This week the State of Texas has made American transportation history by approving a stretch of highway with a speed limit of 85 MPH—the highest anywhere in the United States. The stretch of State Highway 130 is an alternate route connecting the suburbs of Austin and San Antonio. The proposed legislation, that would increase the…
Read moreWhy do I get asked for my VIN or production year when I am trying to buy parts for my car?
If you have tried to buy auto parts for your vehicle recently you may have come across an oxygen sensor, radio, wheel hub or another part that has (From MM/YY) or (To MM/YY) in the product description. This is called a production split. It means that sometime during the year that your car was made,…
Read moreI think my cylinder head might be cracked, how can I tell?
A common problem that automobile owners face is a cracked cylinder head. The cylinder head facilitates cooling in the engine. The cylinder head gasket contains the engine coolant inside the head and keeps it from mixing and contaminating the engine oil. If something goes wrong with the cylinder head gasket, the coolant will not be…
Read moreWhy does the dealership want to charge me so much for parts?
The simple answer is obvious—to make more money. However, there is a lot going on behind the scenes that you may not know about because neither the dealership nor your mechanic, want you to know what they know. When it comes to dealerships, the truth is that they do not make the majority of their…
Read moreWhy should you replace your accumulator/drier when you replace your compressor?
It’s never a good thing when your air conditioning in your car stops working. We get it-- it’s summer, it’s hot, and you have places to be. When you take your car to the mechanic it is likely that they are going to tell you that you will need to replace the A/C compressor in…
Read moreWhat is a Core Charge?
If you have recently tried to buy auto parts online, you may have come across something called a “core charge”—which probably leaves you with two questions: What is a core? And why am I getting charged for it? A car part generally has many external components that fail, but those components can be rebuilt or…
Read moreThe Future of Buying Cars?
The number of people that have turned to the internet to buy auto parts and also purchase vehicles has steadily risen over the last decade. Thanks to sites like, AutoTrader and CarMax consumers have gained access to a much larger market of new and used cars. These sites have added some integrity to the online…
Read moreTop Stolen Cars of 2011
Yesterday, The National Insurance Crime Bureau, NCIB for short, released their annual Hot Wheels report. This study takes stolen car information from law enforcement agencies around the country, and lists which year, make and model of vehicles are stolen the most. Whenever a car is reported stolen it makes this report. The top ten stolen…
Read moreWhat Does a Knock Sensor Do?
Knock sensors are the units in vehicles that monitor the pinging in the motor and help control the timing of the engine. The computer uses the input from the knock sensor along with the O2 sensors and air fuel ratio sensor to adjust the timing and fuel mixture in the pistons. The engine in a…
Read moreWhat is a Crank Position Sensor?
Modern engines run by using a number of specialized sensors such as Air Fuel Ratio Sensor or O2 Sensor units. While the air flow in an engine is extremely important there are other factors that need to be measured such as the position of all the parts of the motor at any given time. The…
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