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Air conditioning was an invention that made the South a viable place to live and do business. When they figured out how to add it to your car, the trip there and back got a lot better, too. Your A/C system may seem complicated, and it is, but it's also easy to understand, and has some parts that you can service yourself.
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Definition: A dye based air conditioning leakdown test uses a colored dye to find freon leaks in your air conditioning system. Using this test, a colored dye is injected into the a/c system which will be visible under UV (ultra-violet) light at the point of a leak anywhere in the system. The test is performed under full pressure with the air conditioning system closed (sealed as if you were driving under normal conditions).
Also Known As: Freon Leak Test, UV Test
Common Misspellings: AC, froen,
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Your cooling system is what keeps your car from having a meltdown. If you didn't have some way to cool things off, your engine would turn into a solid block of useless metal in no time flat. All of the parts that make up the cooling system have one goal of moving coolant around the engine so it can absorb and dissipate heat. The basic system is made up of the following components:
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The catalytic converter was one of the greatest emission control inventions in the history of monitoring carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. It starts in the engine, but the catalytic converter is the last stop for exhaust gases and the last chance to launder that nasty air before it shoots into the atmosphere, and our noses.
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Your car's speedometer is calibrated by telling the needle you see on the dashboard how many times the wheel spins around. The problem is, if you make your wheel diameter smaller, it's going to spin more times to go the same number of miles. Your car doesn't know you monkeyed around with your tire and wheel size, so it will give you an inaccurate reading.
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Definition: Reverse threads, or a reverse threaded bolt, are used from time to time when a normally threaded bolt or nut might work itself loose. All it means is that instead of turning it clockwise (rightey) to tighten, you turn it counter-clockwise (lefty). To loosen a reverse threaded bolt, you turn it clockwise.
Also Known As: Reverse Threaded, Reversed Threads, Counter Threaded
Common Misspellings: cross threaded
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Definition: An attachment device usually used to attach interior trim panels. It is removed by pulling and installed by pushing it in.
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Finally, a proper presentation of auto parts in all their beauty! It's not too often that auto parts look sexy, but this 2-minute Honda ad highlighting the famous Rube Goldberg's hilarious concepts does the job.
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This is the cylinder firing order for Ford 3.6 liter V6 6-cyl engines. Shown are the spark plug firing sequences from the distributor, the cylinder firing order, and the location and reference of the engine timing marks.
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You can save a serious amount of gas by skipping the drive-thru window and parking your car instead. Every minute that you sit in a drive-thru line with your engine running is dumping unnecessary emissions into the atmosphere while you waste expensive gasoline.
Years ago the lore held that you use more gas restarting your engine than you would sitting with the engine idling. This is no longer the case (if it ever was). In fact, the Canadian government concluded that an engine idling for more than 10 seconds is using more gas than a restart. They even suggest turning off your engine at long stop lights!
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