Total Kar; Cars, Trucks and Mechanics

I must admit from the first day I drove a car I was hooked on driving. I grew up skateboarding every day, I had been 72 M.P.H. on a skateboard, and back then we used to do a lot of speed skating, on curvy roads as well. This taught me how to take the cleanest lines through turns, it taught me line of sight, without brakes or gas pedal. On a skateboard, so you must set up early.

From the moment I’ve had my driver’s license I’ve always had some sort of sporty car; from my first a 1969 Camaro, a 1969 Oldsmobile 442 to a 1976 Rally Sport Camaro, to what I now have; a 2002 Subaru WRX. I have worked for Mercedes-Benz and Dodge and I am a certified Dodge Viper Specialist. And with a career as a dealership mechanic, I have gotten to drive a huge number of fine cars.

I live in the mountains of West Virginia, and to say the least, we have some of the most interesting driving roads in the country. I drive one of them daily; State Route 60, the Midland Trail, a road after the heart of any driving enthusiast.  This road has a  little bit of everything, it is a two lane blacktop road with,  S-turns, Sweepers, Ascending and Descending apex turns, Switchbacks, Hairpins and some passing lanes. You must pass on the curvy truck passing lanes though because the only feature it does not have is the straight stretch. But this all adds to the excitement of the experience. This road is actually on one of the Top Ten driving roads in the country.

The best part of the drive starts at the base of the mountain, in Gauley Bridge, WV. Do Not Speed in these little towns, very bored police present. The road goes from Gauley Bridge for about 40 miles to I-64. Besides being fun it also has absolutely beautiful scenery, Hawks Nest State Park for instance, may be worth stopping for a moment to drink in the wondrous views, and perhaps get a glimpse of a Hawk, or now even a Bald- or Golden Eagle.

I drive this wonderful road in my Subaru WRX, what an amazing little car this is. It has excellent road manners, and a little over steer, which is actually an advantage once you get used to it. I ran a set of Michelin Pilot tires one season, these gripped so well; I thought they would rip the struts off my car. They must have added at least half a “G” in the turns, when I was driving spiritedly because at the end of the season my wheel bearings were up for replacement…

I have to add here: I do not advocate reckless driving; you should always be in complete control of your vehicle and never put anyone else in danger. I never exceed the speed limit and I am always careful with other drivers around, so should you!

I hope you can experience this wonderful road, in a car or a motorcycle; it is actually on the “Run to the Wall” route. I know as a driving enthusiast it gives me great pleasure to be able to drive this road daily.

Thanks for stopping by

Posted in Driving, Little ol me | | No Comments »

Q: I have a 2000 Toyota truck with a full sized spare underneath the bed of the truck. I have never taken this tire off or had it checked.

Would you think the tire is still usable after 10 years? And I cannot imagine how hard it may be to get it
off after so many years.
What should I have done maybe years ago and what should I do at this point, since I may experience a flat some time?

A: A good question! This event plays out over and over.

Try to remove the spare, if successful, inspect the tire for any signs of cracks or dry rot. Inspect the valve core in the same manner. Inspect the tread, looking for any deviations. If you do not feel comfortable inspecting your tire yourself, take it to a reputable tire facility for professional inspection.

In the future if you find yourself with a new truck, opt for the full size spare option. Start a 5 tire rotation schedule, rotating your spare into normal use. This way you will wear down all the tires equally, get overall worn mileage on all of them. You get more mileage out of your tires (since you use one extra) and you won’t have to throw out a never used, dry rotted spare tire after a few years (which is a waste).

Posted in Parts, Questions, maintenance | | No Comments »

Q:When a mechanic tells me I need to replace a part, how can I be sure
they are not over charging me for the part? Can I purchase the part
myself and take it to the mechanic to install?

A: There are a few things you can do;

To make sure the part they want to replace needs fixing, you can request to be shown the bad part, and you can take pictures or even video it, most cell phones will record a few seconds. With this you could get a second opinion from me through our ‘Ask Tk’ form.

You can certainly buy your own part; I advise calling several different part stores before purchasing. Understand that different brands of parts come in different quality, with different prices and different warranties.

After you have the repairs done you can request the old parts as well.

Posted in Parts, Questions | | No Comments »

I am sure you have seen that some cars have headlights that are faded, dirty looking and yellowed. Maybe even your headlights look like this. Do you ever wonder why?

Headlights didn’t used to do this, so why does this happen nowadays? The main reason headlights become faded and yellowed is because now they are made of different types of plastic, instead of glass…

The plastic degrades easily by UV rays from the sun. There is another factor at plays here as well; the plastic is less chemical resistant, and picking up road grime only aides in the degradation process.

All this yellowing and fading does not allow a lot of light to shine through, in turn may reduce your ability to safely drive at night.

So what can you do about this yellow headlight issue? There are several options I can suggest depending upon the severity of the headlight lens degradation.

-          For light to medium degradation there are refinishing kits on the market. Refinishing is normally fairly easy. They typically consist of several very fine grits of wet sanding paper (1000 to 2000 grit) and a finishing polishing compound.

-         For more severe headlight degradation there are basically two options: send off for professional refinishing (you can find companies online that do this) or replacement. You can go with factory replacement or with an aftermarket company that makes new headlight assemblies for most cars, sometimes at fewer costs than factory OEM parts.

Thanks for stopping by

Posted in Parts, Safety, maintenance | | No Comments »

Q: I drive a 2008 Acura turbo RDX. Acura recommends the higher octane grade gas. Can I go to the lower octane too? Does Turbo make a difference in gas selection?

A: I have to agree with Acura here… minimum octane rating for your engine (2.3 liter 4 cylinder with 240 horsepower) is 91.

Premium fuel is part of a turbocharged gasoline engine. Understand this; it is not that your engine won’t run on lower grade fuel, it will, however you won’t get proper performance from your engine with a lower grade gas. You will have less power and you will not be able to gain RPM as easily. This will make the engine actually use more gas to get the same performance as with a higher grade gas.

The biggest problem however will be the fact that you may also get unwanted noise from your engine (knocking or clattering). Your engine has a “Knock Sensor” that will sense this and it will attempt to adjust ignition timing to eliminate or reduce the knock. Long term knock can be damaging to your engine.

So though you might think you save money by buying lower grade gas, you in fact will do the opposite, you will end up spending more on gas and on possible engine repairs.

Posted in Fluids, Fuels, Questions | | No Comments »