Welcome to the dissimilar materials edition of Tool of the Week. Specialty sockets to remove oddly shaped oxygen sensors or inner ball joints are less common choices than the oft used spark plug socket. The genius of this specialty socket is the rubber donut that grabs onto the ceramic bit of the spark plug. The donut not only makes fishing the spark plug out of the hole an … [Read more...]
Replace Oxygen Sensor
Joining Space Invaders, the personal computer, and perhaps Sputnik in the pantheon of modern technological achievements is the oxygen sensor. Most every modern fuel injected automobile has one or more of these sentinels threaded into its exhaust pipe. Elements inside the oxygen sensor tip measure the amount of oxygen gas in the exhaust, and convert the ratio into a signal that … [Read more...]
Tool of the Week: Engine Code Reader
Welcome to the one if by land, two if by sea 50-in-1 electronic playground edition of the Tool of the Week. This time around we're peering into computerized technology. The 1987 Mitsubishi Starion is a fuel injected car, but by no means modern. The transitional period between carburated and electronically injected engines produced some interesting if not cantankerous systems. … [Read more...]
Clean Battery Posts and Terminals
Despite promises of atomic power and limitless propulsion, the lead-acid battery under the hoods of most automobiles is not very futuristic. Cleverly named maintenance-free batteries are updated versions of the same basic lead-acid automotive battery design that first kicked over a production Cadillac in 1912. Even maintenance-free batteries require occasional wrenching. … [Read more...]
Tool of the Week: Battery Post and Terminal Brush
Welcome to the Tool of the Week crust removal Independence Day edition. The battery post and terminal cleaner brush is really two tools in one. The lower part of gizmo is full of stiff wires that clean up battery posts in short order with a few twists of the handle. An opposite twist of the handle reveals that inside the housing is a bristling porcupine of added utility! … [Read more...]