Category Archives: Automotive

Motorcycle Repair Restoring Your Bike

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Soaring fuel prices have made gas-guzzling cars very unpopular. Welcome to the resurgence of the motorcycle. Why? Because properly maintained motorcycles and motorcycle engines can get between 40 and 60 miles a gallon. Smaller scooters get upwards of 90 miles a gallon, pretty good for an economy with $4-per-gallon gasoline.

Because of this, bike sales have soared. Motorcycle repair, too, can come in handy. Do you have a bike in storage that you haven’t dusted off for awhile? There’s a good chance you can be among those restoring motorcycles so that you can ride your old road hog again.

Restoring your older motorcycle to working condition starts with some basic steps:

Check Fuel
If you didn’t use a fuel stabilizer before you put the bike into storage, drain your old fuel (including tank, fuel lines and carburetor as applicable) before you run the engine, and put new in. Lubricate spark plug ports with a little oil, too, before you start things up.

Check Oil
Change the oil and filter if you didn’t do so before you started. If you did, top levels off.

How Is Your Battery?
Make sure leads are not corroded and that the battery will fully charge and then hold a charge. If it doesn’t, replace the battery.

Inspect The Chain
Because your chain transfers power from the engine to the rear wheel, it is very important that it be in excellent shape. Look the chain over for the following:

— Is the chain the proper tension? You should be able to grasp it in the center and move it about one inch in either direction, up or down.
— Are front and wheel sprocket teeth in good condition? If the teeth have grooves or “waves” in them or they show other signs of wear, you probably need new sprockets (chain will probably show similar wear and need replacement).
— Check every single section of the chain for signs of wear and for proper tension. It should move about an inch when you pull on it. Tighten the chain if it’s loose, and loosen it if it’s tight. If the links themselves are too tight, you might need to replace the whole chain.
— Clean dirt off the chain with a clean towel or rag before you apply lubricant. Make sure you thoroughly lubricate all sprocket teeth and links.
— Lubricate the chain well. Remember that some solvents should not be used with rubber if your chain has rubber parts to it. Use a proper solvent and wipe off any excess lubricant with a clean rag.
— Set chain tension properly by moving your rear wheel and axle forward or backward. Both sides of the axle should be aligned properly before you tighten things up or the chain and sprockets might wear out quickly. Tighten the axle nuts and replace the cotter pin with a new one if needed.

Fluid Levels
Brake, clutch and coolant levels should be checked as necessary. Make sure you replace missing brake fluid with a new container of the same brand you used last time. Let your bike idle for a few minutes before you take off so that all fluids circulate properly.

Tires and Suspension
Inspect everything thoroughly before you take your first ride. If you kept your bike stored upright on a kickstand, make sure your tires aren’t cracked, marked, or flat. In addition, check to make sure tire wear and air levels are good.

Selecting A Good Quality Pre-owned Car

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Ways To Choose A High Quality Used Car

And with a financial savings like that it truly is amazing that any person buys new cars anymore. This post will look at some things to seek out when shopping for a used car.

Of course the first thing you want to seek out is any rust on the exterior of the vehicle. And we are not only looking for visible rust but rust that could be hidden under the paint. How you can tell should there be rust under the paint is by looking at the finish. If you find bubble spots on the paint, then there is a possibility that rust is ready to come through. Even though you see just a bit rust, proceed to the next car since it will probably get worse in a few years.

An additional area to look at for rust is inside the trunk of the car. That is an area of the car that lots of people forget to look at. Any small rust inside the trunk will spread to the rest of the car. Plus you won’t want to put anything in that trunk as it may end up suffering from water damage as the water can come through rust spots.

The next phase is to check the internal of the car. In the event the interior of the automobile is clean there is a pretty good chance that the person who owned it took good care of the vehicle. When the seats and carpets are tainted or torn there is a good chance that the previous owner didn’t conserve the car and he probably didn’t conduct the scheduled maintenance either.

Now when you are inside the vehicle check all the controls, this consist of windows, door locks, heater and everything else the car has. The last thing you want to do is to buy a car in the summertime and then figure out the heater doesn’t operate when winter hits.

Now look at the tires to find out if there is tread on the tires and if you can find any uneven wear. If you observe that the tread on one side of the car has significantly less wear than the other side, then there can be some issues with the car. It may just need an alignment, but then again it could be an issue that could run thousands to repair. In the event that there is any type of uneven wear on the tread, don’t give it an extra thought, move on to the next car.

The very last thing you should do is to get the car for a test drive. You want to be sure that the car turns well without issues and the brakes will work well and not soft. If you take the car for a test drive you will find a way to find out if there are and clunks or other troubles.

Automotive Service Warning Lights That Your Vehicle Needs Automotive Repair!

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Paying close attention to your vehicle’s warning lights is one of the surest ways to know whether your vehicle needs a minor automotive service, or a more extensive automotive repair. The dashboard lights are color-coordinated according to the severity of the warning (i.e., yellow is caution, red is serious). Each time you start the car, all of the lights and indicators appear as the car’s computer checks each system. When the lights go out, the computer has verified that each of the vehicle’s systems is functioning properly.

If an indicator light remains on several minutes after the car has been started, or if it comes on while driving the car, you should be concerned about it. You will want to treat all dash warning lights like traffic signals.
The two basic kinds of warning lights; Yellow and Red, are further described below:
Yellow Warning Lights –

On most cars, a yellow “Service Engine Soon” light means “proceed with caution.” Your car’s computer system has indicated a potential problem and is alerting the driver.

The computer system is capable of correcting some minor abnormalities, but if the light continues to come on after multiple car starts, it is telling you that you need to consult a technical manual and/or schedule an automotive service. If the light comes on while you are driving but doesn’t come back on again, the computer system probably corrected the problem without any further intervention.
Common problems that may cause the “Service Engine Soon” light to come on are:

* computer-related problems, such as faulty sensors
* anti-lock brake systems
* safety restraint systems, such as air bags
* emissions components

Red Warning Lights –

A Red Warning light indicates an immediate danger to your car and you should immediately pull over and turn off the car. Whatever caused the red light to come on can be a safety issue (i.e., brakes), so proceed with caution as you maneuver to stop the vehicle.

Unfortunately, when the red light comes on, the problem is already occurringthis is NOT a pre-warning. It can be a matter of seconds before permanent engine damage occurs. Call for road-side assistance for automotive repair.
Problems that normally cause red warning lights are:

* low oil pressure
* engine over-heating
* brake failure
* transmission over-heating
* low battery voltage.

Like smart phones, vehicles these days are ‘smart’ and are continuously monitoring the performance of your vehicle.

For professional automotive service, contact our ASE-certified technicians at A&C Automotive & Machine by calling 651-674-4733, or go online at https://aandcautomotive.com for more information. Since 1985, our auto center has served vehicle owners in North Branch, MN, and in the surrounding areas of Harris and Stacy, MN.

Boyce Activated Carbon Products For The Automotive Industry

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Our granular activated carbons have a wide range of uses for the automotive industry. Boyce Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) is excellent for low pressure drop, high-efficiency purification of liquids, gases and vapors. Available in several grades, it covers a range of pore size distributions, surface chemistries, particle size distributions and purity levels. Granular activated carbons are used for gasoline vapor recovery, air purification, catalysis, and decolonization/deodorization/contaminant reduction of chemicals.

Automotive Industry Applications

Automotive Evaporative Emissions

Vehicle activated carbon canisters are designed to capture fuel emissions generated by the evaporation of the fuel tank vapors during day to night temperature variations. Emission regulations vary throughout the world. In the United States (US), requirements call for capturing fuel vapors generated during a 72-hour test, while in the European Union requirement are for a 24-hour test. Fuel vapor generation rates are approximately 25 to 30 grams a day for a mid-size vehicle. Our granular activated carbons are used by leading industries for this application because of their superior volumetric cost, performance and proven durability.

Automotive ORVR

On-Board Refueling Vapor Recovery (ORVR) is a U.S. regulation that requires the capture of fuel vapors generated during vehicle refueling events. ORVR presents a unique challenge for the vehicle by requiring the canister to have high fuel vapor capacity at fast loading rates and low pressure drop. ORVR canisters are typically two to three times the size of a standard evaporative emissions canister because of these capacity requirements. Our carbon pellets are the industry standard for this application due to their high capacity, durability and low pressure drop. Further, our special grade of Boyce carbon helps to reduce canister size due to its industry leading capacity.

Automotive PZEV

Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV) is a California initiated emission category that is expanding across the country. PZEV requires the vehicles fuel system to have no more than 54 mg of emissions during a 72-hour test. PZEV presents a unique challenge to control canister bleed emissions to very low levels, typically less than 10 mg. Boyce special grades gives solution to control canister bleed emissions.

Two-Wheelers

There is a global expansion of canisters on motorcycles to control fuel tank evaporative emissions generated by the evaporation of the fuel tank vapors during the day to night temperature variations. These canisters are typically much smaller than an automotive canister. Our granular activated carbons are chosen for this application throughout the world for their superior volumetric cost and performance and proven durability.

Air Induction Systems

Vehicle regulations in the U.S. sometimes necessitate the control of vapors emitted through the vehicles air induction systems. Unique solutions are required to solve these emissions because of the high airflow within the AIS and the potential to affect engine performance if these airflows are inhibited. Our uniquely designed granular and powder carbon are used to reduce hydrocarbon emissions to targeted levels.

Small Off-Road Engines Fuel tanks for weed trimmers, leaf blowers, lawn mowers, generators and similar products are being mandated to control fuel evaporative emissions. Our granular activated carbons are chosen for this application for their superior volumetric cost and performance and proven durability.

Marine

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is evaluating evaporative emission control regulations for recreational boats.

Cabin Air (Vehicle Interiors)

Exposure to volatile organic compounds that off-gas from interior components in new vehicles is of increasing concern in many parts of the world. Recent tests have demonstrated significant reductions of VOCs in the cabin by the use of activated carbon sheets. Boyce supplies special grades of activated carbon to make activated carbon sheets. This confirms ACS as a low-cost and effective method for reducing VOC content in the cabin before delivery to the consumer.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Automotive equipment manufacturers are increasingly turning to advanced engine technology to increase fuel economy. HEV and PHEV, while allowing for improved fuel economy, present a unique challenge for the activated carbon canister primarily due to severely restricted purge volumes. While our carbons are recognized for their superior purge performance, to meet the challenges of HEV and PHEV our carbons are typically combined with activated carbon honeycombs to meet emission targets.

Gasoline Direct Injection Engines

Gasoline Direct Injection Engines (GDI), while allowing for improved fuel economy, present a unique challenge for the activated carbon canister primarily due to reduced purge volume. Our carbons are recognized for their superior purge performance to meet most global GDI canister challenges. Additionally, our carbons are combined with our activated carbon to meet PZEV level emission targets.

Fuel Loading/Transfer Facilities

Bulk fuel and chemical transfer facilities use large-scale activated carbon absorbers to capture the vapors that are displaced or generated during the liquid transfer. The characteristics that make Boyce products the premier activated carbon for automotive evaporative emissions control apply to fuel loading as well.

To know more about us please visit www.carbonsuppliers.com contact us on +91 9842091301 Email: [emailprotected]

Tools Used To Conduct Automotive Marketing Research

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Marketing research is conducted by almost very automotive industry to understand market trends and potential customers. A major purpose of marketing research is to find answers for questions and thus to acquire new or updated knowledge. Today’s automotive manufacturing firms conduct comprehensive marketing research to enhance management decision-making by using relevant, accurate and timely information. Automotive marketing research has thus become a crucial part in management decision making.
Automotive marketing research has been conducted to:

Identify customers

Understand needs and requirements of customers

Find out how and where the customers want the products or service

Discover at what price customers will purchase products

Finding answers for these questions helps automotive manufacturing firms to formulate appropriate product development strategies. Information gathered from marketing research need to be analyzed and used while designing and manufacturing new products or before making any modification to existing product line.
Lack of time and strict time schedule always restrict manufacturing firm to conduct automotive marketing research before launching a new product. Mostly, manufacturers develop products without understanding the actual needs of customers; this might result in the fail of products in markets and thus impart huge loss to manufacturing firm. However, service of marketing research companies can be effectively utilized to carry out marketing research. These companies conduct marketing research and find answers for research problems on behalf of their clients.
Marketing research companies collect data from potential customers by conducting or participating in:
Car clinics – Car clinics are the most effective automotive marketing research tool used by marketing researchcompanies to collect data. These companies conduct car clinics in various parts of countries to collect useful information from large numbers of show attendees.
Drive studies – Marketing research companies design and execute open course drive studies and closed course drive studies to collect feedback related to comfort, ride and handling, and powertrain issues. These kinds of feedback are highly valuable for new product development.
Auto show research – Automobile event research is one of the cost effective tools used to collect information on display evaluations, new product designs, feedback on concept vehicles and new technologies etc.
Online research – marketing research companies conduct different kinds of online surveys to collect information related to topics like new product development, pricing research, styling studies, customer satisfaction and so on. They mail a well designed questionnaire to potential customers and thus seek answers to various research questions. Online research is one of the cost effective and efficient automotive marketing research tool used to collect feedback from large number of customers instantly.
Along with the above tools, marketing research companies also collect information over phone. All these automotive marketing tools have high relevance in obtaining accurate and updated customer feedback. Moreover, information thus collected provides a complete knowledge on the likes and desires of potential customers. This knowledge helps a manufacturing firm to design and develop new products by incorporating new features. Launching products with required features helps manufacturing firm to achieve competitive advantage and also to improve sale.