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.
Stick On Woody
this time we’ve got a couple of really slick do-it-yourself jobs. First is something that deals with anti-theft. Now, everybody has to worry about their car being stolen. Well, this is kind of interesting. This is a product called Auto Etch. And what you do is you etch the VIN number of your vehicle into all of the windows, the windshield, the back window,… Read More
RV Buying Advice
Pat Goss: A lot of people are considering buying motor homes or RV’s these days. Now, to help us sort through some of the complexities of this, we have Mr. Dave Humphreys of RVIA. Hi, Dave. David Humphreys, President, Recreational Vehicle Industry Association: Hi, Pat. Pat: Now, number one thing, what should they be looking for? Dave: I think the main thing… Read More
RVing 101
Pat Goss: Every year more and more people are enjoying the highways and the scenery in our country by RVing. And to help explain some of the differences in the various types and so on is Mr. Dave Humphreys President of the RVIA (Recreation Vehicle Industry Association). Hi, Dave. David Humphreys: Hi, Pat. Pat: All right, first. What are we looking at right… Read More
Line It Up
A lot of people think that they need alignments a lot more frequently than they really do. Now there’s some pretty amazing things going on as far as alignment equipment these days. It’s sophisticated, it’s computer controlled and all the rest of it. But the average driver doesn’t seem to understand when they really need an alignment. See, there’s hardly a day… Read More
Cool It
Air conditioning is nothing new. As a matter of fact, a ‘56 Ford Victoria has factory air conditioning. And back then, and for many, many years to follow, the refrigerant that was used in these systems was R-12, or what everybody came to call Freon. Well, Freon, or R-12, production ceased on that in 1995. Now, some of it is still available, but it’s outlandishly… Read More
New Tires For Classic Cars
Goss: John, lots of folks are into restoring antique collectible cars, they build hotrods, all kinds of things. But when they get all done, they may have a problem, and that is what to do with the tires and wheels to make the car look authentic or give it that look that they want. And to help us with that, we have Mr. Corky Coker of Coker Tire. Coker: Hi,… Read More
Tech Tools
It certainly helps when you have a problem with your automobile if the repair shop has the proper tools to diagnose that problem. Well, here are some of the things that you should look for if you have specific problems. If you have a check engine light, make sure that your repair shop has a gas cap tester [left] because a faulty gas cap on a 1995 or newer car can… Read More
Loose Parts
Virtually all cars these days have some sort of gas-charged strut. You find them on hoods, on trunks and hatches. They’re what make the hatch, or whatever item it is, move up and down smoothly and keeps it up in the air. You don’t want it to come thumping down on you, and that does happen because these struts can wear out. So, there’s something new out theres by… Read More
Quick Tips
We see it all the time, people driving around on temporary spares, going for too many miles, going too fast, and really sometimes creating a lot of problems for their car. Why don’t they read and heed the warnings on the tire itself? See, these are temporary spares. They’re not designed for long distances or high speeds, and it tells you right on the tire how far… Read More
Bike It or Not
Motorcycles have certainly seen a tremendous resurgence in popularity over the last few years. So, what we’ve done is we’ve collected some of the bikes that belong to the MotorWeek staff to show you some of the more popular things that are going on. Well, just about everybody that has a motorcycle, they want one of two things. They want the ultimate horsepower… Read More