AAE Steering Parts

RockAuto has added Atlantic Automotive Enterprises (AAE) New Rack and Pinion Complete Units and New Power Steering Pumps to the RockAuto.com catalog. By eliminating original design flaws and taking advantage of AAE’s vast product specific manufacturing experience, these completely new racks and pumps are the “Best in Class” alternative replacement parts. All AAE New Rack and Pinion Units and New Power Steering Pumps have been:

• Re-engineered for improved durability and performance
• 100% hydraulically tested under load for vehicle simulation
• Quality control inspected, tested and final packaged in the USA to provide the highest standard in product assurance

For over 23 years AAE has been a trusted, leading manufacturer of power steering products for the automotive aftermarket. With broad vehicle coverage, especially for Asian and European brands, find an AAE New Rack and Pinion Complete Unit or New Power Steering Pump for everything from the Audi A4 to Dodge Sprinter to Toyota Tacoma to Volkswagen Beetle in the "Steering" category of the RockAuto catalog.

Back to School Gift Certificates

The summer has come and gone quickly and your students are back in school. On their next visit home make sure their car hasn’t been neglected and will be reliable for the new school year. New brake pads, wiper blades, spark plug wires, fuel filter and other maintenance parts would certainly be appreciated!

If you are not sure which parts they need now or down the road, a Gift Certificate from RockAuto would be a great choice. Gift Certificates are available for any amount, easy to purchase, and even easier to use. Remind your students how much you care and make sure they have a dependable vehicle to get them to and from class (or home for the holidays)!

Forum of the Month

The Ranger Station Forum is an online community of Ford Ranger, Bronco II, Explorer and Mazda B-Series owners and enthusiasts. The members are made up of off-road, mini truck, and stock vehicle owners from a wide group of ages. In addition to sharing technical information, photos, and information with other enthusiasts, The Ranger Station forum members also gather for meets and other events.

The Ranger Station is the only online community that has managed to hand carry a banner from coast to coast while passing it off to other forum members. Our first adventure was passing a banner from member to member from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, with a stop at the Gulf of Mexico. The current adventure is hand carrying a banner from Alaska to Key West Florida. The banner started out in Alaska this past spring, and has managed to travel to British Columbia. Stop in the forum and find out where the banner is. Maybe you can be another member to send it on its way to Florida.

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

I had purchased a new 1983 Dodge 4 wheel pickup, with the 318 cubic inch engine. It did well and got up to around 75K miles. But then it started running very bad. After checking several things I concluded that the fiber timing gear was probably worn out. A couple of people agreed with me, since this engine had a reputation, at that time, of wearing out the fiber gear at around 70K miles. So I set forth to change it on the back parking area at my house. I took the whole front of the truck off to get to the gear cover. When I had done all this and inspected the gear, it turned out to not be fiber, but steel. So it was not worn, nor was the chain. Put it all back together and it ran just like before - bad. A little more checking discovered a minute, almost invisible, crack in the distributor cap. In the dark you could see the arc following the crack. Changing out the distributor cap solved the whole problem.

But now I know what is involved in changing the timing gear. Some lessons are hard.

"Ziggy" in Texas

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

Which cabin air filter is new and which is old and dirty?

A.

B.

Answer below

I Would Rather Not Breathe Brake Dust

One feature my family’s 20+ year old cars are missing that I wish they had is cabin air filters. There have long been filters on the heat and AC systems in homes. Modern cars are sealed tighter than many houses. According to Bosch, “Pollen and harmful substances inside a vehicle can be up to six times more concentrated than outside.” It makes sense to put interior vent filters in cars’ ventilation systems too.

Car enthusiasts sometimes take better care of their cars than they do themselves. Replacing a cabin air filter is a car project that lets you take care of both your car and yourself. In addition to obvious pollutants such as smoke, dirt and pollen, I would rather not breathe the brake dust and tire particles that every vehicle on the road is continuously grinding into the air. A car’s ventilation system will perform better and last longer if the AC evaporator, blower motor and ductwork are not coated with dust and dirt.

RockAuto offers replacement cabin air filters by more than a dozen manufacturers. All those cabin air filters can be roughly broken down into just two categories, particulate filters and carbon filters.

Particulate filters capture particles such as dust, soot and pollen. They protect the car’s heat and AC system. Carbon filters capture particles plus unpleasant odors and toxic gases such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Manufacturers often say their filters include “activated” carbon or activated charcoal, which just means porous, pure carbon with a large surface area available for reacting with and holding gases.

Some of RockAuto’s filter manufacturers offer unique filtering materials or special ingredients such as the baking soda in Fram cabin air filters or the BioShield® in WIX filters. Having a schedule to regularly change the cabin air filter might be as important as which filter brand you prefer. Steamed up windows, musty odors and reduced airflow through the vents are all signs that you have waited too long to change the cabin air filter.

Certainly replace a cabin air filter that is obviously coated in dust or debris, but be careful not to mistake the black carbon visible on carbon filters as dirt or mold. Replacement intervals depend a bit on the car and where you drive. In general, most manufacturers recommend cabin air filters be replaced about every10,000 miles (~15,000 km) or once a year.

The procedure for removing and replacing a cabin air filter varies from car to car, but most often is an easy job. I removed and inspected (see photo) the cabin air filter in a Toyota Camry I recently rented without any tools. It took longer to read the instructions in the owner’s manual than it did to pull down the rubbery glove box door and take out the filter.

Cabin air filters are typically accessed through the glove box, below the dash or behind a cowl vent screen under the hood. The vehicle owner’s manual will almost always include instructions. Many filter manufacturers include vehicle specific instructions with their filters. ATP brand cabin filters often have installation instructions on their “info” pages in the RockAuto catalog. See all the cabin air filters available for your vehicle under the “Heat & Air Conditioning” catalog category and breathe easier.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

We have a Lexus SC300 that we bought new in 1993. Since then my wife has put 538,000 mostly trouble-free miles on the car, primarily going to work at the Kennedy Space Center where she worked for many years. The car has a manual transmission which is relatively rare for a Lexus!

Although the car has been very reliable, I have had to fix a few things over the years – mostly using parts from RockAuto such as hoses, distributor caps, spark plugs, trunk lift shocks, tie rod ends and other assorted parts over the 19 years we have owned the car. Perhaps the biggest thing I ever installed on it was a complete rack and pinion unit (from RockAuto of course!). As you can see from the photo, the ‘ol girl looks pretty good!

Michael in Florida

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