Goss’ Garage
Pat Goss, MotorWeek's resident master technician, helps consumers understand car problems and how to speak the same language as their technician. As cars becoming increasingly complex, fewer repairs can be accomplished at home. Effective communication with a repair shop is vital to keeping consumer and operating costs under control. From rattles and squeaks to leaks and drips, Pat covers a myriad of issues designed to keep cars on the road and out of the repair shop.
Filling Tires with Nitrogen Gas
Tire technology changes at an amazing rate. One of the things that engineers figured out is if you make the sidewall of the tire shorter, it gives better traction, goes around corners better, because it’s stiffer. Well, fifteen years ago this was a high performance tire (right). Today we can see that the side wall on this one (left) is very short, works extremely… Read More
Stop Interior Leaks
Water leaks to the inside of the car can be dangerous! You’ve got to remember that mold and mildew in a confined space like the inside of a car can be very dangerous. So, how do you go about finding those leaks? Well, you’ll probably need an electronic leak detector such as we have here. This is a transmitter (right) that goes inside the car, then we have a… Read More
Clearing Up Cloudy Headlights
Here’s a problem that has become literally epidemic. Cloudy, discolored headlamp lenses. This is caused by the ultra-violet light from the sun. It attacks the surface of the plastic and causes it to get little pock marks and checks in it and so on, and you see it as this cloudy appearance. That diffuses the light into the air around the car and in general you… Read More
High Tech Tools
This time I have some interesting new products to work on cars with. First one is this Tracerline COBRA borescope. It has two lights on the end of it - a blue one to reflect the dye that you would use in leak detection. And it has a white one just to illuminate things - works really well. And you might find something like we found on one car. There was a bad… Read More
Is There a Difference in Gasolines?
Here to tell us about modern gasolines is Barbara Terry, Dr. FuelGood from Shell oil. Barbara, welcome to Goss’s Garage. BARBARA TERRY, SHELL OIL: Thanks for having me today, how are you? GOSS: I’m doing great. Hey what can you tell us about modern gasolines? TERRY: Well 70 percent of Americans are all under the assumption that all gasolines are alike and… Read More
How to Avoid Flood Damaged Used Cars
It’s time to buy a replacement car and you do all of your homework. You check the magazines, the newspapers, the Internet and so on and there’s one automobile that really stands out. It’s what you’re looking for, the price is too good to be true, and there’s your key. Might be like this particular car. Window sticker is still on it but believe it or not, it is… Read More
Body Shop 101
You have to wonder how many broken dreams like this old Mustang are sitting in people’s garages. Everybody has this dream that they’re going to go out and buy a collectible car and restore it. If you look at this one, it is a classic example of what not to do. It’s got a lot of new sheet metal on it, but if you look at it closely, you see that the wheel arch is… Read More
Turn, Turn, Turn that Rotor
Brake pads are consumable parts - they wear out. And they should be checked whenever you have any change in the way the brakes sound, the way the brakes feel, or the way the brakes perform. And they should also be checked once a year or every 12,000 miles. That inspection should include more than just looking through the little hole in the brake caliper to see… Read More
Weekend Welder Basics
We get lots of questions about restorations, and the most important part of restoring a vehicle is knowing how to weld and having the proper equipment to do that welding with. Before you get involved in it though, I recommend that you take a welding course. Something that you don’t normally just pick up. Training is much better. Now, the different types of… Read More
Caring for Your Motorcycle
Although motorcycles have changed dramatically over the years, preventive maintenance is still critical. And here to give us some tips in Lyndon Abell, general manager of Patriot Harley-Davidson in Fairfax, Virginia. Welcome to the show. LYNDON ABELL: Thank you. GOSS: All right what’s the most overlooked part of a motorcycle? ABELL: Without question, it’s… Read More