Our Parts Department is stocked with all of the solid name brands you have come to trust for reliability.  In some instances, we have more than one quality brand available for your repairs.  We carry name brands, such as:

• AC-Delco,
• Motorcraft,
• Gates Belts and Hoses,
• Anco Wiper Blades,
• Borg Warner,
• Pennzoil,
• Castrol,
• Mobil 1 and many, many more. 

We only stock the best because we want you to be satisfied that your repairs are reliable and covered by factory warranties.  These companies all have OEM equivalent or better products to fit your automobile or truck.  They fit right, the first time.

This description is for a typical engine, there are many variations in design.

1. Head: The passages shown carry engine coolant. (water / antifreeze mixture). Sometimes, the gasket between the head and the lower block of the engine will develop a leak, and need to be replaced. You may have heard of a "bad or blown head gasket".

2. Push rod: The top of the push rod aligns with the rocker arm assembly, and the bottom with the lifter (or valve lifter) When the camshaft turns (6), it pushes on the lifter, which pushes on the push rod, then the rocker arm, and opens the valve (3). Push rods are not used on overhead cam engines, where the cam is on top of the engine, and operates the rocker arms directly.

3. Valves: The engine shown has only 2 valves per cylinder, some engine designs have more. An intake valve opens and allows a fuel / air mixture go be pulled into the combustion chamber below. As the engine rotates, it closes, the piston (4) comes up, compressing the mixture. A spark plug (normally at position 9 ), ignites the mixture and the burning gas / air expands and pushes the piston down -- which turns the crankshaft (7). After the mixture burns, the piston again goes to the top of the cylinder, and an exhaust valve opens. Hot exhaust gas is vented out the exhaust manifold, to the exhaust pipe, catalytic converter, muffler, and tail pipe. The crankshaft connects to the transmission via the flexplate or flywheel.

4. Pistons: move up and down in the cylinders. The first piston is shown about at the top of the stroke.  The top position is sometimes referred to as Top Dead Center.  You may have heard of an ignition timing specification such as 7 degrees BTDC. That refers to a crank rotation that is 7 degrees Before Top Dead Center. The timing specification is a number mesaured in degrees that refers to the time the spark plug fires relative to the top of the piston position. (In the example when the crankshaft rotates 7 more degrees, the piston will be at the top. ) The spark plug fires before the piston reaches the top to allow time for the fuel / air mixture to start burning. The circles around the tops of the pistons are piston rings. They provide the function of sealing the fuel and air in the area above the piston, and keeping oil below the piston.

5. Timing chain / timing sprocket: The timing chain runs off of the crankshaft, and is aligned with the crankshaft to rotate the camshaft (6) to open and close the valves at the appropriate time.  Many newer cars use a timing belt (often used on overhead cam engines). Timing belts are normally made of a rubber compound, and require periodic replacement.  

6. The irregular shapes on the shaft are the cam lobes.

7. The crankshaft: connects to the pistons via the rods. A pulley is often on the crankshaft on the front outside of the engine.  Some cars have sensors mounted by the pulley on the crankshaft to provide a signal to the engine computer.

8. Valve springs: push the valves closed, until a push rod or cam pushes them open.

9. Spark plugs: go here, and the tip extends inside the engine combustion chamber. A high voltage spark ( 30,000 volts or more ) delivered to the spark plug by the ignition system ignites the fuel / air mixture.

10. The push rod: shown from the top side. On the opposite end of the rocker arm on top of the push rod is the valve stem.

11. The oil pickup: has a screen and is located in the bottom of the oil pan. If you don't keep your oil changed often enough, this can become covered with sludge formed from the oil and contaminants ( sludged ) or restricted, and all the other parts of the engine that require lubrication by the oil may not receive an adequate supply of oil.

1. Take current odometer reading.

2. Fill up your tank and write down how many gallons it took.

3. Drive the tank to just about empty.

4. Fill up again and write down how many gallons it took.

5. Before leaving the station note how many miles you drove between fill-ups.

6. Divide the number of gallons used into the number of miles driven between file-ups.

EXAMPLE: (24,785 - 24,475) = 310 miles driven on the tank since the last fill up.

310 miles / 10.2 gallons used = 30.4 miles / gallon

Note this only works properly using fill up to fill up, since putting less than a fill up would not tell how much fuel was used to arrive at the same reference point

The first thing you want to remember when jump-starting a car is that a slight possibility of explosion does exist. This is because hydrogen gas--which forms as a battery discharges and loses its fluid--is flammable, and a spark from the battery cables could, theoretically, set it off. We emphasize slight because the gas would have to be fairly dense around the battery for this to happen. This is unlikely unless the battery has been sitting for a long time and little or no air circulation has occurred in the area, but it is possible.

Here are few simple precautions to avoid a serious injury:

• Wear protective goggles during all phases of the procedure. Keep a pair attached to your jumper cables.
• Put out cigarettes before opening the hood. Use a flashlight, not a match, to look under the hood at night.
• Be certain the vehicles are not in contact with each other.
• Do not allow the cable clamps to touch each other.
• Attach the positive (+) cable (red) to the positive terminal of the dead battery first. Then attach the other end of the positive cable to the good battery.
• Attach the negative (-) cable (black) to the negative terminal of the good battery. Then attach the other end of the negative cable to the engine block away from the negative terminal. Do not attach a cable to the negative terminal of the dead battery.
• Once the engine is started, carefully remove the cables in reverse order, again not allowing the clamps to touch.
• Do not lean over the battery during the jumping process.

If an injury does occur, contact your ophthalmologist or go to the emergency room immediately.