As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches we get the usual holiday trip surge of work. Let's change the oil and have the fluids checked before we take off for " Grandma's Place" ! In our service of your vehicle we also check minor things like Windshield wiper blades. Here in California the usually long spells of warm weather, dries out the rubber in the windshield blades. Then when we go to use them in the winter rains and snows, they streak, chatter, or don't even clear the water off the windshield. This is the time to be putting on new wiper blades on your car to deal with our rainy season.
We also test your car's battery. Why would we want to test your battery at this time? Car batteries tend to fail at extreme temperatures, whether it be too hot, or too cold. We test your battery to make sure it won't leave you stranded. Checking the tire pressures before you take off on the trip helps to ensure a trouble free trip. The correct tire pressures should also help in your fuel mileage. Checking your tire tread depth here in the winter time is also very important. The deeper the tread depth the less likely you will hydroplane in the rain. You can stop at any tire shop and they should be able to measure the Tread depth for you. The reason being the displaced water on the road needs to go somewhere and the tread gives it a place to go. We would also like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! We have much to be thankful for this year. Many of our friends and patrons have been devastated by the Napa and Sonoma wild fires. We know of a couple of our patrons who have lost their homes. Friends that escaped from the fire with just the clothes on their backs and the car they drove off in. We are thankful that they are still with us, and wish them and their families the best during these trying times. Just the other day I had a customer call and asked me to install a battery in a vehicle. Usually a battery install is pretty simple. This one was not the case. The car had been sitting for a few months and the battery had gone stone dead. So the electric door locks were not going to work. So how do you get in the car? Today's modern cars that have keyless entry and no key start on cars you just need to have the key fob with you; how do you get in? The guy or gal who sold you the car probably didn't explain to you how to get in in case of failure. I had a difficult time explaining to my customer over the phone , what I will explain to you with pictures here. Inside your key fob for your car is hidden a mechanical key to your car. On the driver's door of your car there is a place where you can put the mechanical key in the door and turn it to unlock the door. That's the SECRET! Now vehicle manufacturer's have gotten sneaky over the years and have hidden the place where the key hole is. The key hole on the driver's door is usually around the door handle. It may be hidden under the handle, or you may have to pull on the handle to expose the key hole; but it will definitely be in the vicinity of the door handle on the drivers door. As you can see in the picture above the key is hidden as part of the key fob. To remove the key from the key fob (remote) , usually there is a button or a catch that has to be pushed or slid to allow the key to be released from the key fob. Seen here ; you can see the button that has to be slid to release the hidden key from the key fob. Not all buttons to release the key are on the key. Some times the release button is located on the key fob and not the key.
Now you have learned how the design engineers planed to get you back into your car when the remote stops working; or when the car battery is dead and won't open the electric doors. You have a way to get back into your car! Here are some of the sights of the 2017 SEMA and AAPEX shows in LAS Vegas. What is the SEMA and AAPEX shows? IT is the largest Automotive Aftermarket trade show. Only people in the automotive trades and media are allowed to attend.
I have been going for the last 9 years. If your interested in seeing pictures from previous shows check out my Instagram profile VJEONG28 . I attend more to find out about the latest technology and to speak with my vendors about parts and supplies, because usually during the day I don't have the time to speak with them. The shows are so big that you can walk non stop all day and still not see everything in a week. I was able to speak with the Enos representatives, and the Idemitsu reps. For those that don't know Enos and Idemimitsu are the Factory oils used in most Japanese vehicles. So to put the correct " Factory" fluids back in your car, I need to speak with these people. I'll post more as i get time, it's getting pretty busy around here... |
Victor J
ASE Certified Technician, Racer at heart, Automotive Nut in General Archives
February 2019
Categories |