by Marjorie, Cars for Keeps Social Media Manager
Your car's thermostat would easily fit in the palm of your hand, yet like many vehicle components, a properly functioning thermostat is critical for engine health and proper vehicle function. It regulates your car's engine temperature, a critical factor for engine health.
Some of you may be inclined to cut repair costs by performing a "simple" thermostat replacement yourself. eHow details how to replace your car's thermostat in 11 not-so-easy steps. I'm sure these instructions look very simple indeed to an auto mechanic, but for the rest of us, it looks like a path down the road to almost certain failure. Unless you're a mechanic yourself, cutting corners by replacing a thermostat on your own will likely end in far greater costs - like an improperly installed thermostat and an overheated engine. Watch the Cars for Keeps Coupon page, Frequently Cars for Keeps offers free thermostats for thermostat replacement jobs - a far cheaper (and easier) option than attempting to do the job yourself.
Diagnosing a failed thermostat, however, isn't difficult at all.
How to diagnose a bad car thermostat:
Most car thermostats fail in one of two ways: they become stuck either in an open position or a closed position. A closed thermostat valve will cause the engine to overheat, harming the engine and potentially destroying the head gasket, while an open thermostat valve will over cool the engine, causing it to work much harder than necessary.
The symptoms for both an open and closed stuck thermostat valve are relatively easy to tell. A closed thermostat valve (overheated engine) will be indicated by your vehicle's temperature gauge plunging into the red. This may happen slowly or quickly, and wintertime driving may make this symptom less severe, but a vehicle that's running hot should always be brought to a mechanic immediately. An open thermostat valve (underheated engine) is indicated by a car not putting out as much heat through the vents as it should, and by automatic transmission vehicles having difficulty shifting to higher gears. The latter may be more difficult to tell in summertime, when heating vents aren't used, which is another good reason to always be attentive to your vehicle's engine and transmission performance.
If any of these symptoms describe your vehicle, bring it in to Cars for Keeps immediately for a quick test, and have a cup of coffee while you wait.
Safe driving!
Selasa, 23 Februari 2010
Sabtu, 20 Februari 2010
A Woman’s Point of View: One Less Thing To Worry About
by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office ManagerAt Cars For Keeps we will drive you home or to work, and come pick you up when your car is ready, at no charge.
As I was driving a customer to her work place, we were chatting about this and that when she suddenly changed the subject and said, “I can’t tell you what a relief it is to take my car in to Cars For Keeps to have it worked on and to know that it will be done right and at a fair price. It is so good not to have to drag my boyfriend or my father with me to make sure I don’t get cheated or talked into something that I don’t need”.
She went on to say that she knows nothing about cars, does not want to know anything about cars and has made a lifelong commitment to not having to learn about cars. Let’s face it ladies, most of us feel that way too. There are only three things that that are important to us about cars. What color is it, how do we feel when we are driving it, and is it safe.
We understand these concerns at Cars For Keeps and the guys here do not think they are frivolous or silly. They can’t do anything about the color or how you feel, but they have dedicated their working careers and themselves to making your car as safe as possible for you.
Come on in ladies where you are taken seriously and treated with respect.
Selasa, 16 Februari 2010
Land Rover Defenders at play
I thought I'd change direction for a moment and show you one of the machines our company ( J E Robison Service )builds. We're known for customizing Land Rovers for folks who want to take them to serious rough country, and expeditions, and adventures.
We get work like this shipped to us from all over the eastern United States.
This is a Land Rover Defender 90 that we built last summer for a fellow in Virginia.
In this photo Jeff ( one of our Rover techs ) has just driven up a knee-high rock ledge and he's climbing the slope at a steep angle.
Here are Jeff and Dominick from our Land Rover shop crossing a small stream on the trail.
All the equipment on the front - the high lift jack, the winch, skid plates, and such were fabricated or fitted in our shop.
This truck started life as a 1995 Defender, and it's gotten a 300TDI motor, a new frame, custom skid plates and guards, custom bumpers front and rear, Safarigard stage III suspension, ARB lockers front and rear, crawler transfer box, bigger tires, a 2-inch lift, air conditioning, CB radio, onboard refrigerator, and much more.
In this photo you can see the incredible range of suspension motion in a modified Land Rover. Look at the front axle, which is twisted in a direction opposite the rear.
This truck's been prepared to run out west, in the rock and sand of the desert. Those two cans on the back will carry drinking water. We've moved the spare tire to the floor inside.
The custom bumper is clearly visible. It can take the weight of the truck should the vehicle drop onto a large rock.
The box below the bumper is the armor for the fuel tank.
Here's another front view. The snorkel for the diesel air intake is visible. This Defender has the 300TDI motor.
The cables from roof to front bar are to deflect limbs that might otherwise smack the windshield.
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