What The Dealer Doesn't Tell You

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Before you dive under a car to change oil, remember one thing. One of the dumbest things anyone can do is to work under a car cranked up with a bumper jack. Those things will KILL you! If you must work under a car in an emergency situation, set the emergency brake, then choke or block the two wheels on the side of the car opposite the side you are working on.

It sounds like a ridiculous question, but no one has been able to give me a reasonable explanation, so here goes: Every time I have to change a tire, the lug nuts on my pickup truck are so tight that I can barely budge them, regardless of how they were put on. How does this happen?

Kelly Dalamgia
Aurora, IL

I'm going to guess that you don't put them on yourself but have the tire shop do it when you change from summer to winter radials. Most of the time, the shops where tires are mounted use a "clicker" type torque wrench. My youngest son, also a mechanic, told me once that his boss only replaced his clicker when it fell apart, not when it needed recalibration (which is every 90 days to be accurate). If a mechanic is experienced, he can get a lug nut right by feel. Most of the overtorque jobs are done by someone who works for a boss who wants the business of replacing the distorted rotors on your car, next time that is!

Whatever you do, don't request that a tire man leave the lug nuts on your vehicle loose, however. Just get yourself a breakerbar and a deep well socket to fit your nuts and save yourself an inconvenience.

When I bought my used car, which was only five years old, it had no catalytic converter on it. Is it legal to remove them?

David Keith
Cumberland, RI

You're not going to like this, David. The catalytic converter, that "miracle" of modern car design, which I happen to abhor, is now required by law in my home state of Pennsylvania. This means we cannot sell a car legally without outfitting the car with one.

As if that weren't enough, under federal law it is unlawful to alter anything in the emission control system, and a -technician can be fined $12,000 per offense. Not an inviting answer to your question when you'll need a new inspection sticker.

Answering customers' questions is often a challenge and sometimes a pain, but occasionally we get people who become the stuff of shop folklore. One day a young woman walked up to me while I was under a hood and simply asked, "Can you fix my car, please?"

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