ThrottleHolic

Why Take Your Car to the Mechanic When You Can Simpy DIY?

Tips, Tricks & Hacks

Codes Recently Cleared on a Used Car? How to Check

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One of the biggest challenges of not buying a brand-new car is this: you constantly worry about the vehicle's past, how it was treated before it came to you. At the inspection, for instance, you constantly worry if the seller or dealer cleared off the codes before putting the vehicle out for sale. ...

How to Buy a Good Starter Battery (Without a Battery Tester)

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The joy of a good starter battery is second to none, as far as your car is concerned. You get into a vehicle, and on the first crank, the motor comes alive, without any hesitation. You decide to attend a party and, without any fear, turn yourself into a DJ using the car's speakers as your equipment....

Sharing a Car with Your Wife? Here Are 4 Magic Tips

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In an ideal world/relationship, sharing a car with your wife (or husband) is the most stress-free thing in the universe. You simply hop in the vehicle you're sharing and drive off, your partner does the same, and life, ultimately, goes on. When it comes to putting gas, whoever is driving the veh...

Tired of Car Fights? Here’s How to Keep Your Wife & Car Happy

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My wife is a wonderful woman; no day passes that I don't thank my stars that we're married. She brings so much joy to my life. However, just a few months into our marriage, something came to my attention: I discovered that her car had a way of being 'out of service' every time, all the time. Ini...

How to Test Your Alternator Easily (Without a Voltmeter)

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The easiest way to test your alternator without a multimeter (or voltmeter) is to remove one of your starter battery cables when the engine is running. If the engine stalls, you're likely dealing with a bad alternator. If on the other hand, nothing happens (and the engine continues to run just f...

Want Luxury And Reliability? Buy & Drive This Marque

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I'll start this article with a personal confession: I wasn't always interested in a vehicle's luxury and reliability. Pure luxury? Maybe - but only up to a point. But reliability? I always made the type of face that spells: 'Now, what's that?' My father's first ride was a Peugeot 504 - and that ...

Are O2 Spacers a Quick Fix for Bad Catalytic Converters?

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The ECU of a modern vehicle is a wonderful thing: it determines transmission shifts, engine timing, and an array of other things, including monitoring many other modules for consistency. Fortunately (or unfortunately) depending on how you look at it., O2 spacers negate that function - or help it, de...

Flat Clutch Even After Changing Master & Slave Cylinders

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Very few things in life beat the joy of driving a vehicle with a manual transmission, especially on a free road. However, a flat clutch is an issue that has made many drivers look away from manual trannies, even if it means having to replace bushings on an auto tranny, change fluids, consider filter...

My Car Consumes Fuel. I’ve Tried EVERYTHING. What Do I Do?

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Recently, I came across a fellow who relayed the title of today's entry exactly to me. In his words: 'My car consumes fuel. I've tried EVERYTHING. What do I do?' Naturally, I was concerned, and I asked a few questions to help me get a feel of the consumption he was complaining about and importan...

Is It Ok to Wash a Car’s Engine? The Truth & the Lies

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There are at least a billion and one folks in the world who swear that washing a car's engine isn't necessary. 'Why wash a car's engine?' Such folks argue. For this category of vehicle users and school of thought, opening the hood of a vehicle to clean or wash the engine doesn't make sense. ...