In the automotive industry, there is a term called “Core Charge” or “Core Deposit”. This simple term causes headaches for people who have never heard of it before, and many times you will get upset to find out that you have to pay more for an auto part than its actual listed price. Well, here are the facts about core costs: The need for a “Core Charge” or “Core Deposit” arose from recycling and remanufacturing auto parts. Remanufacturing an auto part is nothing new and has been around since the automobile was invented. A remanufactured part of a reputable auto part rebuilder...

ABS or Traction Control warning light on? Bad Wheel Speed Sensor (WSS)? In most cases, the OEM harnesses are exposed to the elements and over time can rub against parts of the undercarriage causing the wiring inside to fray or in some cases completely break. Other than a visual inspection of the wiring harness, a voltmeter in the ‘ohms’ setting would verify the integrity of the wire. The following procedures verify good continuity in a circuit with a Digital Multi-Meter (DMM). 1. Set the function to the OHM (Ω) position.2. Disconnect the harness connector of the suspect circuit.3. Checking the circuit...

Why does my Audi or Volkswagen leak oil everywhere? Most likely, there is a blockage in the breather hose and/or failure of the engine crankcase breather valve. How does the oil breather vent system work on a Volkswagen? As the oil heats up in the crankcase, vapor is produced and needs to be vented. It travels up that tubing to the pressure regulating valve (crankcase breather valve). Due to emissions regulations, this vapor must be routed back to the intake side of the engine to be added to the incoming air and burnt off. This leads to the two most...

Story By Valley Customs Now you’ve probably realized that the replacements of the 98-00 Ranger hubs suck. Not only are the parts expensive, but you need “special tools” to replace them. Hopefully, this article will help make that replacement a little easier. Step 1 – Locating Replacement Parts After realizing that the hub bearing units are not serviceable, I began my search for replacements. After days of searching, I came up with these numbers as of 1/07/12. APDTY $109.69 AutoZone: $377 Advanced Auto: $275 Ford Dealer: $277 I was surprised to see that the Ford dealer’s price was actually lower than...

The diesel engine uses a compression-ignition system, meaning that it uses the heat of compression to initiate a spark-ignition to burn the air-fuel mixture. Using this style of internal combustion has its advantages and disadvantages. The diesel engine has the highest thermal efficiency of any combustion engine using this method of heat along with a high compression ratio for better efficiency. This also is it’s weakness, due to the amount of heat the engine as to deal with. That is why the diesel engine requires an EGR Cooler, needing to cool the recirculation of the exhaust gasses to maintain an...