30 Days or 30 Minutes Before Christmas, RockAuto Gift Certificates Have You Covered

Everybody needs something for their car or truck. A RockAuto Gift Certificate lets the recipient choose replacement parts like a cabin air filter or power window switch; restoration parts like a tail lamp lens or new carpet; or fun parts like a tachometer or dash board cover.

Gift Certificate
Purchase gift certificates and have them shipped directly to you or the recipient. Choose a shipping method in the RockAuto shopping cart.

E-Gift
Need a Christmas gift in a hurry? E-Gift delivery is free. Simply choose e-mail as the shipping option in the RockAuto shopping cart and your friends and family can receive a great gift via e-mail!

Click here to purchase a Gift Certificate today!

Forum of the Month

DieselPlace.com is the home for Duramax Diesel owners and enthusiasts.

The DieselPlace.com forum has extensive discussions for owners of GM Diesel Engine vehicles and is a valued resource for prospective and current owners. Diesel Place boasts an active and educated membership base eager to help out fellow owners or those looking to purchase a new truck.

DieselPlace.com has a dedicated forum for each generation of the Duramax engine and Duramax engine electronics. There are also specific forums for drivetrain, suspension and steering, maintenance and other GM truck topics.

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 jessa@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

We all do things in life that we regret...this is my story.

My son owned a 1988 BMW 325 convertible which he loved. Over the years I taught him how to maintain a car and do his own servicing. I was proud to see him changing his oil, tuning the motor, and fixing things as needed.

One day he asked me to investigate a problem with the car while he was on vacation. He told me the engine was missing at high speeds. It sounded simple and it probably was, but stupid me came to rescue, not bringing along my common sense.

I started with the spark plug wires, then moved on to the fuel filters, then the fuel injectors, and finally the spark plugs. I took out the #1 plug, it looked good so I figured that since I had the plug out I would check the timing. So I wanted to get the #1 piston to top dead center so I put a screwdriver in the spark plug hole and told my friend to just click the engine until the piston was at its top. Needless to say the piston came up, breaking the hardened screwdriver, the broken piece falling into the cylinder. "OH..." was my only response at that time.

Well I had to get piece of the screwdriver out of the cylinder so I ripped down the engine and took off the cylinder head hoping to have avoided a major problem. I pushed down on the piston...it collapsed into the engine block...the connecting rod was broken! Knowing how much my son worshiped this car, I went to my friends garage and explained what I did. His first response was "WHAT ARE YOU? STUPID?" Luckily we found a used engine and put it in before my son came home. It all went well and he did not find out about the incident until a week afterwards. I'm happy to say it's now something we laugh about. But at my expense of $2,000 for the replacement engine.

John in New York

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 awhile!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and shirt size (large or extra large) and we will mail you a RockAuto "Do it yourself?" t-shirt if we publish your story (see the t-shirts under Extras 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!

Better Replacement Parts

The original equipment (OE) hazard switch fails causing both the emergency lights and turn signals to stop working. This problem occurs on late model GM cars including the Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo, and Impala; Oldsmobile Achieva, Alero, and Cutlass; and Pontiac Grand Am. The OE GM hazard switches do not go bad from being used too much. Temperature changes cause the solder joints in the OE switch to crack over time.

The good news is Dorman and for some applications, Airtex have built replacement hazard switches. Dorman’s hazard switches are part of their “OE Solutions” parts line. Dorman engineers watch for parts like the GM hazard switches that were not done right the first time and they come up with solutions that are better than the OE parts. Dorman not only builds complex parts. Did the knob pull off the window crank handle on your ’94 Toyota? Wondering if you will have to go to the dealer to replace the OE throw-away spindle lock nuts on your ‘80s Mazda? Car owners are often relieved to find Dorman makes these and many other relatively simple but hard to find parts.

Dorman watches for OE mistakes with a microscope. But if the OE part fails a lot then typically lots of manufacturers will flock to build better replacement parts. I often use the RockAuto.com catalog to help diagnose my cars’ problems. My wife’s ’93 Ford Tempo was recently idling too fast. There were no error codes stored on the engine computer, but idle air control valves (IAC) were in bold font in the RockAuto catalog, an indication that lots of Ford owners have needed a new IAC. Several manufacturers (ACDelco, Airtex, SMP and Motorcraft) build replacement IACs. A new IAC by Standard Motor Products fixed the Tempo.

The photos in the RockAuto.com catalog can help identify OE parts. What is that rod with ball joints on the ends making the clunking sounds on my ‘92 Dodge van? Oh, there the “drag link” is listed under Steering. Moog, Mevotech, Kelsey-Hayes, and Raybestos (Spicer) all make replacements so there must be many other Dodge vans with bad OE drag links.

Those GM car owners will not be happy when the hazard switch they never used spontaneously breaks, but they, like the rest of us, will be happy to find Dorman, Moog, SMP, Airtex and RockAuto’s other “aftermarket” manufacturers have solutions for our vehicles’ OE issues.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

This is my 1988 Pontiac Mera with only 28K miles. As most will agree, this is not your standard "kit car". The Mera was only available as a new car through Pontiac dealerships. Corporate Concepts of Capac, Michigan converted a total of 247 Fieros, 88 in 1987, and 159 in 1988. The build code for my Mera (#8044) indicates that this is the 44th built in 1988, and the 132nd built all together.

I've purchased a number of items from RockAuto for all my cars, including brake pads and shock absorbers for this car.

Thanks,
Tom in Hawaii

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to feature you and your car or truck in our monthly newsletter. Please email flamur@rockauto.com with details.

© 1999-2009 RockAuto, LLC - Madison, Wisconsin USA. RockAuto name and logo are registered trademarks of RockAuto, LLC. Manufacturer names and logos in the RockAuto catalog are trademarks of their respective companies and are used only to identify their products. All rights reserved.