autofixworld.com - December 2008

AutofixWorld
December 2008

Regardless of your religious beliefs—or lack thereof—the month of December signals the end of another year and includes important observations by many faiths, renewing our collective hope for peace in the world. We wish everyone a peaceful and happy holday season, and a bright, happy, prosperous coming year.

Special Notes:
• We're trying a new feature called Editor's Notebook, a potpourri of tidbits, reader feedback, and editorial loose ends. We read your letters, and appreciate all who take the time to write with comments and suggestions.

• This month we begin a series on vehicle maintenance. Whether you are a service provider or consumer, it looks like service is about to become more important than ever, as our vehicles are asked to run longer, with fewer repairs and down time.

• Look for expanded coverage in our Tool Crib. We have been adding video and tool review articles to help you make informed purchases. Watching reader hits on our site, it looks like tools are a hot topic! If you have a tool you'd like covered, email us, or contact the manufacturer directly, and tell them you'd like to see their product written up at Autofixworld.

• For automotive instructors, we've added 57 new Steering and Suspension illustrations in the Autofixworld Image Gallery. These illustrations are available for free to registered members. Just register, log in, and select Automotive Images from the Members menu to go to the images section.

New articles...

Editor's Notebook
	Editor's Notebook This month we're trying something new, a quick-read section called Editor's Notebook. This section will contain feedback from readers, small pieces of repair info too small to be a feature article, and anything else that tickles our collective fancy. Think of it as the AFW junk drawer.

Cooling System Chemistry

Learning Coolant Fundamentals

by Paul Fritz, Chevron Products Company
Images and captions added to original text by Autofixworld.com

Coolant (or antifreeze) protects your engine from freezing while defending components against corrosion, as well as plays a critical role in sustaining overall engine heat balance by removing heat. In a heavy-duty diesel engine, only one-third of the total energy produced works to propel the vehicle forward.

An additional one-third is removed as heat energy by the exhaust system. The r
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Tool Test Drive
	Tool Test - Air Lift Time to drain and refill that cooling system? Draining the coolant isn't too hard on most makes, but what about refilling? Purging all the air from the system during a refill can be difficult. Heater cores can trap enough air to do a good impersonation of The Poseidon Adventure.

Vehicle Maintenance

Vehicle Maintenance - Expense or Investment?
Part One of a close look at the benefits of good vehicle maintenance, and perils of vehicle neglect. This month we begin with the oil change service.

True Story One:
The oil light was on, and the engine made horrific noises as it struggled to keep idling in my bay. I shut it down, and pulled the engine oil dipstick, but it came out dry, coated only with a reddish, baked on glaze that would have looked swell on a honey baked ham. I raised the vehicle and removed the engine drain plug, but

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Guest Editor

Troubleshooting Tips with Bernie Thompson

I have had the great pleasure of meeting Bernie Thompson of Automotive Test Solutions, and he is one of the smartest guys I know. He has graciously allowed us to download and post this video segment from his website, and we are more than happy to swap a little self-promotion by Bernie in exchange for this fine demonstration of how to use test equipment for maximum effect!

To learn more about these products or to purchase them, click here.

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Guest Editor
	Identifix VW ABS/EDL Troubleshooting Tips This month's guest editor is Jim Newkirk, European Tech Specialist at Identifix. For those who may not know, Identifix is a premier automotive hotline, providing just-in-time repair information by phone and over the internet for two decades. Jim Newkirk, Euro Team Leader is certified ASE Master + L1 and Bosch BSC.

Training Module
	Scope Essentials Here's a quick tutorial on why a scope is the better tester for some measuring some types of electrical signals.

Amp Probe Comparison
	Low Amp Probe Feature Comparison Last month we ran an article on low amp probes, and it has been suggested that we should have a little more detail about the specs and physical characteristics of the two probes we showed you then. Well. Better late than never.