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.
General Battery Maintenance
Dirty batteries on modern cars can be a true disaster. When the dirt builds up, this can actually upset the electrical system of the automobile and can lead to a lot of electrical system problems. Corrosion is included in that. That is really bad. But let’s suppose you’re into cleaning batteries. Maybe you’ve got all the tools that anyone would normally need to… Read More
Dressing Up Your Garage
The garage doesn’t have to be dim and dismal. It can really be a very pleasant place, if you apply yourself. We’ll start by decorating the walls. The easy way to do that is with posters in inexpensive frames. Get something that you like. Put them around the walls. It will look great. Also something that is becoming very popular, antique license plates. They’re… Read More
Outfitting Your Garage
There’s a lot more to having a nice garage than just a fancy toolbox. Now we outfitted Goss’ garage with equipment from Gladiator Garage Works. The first thing that we did was covered our walls with their material. It’s called Gear Wall. Now Gear Wall is a composite. It’s easy to saw. It’s easy to install. It’s also tongue in groove so it has a lot of strength… Read More
Hard To Find Parts
Davis:What have you got for us this week? Goss: Well, you know, you try to buy parts and accessories for your car, seems like they’re either too new, they’re too old, they’re too rare. Always too something. Davis: Boy, I sure know that one. I bought my Mini Cooper last year, wanted to find some special floor mats and a car cover, too new, couldn’t find them… Read More
Blast It
No matter what you do around the house, sooner or later you’re going to have a cleaning job that, well, it could be made a lot easier and a lot better by sandblasting. See, parts like, even for the lawnmower, for instance, that need to get cleaned, they’re all rusty and dirty, and so on. Sandblasting is an ideal way to do all sorts of things. Not just… Read More
Cash In Your Chips
It used to be the person in the repair shop that was best equipped to do tuning work was the one that was best equipped to handle tools, but not anymore. Usually it is the person who is best equipped to handle a laptop computer. Well, how so? Well, because everything on the automobile is computerized these days, we have to deal with the onboard computers, and… Read More
I Can See Clearly Now
In order to be a safe driver, you have to be able to see. That means you need clean windows on your car. Well, we found wipes from Griot’s Garage. They’re treated with a special chemical that helps cut the film that builds up on the inside of the glass. They can be used inside or outside, and they do away with a lot of the streaking that’s so common. Now that’s a… Read More
Hidden Problems
Static electricity can be a lot of fun to play with, but it can be dangerous and damaging around an automobile. Let’s say you’re putting fuel in the fuel tank, and for some reason you have to go back into the inside of the car. Maybe you forgot your credit card or something like that. You go around the side of the car, you slide in on the seat, you get the credit… Read More
Cooling Problems
There’s a lot more to checking for an overheating car than just belts, hoses and the thermostat. See, lots of times debris will clog the front of the radiator or the front of the air conditioning condenser. And when you look through the grill, the only thing you really see is the front of the condenser. If that’s dirty it needs to be cleaned, but maybe it looks… Read More
Spare Me
One of the most neglected parts on the average automobile is going to be the spare tire. Nobody ever seems to check them, and that can put you in an embarrassing situation. You’ve got a flat tire on the car, you’ve got a flat spare. Now what do you do? Well, you should have checked the tire pressure in your spare once every month to make sure that it has the… Read More