Dorman Hybrid Battery Packs

RockAuto now offers Dorman remanufactured hybrid battery pack replacements! If you have noticed that your hybrid vehicle has been less peppy, exhibiting poor fuel economy or showing no/low charge in the morning when you start driving, it may be time to replace the battery pack. With no programming required, the battery pack will arrive ready to be installed right out of the box. Rejuvenate your hybrid with a fresh battery pack while saving significantly compared to dealership prices.

Get Your Holiday Shopping Done Early This Year!

Are you looking to get your holiday shopping done early this year? There is no need to awake at dawn to chase down the sales or deal with the commotion of Black Friday crowds. RockAuto's prices are reliably low every day of the year. Make your gift giving easy this year with a RockAuto Gift Certificate! Whether the recipients need to replace a cracked headlamp, fix squealing brakes or get molded carpet for a restoration project, a RockAuto Gift Certificate will let them get the parts or tools they most need!

Gift Certificate
Purchase gift certificates with your choice of currency and amount. Have a paper certificate shipped to you or directly to the recipient or choose E-Gift.

E-Gift
E-Gift delivery is immediate and free. Simply select Email as the shipping option and your friends and family will conveniently receive the gift in their Inbox.

Purchase a Gift Certificate or E-Gift today!

Forum of the Month

MOPARnuts is a community of true MOPAR nuts - both in their enthusiasm for MOPAR and general approach to life. We have fun and we help each other out with projects and life. Mostly, we have fun. The cars of MOPAR bring us together, but mutual respect and an insane sense of humor keep us together.

Project builds, technical information, product information and automotive news keep the discussions going and there are a good number of professional wrenchers and parts gurus that are happy to help - even with "those other brands." Speaking of which, don't miss the Car of The Week section where anything goes as far as what brand and model will show up.

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

Just before I turned 15, I purchased my first car – a 1949 DeSoto Custom Deluxe coupe.  It cost me $75 which included towing it to my mom’s house from across town.

The pistons were laid out behind the grille, the block and radiator were in place, but all other engine compartment components were in the trunk.  At the time, I knew where you put the gas in a car and where to check the oil.  That was about it.

Over the course of 3 years, I did an amateur job of a full restoration – new wiring (handmade, using the original components & connectors), pulled an engine out of a junkyard, lapped the valves, cleaned the oil pan out, etc.  Finally, it was time to start her up.

This was back in the days when you had an ignition switch and a starter button on the dashboard. I cranked and cranked and cranked, trying to get that engine to start, and no luck.  Checked for fuel delivery – good.  Checked for spark – good. One of my “brain trust” folks suggested that it might be poor compression since I had not pulled the pistons in the junkyard engine I used.  His suggestion was to put oil in each cylinder and let that soak in, then give it a try again.

Still no luck.

Another one of my advisors said “Did you check the timing?”  Well, I thought I had, but in the spirit of “measure twice, cut once” I figured no harm in looking at it again.  Turns out when I put the spark wires in place, I was one cylinder off all the way around the distributor – so fire was reaching each cylinder, but at the wrong part of the stroke!

I readjusted everything by one, turned the key, pressed the starter button and she started up immediately!  And boy, was there a LOT of smoke pouring out of that garage from all of the oil in the cylinders, but I sure didn’t care about that!  My baby was alive!

Brad 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 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

What vehicle manufacturer was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922?

A. Jaguar
B. Kenworth
C. Willys

Answer below

Off We Go

My 15-year-old son is in the driver’s seat of my wife’s 1987 Mazda 323. I am in the passenger seat. His enthusiasm about learning to drive a manual transmission has waned after a couple of past attempts that only resulted in lots of engine revving and stalling. Now we are sitting at the top of a steep hill so that gravity will eliminate the need to touch the gas pedal.

My son again asks me to tell him the steps for shifting the transmission. At least in the heat of the moment, he clearly does not understand what is mechanically happening. He might believe me if I tell him to tap the brake peddle twice, honk the horn once and then pump the clutch up and down rapidly. The hill already has me nervous enough so I repeat the correct steps and give him another quick explanation of how the clutch works. Then I try to use my son’s experience with bicycles to explain gears. I can almost see my prattle going in one of his ears and out the other.

I casually grip the parking brake handle and then we are off. First gear is a success, but we are already rolling so fast that it is really more of a downshift. Second gear is perfect! I urge him to go for third, but he thinks we should slow down. I agree when I see the bottom of the hill coming up fast. I worry my son’s focus on operating the clutch has made him forget that he also needs to operate the brake and steering wheel. He brakes and turns and with a little reminding from me even pushes in the clutch before slowing down. I want this lesson to have a good ending so I take the wheel and we head home.

That was last Sunday and I am now looking through the RockAuto catalog for clutch images. Operating the clutch will be easier if he clearly understands what the clutch looks like and how it operates. The clutch cover (blue in image shown) and pressure plate bolt to the engine’s flywheel. The outer edge of the pressure plate holds the clutch friction disc (gray in image shown with stress relieving springs around the center) against the flywheel. The center of the friction disc is a splined hub that connects with the transmission input shaft. Press the clutch pedal and the clutch release bearing or throw-out bearing flexes the center of the pressure plate inward while the outer edge of the pressure plate pops outward. This takes the pressure off the friction disc so that it separates from the engine’s flywheel. Release the clutch pedal and the throw out bearing slides back, the center of the pressure plate pops out and the outer edge the pressure plate pops inward pushing the friction disc back against the flywheel. Off we go.

After showing my son the clutch for the Mazda 323, I’ll use the catalog to show him the clutch for my red 1986 Ford Mustang GT. That is the car my son really hopes to drive someday. He will see that the Ford clutch is the same diaphragm type clutch found in the Mazda. If he learns how to operate the Mazda’s feathery light clutch now then he will be ready for the Mustang’s heavier clutch when I let him drive it on his 30th birthday!

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

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

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