RockAuto now offers Hengst Filtration parts for most popular European brand vehicles! Hengst was established in 1958 in Münster, Germany by Walter Hengst. Today, they remain a third generation family business, and are recognized as a leading international supplier of innovative and sustainable filter technology for oil, fuel, air and cabin air filtration.

German Engineering Worldwide
As an OEM for European makes including BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and Volkswagen, Hengst ensures consistent quality by controlling the entire development and production process in-house. Careful selection, conditioning, refinement and pleating techniques of filter media, paired with thoughtful engineering and construction of each filter ensure dependable performance for longer operational intervals.

Making Our Planet a Purer Place
Environmental protection is deeply ingrained into the Hengst brand. From the raw materials, to the machinery, plants and devices used in production, to the end product, Hengst embodies the concept of sustainability. Hengst factories meet ISO 9001 quality standards while also achieving ISO 14001 environmental standards.

Find Hengst Cabin Air Filters ("Heat & Air Conditioning"), Oil Filters ("Engine"), Air Filters and Fuel Filters ("Fuel & Air") listed throughout the RockAuto.com catalog for your specific European brand vehicle, everything from an oil filter for a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300D to a fuel filter for a 1997 Volvo 960 to a cabin air filter for a 2007 Audi A3. RockAuto has Hengst oil filters for Kia, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru and some other brand engines as well.

WranglerForum.com is a forum dedicated to discussion of the Jeep Wrangler. This friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful Jeep community is loaded with information and topics on Jeeps from military Bantams to YJs to JLs and everything in between.

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact marketing@rockauto.com.

About 10 years ago, I backed my 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan out of the garage one night. I flipped on the headlight switch and found that I had no headlights. Being the typical "shade tree mechanic" (actually ASE certified back in the day), I told my wife I would fix it over the weekend.

In preparation for Saturday morning, I ordered a headlight switch knowing that had to be the problem. I did the Saturday morning switch install and flipped them on. Nothing. Unbelievable. I retreated to my computer to find out if a fuse or the dimmer switch could cause this behavior. I did not read about anyone having dimmer issues but lots of references to a "mysterious" TIP Module (the module that controls the majority of the vehicle's electrical signals). Everything I read pointed to that part. Anxious to get the van back on the road, I installed a fresh TIP Module. Install complete...the moment of truth...flip the switch...still no headlights! I wanted to either cry or smash my headlights with a baseball bat. (editor's note: TIP is the acronym for Totally Integrated Power, AKA "Power Supply Module")

I gathered myself, sat on the front step, and pondered my next move now that my humiliation was complete. It dawned on me that I had never just tried replacing the headlight bulbs! I installed new bulbs...and my lights came on as normal.

Did both headlight bulbs fail simultaneously? Probably not. I just never noticed when the first one had failed. I now check all my bulbs when I complete every oil change, and I start my troubleshooting with the easiest thing first.

Dave in Wyoming

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the RockAuto catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

How did the original Shelby GT350 get its name?

A. A stock 289-powered 1965 Ford Mustang trailed about 350 feet behind when Shelby's prototype car crossed the 1/4 mile line at the Famoso drag strip.
B. Shelby's Los Angeles area office building was roughly 350 feet away from Shelby's production shop.
C. Henry Ford II gave Shelby a year to modify 500 Mustangs built at Ford's San Jose assembly plant. Shelby reached that production goal in just 350 days.

Answer below

While connecting a battery charger to our family heirloom '92 Dodge B250 van, it dawned on me that I have never replaced the van's battery. I was not concerned because it did not seem like I have had the van that long. I remember driving it home the first time with my kindergartner daughter riding along. That kindergartner is now a high school sophomore. Wow, I have owned the van for ten years! The date of manufacture stamp on the van's battery is May 2008!

How is it possible for a regular lead acid battery to be working fine after more than eleven years? Vibration, extreme temperatures and being completely drained will shorten a battery's life, but time is typically the ultimate battery killer. More time means more opportunity for exposure to hazards and degrading of the battery's internal chemistry. My van has been driven less than 40,000 miles (74,000 km) in the last decade, but it is not a pampered show car stored in a heated garage. It is driven at least once a week year round, hauling people, dogs and/or stuff.

The van's battery has probably lasted so long because for the last seven years, I have hooked it up to a modern battery charger whenever I know the van is going to sit for a more than a few days. RockAuto's battery chargers do not require that the battery be disconnected from the vehicle's electrical system. Most come with a quick disconnect connector that can be left discreetly hanging through a grille or from under a trunk lid.

The charger charges at the optimum rate, switching between trickle and pulse charging to not only keep the battery charged but restore the internal chemistry as well. The charger can stay hooked to a battery indefinitely and will signal when a battery will not hold sufficient charge and needs to be replaced.

I have three of these relatively inexpensive chargers (in the RockAuto.com catalog under the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab in "Electrical" and then "Tool") that I circulate amongst the family fleet. A new absorbed glass mat (AGM) battery currently costs about $160 (found under "Electrical" for specific vehicles and under "Tools & Universal Parts"). Adding just a couple of years to the life of a battery is enough to pay for the battery charger.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Toms articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

This 2002 Ford Mustang GT has been my solid daily driver/work car since June of 2003. It has been to countless little league and football practices and games, road trips, grocery runs, even trips on the Tail of the Dragon. Heck, I took it on my first date with my wife! I put snow tires on and gladly field the annual "How do you drive that in the winter?!" questions.

None of this would be possible without RockAuto. Every system on the car has had something from RockAuto on it. From simple maintenance items to suspension, brakes, clutch and body (there may have been an accident in the garage involving an outside mirror!). Great selection, fantastic prices and shipping times keep me coming back. Through the years, I have expanded my purchases to my wife's Jeep, family cars, my delivery trucks for work as well as customers' vehicles.

Thank you for everything!

Aaron in Ohio (RockAuto customer for over five years)

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to give you the opportunity to have your car or truck possibly featured in one (or occasionally more) of our publications such as the monthly newsletter, collector magnets, RockAuto social media or other commercial use. New, old, import, domestic, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please email flamur@RockAuto.com with the vehicle history, interesting details, your favorite images (tips for taking pictures of your car) and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

How did the original Shelby GT350 get its name?

A. A stock 289-powered 1965 Ford Mustang trailed about 350 feet behind when Shelby's prototype car crossed the 1/4 mile line at the Famoso drag strip.
Answer: B Shelby's Los Angeles area office building was roughly 350 feet away from Shelby's production shop.
C. Henry Ford II gave Shelby a year to modify 500 Mustangs built at Ford's San Jose assembly plant. Shelby reached that production goal in just 350 days.

Back up to trivia question