I told them, “GIVE ME MANUAL,” and they said, “Here’s a Cactus, enjoy.” Read more

The Citroen Cactus C4. That little turbo diesel 4 cylinder lost no power going through the hills and mountains while visiting France this past summer. It didn’t have a tremendous amount of power, but it was fun slicing through the 6 speed transmission. But, let’s be honest, the speed limits were pretty low. It had… Read more

Yes, I would recommend you ask your mechanic to perform these jobs. They should be able to provide you with a fairly accurate quote. Spark plug and air filter replacement are usually listed as scheduled maintenance in the manual. Read more

Only as a whole. I have to imagine the spark plugs were the main source of improvement, but it’s hard to determine when you do repairs in bulk. I mean, that throttle body was nasty. There’s no way cleaning it hasn’t contributed significantly to a better running vehicle. Read more

Absolutely! There was quite a noticeable gain in engine power and throttle response. I could tell the engine idled better as well. The transmission also shifted smoother. It’s crazy how much these small components affect the whole car.  Read more

There’s certainly no shame in taking your car to a mechanic to do this sort of work, I hope I didn’t convey that negative message. I do think it is important to make it clear what work you want the mechanic to perform on your vehicle, however. Simply saying “I want a tune-up” may not get you the result you’re looking… Read more

Yep, unfortunately there are many who blindly buy into the term and don’t fully understand what it implies in this day and age. At best, they’ll end up with a new air filter and spark plugs. Probably not even both. Read more

Exactly. That’s why I put that little disclaimer at the beginning of the section. Hell, even changing them on a front-wheel-drive-V6-anything is a headache. Read more

That’s a great question, and the answer is: Possibly. In fact, the Mazda in this article actually calls for a valve lash adjustment (I forget when exactly, maybe around 85,000 miles?). The truth is, nobody ever does it, because it requires real work on a lot of cars. Gone are the days of adjusting a screw to set the… Read more

I want to! The problem with that is it actually works. Read more

You know, that’s a good question, but all I have to give you is an answer based on anecdotal evidence. I’ve changed the transmission fluid and filter on many high-mileage vehicles (75k + miles) that have no written history of the service ever being performed. Thousands of miles later, the transmission is fine. I do… Read more

Hey, I appreciate it! Yes, oil changes are the most important maintenance you can do on a car, but I guess I figured that was given. I know, it’s bad to assume... :) Read more

Thanks! That’s a 1979 Vespa 50 Special. 2-stroke engine with a manual 4-speed transmission. It provides a tremendous level of sub-30 MPH fun. :) Read more

1) It took me about 4 hours from start-to-finish for a single door. But remember, that’s learning from scratch how to disassemble a relatively complex door. Most vehicles aren’t that bad. Read more

Once the actuator was on the bench, I had it fixed in about an hour. Subsequent actuators could be repaired in 15-20 minutes. Read more

Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot! Read more

There were two main head scratchers on this particular Sonata.

Thanks! I considered buying a new motor, but I quickly realized that the actuator motor’s terminals were internal of the plastic end cap. Granted, I didn’t do a exhaustive search, but all of the similar replacement motors I found had the terminals mounted external of the plastic end cap.

Excellent point, you’re absolutely right. I’m not sure why I left that part out! It is so fulfilling to hook the battery up to the motor after cleaning it and hearing it whiizzzzzzz once again. Read more

Thank you! I had never seen a door setup like on this Sonata before. It took me foooorever to figure out how to remove the window! Read more