Blogs

Are you getting a damp smell in your car during winter? Or frost on the inside of your windshield?
During winter, we track a lot of snow and moisture into our cars that eventually melts onto the floor. The water then evaporates and causes both these problems. Rolling your windows down just a small amount overnight will allow the water to escape and dry!

In the past, we thought that the transmissions in some of the newer Ford 150, F250 and Excursions were a “dealer check only.” But we had just overlooked it. The transmission has a dipstick on the passenger side that is only accessible from the lower bay.
1) Loosen the 19mm cover plug. It is about 3” tall and located on the passenger side above the pan (see photo).
2) With the vehicle clear to start, start the engine in park.
3) Remove the yellow dipstick. Wipe and recheck the stick. Transmission takes Mercon V up to Mercon LV.

Most pit techs are familiar with the 11mm check plugs in the end of the transaxle on many of the late model GM vehicles like the Cobalt, Pontiac G6 and others that use the 2.2 ecotech or 3.4L V6 motors. However, the process for checking this transaxle is often misunderstood.
The proper procedure is to check the fluid level with the motor running. If fluid is present, then it is full. If it is not, then fluid should be added via the red or black cap on the top of the transaxle.
Often when the fluid is checked with the motor off it will appear to be full - but it may not be.

The 2008 and newer Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse & Equinox and GMC Acadia have a unique and somewhat elusive spot for the power steering fluid reservoir. Take off the oil cap and remove the large plastic cover that covers the engine. Three studs hold the cover in place and it can be easily removed by pulling up on the sides of the cover.

The newer Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse and GMC Acadia all have a radiator pressure cap that is hidden from view. There is a plastic panel that covers the front side of the hood. This panel can be easily lifted by gently detaching a few of the fasteners on the left side. Once the panel is lifted, its obvious to see the radiator cap under the left corner.

MasterLube's president Craig Godfrey pointed me to this site, StoryCorps, earlier this week. These recording are very similar to MasterLube's video for our friend Fred Cleveland. It's folks talking about their lives and telling their stories. Which is pretty neat! The art of someone telling a story, whether real or fiction, is so often overlooked in today's society of new technology. StoryCorps tries to preserve this artform through their site. Be sure and take a look.

Being born and raised in North Eastern Montana, I imagine I'm more facinated by this video than some others. But nonetheless - here is a really interesting video that explains how horizontal drilling works.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Being someone who works in the oil industry, I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know about these new developments in oil until recently. It wasn’t until a coworker was chatting about this new General Motor’s oil standard called “dexos” that my ears perked up. Car companies just don’t make their own oil standards – well, until now that is. So I began to investigate the matter a little further and found some very important information that I’d like to share with you blog readers.

This weekend, while freezing my tail off cheering for the Griz in Missoula, I received a text message from my mom saying her car was, well, less than enthusiastic about starting in the sub-zero temperatures. I use the phrase “less than enthusiastic” because, as most of us Montanan’s have experienced, there’s that funny sound your car can make while starting up in these freezing temperatures. Even though it starts, it just “feels” like it doesn’t want to. It’s the automotive equivalent of me getting out of bed in the morning – which generally goes something like “No!

I’m not a fan of winter. I know that’s not very “Montanan” to say. But frankly, it can be quite cold and dark and the roads aren’t very fun to drive on sometimes. I should be used to it, considering I grew up in the frigid winters of Northeastern Montana. But I’m not. Winter is good for one thing – skiing. And to be perfectly honest with you, I might just give that up if it meant having an extra month to hit 9 holes after work.
Course there are some aspects about winter that I’m just certain others share in my distaste. Winter driving, without a doubt, is one of them.