Blog Car Parts

It seems these days that replacing your wheel hub is as common as brakes. They have designed cars to be be dependent on the wheel hub bearing and they are undergoing extreme abuse. This is causing them to fail at a very high rate. They should definately be changed at the first signs of problems, either noise or bad handling at the wheel. Don’t risk it, its too dangers.

If you do need to replace, make sure you go with a good brand. Either a OEM timken hub or another good brand. Some of these cheap hubs can be dangerous when driving, they just don’t have the quality of steel to them.

When installing wheel hubs always torque them down to spec. Your wheels take alot of abuse and you don’t want them getting loose.

So we’re finally in April, easter is coming and the weather is getting warmer. The one thing that always coming to mind is the need for Air Conditioning and the frequent failure of A/C Compressors.

There is not much maintenance you can do. These systems do unbeliveable amount of work and are constantly failing. You can service your A/C every 100,000 miles by having them flush, replace the ac drier and add new oil and freon. The new oil and clean system will help, but thats about it.

You will want make sure you replace the ac compressor and the a/c drier, these are both very important. The drier is the filter on the system and needs to be replaced. I have

So I had a customer with a Saab 9-3 Turbocharger who was having problems. The first problem was making sure it was the turbo and not something else. After a quick check it was confirmed the turbo was whining (high pitched noise) and making lots of noise in general.

The biggest of the problems though was figuring out what Saab turbo he had. Saab had apparently used a number of turbos and so all the parts houses were asking which one he had. We had to go out to the car and look at the turbo to get the numbers off of it. This 2001 Saab was using a GT1752 turbo, or GT17 in the parlay of parts. This enabled him to order a Saab GT17 Turbocharger from Turbochargerpros.com. He choose one of their brand new turbos and it worked perfectly.

Not sure where I am going with this (sometime I even have a moral of the story) but I think its just that doing the homework to make sure you 1. Know the problem and 2. Know what parts you need and 3. Buy a good part from a good source. You’ll be much happier at the end.

In the midst of the economic downturn I’m getting lots of questions about finding deals on auto parts. Alot of companies are offering cheap take offs (read: used) and why shouldn’t I buy those? The answer is all about labor and driveability.

If you get a bumper of door handle used and its not the right one, or doesn’t fit, its not a big deal. You can easily return those and still drive the car. If you get a faulty AC Compressor and it doesn’t work, you are out $300 in install fees plus the car will not drive.

So the answer is to go with New for things like A/C Compressors but used for body or accessory parts. Something like a steering rack or turbocharger, where there is no new, its best to go with a quality remanufactured unit. Something with a Next Day Air replacement warranty. Your car is going no where without a good steering rack, so better make it good.

So always consider the ‘what if’ scenarios. Car parts are wrong and fail higher than you know. Cut corners very carefully or it will cost more later.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you! Hopefully you take some time in the middle of this crazy world to appreciate what is important.

Peace be with you and we look forward to a bright and exciting 2009.

So its been pouring rain here the last few days, and probably raining or snowing where you are at. Seems like everyone is getting hit currently. One of the things that I noticed about cars and drivers during the storm is how bad their braking system and probably their brake calipers are. This is a crucial auto part during wet conditions.

There are a number of components to good braking. You need to have a good brake master cylinder, a good caliper, good disc and good brake pads. All of these things contribute to having strong braking. Most people know to change the discs and pads, those are standard maintenance. Most people don’t know that unless the caliper clamps down on that pad and disc securely, the brakes aren’t that good. This is the hydraulic part of brakes. Most cars only have marginal calipers.

Have you ever pressed down on the brake pedal only to not have much happen? Eventually your are pressing down on it with 2 feet as hard as possible. This is a clear cut problem in the hydraulic system. Either the master cylinder, caliper, or you have a leak in the hoses. This seems to be most noticeable in the wet conditions when you drive more. If you are having any problem like this, get them checked asap.

Yes, living in California has yet another additional cost. If you need to replace your catalytic converter and you live in California, you will have to buy a special one.

The state air board requires cats sold in california to meet certain requirements. That means you need to buy a ‘50 State Legal’ cat, meaning it is okay to be used in California. Even though the vehicle will run fine, you risk not passing a smog test, and it is against the law.

Most other states can get away with less expensive catalytic Converters and even try some used ones. You need to check with your state. New York and most of New England are usually right behind California.

The other thing to know is ‘california emissions’. This means that even though you are somewhere else, the vehicle left the factory with a California emissions package. Maybe they didn’t need that many and then sold them elsewhere. In this case you will also need to the 50 state legal model, otherwise your vehicle may not work correctly. Often the O2 Sensor and computer are set to use this cat.

You can call Buy Auto Parts at 1-888-907-7225, they have all of cats available. You’ll want to specify california or not. Also ask them about a package with new O2 sensors. Those should be changed with the cat.

One of the more common problems I’m hearing about is involving late model GM wheel hub. Particularly the Chevy Silverado wheel hub.

I’m not sure if it is related, but most of these wheel hubs have electrical connections on them. This is typically the ABS speed sensor and i’m not sure if they are the problem, but they have to have some part. These did not have this much problem before.

The good news is that these are now available in the aftermarket for relatively cheap. You can now pick these up $65-$115 each with the electrical connector included. The other good news is that these are a basic install. Removing the tire will give you easy access. The hardest part is getting the brakes back on properly. (don’t guess, brakes are important).

As you may have noticed, we have had some technical difficulties over the last few weeks. Not to worry, we are back on track. I think our servers got too excited over all the SEMA pictures we had.

Some SEMA pics to check out. The show was very entertaining and very busy. I have some pictures for you. I’ll get into more details.