Below information & links were on my Valvoline NewLetter.
They contain some great information on Maintenace & Safety/etc... I share with my Monte Family

Valvoline / Car Care / Automotive Topics / Routine Maintenance & Repair

Routine Maintenance & Repair

• Preventive Maintenance <~ Your mother was right, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Except with your car, it's worth several tons. Learn what you can do to keep your auto in tip-top shape.
• Troubleshooting & Repair
• Click above links for Information : )

 

...There will be a MCF Member's Test on the above information 4-Sure....If you don't passed you WON'T lose your MemberShip , but you won't be able to use the forum restrooms : )

Sorry `if they were dirty 2day...It was Mod `Mike's turn to clean them : )

 

The New Generation of Safety

Avoiding accidents through new technology

Created by Cathy Orme Open highway, open throttle—the freedom of "heading down the highway" is imbedded in the American psyche. But the downside of our motoring obsession as more Americans bought cars in the '50s was the skyrocketing number of highway fatalities, from 38,702 in 1957 to 53,672 by 1970. Safety groups coalesced around these statistics and clamored for safer cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was created in that year to reduce deaths, injuries and economic loss from highway carnage.
Passive Safety

Passive occupant protection was the first step in highway safety. Seat belts, air bags, tougher crash standards for the passenger compartment, strengthening the roof for rollover protection, padding the dashboard, and redesigning steering wheels so they were no longer lethal in a crash all aimed at increased accident protection. By 1978, the government was crashing vehicles into barriers to test their crashworthiness using wired crash dummies that could register the degree of injury. Safety began to sell cars and 5-star ratings for the safest cars are featured in print and media advertising. The dire forecasts of the safety groups were thwarted and the fatality rate dropped from 5.98 per 100,000 miles driven in 1959 to 1.64 per 100,000 miles driven in 1997, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
These passive safety steps did little to change human behavior on the roadways. After 32 years of cajoling and regulating, only 74 percent of Americans wear their seatbelts. Human error is at the root of over 90 percent of all motor vehicle accidents, according to NHTSA. The second generation of auto safety is proactive technology able to monitor driver behavior and step in to activate crash-protection or crash avoidance devices when the system detects imminent trouble. Turned on with the ignition, these systems act as an invisible copilot ready to correct driver error before it becomes lethal.
Proactive Safety

Electronic Stability Programs (ESP): Most rollovers occur when a vehicle runs off the road and strikes a curb, soft shoulder, guardrail or other object that "trips" it. Electronic Stability Programs are aimed at preventing rollovers before they happen. Rollover crashes claim more lives than all side and rear crashes combined—10,142 fatalities in 1999. According to NHTSA, "many drivers will avoid running off the road and having a single vehicle crash in the first place" because of the stability systems. Through electrical sensors strategically placed throughout the vehicle, ESP continually analyzes steering, speed, acceleration and vehicle yaw to determine whether the actual course of the vehicle corresponds to the desired direction. If an irregularity is detected, ESP, by braking individual wheels, corrects understeer and oversteer and helps keep the vehicle on the road. ESP was first used in luxury and high-performance vehicles in the late 1990s but it is rapidly moving down-market.
Tire Pressure-Monitoring: These systems that work separately or in conjunction with antilock braking systems will warn motorists when the pressure in tires has fallen below a safety threshold. One out of every 50 auto accidents is due to poor tire maintenance. According to a recent NHTSA survey, more than one-fourth of passenger car tires and almost one-third of light truck tires are riding on low tire pressure. These systems are already on many high-end models and will become standard on all models in 2007.
Brake By Wire: Momentarily distracted by a cell phone, changing the radio station, or reading a roadside sign, drivers can be confronted with a panic stop situation. How soon the vehicle stops can mean the difference between an accident and a near miss. New systems are in the works to cut the fatal seconds lost between the driver's decision to slam on the brakes and when optimum brake pressure is reached. These systems can shorten braking and stopping distances. Using sensors in the brake pedal to detect a driver's intentions, the system electronically applies the optimum brake pressure to wheels independently, when a panic situation is detected. Road surface, speed and vehicle weight all play a part in the distance a vehicle travels once the brakes are applied.
Smart Cruise Control: Laser sensors monitor the distance from the vehicle in front and automatically throttle down the speed or apply limited braking to maintain a driver-selected time gap between vehicles. Several luxury brands already offer these systems.
Rear Detection Systems: Available on several models, sensors warn when there is an object within a certain distance of the rear bumper with audible or visual alerts.
Smart Side-View Mirrors: Sensors scan adjacent lanes for rapidly approaching vehicles and trigger a warning if the motorist begins to change lanes. These sensors can also warn if a vehicle is getting too close to the edge of highway pavement, or is encroaching into another lane.
Smart Cars

In the future, auto researchers say vehicles will be able to recognize their surroundings and will react correctly to traffic lights, stop signs, or pedestrians. They will be able to interact with the "smart" roads and highways adjusting speed for weather and traffic conditions. These thinking systems would be able to anticipate and initiate accident prevention measures well before human reaction times.
The final challenge in auto safety is still the first challenge—the driver. Enhancing driver skills, road behavior and decision-making could make a greater difference than any technology in lowering highway fatalities.

 

4 Cool Products
Pat Goss

Some cool new tools this time. First we have a five horsepower, five gallon, wall mounted, wet or dry vacuum cleaner from VAC Master. You may say well that's not new, but yes it is because here on the handle we have a wireless remote control to turn it on and off. No more running back and forth every time you need to turn it on and off, saves you a lot of time and a lot of steps.

Now suppose you need to drain oil, or do something else that's messy, and you can't get a funnel or a drain pain in here. Well, here we have form a funnel. They come in two sizes, and you simply bend it into shape to form a funnel that's appropriate for whatever it is that you're draining. In this case, let's say we're pulling this drain plug, we could make a funnel like this, funnel it down to our drain pan, no mess, nothing draining into our frame or anything like that. Available at a lot of home centers and most auto part stores.

Suppose you have a job where you're in kind of tight places. You need to, well a good example is to take out a spark plug you need an extension on it and of course the ratchet to turn the spark plug, but there's a fender over here. And as you turn this out, it gets longer and longer as the spark plug unscrews itself, and all of a sudden you're wedged. And you may have a real problem reversing the ratchet. Well not if you have these extensions from Snap-On Tools. They're spring loaded so it always maintains clearance. These come in two sizes: a short one and a long one. You can couple them together so that it fits just about any application that you might need. Pretty clever and it will keep you out of trouble.
Here we have something that we found to be very handy around the repair shop and around home. This is a winch from Master Lock Company. It's a two thousand pound winch so it can do a lot of work. It has a cable that connects to a car battery and a remote switch right here, and that controls the operation of the winch. Now what makes this unique is that most winches have to be mounted to something. Well this has this detachable mounting plate. These fit into the holes in the bottom of the winch, then it can be positioned over a trailer ball like this, or you could put a chain or a cable through it, tie it off to a tree or whatever you want to use to anchor the winch then you can pull up to two thousand pounds with it. Very, very handy to have, and very inexpensive. Available in marine supply stores and most home centers.

 

I want the spring loaded extensions. I think that would be VERY Handy.

 

5 Auto Maintenance Procedures You Don't Need

Save your money $$$$ and skip 'em


Extraneous maintenance procedures can take time out of your day and money out of your wallet. Some you just don't need (Jupiterimages).

by: Josh Max

P.T. Barnum said "There's a sucker born every minute," before the dawn of mass-produced automobiles, but peddlers of bogus mileage-enhancers and proponents of unnecessary auto maintenance procedures are carrying on Barnum's tradition. Everything from magnets to vortex generators to water injectors and useless "ectoplasm traps" are hawked in the marketplace, and unnecessary tune-up processes can further bleed consumers' wallets. The best defense is to read your owner's manual and bone up on your car's needs, but in the meantime, here's a 5-point list of dubious or unneeded engine-enhancing procedures.
Engine Flushes ($100-$200)
An engine flush uses a machine and chemicals to rid your engine's innards of sludge, but it's not a normal maintenance checkpoint unless you've neglected your engine. We checked in with Tom Torbjornsen, maintenance editor at AOL Autos for his perspective.
"Change your oil according to manufacturer's recommendations and you won't need an engine flush," Torbjornsen said.
An examination into your oil-filler lid will reveal deposits and gunk.
"Sometimes, if you've got an engine with high mileage and deposits, a flush will break loose sludge that can get into the engine," he said. "It's really not necessary today if you've otherwise taken good care of your car."
Get Repair Estimates Or Do It Yourself

• Research Repair Estimates
• DIY Garage Air Filter
• DIY Garage Fuel Economy
• DIY Garage Tire Change
• DIY Garage Auto Lighting
• DIY Garage Vision Basics

Fuel-Injection Cleaning ($125-$200)
"If your Check Engine light isn't on and your car's running fine," says Popular Mechanics's Mike Allen, whose team of testers have debunked dozens of phony gadgets, "Skip this."
Torbjornsen agrees.
"An upper engine carbon cleaning is a good thing to have every 35,000 miles because of varnish deposits," Torbjornsen said. "When fuel injectors get dirty and deposits build up, you get poor fuel economy. But not every year. Once a year is overkill."
Oil Additives ($5 AND UP)
There are numerous oil additives on the market ranging from products designed to reduce friction and bolster fuel economy to those whose manufacturers claim their product will allow you to run your engine dry of oil without damaging bearings. Steer clear of all.
"Oil additives are designed to fortify and bolster the engine," Torbjornsen said. "But if you're following normal maintenance producers, you don't need it. In the testimonials you'll find on websites selling this stuff, people say they can drive without oil because of some magic elixir. But a real-world tester always fails."
Gas Savers ($10-$400)
Some of the pseudo-scientific gas savers on the market just plain don't work and may actually hurt engine performance, says Torbjornsen. The E.P.A. has tested over 100, from pills you pop into your tank to "cow magnets," and none have proven effective.
"Some of these products claim to 'polarize the molecules in the vortex'," he said. "It's all garbage."
Long-Life Antifreeze ($4-$8 Per Quart)
There isn't any evidence that "long life" antifreeze is any better for your radiator than standard antifreeze, and you shouldn't assume that because you've bought and used it, you can ignore maintaining your radiator, says Torbjornsen.
"I recommend a 2-year, 24,000 mile flush regardless of what kind of antifreeze is in your radiator," he said.
"Especially if you live in a wintery climate."
And don't mix coolants, either, says Allen.
"That's asking for trouble, especially if your car's engineered for a specific type of anti-freeze."

 

More good info. Before you know it, Our cars will be driving us. wheres the fun in that?

 

Oh! But I need to go, bad!

 

..Don't worry Admin `Taz (Lou)
you have the keys to the Executive RestRoom
Admin Patrick just cleaned it LOL
============================================
Auto Repair 101


Automotive basics for the beginner DIY.
Subtopics
Automotive Information

Articles & Resources
Sort By : Guide Picks | Alphabetical | Recent
Top 9 Extended Warranty Questions
Top 9 Extended Warranty Questions
How Much Is Enough?
Is your car costing too much to repair? Here is what can you do about it.
Automotive Air Conditioners
Get a basic understanding of how the air conditioner in your car works and some of the implications of R-12 systems.
Catalytic Converters
What is a catalytic converter and how does it do what they do.
Cooling Systems: Part 1
How this important system works and helps your engine keep its cool.
Cooling Systems: Part 2
How this important system works and helps your engine keep its cool.
Cruise Control: What Is It?
Most cars have cruise control systems. Here is how they work and some things that can go wrong with them.
How Antilock Brake Systems Work
Understanding what ABS is and how it works.
How the Engine Works.
A basic explanation of the internal parts of an engine, what they do and how they work.
Making Sense of Sensors: Part 1
There are a lot of things going on in your engine as you drive. A lot of information is taken in and processed. But how is this information gathered and what happens to it once it's collected?
Making Sense of Sensors: Part 2
There are a lot of things going on in your engine as you drive. A lot of information is taken in and processed. But how is this information gathered and what happens to it once it's collected?
Mixing the Fuel.
Now we have fuel and air, let's see how it's mixed.
Scan Tool Diagnostics
The check engine light came on and your car has OBD II. Does this mean you're going to have to spend big bucks to find out what's wrong? Maybe not, if you have the right tools.
The Air Intake System.
An explanation on how the air gets to the engine.
The Diesel Engine
Diesel engines are having a surge of popularity right now because they are stronger and more fuel efficient than a gasoline engine.
The Fuel System.
An explanation on how the fuel gets to the engine.
The Ignition System.
Here I discuss how the engine produces the spark and how it does it at the proper time.
What is a Car?
A basic explanation of what a car is.
Wheel Alignment
What is a wheel alignment and how does it effect your vehicle?