K&N Performance Air Filters, Oil Filters & Air Intake Systems

RockAuto is now carrying K&N performance air filters, oil filters and air intake systems. For over forty years, K&N has designed and built performance parts that can help increase horsepower, torque and acceleration. Below are just a few of the many benefits the K&N parts offer:

K&N Air Filters
	Designed to increase horsepower and acceleration Excellent filtration for long engine life Lifetime air filter with K&N Million Mile Limited Warranty Simple drop-in performance Available for cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, diesels

K&N Oil Filters
	Designed for high flow rates to improve engine performance Many filters feature a Wrench-Off Nut for easy removal Heavy duty construction Provides excellent filtration to protect your engine Available for cars, trucks, motorcycles, diesel engines

K&N Air Intake Kits
	Designed to increase horsepower, torque and acceleration Replaces entire factory air intake system K&N Million Mile Limited Warranty Easy to install performance improvement Improves engine sound and looks great too

Whether you need an oil filter for your 2007 Honda CRF150, an air filter for your 1994 Chevrolet Cavalier or an air intake kit for your 2005 Ford F-250 Super Duty, K&N is now included in the selection of parts available for your vehicle in the RockAuto catalog. Air filters and air intake kits are located under the “Fuel/Air” category and oil filters are under the “Engine” category.

Discover Cardmember Bonus

Attention Discover Cardmembers. Yes - purchases from RockAuto.com can qualify for the 5% cash back bonus for purchases made from October though December 31.

Be sure to read Discover's rules for full details.

Forum of the Month

OFFROADTB.com is a community-driven resource and forum whose goal is to unite the populations of TrailBlazer, Envoy and other GMT owners that have a shared passion for seeking out the unpaved areas of the world. Our community is founded by and run by a small group of like-minded individuals eager to continue expanding and sharing our off-road adventures and functional modifications. We have a well-organized database of members' vehicle builds, trip reports, modifications, fabrication projects and related articles.

We encourage all interested folks to join our forums to learn more about the capabilities of your TrailBlazer and help spread information about our often overlooked vehicle platform for functional off-roading.

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 cynthia@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

When we were teenagers (around 1960), my older brother bought a Model A Ford. We ran around the county in that thing for a summer, but one muddy road caused us to get stuck. In the process of rocking the car to get it out, something broke in the rear end differential. We went to a junk yard to search for another Model A, and finding one, we removed the drive shaft and rear end with axle and hubs all in one piece. We figured that would be the easiest way to fix it. We talked the high school shop teacher into letting us work on it there on a weekend and all went well until we pushed it out and fired it up. Much to our shock, it had the same problem in the differential that we started with!

The moral of the story: order new parts and do the job right!

Richard in Indiana

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 e-mail 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

Since the 1980s, the Toyota Camry has frequently been the best selling car in the United States.  Where did the name "Camry" come from?

A. Camry is the Japanese word for "crown."
B. Camry was an acronym used internally by Toyota in the late 1970s to describe the target markets for the new RY body: Canada, America, Mexico, RY body.
C. Camry Bay, a body of water off the coast of Japan near the city of Toyama.


Answer below

The First Things to Check

When the battery goes dead, the condition of the battery and the alternator are two of the first things to check. However, do not assume that if the battery is good then the alternator must be bad and the cause of the problem. My 1979 Chrysler 300 still has its original, never disassembled alternator. I have lost count of how many new batteries and electrical problems the car has had over the decades. Here are a few tips on how to use common tools to diagnose charging system problems to prevent unnecessarily replacing the alternator. These are general suggestions that may not apply to every car. Rely on your car’s repair manual (found under “Literature” in the catalog) for vehicle specific instructions.

1. Using a multi-meter, measure the voltage across the battery posts with the engine off. It should be 12 or 12.5 volts. If it is less than 12 volts, then the battery needs to be charged, something is draining the battery or the battery cannot hold a charge and needs to be replaced.
2. If the battery voltage is around 12 volts, then start the engine and again measure the voltage across the battery posts. It should have increased to 13 or 14 volts if the alternator is working and charging the battery. (Note: The computers on some newer vehicles will not raise alternator output to 13+ volts unless the headlights or some other system that draws a lot of electrical current is switched on first.)
3. If the battery voltage did not increase with the engine running, then verify the alternator and battery have good electrical connections. Make sure the battery cable terminals are tight and free from corrosion. Look for loose connectors or frayed cables. Use the multi-meter or a test light to verify the body of the alternator is grounded (zero resistance between the alternator and negative battery post).
4. If the battery voltage is well above 14 volts with the engine running, then the alternator could be producing too much current and overcharging the battery. Maybe the voltage regulator (internal to some modern alternators) is bad. Or the battery is weak and a vehicle computer has temporarily raised the voltage limit. It might still also be bad connections or loose wiring. Some vehicle lights being brighter than others can be a symptom of this type of problem, because the alternator produces more energy to overcome the resistance of a bad wire or connection.
5. The condition of the alternator belt is the next thing to check. Of course make sure the belt is not broken. Also look for a belt that is loose and slipping. It would probably be making noise.
6. If in step 2 the voltage across the battery terminals was 13 to 14 volts with the engine running, then the alternator is properly charging the battery. That is good news, but there is another alternator electrical problem to check for. I know from personal experience with a Ford 5.0L. that sometimes an alternator can charge fine when the engine is running but drain the battery when the engine is off. It probably has something to do with the rectifier diodes in the alternator not properly blocking current from draining away from the battery. This problem may be intermittent. It certainly was on my Ford 5.0. Disconnect all the electrical connections from the alternator when the car is put away for the night. If the battery never goes dead with the alternator disconnected but goes dead when the alternator is hooked up, then that might point to an alternator diode problem. RockAuto sells replacement diodes for some alternators. The diodes are buried so deep inside many modern alternators that replacing the entire alternator is often the most practical option.
7. If the battery goes dead when the car sits (engine off) with the alternator electrical connections disconnected, then something else is draining the battery. Check first for the most obvious battery drains such as any lights left on (headlights, trunk light, ashtray light, etc.). After that it gets harder to track down the problem especially on modern cars. Newer cars have systems that are designed to stay on for various amounts of time after the engine is switched off. In the next newsletter, I will offer some tips on tracking down specific circuits that are draining a battery.
8. Finally, there are the mechanical alternator problems. Unusual screeching or grinding sounds might come from a bad bearing in an alternator. However, the noise might also be coming from a loose belt, misaligned pulleys or worn out belt tensioner. Use an automotive stethoscope to verify where the noise is coming from. Avoid damaging new alternator bearings by making sure the belt pulleys are aligned, the belt tensioners are good, the belt is not over tightened, the alternator mounting bracket is not cracked or that there is not some other mechanical problem.

Look under the Tools & Universal Parts tab in the catalog to find multi-meters, battery chargers, battery testers, stethoscopes and other tools for diagnosing a charging system. I often use the inexpensive Auto Charging System Analyzer to quickly check battery/alternator voltages. My multi-meter (also inexpensive) can do the same things and much more, but I like the convenient, simple LED lights on my “System Analyzer.”

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

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

PS: In the last newsletter, I wrote about the oil viscosities required by modern engines and the need to suppress my gut instincts while picking oil weights. Some readers pointed out that mixing oil weights does not necessarily create “goo.” On their website, Mobil says, “there is no harm in mixing different viscosities of Mobil 1. They are all compatible with each other.” A little residual oil left in the engine after an oil change from 10W-30 to 10W-40 never seemed to create goo problems in my older cars either. However, Mobil does not say for every engine it is OK to mix bottles of 10W-30 or 20W-50 that have been sitting on the shelf since 1998 with new bottles of Mobile 1. There are just too many engine designs and oil formulations out there now to make many sweeping statements about engine oil viscosity or compatibility. It is usually easiest and safest to use the oil weight recommended by the engine manufacturer.

Here is my 1969 Chevy Nova.  My daughter wanted a classic American muscle car for her first car, and this is the one she picked.  I bought it from the original owner about 12 years ago and although the lady who owned it took pretty good care of it, it was still a little rough when I found it.

Unfortunately for my daughter, the reality of driving a classic car of this vintage didn't match her idea of what it would be like.  It had factory power steering, power brakes and A/C.  But it was noisy, had no power windows or power door locks, and had no stereo...just the original AM radio.  After about six weeks, she decided that it wasn't the car for her, despite the fact that she got a lot of attention from the boys at school who thought she had the coolest car in the parking lot.

I gave her another car (nothing special, but it had all the creature comforts that she was looking for) and told her that if she gave up the Nova, her decision was irrevocable.  It would become Daddy's forever.  She agreed.  Since then, I've continued to work on it a little at a time (which I would have done for my daughter, had she kept it).

This is how it looks now, including new intake manifold gaskets and head gaskets from RockAuto (for the Vortec heads and manifold).  There may be other RockAuto parts in there. I've just lost track of some of it over the years.  It's been a long project, and it's far from over, so I'm sure I'll need something else from RockAuto before long.

Thanks,
Gerry in California

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