RockAuto Xtreme Off-Road Adventure Sweepstakes

RockAuto is teaming up with PowerNation TV to give away a one-of-a-kind, custom Jeep LJ rig, built by Ian Johnson, straight from the Xtreme Off Road shop! This custom crawler is fully decked out and even has a 5.7L Hemi under the hood.

Entry for this sweepstakes is now closed.

Power Stop October Rebate

Fall in love with Power Stop's Premium Brake kits during the Power Stop Fall Rebate. With savings of up to $60, you will not want to miss it.

Featuring Rotor/Brake Pad kits and Caliper/Rotor/Brake Pad kits, Power Stop takes the guess work out of your brake job. Their preassembled kits include Rotors and Brake Pads matched to optimize performance and durability. Kits with new Calipers go further to ensure the brake system at each wheel is better than new. Replacing all the parts at once improves brake performance and helps prevent problems such as noise, excessive dust or uneven wear. (Using worn brake pads on brand new rotors is like lacing on another person's old gym shoes. Old brake pads worn down to mate with old rotors may cause new rotors to wear unevenly and fail prematurely.)

With multiple quality-upgrade options, Power Stop is sure to have the kit you are looking for. To see the brake choices we have for your vehicle, go to the RockAuto catalog and click on the "Brake/Wheel Hub" category.

Rebate Form

Forum of the Month

TruckOwners.com is a community of truck owners who enjoy helping each other by sharing their experience with all types of trucks. Whether you are shopping for a truck, modifying and customizing your current truck, or just need help repairing your truck, the folks here can help.

Registration is free! Start posting on TruckOwners.com today.

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 megant@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

My ’96 Ford Taurus had a “tick, tick, tick” coming from the front left wheel. The noise increased in frequency with speed and happened driving forward or reverse. After some research, I suspected the issue was a bad hub bearing. I enlisted the help of a friend, and we battled the old part for the better part of a day before we finally had the new hub installed and everything squared away. I did not have to go any further than the end of the driveway before I heard the same “tick…tick…tick”! My friend and I thought that the hub must have been defective. So I exchanged the new hub for another, installed it, and immediately heard the same “tick…tick…tick” when backing out the driveway. We then reasoned that the new hubs must have a manufacturing/compatibility issue with my particular car. So we went to a junkyard and removed a hub from a wrecked Taurus. We got back home, installed the junkyard hub, and you guessed it...the same “tick…tick…tick”!

At this point, I looked inside the rim and noticed that the chrome on the inside of the wheel was starting to blister/peel off. A flake of this chrome was catching on the caliper every time the wheel made a rotation. After ripping off some of the chrome flakes, the “tick…tick…tick” finally went away! I currently drive a '05 Lincoln Aviator that had the same problem with the peeling chrome on the wheels. But I now know the fix is much easier than replacing the hub!

Bob in Illinois

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 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!

Automotive Trivia

In the USA, 6% of this demographic group change their own oil.

A. men 70+ years old
B. millionaires
C. married women
D. all of the above

Answer below

These Motors Do Eventually Wear Out

In the spring, I move the temperature selector on my car's HVAC control to the coldest setting and I leave it there until the fall. That has worked well with my old cars, but leaving the temperature dial at cold all summer apparently befuddled the climate control computer on my late-model Dodge Challenger. Other newer cars have similar systems and could experience the same problem.

Most newer cars continuously send engine coolant through the heater core in the dash. The climate control system adjusts interior air temperature with a plastic flap called a blend door or temperature door. At the hottest setting, all the air is sent through the heater core. At the coldest setting, all the air is directed through the compartment that holds the AC evaporator. In-between temperature settings leave the blend door partially open so that some air passes through both the heater core passage and the AC evaporator passage.

Either my car's blend door was not moving or the climate control computer was not able to read the temperature of the air. I turned the temperature dial to the hottest setting and gave the computer complete control by switching the climate control system to "auto" mode. The computer sped up the blower motor to its maximum speed. That showed the computer likely knew the air was too cold and thought the solution was to speed up the air passing through the heater core. My finger tip confirmed that the heater core plumbing in the dash was very hot. The computer thought air was blowing through the heater core, but the blend door was still routing all the air through the AC evaporator side of the system.

Most newer cars control the blend, mode (defrost, dash vents...) and recirculate doors with relatively simple electric motors. The motors typically only have two wires. The computer moves the doors forwards and backwards by reversing the polarity of the voltage applied to the two wires.

The tricky part is for the computer to figure out where the door is. Is the door partially open or has it reached one of its two stops? The computer typically monitors small voltage fluctuations inside the electric motor as it rotates and counts those fluctuations to determine where the door is in its travel path. Count 0 means the door has stopped moving at one end of its travel path and count 255 might mean the door is at its opposite stop. Count (voltage fluctuation) number 133 might tell the computer the mode control door is sending most air out the floor vents.

My master's degree in electrical engineering tells me that a system like that will work flawlessly until it goes out of whack or becomes flummoxed. After sitting all summer in one position, maybe my blend door motor needed a little extra current to get moving and the computer took that to mean the motor was already at its stop for maximum heat. I can only guess.

I stuck my head under the dash, removed two screws to take off the blend door motor and then reinstalled it. That was enough to get the computer to recalibrate the blend door's position and my Dodge now has heat again. I am going to start leaving the climate control system in "auto" mode more often so the computer can frequently adjust the motors. That might help prevent a motor from getting slightly stuck or lost to the computer.

Looking under the dash, to the left of the center console, just above and to the right of the gas pedal

These motors do eventually wear out. They often make clicking sounds as they try unsuccessfully to spin their gear. Blend Door, Mode and Recirculate Actuator motors (these motors have the same part number on some vehicles) can be found under "Heat & Air Conditioning" in the RockAuto catalog. I was pleasantly surprised how much open space there was under the Challenger's dash. Newer cars can occasionally be easier than old cars to work on!

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

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

Kirk's 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo

I recently purchased this one-owner 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo, 5 speed, with only 80,000 miles. The car is like new inside and out and appears to have always been garaged. As I drove the car home, I could hear some noise coming from the engine. Shortly after I got the car home, I realized the noise was a rod knock. Let the teardown/engine rebuild begin!

With all the parts RockAuto has, I knew exactly where I could find "All the parts my car would ever need" to get this engine running again. Pistons, main bearings, rod bearings, oil pump, water pump, spark plugs, spark plug wires, hoses, gaskets, filters, sensors, thermostat, drive belts, wiper blades, hood struts, etc... All the parts arrived quickly, and exactly as ordered, no problems whatsoever. I am currently in the process of rebuilding the engine, and cannot wait to get the Supra back on the street! I have plans of taking the car to some local car shows. But most importantly, I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel, driving on some winding roads, with the windows down and just enjoying the drive!

Thank you RockAuto!

Kirk in North Carolina

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