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FRED Flashes the Bus

May 11th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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By Dave Hobbs. Air-conditioning service stinks sometimes. Let’s face it. I mean it sometimes stinks literally – like bad odor stink. Those of us in the warmer and more humid climates regularly run into customers complaining of a foul odor that emanates from the dash. Your customer today is driving a 2003 Chevy Trailblazer and describes their complaint as this terrible musty odor. When you climb inside the vehicle to confirm the complaint, your nose causes the rest of you to want to do a 180, but you know it’s going to be your job to turn this foul odor into a profitable job. You are all too familiar with the cause and the fix. Read more »

Check Your Air, Mister? Servicing TPMS Systems

February 17th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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servicing tpms systems

By Dave Hobbs. As a once-familiar gas jockey greeting passes into history, now-mandatory TPMSs have made it easier for drivers to monitor tire pressures. Servicing these systems is somewhat more complicated than operating a tire pressure gauge. Read more »

Training for the Future

January 10th, 2010 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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training for the future

By Dave Hobbs. “Hybrid vehicle electronics are dangerous and only the dealerships will be able work on them.” “The independent garage is on its way out.” Have you heard statements like these before? I have, and I have to disagree with these opinions, based in part on history. Read more »

New ‘Twist’ on an Old Story: GM’s Variable Valve Timing

December 13th, 2009 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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By Dave Hobbs. Powertrain engineers continue to extract more power from and reduce emissions on conventional internal combustion engines. When both intake and exhaust camshafts get involved, GM’s variable valve timing system meets both goals.
Remember the good old days? Chubby Checker was singing “The Twist” and we had cheap gas and fast cars. I was a young mechanic a decade later, in the ’70s, and I can still re- call hearing my first GM muscle car sporting a performance camshaft loping into my bay. It was the sound of power, and I knew that this engine wasn’t going to the run like the rest! Read more »

Keep On Truckin’

March 29th, 2009 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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By Dave Hobbs. GM truck tire size changes and calibrations.  As American car and truck enthusiasts mourn the crazy economic conditions that have caused icons like Pontiac and GMC to go into the annuls of history, I suspect we will ‘Keep on truckin’ as the saying goes and continue our love affair with cars and trucks and with that continuation will be the business of repairs and customization for those reading this. Read more »

Parasitic Battery Drains

March 29th, 2009 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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By Dave Hobbs. Para What? It’s amazing how many IATN posts I see with good techs struggling in the area of parasitic battery drains. How much is too much? How to test? I guess I shouldn’t be amazed. I literally grew up in the family auto electric shop and this kind of thing was our bread and butter. For the rest of the shops out there who have to be experts in everything from the turn signals to the transmission, it can be a bit confusing. So what is a parasitic battery drain? Read more »

What Is Your Audio IQ?

March 29th, 2009 | Posted in Blog | No Comments
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By Dave Hobbs. Car audio? Been more interested in R.P.M.s than in watts R.M.S.? Better rethink that philosophy with today’s factory car audio and entertainment systems. The technology that used to be a handful of simple circuits like “power, ground, speaker and antenna” and totally independent of other electronic systems has given way to vehicles sprawling with wires and data busses interacting with the audio system. Read more »