Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

Maybe you can help me solve a problem with my old Harley Davidson. The one brake pad just keeps wearing out faster than the other and I have replaced it twice now. Do you have any idea what my problem is? I have cleaned the calliper with cleaning fluid so that it looks like new, hoping that the cleaning of the calliper would make it function properly.

Thanks Danny from Simcoe

ANSWER

First, it is always recommended that you replace both brake pads at the same time but there is a problem when the one brake pad keeps wearing out faster than the other brake pad. Have you made sure that the calliper bushings are in place because without these bushings, the calliper will not function properly? I am also concerned as to what you used to clean the brake parts on your bike. Some recommend using denatured alcohol but I would not recommend that you use this product because of its side effects if not used properly. You can use brake fluid or an off the shelf recommended brake cleaner. It is not recommended that you use any types of mineral based products such as gasoline or paint thinners because these products will cause deterioration of rubber components over time. The fact that one brake pad is doing all the stopping suggests to me that this is something that you want to have diagnosed and fixed as soon as possible. My first step would

be to replace or overhaul the brake calliper and make sure that it is installed properly.

QUESTION

I took my old Volkswagen into a shop the other day to have the lifters set. It was getting quite noisy when it was first started in the morning. The technician told me that they could adjust the valves and make it quiet. Two days later, I received a phone call and was told that the engine would need to be removed and all lifter push rods would need to be replaced. I spoke to a friend, who used to have an old Volkswagen but sold it over thirty years ago. He told me that there was a push rod that you could get installed without taking the engine out of the car. I approached the garage with this idea and they told me that they had never heard of such a thing and stayed with the diagnosis that the engine would have to be removed and all the push rods at that time should be replaced. Have you ever heard of such a thing and if so, where can I go to get that done?

Ron from Georgetown

ANSWER

Your friend was talking about expansion tubes that used to be supplied by many auto parts stores but I am not sure if they are still available. These expansion tubes were very expensive and were only used when one or two of the push rods needed to be replaced. If all the push rods were in need of replacement

then the less expensive option would be to remove the engine and replace the rods with the factory push rods. I will not try to second guess the garage that is recommending that all the push rods be replaced but if the mileage is high then that option would most likely be the best.

QUESTION

I purchased a set of wiper blades at a local Canadian Tire store and on the way home, after getting gas at a local gas station, I asked the attendant if he would put the wiper blades on the car for me. He told me that he would and I gave him a two-dollar tip for doing so. The next day or two, I had to use the wipers and the wiper blade on the passenger’s side came off. I was still in the driveway so I immediately shut the wipers off. The next day, I went back to the gas station to ask why he had not put the wipers on properly. The kid was very rude and the owner of the garage told me to leave the lot. This email is to alert motorists that they should be very careful of asking anyone at gas stations to do any type of small jobs that require a brain.

A Woman from Arthur

ANSWER

To save you from any type of embarrassment, I have left your name out of this column. You have said your peace but you and I know that you have been far from honest as to what happened with your car’s wiper

blades. The young man at the gas station told you that the wiper blades, that you’re purchased, were the wrong ones and that they were too big for your car. You told him that you wanted to have as much of the window cleaned as you possibly could so he did install them for you. When you went back to the gas station, which is also a garage, you called the lad an imbecile and went on to tell him that you wanted the two dollar tip back and that he should go back to school or he would be pumping gas for the rest of his life. The owner of the garage told you that that kind of talk was unnecessary and he asked one of the technicians to again install the wiper blade for you. In doing so, the wiper blade came back off when the technician told you to put the wipers on. The technician then told you that the wiper blades were too big and hitting one another and that they were not the proper wiper blades for your vehicle. He then offered to sell you the proper wiper blades and that is when you also went ballistic on him. That is also when the owner of the station suggested that you take your business somewhere else. That is the last that they heard from you until I contacted them. So what have we learned? I have learned that a young collage person, working the summer at a gas station, should not have been scolded by a woman, who was entirely at fault and who should have taken the advice from this young man when he told her that the wiper blades, that she had just purchased, were not the correct ones.