Saturday Mechanic Fixing

Saturday Mechanic: Fixing Rough Shifting

Popular Mechanics — Adjusting the throttle-valve (T-V) cable is generally straightforward. Some cables (typically GM's) use a pushbutton-style adjuster at the upper end of the cable. Others have a more conventional adjuster, requiring two open-end wrenches at the ...More…

Saturday Mechanic: Fixing A Dead Horn

Popular Mechanics — A flash of yellow whips through your peripheral field of vision, as a taxicab screeches into a downshift in front of you. The driver flips you a hand signal rooted in antiquity as he blithely makes a right turn from the third lane, forcing you to ...More…

Saturday Mechanic: Fixing Suspension Clunks And Rattles

Popular Mechanics — It's the proverbial 20 miles of bad road. Potholes compete with ruts for the privilege of knocking your Freedom Fries out of the bag and onto the floor. It's worth it, however, for the great weekend of backwoods hiking and knocking around. ...More…

Saturday Mechanic: Fixing Faulty Cruise Control

Popular Mechanics — Alarmingly, the speedometer needle steadily winds down from 75 mph toward 50. Just as you uncurl your feet and try to accelerate back to traffic speeds, the vehicle downshifts with a lurch and abruptly climbs back to over 80 mph. So you tap the ...More…

Saturday Mechanic - Fixing Hood And Trunk Latches

Popular Mechanics — The plastic arm on this electrical tailgate actuator is broken and will have to be replaced. Check for proper operation of the latch itself, as a sticky mechanism may have overstressed the broken part. Also, check that the hatch itself is ...More…