The biggest reason people buy a hybrid or electric car is to save money on gas. And sure, with a hybrid, the electric motor reduces the work and thus the fuel consumption of the gasoline engine — the electric motor doesn’t use any gasoline at all. But what about electric…
What happens when your timing belt breaks? I can answer that one firsthand. I was taking one of those flyover connector ramps that goes from one freeway to another when all of a sudden, there’s a lot of noise and no power. Twenty seconds later, I’m at a dead stop,…
Heavy equipment engines are similar to those in the cars and trucks we drive every day, but they’re under completely different demands. Choosing the right oil for your heavy equipment — whether you’re operating a single piece, running a farm or using a fleet of construction equipment — is critical…
Whether your car is fresh off the factory floor or a quickly-aging classic, performing a monthly vehicle inspection is a great practice that all drivers should follow. Pick a general day (the first, the fifteenth, etc.) and find a safe space to examine your ride, like your driveway or a…
If you work around heavy equipment or manage a fleet, you may have heard about telematics. Frequently, brand new equipment comes with these costly systems from the factory, but what about the hard-working machines already in your fleet that have years, possibly even decades, of service left in them? That’s…
You may have never heard of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, but you probably know about it under a different name. It’s often called the “federal lemon law,” and it regulates warranties on consumer products. That includes smaller items in your home and the thing most associated with lemon laws —…
Most modern EFI engines have a Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor located in the air intake of the engine. This is the device that measures how much air is coming into the engine so that the computer can determine how much fuel it needs to inject. While the MAF sensor…
These days, many drivers earn extra cash by using their personal vehicles for work purposes. Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft make it simple for you to use your car for profit. And online giant Amazon has a delivery system that employs drivers who use their own cars to transport…
When our cars make unexpected noises, we get nervous. When it’s our brakes acting up, we get very nervous, and with good reason. The nature of brakes is such that they will make noises from time to time and in response to certain conditions, but that high-pitched squealing is enough…
You’ve probably heard of the electronic control module, or ECM, before. Or was it the ECU? How about PCM — does that ring a bell? These are all basically the same thing by different names, depending on the manufacturer you’re talking to. The function can also seem a little nebulous,…