Archive for the ‘Q & A’ Category

Could A Dirty Cabin Air filter Ruin My Blower Motor?

Well I have never seen this before and I thought would share it with you.  In the picture for this post you see a blower motor from a Toyota. One day all of a sudden the blower motor for this vehicle stopped working on a cold New England winter day.  There is never a good […]

Bill G. Asks: Why Do Brake Lines Cost So Much To Replace?

I was asked this question as to why it costs so much in labor to replace brake lines. Well the simple answer is that it is a miserable job for a mechanic to replace them. You might be able to tell by the pile of rusty lines pictured that I just replaced.  It is kind […]

Jean K Asks: What Damage Can A Dirty Air Filter Do To Your Engine?

Well Jean on newer fuel injected engines you will notice a decrease in power with a dirty air filter. With an older vehicle that had a  carburetor you would notice poor fuel mileage. The biggest problem with a dirty air filter is

Allison E Asks: Can You Really Clean Your Headlights With Toothpaste?

Well Allison that’s a good question! This is something that I have heard about recently, so with your question I decided to give it a try myself.  Now for those of you who are not familiar with what I am talking about  I will explain. Most of the vehicles today have plastic headlight lens,and over […]

Nicole Asks: Joe How Can I Prevent My Car From Being Stolen?

Nicole asks : Joe I have a security system installed in my Honda Civic, and it has an Immobilizer system in the car as well. I am finding out that even with those features, my car can still be easily stolen by professional car thieves. Is there anything else I can do? Well Nicole has […]

What Is An Idle Air Control Valve?

Sherry D brought a 2002 Honda Civic to my shop that she recently purchased. She told me that the car would not idle, the engine surged up and down constantly. She just purchased the car, and wanted to know if

Jakob Says: My 2002 Toyota Corolla Has A P0420 And The Exhaust Sounds Loud.

Question for ya….have a 2001 Toyota Corolla…and it’s very loud. Sounds like an exhaust leak! Now..I went with the car to a car mechanic in town awhile back when the car was not loud due to a check engine light! Now I cant remember what the code was but they replaced the catalytic converter. I […]

Irene Asks: Why Is Our Subaru Consuming So Much Oil?

From: Irene asks: ” Subject: Oil Consumption on a Subaru Sent date: 06/14/2013 11:33:56 AM To: Hi Joe, We have had a problem with our 2nd Subaru. We bought a 2013 Subaru Legacy last Oct. 5, 2012, 4-door, 4-cylinder. It had major oil consumption problems at 2814 miles, it was down 2 qts. of oil. […]

Toyota Tercel

Chris R. Asks :Why Does My Car Have Gray Smoke Coming Out Of The Tail Pipe?

Question : Love your book – thanks! I have a 97 Toyota Tercel automatic (my first ever automatic!) it has about 138000 miles. when I drive down a long hill (or sometimes not so long) and stop at the bottom, when I start up again often gray smoke comes out – sometimes a lot! I […]

In heat defrost mode.

Karen M. Asks: Why Won’t My Air-conditioning Turn Off In My Car?

Karen told me that no matter what she tried cold air was blowing out of the floor vents in her car when she was driving home from work one day. What could cause this? Well after I