Inspection.
Brakes are pretty much the most important safety device on your car. If you've even partially lost your brakes in the past, you'll remember the change of underwear that followed. Inspecting your brakes twice a year for wear and damage can protect you and your passengers while saving you money by catching any damage before it becomes too costly. On many cars you can inspect the brakes without even removing the wheel. If your car has alloy wheels with spaces in the middle, you can get a proper assessment done by just peeping through the hole at the goodies.

Let's inspect the disc first. It should be shiny from the inside to the outer edge, and fairly uniform. Don't worry if you can see slight lines in it, this is normal wear. However, if there are any rough spots or pronounced grooves in the disc, you should replace your brake discs. Brake discs should always be replaced in pairs so that your car's driveability and safety are not compromised.

Now take a look at the pads. You'll have to peek up to see them, but if you follow the surface of the disc to the top, you'll see the outside pad touching the disc. If there is 1/8" or less remaining on the pad, it's time for new ones. That's about the height of two pennies stacked. Don't worry, brake pads are cheap and replacing your brake pads is a no-sweat job.

Finally, take a look at your brake lines. Rubber coated lines should be soft and supple, not cracked and rigid. If you see cracks in flexible brake lines they will need to be replaced. Also be sure to inspect the hard, metal lines. These can become corroded, especially in snowy regions where chemicals are used on the roads.

Replace Your Brake Pads

What You'll Need:

• lug wrench
• c-clamp
• open end or adjustable wrench (depending on your car)
• Allen wrenches (depending on your car)
• hammer
• small bungee cord

Preparation
Make sure you've got everything ready to go before you remove your old brake pads. Most important, be sure safety is at the front of your mind. You'll be taking the wheel off so be sure you have your car jacked up and resting securely on jackstands. Go ahead and break the lugs before you jack it up. It's much easier and safer with the wheel on the ground.

Never work on a car which is supported by a jack only! Unless you turn green and your clothes tear themselves to pieces when you get mad, there is no part of your person that can hold a car in the air if the jack slips. You may need to replace your brake discs depending on the amount of wear they have. You should inspect your brake discs regularly.




You broke the lugs while the car was still on the ground, so they should be pretty easy to remove. I like to remove them from the bottom up, leaving the top lug nut to be removed last. This keeps the wheel in one place while you remove the rest of them and makes it easier to safely catch the wheel once you remove the last nut. If you remove the lugs and still can't get the wheel off, try this stuck wheel trick.



On most cars, the next step is to remove the brake caliper so the brake pads will slide out through the top. On a few cars the pads will come out without removing the caliper, but not many. You'll see the brake caliper in the 12 o'clock position just above the lug bolts, riding atop that shiny brake disc.

On the back of the caliper you'll find a bolt on either side. It will either be a hex bolt of an Allen bolt. Remove these two bolts and put them aside.

Hold the caliper from the top and pull upward, wiggling it around to loosen it up. If it's stubborn, give it a few taps (taps, not Hank Aaron swings) upward to loosen it a bit. Pull it up and slightly away, being sure not to put any stress on the brake line (that black hose that's still connected).

If there is a place to safely set the caliper back there, do it. If not, you'll need to take your bungee cord and hang the caliper from something, the giant coil spring staring at you is a good spot. Don't let the caliper hang by the brake line, it can cause damage and lead to brake failure!

Before you pull out the old brake pads, take a second to observe how everything is in installed. If there are little metal clips around the brake pads, note how they are in there so you can get it right when you put things back together. Better yet, take a digital picture of the whole assembly.

With the caliper out of the way, the brake pads should slide right out. I say should because in a new car they probably would. Since our cars are not always new, you may need to coax them out with a litte tap of the hammer to loosen them up. If your car has little metal tabs holding onto the brake pads, put them to the side becase you'll need them in a minute. Put the new pads in the slots with any metal clips you removed.

While you're here, it might be a good idea to inspect your brake discs.

Go ahead and slide the new pads into place now, making sure you don't forget any of the little retaining clips you removed earlier.



As your brake pads wear out, the caliper adjusts itself so that you will have strong brakes throughout the life of the pads. If you look on the inside of the caliper you'll see a round piston coming out. This is what pushes on the brake pads from the back. Problem is, it's adjusted itself to match your worn out pads. Trying to get it over the new pads is like parking a Cadillac in New York City. You can do it, but the damage level will be high. Instead of destroying your new pads, you'll push the piston back to the starting point. Take the c-clamp and place the end with the screw on it against the piston with the other end of the clamp around on the back of the caliper assembly. Now slowly tighten the clamp until the piston has moved far enough in that you can easily plop the caliper assembly over the new pads.



With the piston compressed, you should be able to easily slide the caliper assembly over the new pads. Once you have it on there, replace the bolts you removed and tighten them snugly. Press the brake pedal a few times to make sure you have solid brake pressure. The first pump or two will be soft as the piston finds its new starting point on the back of the pad.

Put your wheel back on, being sure to tighten all of the lug bolts. Now double-check your lug bolts just to be sure.

Courtesy : Autorepair

Radiator flush

Your car's radiator and cooling system needs to be clean to be cool. As time goes on, your car's radiator builds solid deposits that can clog the cooling system. A quick, inexpensive radiator flush can keep the system in shape. It's important to change your antifreeze seasonally.

Before you start your radiator flush, make sure you have everything you need. There's nothing worse than draining your radiator only to realize that you need to drive to the auto store for something!

What you'll need to perform a radiator flush:

* Phillips head screwdriver or wrench (whichever your radiator drain requires)
* Cloth rag
* Radiator Flush solution
* Coolant
* Funnel
* Used coolant receptacle

*Be sure to let your engine cool completely before you loosen or remove the radiator cap. Hot coolant can be painful!




The first step in your radiator and cooling system flush is to drain the old coolant from the radiator.

Using your owner's manual or your eyeballs, locate your radiator's drain plug. It could be anywhere along the bottom of the radiator, and will be either a screw plug, bolt plug or a petcock (simple drain valve). Be sure you have your used coolant receptacle in place under the drain before you open it up.

With your coolant catcher underneath the drain, unscrew it and let the coolant empty completely. If you have a screw or bolt type radiator drain plug, remove it completely. If your radiator has a petcock, open it all the way.

*IMPORTANT: Coolant can be very dangerous to pets. It tastes sweet to them but ingesting it can be fatal. Be sure not to leave any -- even a small puddle -- where an animal could drink it.



Once all of the coolant has drained from the radiator, replace the drain plug and remove the radiator cap. Add the contents of the radiator flush solution to the radiator, then fill it to the top with water.

Replace and tighten the radiator cap. Now start the car and let it run until it gets to its operating temperature (the place on the temp gauge that it normally stays at).

Turn your heater on and move the temperature control to the hottest position. Let the car run for 10 minutes with the heater on.

Turn the car off and wait for the engine to cool off. If the radiator cap or metal radiator is hot to the touch, it's still too hot to open.

*IMPORTANT SAFETY REMINDER: Do not attempt to loosen or remove the radiator cap while the engine is hot. Serious injury can result! Your cooling system is hot!



Once the engine has cooled down, open the drain and completely empty the contents of the radiator. Your radiator flush is almost finished!

Depending on the size of your coolant receptacle and cooling system, you might have to empty it into a separate container to make room for the second draining. No matter what, never pour coolant on the ground!


Now that you have performed a radiator and cooling system flush, all you need to do is refill the radiator with fresh coolant.

Replace the radiator drain plug or fully close the petcock.

Using a funnel to eliminate spills, fill the radiator with a 50/50 mixture of coolant and water. I'm a big fan of the premixed coolant that's become popular lately, it eliminates the measuring or guessing step. With the radiator filled, go ahead and fill the plastic coolant reservoir if your car has separate openings, again with a 50/50 mix.

Tighten all of your caps well and you're like Fonzarelli -- cool!

It's a good idea to check your radiator coolant level in a day or so to be sure it's proper, sometimes an air bubble works its way out and you need to add a little.