Top Ten Tips to Prepare Your Vehicle for Winter
Battery and Terminal Check – Have your battery checked once a year, especially if it’s more than two years old. A qualified technician will perform a quick load test to make sure it’s in good shape to keep you on the road. Also, you should check your battery’s terminals and cable connectors regularly. If you see corrosion, a simple mixture of baking soda and water will clean it off. In Michigan, faulty batteries and/or faulty terminal connections cause more car starting problem than any other factors.
Radiator Check – Have your coolant strength and level checked by a certified technician. The recommended protection is for 36 below 0. The level, condition and concentration of the coolant should be checked periodically. (A 50/50 mix of anti-freeze and water is usually recommended.) Never remove the radiator cap until the engine has thoroughly cooled!
Oil & Fluids – Check engine oil, brake fluid, power steering fluid and transmission fluids and top off or change when necessary. Remember, it is best to keep your car’s gas tank more than half full during those cold winter months.
Belts & Hoses – Check belts and hoses for cracks, leaks and bulges as well as be sure all clamps are secure. The belts and hoses should fit tight and be firm, not too soft or brittle.
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Body Kits – Car Mods For Everyone
Body kits are the most common ways to mod cars by serious auto enthusiasts. They are customized parts of a car’s exterior that can be fitted to improve the car’s working while giving it the killer looks. Ever wanted a sports car? Surely, you would’ve thought it was impossible for you to afford one. But the good news is – all you need is a good custom body kit!
Almost all aspects of a car’s external appearance can be modified with body kits. They can be separate parts or whole packages for a complete makeover.
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Battery Jump Starter – An Essential Item
A battery jump starter is an extremely useful device that every car owner should posses. The importance of having a voltage booster is equivalent to that of possessing a car endowed with a good battery system. The booster can be termed as a rechargeable set featuring a pair of jumper cables. It is possible to start the car by hooking the cables in a proper manner. These devices are built in a compact approach and can be easily carried from one location to the other. It is possible to store these equipments in the trunk or even in the garages. There are several models in which these kickoff devices are offered.
There are some models that can successfully start a twelve volt or twenty four volt charging unit. These unique models are a perfect choice for the truck drivers. They can be used to jump gasoline engines and diesels. There are certain models that feature an inbuilt air compressor. The air compressors are extremely useful if one desires to inflate a flat tire. It is advised not to purchase cheap models. The cheap varieties are available at the local stores at a cost of only fifty bucks. These devices can be misleading as they posses two hundred and fifty ampere compared to the labeled four hundred and fifty amperes.
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Radiator & Auto Cooling Systems the Basics
It can be said that to auto owners their radiator and cooling systems are at least familiar to them. Since an automobiles’ radiator and cooling hoses are readily visible under the hood, and it is estimated that up to 4 out of 5 vehicle owners routinely top up their own glycol anti-freeze liquids this is no major revelation of motoring maintenance to most.
Overall and to summarize the cooling system of your vehicle – be it car, truck, or SUV does exactly what its name suggests – it removes, reduces and fundamentally its function is to remove heat from your engine system expelling this waste heat into the nearby air. Without this essential cooling system of your “power-plant”, the heat built up from the exploding gasoline vapors (in a gas engine), would soon overheat and ultimately ruin your engine. Interestingly on the other hand, automotive cooling systems are not nearly as essential to the running and ongoing maintenance of diesel engines. Diesel engines last a lot longer than gas ones overall. Diesel fuels are essentially waste oils; they do not burn as hot. Additionally the fuel oil provides great lubrication for the pistons as they slide in their shafts, whereas in gas engines the gas vapor provides no lubrication and on top of that serves to wash oil off the engines’ cylinder walls.
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The Importance of Proper Water Quality in Aquariums
Nothing is more important in aquarium keeping than water quality management. There are many excellent products available out there to assist in water quality management, but in my opinion, there is still no replacement for water changes, good filtration, and good feeding habits.
Water Changes; changing water in more frequent, smaller amounts is preferable to larger less frequent changes. Make sure the water going in has the right chemistry (PH, ect.) and temperature. I like to use reverse osmosis water, then add the elements I need back in (especially for saltwater or soft water aquariums such as discus). Well or spring water is also usually excellent. Otherwise use a de-chlorinator (sodium thiosulfate), if chlorine or chloramines are present (Wonder shells remove chlorine, stabilize KH, and add electrolytes). Water changes are important for Nitrate removal and buildup of toxic organic and inorganic material.
Good filtration consists of biological, chemical, mechanical, and germicidal.