BY NICOLE WAKELIN / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 20, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / More often than not, batteries die at the most inopportune times. Sometimes you get the usual warning signs for a weak car battery, like an engine that’s slow to turn over or an illuminated check engine light. Sometimes, though, you get ...

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BY BLAIR LAMPE / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 4, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / The fuel pump is the heart of the fuel injection system. Without it, fuel won’t leave the tank, and your engine won’t run. Although it’s by no means a regular occurrence, fuel pump failure is not unusual in older vehicles. Unfortunately, ...

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BY BRYAN WOOD / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 24, 2017 / HAYNES MANUALS / Besides oil changes, brake jobs are one of the other most common jobs of the home DIY mechanic. There are certain aspects of working on the brakes, however, which require bleeding the air out of the system. This typically means you need the help ...

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BY BRYAN WOOD / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 29, 2018 / HAYNES MANUALS / A blown head gasket is bad news. Very bad news. If you think yours is going it requires immediate attention. A head gasket can fail about 7 slightly different ways, which we told you about recently, and all of which are bad news for the engine. If ...

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BY MATTHEW C. KEEGAN / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED APRIL 6, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / Motor oil lubricates the engine and absorbs heat, enabling the engine’s internal parts to work efficiently without overheating. As oil ages, it begins to lose its protective properties and must be changed. When engine oil turns black, however, that doesn’t ...

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BY BENJAMIN JEREW / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 8, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / As a driver, there’s no greater frustration than seeing your check engine light on for no obvious reason — or after you’ve already repaired what you thought was the issue. The real problem is that the check engine light is so ...

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BY BRYAN WOOD / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 30, 2018 / HAYNES MANUALS / Every car has one, and without it you’d be going nowhere! When you turn the key and hear a click, or nothing at all, here’s a few tests you can do with a simple multimeter. How many volts should a car battery have? A ...

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BY BRYAN WOOD / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 11, 2017 / HAYNES MANUALS / Every car has a battery to crank the engine, and power the fuel pump and ignition at startup, but then the alternator starts spinning and providing the power. Because of this, you can often jump start a car with a failing battery, then ...

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BY BLAIR LAMPE / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 13, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / There are some parts of a vehicle that, when failing, do not need to be immediately replaced. A water pump is not one of those parts. Due to the vital role the pump plays in cooling the engine, if it stops ...

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BY BLAIR LAMPE / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 20, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / If your vehicle was made in the past 20 years or so, you’ve probably heard of carburetors, but never really dealt with one. For personal vehicles at least, they’ve fallen out of favor for newer and more reliable technology. But they ...

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BY BENJAMIN JEREW/ ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 9, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / We’ve long departed from the 3,000-mile oil change; most automakers now suggest longer oil change intervals, usually every 5,000, 7,500 or 10,000 miles. These longer intervals are possible thanks to both tighter engine-manufacturing tolerances and high-tech, low-viscosity engine oils, which make for more ...

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BY BENJAMIN HUNTING / ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 2, 2018 / NATIONAL AUTOMOTIVE PARTS ASSOCIATION / Brake rotor replacement is a fact of life for any vehicle owner, but how can you know for sure that it’s time to swap in a new set of discs on your automobile? Is it possible to get more life out ...

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