Turbo Sprint Weird 80s Car
1987 Chevy Turbo Sprint
This past weekend I went to a local car show and saw a weird 80s car that an ex-girlfriend of mine owned. It was a 1987 Chevrolet turbo Sprint. This was her first new car and was one of only two years that you could buy an intercooled three cylinder engine in the 1600 pound car.
In 1987 intercooled turbochargers were brand-new to the car market and General Motors was installing them on the legendary Buick Grand National. Although regular turbochargers had been around and available on older GM cars the intercooled version was new automotive technology to us. It allowed for higher boost pressures and overall better performance due to intercooling.
When she let me drive the car I realized that this roller skate was something special. I wasn’t sure how special until a guy at work said my girlfriend’s car is faster than your girlfriend’s car. To a mechanic in the auto repair business this is a glove slap to the face. So I said oh yeah, how would you like to put your money where your mouth is. He said I’ll meet you at Atco Raceway for the Friday night Street night event and we’ll see whose girlfriend has the faster ride.
Weird 80s car drag races
Broken Power Seat Switches
Broken power seat switch
Some vehicles are susceptible to broken power seat switches. My neighbor has a late 90s Ford pickup that has had the control switch for the power seats replaced several times. Although he would like to blame his wife I think it is actually a poor design.
The power control master switch sticks way out from the base of the seat. It’s positioned in such a way that when you swing your feet in (depending on the length of your legs and the size of your feet) the Master control is kind of in the way.
Add to this the fact that the automotive parts themselves are made from cheap plastic and they will not survive a collision with a person’s foot. Just below I have included some popular power seat switches. Replacing this part on most models is relatively easy and often only requires a screw driver. Keep in mind Luxury German cars have complex systems that make it much harder to diagnose and repair. In some cases you might want to have the step by step instructions from a factory service manual.
In my neighbor’s situation its just a matter of removing the trim panel that snaps into place and then removing the two Phillips head screws that secure the master power seat switch to the bottom part of the seat frame. Read more
Nicknames For Mechanics
Automobile mechanic wrenching
There are lots of nicknames for mechanics. Maybe the best known one of all time would be grease monkey. Be sure to leave a comment at the end of this article about your favorite nicknames for car mechanics. What got me thinking about this subject was watching a rerun of the Battle Star Galactica series.
I heard a good reference towards the mechanics that worked on the spacecraft. The mechanics are called knuckle draggers amongst themselves and the crew. The interesting thing was these futuristic fantasy sci-fi mechanics wore the nickname with pride. They were proud to be covered with dirt and work hard.
They hung out with other spacecraft mechanics and didn’t associate much with the officers, pilots or the general public because these people often misunderstood them. I found it interesting because whether you’re working on spacecraft, automobiles, heavy machinery or military vehicles mechanics pretty much have the same mindset.
Is it Covered Under Warranty
Is my car problem covered under warranty is one of the common questions I receive here at the auto repair information blog. In most cases this is a question that I can only shed some light on because ultimately whether it is covered under warranty or not is unfortunately a question that the dealership has to answer.
crankshaft position sensor
As an example let’s say the crankshaft position Sensor has failed on your vehicle and it wouldn’t start. Parts and labor including towing would be covered under the base factory warranty. But what if external damage is what caused the problem to the car part.
External damage is considered an accident and not covered under the base warranty. Example: The factory will not be responsible if the automobile fell into a sinkhole and this broke the crank sensor. It would be considered an accident. This means that it is really up to the dealership to determine what has caused the part to fail and whether it will be covered under warranty.
Although many dealerships are honest about this I have worked for a few that were not. I have seen service advisers more interested in how much money that particular customer has spent at the dealership in prior visits and use this to decide what failure code would be entered in the claim. Read more
Options for Getting Tires
09 Cadillac Tires
What does a mechanic due about getting tires for his own vehicle? I had to buy 2 tires for my own personal vehicle which is a rear wheel drive 2009 Cadillac SRX. This is one of those situations where I am forced to have someone else in the auto repair business work on my vehicle. This can be difficult for a mechanic.
As they say doctors make the worst patients and I would think that car mechanics make the worst auto service customers. I was completely shell-shocked when I discovered exactly how expensive the H speed rated tires were on the SRX. The tire size not being exactly a common one 255/60/17 is also different than the front 235/65/17.
This means that tires cannot be rotated and will actually wear out faster than on a vehicle where they are able to be rotated. Although I wish this article could be about rear wheel drive and how often tires wear out, this story is actually about the things you should be looking out for and the horrible experience I had Read more
Automotive Fuel Tank Problems
New Fuel Tank
Although fuel tank problems are not very common, I have seen issues that needed to be addressed from time to time. Since it’s not a common automotive problem it is also not written about on the Internet very often.
Some of the problems with fuel tanks that we will talk about in this short article have to do with the overall construction of it. These over-sized liquid storage containers are more complicated than most people realize. We will also talk about a vehicle not taking fuel . This is where the fuel tank doesn’t accept the gas fast enough and the pump nozzle turns off while trying to fill it.
Sometimes we think that we will never have to worry about our fuel tanks at all. And in most cases you are correct this is one car part that is engineered well for safety and performance. However as I write this article ford is getting the word out to there customers that it has issued a recall on about a decade’s worth of F150s. Ford is going to replace the fuel tank retaining straps on these trucks because of heavy rusting. Read more
Will electric vehicles ever get popular
People Love Golf Carts
Why do people love golf carts and hate electric cars? I believe by now all of the major automobile manufacturers have developed an electric vehicle of some kind. The question seems to be why they are so unpopular with the general car buying public and will car-makers be able to turn this around and make them popular.
Some people argue that the EV’s still use fossil fuels, as in the power that recharges the batteries comes from power plants that consumes some type of fossil fuel or maybe if you’re lucky electricity that is produced from nuclear.
Just my personal opinion on the prior statement, I think that there is some truth to it but it would seem like a lot less fossil fuel is used to charge a battery then let’s say putting 20 gallons of unleaded regular or even diesel in your car or truck. You also get to send this electricity to your vehicle straight from the power plant.
In liquid fuel terms this is like an individual pipeline directly to your house from the oil refinery. Read more
Automotive Emission Controls and You
Muffler Tailpipe
Controlling tailpipe emissions is considered important in the United States and growing around the world except for a few tough holdouts. If the U.S. is so serious about regulating automotive emission controls and controlling tailpipe output then how come some states require no testing at all?
Some States have rigorous testing and some only have very basic testing procedures that test tailpipe emissions at idle. These engine idle tests might certify that the vehicle exhaust emissions are within the limits set by the local or federal laws even though they may not under road conditions.
Although most States require a yearly vehicle emission control test it would seem more efficient if all States where doing something. Some states like New Jersey that use to have some of the toughest standards and required a yearly inspection have pulled back to an every other year inspection process.
More Ways to Check Fuel Injectors
Fuel injection Test kit
I have written about fuel injectors on many occasions and even included instructions on how to do what I consider is one of the best tests. This would be how to perform an injector balance test. Having a fuel pressure gauge mounted up and firing the injector while physically seeing the pressure drop is in my opinion the best way to check a fuel injector.
With that being said not everybody has fuel injection test kit with a pressure gauge and an injector driver. Plus on some vehicles mounting these two testing devices can be difficult. There are several other ways to check fuel injectors.
Remember a fuel injector is nothing more than a solenoid actuated fuel valve. Its operation is quite basic in that as long as it is held open and the fuel pressure remains steady it delivers fuel until the solenoid valve is closed. A fuel injector that is not opening and closing properly can cause hard starting poor fuel economy and other engine problems such as hesitation or rough running.
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