LOOK INSIDE FOR DENNIS O’SULLIVAN’S AUTO SERVICE COLUMN

QUESTION

Hi Dennis. I enjoy reading your column BOE PGUFO lOE JU FEVDBUJPOBM BOE JOUFSFTUing. I usually switch my summer and winter tires and I always refer to my manual and properly torque the wheel nuts when replacing them. At times the vehicle has been to various garages where the wheels were removed for various reasons like brake XPSL mBUT FUD 0O B GFX PG UIPTF PDDBTJPOT *

have noticed later on that I have experienced FYUSFNF EJGlDVMUZ XIFO * HP UP MPPTFO UIF

wheel nuts that had been tightened at the garage. Some of these garages must be over torqueing when reinstalling the wheels. I understand that this can cause damage to rotors but I also wonder if it can alter the recommended torque to prevent the lug nuts from loosening. For example, if the recommended torque was (689475.73 Pascal’s) 100 PSI and then they were torqued to (1,723,689.3 Pascal’s) 250 PSI when I reinstall the wheels, should the torque be increased? Thank You, Neil from Hamilton

ANSWER

Under no circumstances do you over torque wheel nuts and the garages that do not properly torque the wheel nuts, are damaging the strength of the stud. Do not hesitate to tell your garage that you want the wheel nuts on your car to be to be properly UPSRVFE BOE * CFMJFWF UIBU ZPV XJMM lOE UIBU

almost all garages do torque the wheel nuts in today’s cars, especially the cars that have aluminum wheels.

QUESTION

Hello Dennis. I would like to let you know that I very much enjoy your Q and A in the Record every week. It is well written and very informative. I am not a mechanic and am 81 years old and I just learned about this a short time ago. At this time of year, many people are thinking of purchasing winter tires and wheels to have the tires mounted so they can leave the tires on the wheels to reduce the cost of remounting the tires. Many people however, may not know when purchasing wheels that there is a difference on wheel mountings between lug centric and hub centric. Hub centric is the best way to mount the wheels. The reason for this is that the entire weight of the vehicle is resting on either the studs or on the hubs. If you purchase a set of generic wheels that can be used on a different number of vehicles then UIF IVC TJ[F NBZ CF UPP MBSHF UP lU ZPVS DBS T IVC CVU NBZ TUJMM lU ZPVS CPMU QBUUFSO 5IF weight of the car is all on the wheel studs and if the wheels are not mounted correctly on the bolt pattern, this could cause a vibration. Also, if you hit a pothole it could also damage or bend the wheel studs. If you use the hub wheel size that is correct for your make and model of vehicle, the car weight is on the hub and will eliminate incorrect stud mounting and possibly stud problems. The cost to purchase wheel rims that are correct for your vehicle verses generic wheel rims is usually not that much different in price. Thanks, Jim from Waterloo

ANSWER

Great information Jim, especially this time of year when people are contemplating whether or not to put snow tires on their cars. Many of my readers are always asking me about the necessity of snow tires versus all weather tires and my answer is always that snow tires offer the best way to protect yourself when driving your car in the winter months ahead.

QUESTION

I need your help. My car is a 1997 Honda and the garage, where it is at, will not do the requested repairs that I have asked for. I had the car towed to this garage because of an overheating problem. The garage also agreed to look at the car’s brakes but an hour after leaving the car, they called and told me that I needed more repairs to be done to the car before they would do the brake work. I told them that I only wanted the front brakes to be repaired but they said that they would not do the repairs before I came up with some of the repair costs. I told them that I would not pay anything until the repairs were done so they partially put the car together and pushed it outside. Now they are refusing to let me have my car back. Can you help me please? Jann from Brampton

ANSWER

The garage does have the right under the 0OUBSJP T 3FQBJS BOE 4UPSBHF -JFOT "DU UP

hold a vehicle until payment is received for work done to the vehicle but they do not have the legal right to hold the vehicle because of B TFSJPVT NFDIBOJDBM EFGFDU UIBU UIFZ lOE

with a vehicle. The garage should, if they believe that a vehicle is unsafe for the road, be able to stop the owner from driving a vehicle off their lot; but to date, a garage does not have any legal right to stop the owner from driving an unsafe vehicle off their lot. They can however call the police or the Department of Transportation to inform them that a particular vehicle is, in their opinion, unsafe for the road. This can however put the garage in a very serious legal situation and the onus should not fall on the garage to notify anyone unless they have the backing of legislation, that gives them the power to stop an owner from driving an unsafe car on our roads. The garage can unfortunately, be pulled into a legal battle if that same unsafe vehicle is the cause of an accident after leaving their lot. In your particular case, the HBSBHF IBT mVTIFE ZPVS DBS T DPPMBOU TZTUFN

and replaced the radiator before they started to do your brake work. That is when they found out that the rear suspension on your car was rotted out and the cost to repair would exceed the value of the car. The gaSBHF XBOUT UIF SBEJBUPS CJMM QBJE GPS lSTU BOE

then you can have the car towed from their lot but if your intent were to drive the car off their lot, they would notify the Ministry of Transportation. The garage is also telling me that the car is not worth the cost of the brake repair and that you should be thankful that they did not do the brake work and then notify you about the repairs that would exceed the value of the car. I agree with the garage.

PS: This is between you and me! Maybe you can make a deal with the garage because the salvage of your car is around two hundred dollars and the radiator repair cost is one hundred and ninety dollars. Sign the car over to the garage and walk away from a nightmare that is facing you if you intend on removing the car from their lot. I think UIBU ZPV XJMM lOE UIBU UIF HBSBHF JT BHSFFBCMF

to that.

P.S. To my readers: If possible, it would be appreciated if your emails would indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Please be advised that all emails cannot be answered. Send your questions (be sure to include your address) by email to:: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca or mail: Box 10019, Winona, ON L8E 5R1