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PSA: Make sure your Loctite isn’t fake!

Loctite’s threadlocking compounds are used by automotive professionals everywhere to secure critical fasteners. Unfortunately, Loctite's popularity has resulted in a wave of counterfeit products that can look remarkably like the real deal. Everything from the bottle,...

TECHNICIAN CHALLENGE: Can you identify these dash lights? (VIDEO)

Description Think you know your dash lights? Shop Press contributors Keith, Miriam, Chris, and Greaser try their best to identify all kinds of lights, symbols, and indicators. Some are easy, others obscure, and a few are even fakes. How many can you identify?

Dash warning lights: feature or bug?

Warning lights are something we’re all familiar with—all too often, they’re the reason a customer steps into your shop. Mechanics of a certain age will remember a time when the phrase “idiot light” was used to describe a dash light. The derisive term referred to the...

PSA: Check that cabin air filter

Most of us know that we should change the filter in our home heating and air conditioning system monthly, but why? What does it do? The role of the filter is twofold. First, it traps dirt, dust, pet dander, pollen and other allergens and helps keep the air you’re...

Quick tip for greasing clogged fittings

Quick tip for greasing clogged fittings

I’m showing my age a bit, but when I write a car up for a LOF job, while I’m undercar I’m sniffing around looking for spots to hit with my grease gun. Many newer cars have nothing at all, but an older truck? There might be a dozen. Older tractors and motorcycles,...
Which type of salvage yard do you prefer?

Which type of salvage yard do you prefer?

In the world of salvage auto parts, most yards fall into one of two camps: you-pull-it and full-serve. You-pull-it yards are just what they sound like: bring your tools; you’ll be removing the parts you need. Full-serve is just the opposite; you call up and either...
VIDEO: The fastest way to remove a wiper arm

VIDEO: The fastest way to remove a wiper arm

VIDEO: The fastest way to remove a wiper arm Description We’ve all gotten stuck using a pry bar, the smallest two-jaw puller in the toolbox, or a block of wood and a mallet to free a wiper arm, but there’s an easier way—a Dorman Wiper Arm Tool. Watch as...
Serviceability Hall Of Shame: captive chassis mounts

Serviceability Hall Of Shame: captive chassis mounts

In today’s SHOS, I’d like to discuss captive chassis bolts. You’ll find these holding things like subframes and control arms to unibody chassis, and probably in some other spots, too. In this article, I’m showing the way Dodge chose to mount the first-gen Dakota cabs...
Don’t do dangerous stuff: a reminder to be safe in the shop

Don’t do dangerous stuff: a reminder to be safe in the shop

Dear Past Me, Stop doing dangerous stuff in the shop. Love,Future You That was basically all I wanted to write for this piece. I am of an age where I am still young enough to do dangerous things, and I am also old enough to realize how many are stupid. I was raised in...