Pedal Extensions

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Dan

I’m a little over six feet tall, so the majority of customers are shorter than me. This means that the driver’s seat is usually a bit farther forward than is comfortable for me to drive. I usually try to avoid moving a seat unless I need to test drive the car on the road and the customer’s seat position puts me in a very uncomfortable or unsafe position, especially with manual transmission cars.

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Get Your Recalls Done

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Dan

If I had to guess, I’d say that probably the majority of cars sold in the United States in the last two decades have come under some sort of recall at least once. Recalls usually address safety issues, or sometimes problems that make them fail emissions requirements. Most notably, hundreds of millions of airbags have been recalled in the last several years. It’s always a good idea to get recalls done as soon as you are notified that your vehicle has one.

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My Thoughts on the Latest Airbag Recall

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Dan

New blog posts every Monday and Thursday, plus pictures throughout the week on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

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-Dan

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Tool Review: Hyper Tough Slotted Screwdriver

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Dan

This might be the cheapest tool review I’ve ever done.

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Find a Trustworthy Mechanic

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Dan

Auto repair shops are everywhere, but it can be hard to find a good mechanic. Even if you find a good mechanic at one shop, somebody else at the same place may not be so good, so when you find somebody with a good reputation, try to stick with that one person. A good mechanic isn’t just one that does good work, but also one that doesn’t try to sell things a car doesn’t need.

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Badly Welded Exhaust

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Dan

As I test drove a used car at the dealership, I noticed that the exhaust was a little bit loud. When I got it up on the lift I found that it was leaking from the join where one pipe slips over another and has a clamp around the two. I could tell I would have to replace the exhaust, but there was one problem that would make that harder. These joints are meant to not be welded, but this one had, and very badly.

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The Noisy Leaf

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Dan

Cars can make all sorts of noises. Suspension squeaks and clunks, grinding brakes, uneven tires, leaking exhaust, all of these are mechanical noises from outside the car. Inside the car there can be squeaks or creaks from trim panels rubbing against each other, or just noise from a pile of coins in a cupholder.

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Don’t Hang Calipers By The Hose

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Dan

One of my pet peeves, and something that I was taught early on when learning about fixing cars, is that when you’re doing a brake job, it’s not good to just let the caliper hang by the hydraulic hose. This stresses the hose and if you do it too much it could lead to a premature failure.

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Amazingly Clean 1998 Honda Civic

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Dan

Typically cars get driven 10,000 to 15,000 miles each year when used as a commuter car. If a car only gets used for a weekly trip to the grocery store, or to doctors appointments, or to church, as a lot of cars owned by the elderly, they don’t accumulate many miles. Additionally, if a car is a special model like an older Civic Si or an S2000, they may only get driven once in a while, and get even fewer miles on the clock.

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Gratuitous Snow Donuts – 6 Cylinders of Fury(ish)

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Dan

New blog posts every Monday and Thursday, plus pictures throughout the week on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

Watch Mechanical Malarkey on YouTube!

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-Dan

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