Jumpstart 2023 with a new set of brakes from Power Stop! Through the end of March, 2023, Power Stop is offering customers up to $80 in instant savings on some of their most popular Rotor & Brake Pad Kits, including Z17 Replacement kits, Z23 Evolution Coated Rotor kits and Drilled/Slotted Rotor upgrade kits. Whether you drive a muscle car, sedan, truck, SUV, or 4x4, Power Stop has a brake kit tailored to fit your braking needs. Brake maintenance is one of the most important aspects of owning a vehicle. If your brakes are squeaking/squealing, causing wheel vibrations, or are worn past minimum thickness levels, it is time to replace your brakes. Each Power Stop brake kit is a direct, bolt-on replacement that includes everything you need to get the job done.  Simply add qualifying Power Stop Brake Kits to your cart and instantly save! You can find Power Stop brake kits in the "Brake & Wheel Hub" category of the RockAuto catalog. |
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RockAuto's Tom Taylor talks about the benefits of complete kits on Motorhead Garage! Watch MotorHead Garage on MotorTrend and Rev'n. | |
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 I recently borrowed my wife's 2009 Mini Cooper. On my drive home I needed to clear the windscreen but I could not get the washer fluid to spray on the windshield. I could not hear the pump running either. This was particularly bad news as the next day was the MOT (annual test of vehicle safety and roadworthiness in the United Kingdom). When I got home I checked the fuse which was fine, so the next step was to get to the pump itself which is buried under the wheel arch liner. As I live on a hill and the driveway is steep I had to shuffle cars around to get the Mini in the garage so I could jack it up to get the wheel off, remove the arch liner and finally access the pump. My wife came home and asked what was going on and I explained that the windshield washer had stopped working. She said it must have literally just stopped working as it was working fine the day before. I asked her to get in the car and push the button for the washers whilst I had a multimeter on the connection for the pump to see if I was getting any voltage. Then she asked "Why do you want me to push a button? I normally pull the stalk towards the steering wheel." That was when I realized there was no fault all along, other than my inability to read the symbols on the stalk! In my defense, in the car I usually drive, you push the end of the stalk in for the windscreen washers. So in the end I wasted a lot of time trying to fix something that was never broken in the first place. Gordon in the UK Share Your Story |
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 TV and other news outlets report entry-level late-model Kia and Hyundai cars are being stolen by halfwit juvenile delinquents using nothing but a USB cable. Are the criminals plugging in the USB cable and using its 5 volt output to "hot wire" the car with a shower of sparks like we see in the movies? No, the thieves just use the rectangular USB connector like a primitive mechanical wrench to rotate the rectangular knob (or hole) that is exposed once they tear off the ignition lock cylinder. It is just a coincidence that both the USB connector and the knob (or hole) are similarly sized rectangles and car owners commonly leave USB cables in their cars. Are older cars even easier to steal? Is my daughter's 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe or my 1986 Ford Mustang at risk? No, older cars are typically harder to steal because their ignition lock cylinders (the part the ignition key unlocks and rotates) are protected by a tubular metal ignition lock housing.  1993 Ford & 2020 Kia Ignition Lock Cylinders On most cars built since the 1970s, the ignition lock cylinder snaps into a metal ignition lock housing. For maintenance/repair, a button or tab is pressed to remove the ignition lock cylinder from the metal ignition lock housing, but that button/tab can only be pressed if the metal ignition key is inserted and rotated in the ignition lock cylinder. (See the Ignition Lock Cylinder your specific vehicle uses under "Ignition" in the RockAuto.com catalog.) Determined thieves can use brute force to smash the metal ignition lock housing, but they risk hurting themselves, damaging important other parts on the car and/or spending too much time, increasing the odds of getting caught by the police. Most newer vehicles have key fobs with push button start or metal keys with transponder chips built into the key. The vehicle's immobilizer system will not allow the engine to start unless the owner's key fob/transponder key is in the vehicle. Even if the thief successfully tears out the ignition lock cylinder, nothing will happen when he turns the exposed knob (or hole) because the car's computer doesn't see any key fob/transponder key in the car. Apparently, the entry-level late-model Kia and Hyundai cars frequently being stolen are unfortunately not protected by immobilizer systems with key fobs/transponder keys, nor do they have the sturdy metal ignition lock housings that older cars have to protect their ignition lock cylinders. Tom Taylor, To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page. |
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My grandfather purchased this 1993 Cadillac Allante in 1994, having wanted one from its inception only a few years earlier. He rarely drove it, and the car had its own bay of his garage for the better part of 30 years. As I grew up, it was the car I learned to drive in and served as something my grandfather and I bonded over through the years. About two years ago, he offered me the vehicle, which I happily accepted. Unfortunately, years of sitting in a garage took its toll on the car, and within a month of owning it, I began to experience a litany of issues. Using parts from RockAuto, I have been able to replace the entire coolant system (radiator, hoses, water pump, thermostat, water pump belt), the fuel injection pressure regulator, the front brake assemblies, the rearview mirrors, the soft top electrical system, and several elements of the radio and diagnostic system. Keeping this car alive would not have been possible without your parts. My grandfather, who is nearing 90, could not be happier with the condition it is in now. RockAuto has allowed me to affordably maintain and enjoy not only this Cadillac, but all the vehicles in my family fleet. Jackson in Florida |
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