working, you are liable for all injures and damages. With cars and trucks equipped with an automatic transmission, the only thing holding the car on a slope is a pin that engages directly into the main drive of the transmission. This may sound safe, but keep in mind that pin is only 1/8" in diameter. As you can imagine that little pin cannot safely hold an entire car on a steep slope. Just remember, if the emergency brake isn’t used frequently, because it is controlled with a metal cable, it will rust solid with many costly repairs to follow. RETURN TO TOP Teen Club * Concerts / Up-Coming Events * Extreme Adventures * Games * PRO-Teen
When the tire is under inflated it creates more surface than the vehicle safely needs to ride on therefore creating a need for more power from your engine to move the tire. Not only does it create a need for more power from your engine but it also makes the outer edge of the tire wear more than the middle of the tire. If the tire is over inflated the car may roll easier, but it causes the middle of the tire to wear more rapidly than the outside edges giving you a costly tire bill before you need it. Also if the tire is over inflated it means that the tire is exceeding the manufactures maximum pressure creating huge safety risk sometimes resulting in death! A simple three-dollar tire pressure gauge will do the job in most cases to check the tire pressure. It is recommended that tire pressure be checked "every other time" gasoline is added. Checking your tire pressure is very easy and should not be an over complicated procedure. I have had many questions on how much pressure should be pumped into the tires. It is very simple, on the outside of the tire, the side that faces outward, there is a minimum pressure and a maximum pressure. DO NOT EXCEED THE MAXIMUM PRESSURE and do not under inflate below the minimum pressure. If you do it is very dangerous and it may cause a very deadly accident due to the tire exploding. On the inside of the drivers door there should be a plate on the vehicle that indicates a recommended tire pressure. You may follow this but make sure the pressure is in between the maximum and the minimum of the tire itself. The tire pressure is measured in pounds per square inch or psi. First take the tire gauge and measure the pressure by pushing the gauge onto the tire valve located on the outside of the rim. Hold the gauge on the valve for a few seconds and read the gauge. If the pressure is under the recommended pressure, fill tire using a hose provided free at most local service stations. Make sure to check the pressure periodically while you fill the tire to make sure that you don’t over inflate. If the tire is over inflated, remove some air until the proper level is reached. You have probably heard about the massive recall on tires on Ford trucks over the past year. One of the reasons that those tires failed is because Ford decided to take it upon themselves to under inflate the tires on their SUVs for a softer ride. Because they under inflated all of those tires, the tires blew out and caused many accidents and deaths. If you do not want to check your own tire pressure have your mechanic check your tire pressure for you every other time you get gasoline. You may not see the money you are saving by keeping the correct pressure in your tires now, but you will down the road when you need to replace those costly tires. There will be more on rotating your tires and shopping for new tires in the coming months. RETURN TO TOP Teen Club * Concerts / Up-Coming Events * Extreme Adventures * Games * PRO-Teen NON-TOXIC’S FIRST ANNUAL TEEN CAR SHOW RULES: THE SHOW WILL TAKE PLACE ON AUGUST 25, 2001. The Show begins at 10:00AM. Sharp. All Vehicles must be registered by 10:00AM. to be entered in the Show. Pre-register here. The event will take place at The Edgerton Teen Center, Non-Toxic, which is located at 512 N. Main St., in Edgerton. * Map to The Center I. The Judging will take place using the following "Class System" Breakdown: Non-Toxic Reserves The Right to ADD or DELETE ANY Class Within 15 minutes of the Start of the Show. This could happen if no cars or trucks meeting the necessary criteria in a given Class are registered or if modifications are too extensive to fit a specific Class or other unforeseen elements of surprise. A. Truck Class The Truck Class will include all vehicles that are considered "trucks" by the manufacturer 2- wheel drive or 4-wheel drive. It will also include all Sport Utility vehicles, modified trucks and Imported Trucks. All Trucks must be driven to participate in the show. B. Sport Compact/ Import Class The Sport Compact/ Import Class will include all cars that are considered "compact" by the manufacturer. It will also include all cars that are made by an overseas-owned company. All Sport Compact/ Import vehicles must comply with state and local government safety laws and be driven to the event. Modifications are welcomed, but not necessary to participate. C. American Muscle Class The American Muscle Class will include all American made mid and full-size cars. All American Muscle cars must comply with state and local government safety laws and be driven to the event. Modifications are welcomed, but not necessary to participate in this class. D. Daily-Driver Class The Daily Class - includes all vehicles that are driven on a daily basis and used as sole transportation. This class includes all cars and trucks that comply with state and local government safety laws and must be driven to the event. This class is for everyone with a vehicle. E. Beater Class The Beater Class includes all vehicles that are driven on a daily basis and is absolutely ugly. This class must comply with all state and local government safety laws and be driven to the event. II. Vehicles will be judged in these categories:
-Cleanliness of Vehicle -Vehicle in Good Mechanical Running Condition -Vehicles Paint Condition Must Be In Good Condition -Interior Must Be In Good Condition -Any Modifications Are Allowed As Long As Safety is Not Compromised -Vehicle Modifications Must Comply with All Laws -Exhaust Must Have a Reasonable Tone
There will be a possibility of achieving 70 points total (1-10 in each Category of judging). The vehicle with the most points out of 70 will be deemed the winner in each class. All judges will be established before the event and not show any favoritism towards any participant. The Creativeness Class will be given a separate award from all other classes. All participates must sign a RELEASE OF LIABILITY WAIVER DOCUMENT that indicates that the event organizers are not responsible for ANY damages incurred to vehicles while parked at the show, enroute to the show or while departing the show. The gates will OPEN at 8:00AM. for set-up and last minute registration. There will be NO extension to the time schedule! Trophies will be awarded to the Winner in each Class. The TEEN car and truck show is open to those aged 13 to 19 years of age at the date of the show. The vehicle(s) may be submitted and worked on by a Team of teens, But each vehicle(s) must be registered, licensed and owned by a teen with Title Verification Mandatory, including picture ID. However, the teen does NOT need to be a licensed driver, But must have the vehicle driven to the Show by a Licensed driver. Each teen may enter up to three licensed vehicles. NO TRAILER QUEENS! PRE-REGISTER HERE- For the teen car and truck show..
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Keeping
your tires inflated may keep your wallet inflated
also. If you ever tried to ride a bicycle with flat tires or push a
wheelbarrow with a flat tire you know how much more effort it takes to go
anywhere. Well this simple example also applies to you car, truck or anything
with inflatable tires on it. The only difference is that instead of putting
more muscle into pushing or peddling, you are putting more money in gasoline
that isn’t needed because your motor is working harder. As your tires loose
pressure, and they all do over time, they get flatter and flatter so the
engine needs to work harder and harder. When the engine works harder it also
consumes more fuel, gasoline. With fuel prices skyrocketing over the past few
years every penny counts.