By Jim Marotta The 3,000 mile oil and filter change is as much a part of the American car culture as hot rods, car hops and whitewall tires. Whether we perform it ourselves in the driveway or watch while the family “mechanic” puts the car up on the lift and drains the oil, we think of the...
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Chilton Editors' Blog
by
Jim Marotta
on
16 Feb 2011
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Filed under: fuel economy, Maintenance, oil filter, oil and filter change, detergent, General Motors' Oil Life System, synthetic oil, service interval, dispersant, Chrysler's Flexible Service System (FSS), fluid specification
By Jim Marotta Back in the day, no matter which brand you chose, antifreeze was green. The glycol-based formula contained silicates as corrosion inhibitors. You mixed the antifreeze 50/50 with water and poured it in the radiator. As the engine operated, the antifreeze performed its primary duties of...
Posted to
Chilton Editors' Blog
by
Jim Marotta
on
29 Jul 2010
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Filed under: Chilton, ChiltonDIY, ChiltonPRO, Maintenance, www.chiltondiy.com, www.chiltonpro.com, fluid specification, technical service bulletin, TSB, coolant, antifreeze, Honda, Honda maintenance minder, freeze point, 2007 Honda Capacities, 2008 Honda Accord maintenance chart, Organic Acid Technology (OAT), Hybrid Organic Acid Technology (HOAT), vehicle manufacturer's current coolant recommendations, Inorganic Acid Technology (IAT), ethylene glycol (EG), Long Life Coolant (LLC), propylene glycol (PG), Extended Life Coolant (ELC), Jim Marotta
Second in a Series of Occasional Posts on Shop Maintenance Photography and Story by Jim Marotta It's a sweltering August afternoon and an overheated customer comes in saying the A/C isn't working. Earlier this week you convinced him to pay for needed A/C system maintenance . What went wrong?...
Posted to
Chilton Editors' Blog
by
Jim Marotta
on
14 Nov 2009
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Filed under: Maintenance, filter, dirty filter, recovery and recycling machine, refrigerant recycling, maintenance of refrigerant recovery and recycling machine, maintenance of refrigerant recycler, recycler malfunction, refrigerant recovery, replacing a filter, O-rings
Story and Photography by Ryan Lee Price Left unchecked and in constant contact with oxygen and moisture, rust will eventually convert all available iron into… more rust. Life On Earth Thanks to ... Rust? Approximately 4.6 billion years ago, when the solar system birthed, hydrogen (H), carbon ...
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Chilton Editors' Blog
by
Ryan Lee Price
on
8 Aug 2009
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Filed under: Maintenance, phosphoric acid, sanding, welding, rust, chemical conversion, grinding, sandpaper, rust treatment, special paints, steel wool, removing rust, Ryan Lee Price, Fighting Rust: Some Chemistry and Solutions