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.
Acid Reflux
There isn’t much you can do with an automobile when it doesn’t have a battery, but batteries have some inherent problems. They have sulphuric acid in them, and sulphuric acid and the gases that come out of a battery can be very, very corrosive. So you want to make sure that you maintain your battery properly. That means keep the terminals clean. Use the battery… Read More
Pat’s Cool Tools
This time I have a couple of tricks for both professional technicians and do-it-yourselfers. One of the big problems that we face in the automobile industry these days is when an engine misfires we have an absolute rhythmic misfire to the engine. Well, how do you go about testing that without some very expensive test equipment? Well, to begin with, we’ll use this… Read More
Mobil One Oil - Rusty Wallace
Pat Goss: As you know, we get a lot of letters concerning oils, and who better to explain some of the myths about oils than Nascar’s own Rusty Wallace. Rusty Wallace: Hey, how you doing? Goss: Oils, I mean you destroy oils out there. Rusty: We do. No doubt about that. Goss: Now, one of the myths is that oils in race cars, no one would ever use a synthetic.… Read More
Suck It Up
You know we’re always talking about the modern advancements and the changes in cars. But I’ve got to tell you that whether you drive an old car, like this Mustang, or something much more modern, like this Mazda Miata, the basics are still the same. A piston is still a piston, a valve is still a valve, and a noise is still a noise. All right, if you have a noise in… Read More
Diminished Value Appraisal
Pat Goss:Try as we might, accidents happen. And one of the bad things about an accident is that afterwards the car may not be worth as much as it was before. Well, that’s called diminished value, and to help us explain it is Larry Batton. He is the founder and president of Auto Appraisal Group. Thanks for joining us, Larry. Larry Batton: Thanks for having… Read More
Half Baked
If you want a great finish on some of your automotive parts, consider powder coating them. That’s what we did with the wheels on this motorcycle, and they look great and they’re going to continue to look great for a long time to come. That’s one of the advantages of powder coating. It lasts a long time. Now, up until recently, you had to have it done… Read More
Going Shiftless
The eternal problem with automobiles is how to harness the energy produced by the engine and transmit that energy to the drive wheels of the vehicle to make it move. Well, that of course has always been done by the transmission, and transmissions have always had gears in them so that you can go from one gear ratio to another to accomplish power to begin with and… Read More
Driving Position
Davis:Hi, Pat. Goss: Hello, John. Davis: What have you got for us this week? Goss: Safety and comfort behind the wheel. Davis: Ah, the proper seating position. Now, you’ve always told us when trying out a car, if you can’t get comfortable behind the wheel, you’ll never like the car. But there’s more to the proper seating position than just comfort,… Read More
Pat’s Tool Drawer
Although the basics remain the same, there’s a huge difference from the under hood area of this old Ford Shelby to this new, modern Nissan Z-car. You know, there’s lots of stuff under there and things are really crowded, and that means when it comes time to outfit your toolbox, well, you need to keep some special tools in the toolbox. Here we have a gear wrench.… Read More
Compressors
One of the handiest tools you can have in the garage is an air compressor, and to help us explain some of the things you should and shouldn’t do with buying an air compressor, we have Jennifer Marzano from Ingersoll-Rand. Hi. Jennifer: Hi. Goss: Okay, now, one of the very first things is to take inventory of what you’re going to be using, right? Jennifer:… Read More