Avoid Used Cars not having Certified Mileage; A Broken Timing Belt will flatten your Wallet
August 31, 2007
Avoid Used Cars not having Certified Mileage; A Broken Timing Belt will flatten your Wallet
by: Ralph Hoffmann
Premature failure of rubber automotive timing belts can easily cost two or three thousand dollars of repairs, possibly including a new engine. Therefore knowing the true mileage of a used car is imperative. Cars having 4 or 6 cyl. engines may have rubber timing belts and should be avoided.
Be warned
Five years ago an international oil company survey found that 50% of off-lease cars had their odometers illegally turned back and suggested consumers avoid buying off-lease (used) cars, or leasing used cars having uncertain mileage. If the cars really had 50,000 miles, and the odometer read 30,000, then the timing belts would fail long before the new owners expected them to fail.
What is an “interference engine”?
Rubber timing belts are usually used in “interference” engines in which the
valves open further and project further into the combustion chamber than in a “free-running” engine. This allows outside air at atmospheric pressure to flow faster into the combustion chamber through the larger valve openings, allowing the engine to inhale more air, be smaller and still create as much power while reducing its manufactured cost and guaranteeing future repair business for the dealer.
Ford Freestar: Making Its Way after the Windstar
August 30, 2007
Ford Freestar: Making Its Way after the Windstar
by: Chuck Smith
Replacing the Ford Windstar minivan in 2004, the Ford Motor Company introduced the Ford Freestar. This vehicle comes in five trim levels that includes the S, the SE, the Sport, the SEL, and the Limited. The Limited trim level uses chrome on its 16 inch wheels, door handles, and roof rack. The SEL trim level, on the other hand, receives bright and machine 16 inch wheels as well as redesigned front door panels.
Possibly because the Ford Freestar replaced the Ford Windstar in the company’s line up of vehicles, this new vehicle holds a very similar appearance to the latter. It sports a body-colored grille, a chrome grille and five spoke aluminum wheels. This vehicle can also seat up to a maximum of seven passengers. The bucket seats in the second row of the vehicle include a fold and tumble feature. The third row seats have the capability to fold flat on the floor so as to maximize and add up cargo and storage space. The power of the Ford Freestar comes from the 3.9 liter V6 engine that has the capacity to produce some 193 units of horsepower. They also come with a four speed automatic transmission system.
Muscle Car Restoration 101
August 29, 2007
Muscle Car Restoration 101
by: Jason Tarasi
Restoring muscle cars is a hobby for some and a profession for others. There’s just something about the classic high-performance cars that collectors, racers and general car enthusiasts find fascinating. If you are a hobbyist who is interested in restoring a muscle car, you will probably benefit from a few restoration tips. The restoration of muscle cars begins with shopping for a muscle car that can be restored. Prior to buying a car for the purpose of restoring it you need to make sure that the parts needed for the restoration are available and you can get your hands on them, and that you can afford to complete the project once you start it.
Before going shopping for a muscle car to restore, decide what your purpose is for restoring a car. Do you just want a great muscle car to drive? Will you be racing? Are you restoring the car so you can participate and compete in classic car shows? Do you intend to sell the totally restored muscle car for a profit?
Motorcycle Tires - Why Should You Care?
August 28, 2007
One of the most important parts of any vehicle is its tires. Not only are the tires subject to a large amount of wear and tear, but also their durability depends largely upon how you maintain them. But before we go into the details of motorcycle tires maintenance, let us first understand how you should determine which tires are best for you.
One of the most trusted sources to which you can speak about the kind of tires that would suit your needs the best should be the dealer from whom you purchased your bike or your bike repair mechanic. Since both these parties do not have any interest in giving you wrong information, they make a good starting point.
Besides your dealer and mechanic, you can also look up for information on motorcycle tires in: tire guides, magazine reviews, manufacturer official sites and a few serious forums on the Net. This will help you to re-affirm the information that you have gained from your bike dealer / mechanic.
One of the simplest ways of determining the correct brand for tire choice is to look at the tires which are being utilized by other motorcyclists in a competition. If any particular brand strikes you to be most commonly used, it might do you good to check out that particular brand first.
2006 Chevy HHR: Combining the Old and the New
August 28, 2007
2006 Chevy HHR: Combining the Old and the New
by: Terry Brown
Combing the strengths and elements of Chevy’s original utility vehicle, the 1949 Chevy Suburban, and the company’s current roadster pickup, the Chevy SSR, the 2006 Chevy HHR holds a distinct design. The 2006 Chevy HHR is a crossover vehicle that has combined both a small sedan as well as a small sport utility vehicle. This kind of combination has made this vehicle unique in style and still highly functional.
This vehicle is built on the same solid platform that the Chevy Cobalt also uses. Lori Queen, GM vehicle line’s executive for small cars, states, “The HHR is what you want it to be, whether you’re hauling band equipment around the country or hauling your friends across town. With its unmistakable styling and innovative features, the HHR is further proof that there is a new spirit at Chevrolet.”
Automobile Brakes: Slowing Your Way to Safety
August 27, 2007
Automobile Brakes: Slowing Your Way to Safety
by: Carol Mitchel
Just imagine speeding down the highway. Just imagine the sun on your face and the wind on your hair. Just imagine the feeling of being one with your car and the road as well. Feels great, doesn’t it? This time, imagine trying to slow down your descent however finding out that your Rover brakes do not work. Now that would be a great misfortune.
An automobile’s brake system has been continually refined and redefined for over a century. Automobiles without brakes would not a great thing for drivers and passengers would be very much prone to accidents, collisions, and crashes. The modern automotive brakes system has now become extremely independent, dependable, indispensable, and very efficient. All these are due to the experiences of drivers and innovations of automobile experts.
The Rover brake system of an automobile generally consists of disk brakes. They are mounted and installed in the front and rear ends of the automobile. The disk brakes, or also known as drum brakes, installed in the rear is connected by a system of tubes and hoses. These then link the Rover brake at each wheel and connect them to the master cylinder. If a person looks more closely into an automobile’s brake system, he would be able to discover that there are other systems that are connected to this system. These other systems include the parking brakes, the power brake booster, and the anti-lock system.
Alcohol and Water Injection
August 26, 2007
Alcohol and Water Injection
by: Greg Guster
Our Promise:
Engine Runup does everything possible to keep its overhead costs down, which is why you will notice our prices are quite lower than the competition. We only advertise in Search Engines. We do not sponsor Forums, since they carry a high price, which would only be passed on to the customer. We rely on ‘Word of Mouth’ for our advertising, and with a quality product, it has treated us well.
We offer a 1 Year Warranty, that’s right, 1 year. Engine Runup’s kits and parts are the highest quality versus any competitors out there. There are two main components of any alcohol/water injection system, the pump and the solenoid(s). Our pumps are delivered directly from Shurflo, the best name in pumps worldwide, and our solenoids are custom made for Engine Runup, with a solid Brass base, not a single plastic part, and weighs over a pound. The seals in the solenoid are also compatible with 100% alcohol and gasoline. A checkvalve should never be used in the place of a solenoid. We will always offer a better product for a better price, period.
Stage 1 versus Stage 2 Kits
Avoiding GPS theft
August 25, 2007
Avoiding GPS theft
by: Francis Ononye
There has been a lot of reported vehicle break-ins with satellite navigations units stolen from the vehicles. This I will say is partly due to the growing popularity of satellite navigation units.
A lot of the owners leave the windscreen mounts of these devices attached to the windscreen when they detach the units, this is a give away signal that leads to the vehicle being broken into with the vandal looking for the device in the dashboard.
My solution is simple, get a windows or symbian smartphone, that is compatible with a navigation software and use that for your navigational needs. These smartphones are really getting smarter, you would want to look for a series 60, 80, or 90 symbian phone or any windows powered mobile phone. Bluetooth functionality is a prerequisite as that is what is used to connect to mobile phone to the portable bluetooth gps receiver. Get yourself a compact buetooth gps unit like the holux gpslim 236, that is currently the smallest unit and you are done.
Car Title Loans Offer Risky Cash
August 24, 2007
Car Title Loans Offer Risky Cash
by: Charles Essmeier
Payday loans have received a lot of negative press lately as states and municipalities try to regulate an industry that legally lends small amounts of money at interest rates that can reach a breathtaking 1000% per year. A less well-publicized variation on the payday loan is the car title loan, which requires the borrower to provide his or her automobile as collateral for the loan amount. While this type of loan is not as widely publicized as the payday loan, the car title loan is even more dangerous, as it could cost the borrower their car!
Payday loans, also known as cash advance loans, are unsecured loans. The lender trusts the borrower to pay back the money within two weeks. This type of loan is risky for the lender, but that risk is more than offset by the high interest rates charged for the loans, which can easily top 400% on an annualized basis.
Catching the Jaguar XJR
August 23, 2007
Catching the Jaguar XJR
by: Michelle Crimson
When Jaguar is mentioned, the very first thing that could possibly enter your mind would be prestige, power, elegance, and design. Aside from that, it also brings about grace and style. And one of the Jaguar vehicles that incorporate all these characteristics would be the Jaguar XJR.
The latest updates done on the Jaguar XJR make it larger. It had added some 2.6 inches in length, 2.4 inches of width, and a significant 4.3 inches of height. It has shorter overhangs as well as a lesser steepness for its windscreen. To add to the joy of Jaguar XJR owners and users, the new one also holds more passenger space as well as cargo and luggage space which has gained a 30 per cent increase. It boasts of an aluminum body that is very much delightfully stiff. With the aluminum body, this makes the Jaguar XJR a lot less lighter. In fact, it has lost 440 pounds.
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