Cars


Hazard switch pin and channel system
Imagine you’re driving a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS through Utah’s Wasatch Mountain canyons near Park City with a group of other European exotics. As the group pulls off to the side of the highway to let the stragglers catch up, you hit your hazard lights button. When it’s time to depart once […]

How to Fix a Broken Ferrari 328 Hazard Switch


Batteries wired in parallel are now fully charged 1
It’s a story that repeats itself in garages across America every summer. Your kid wants to drive his Power Wheels Jeep, or her Power Wheels Escalade (is it really selling for $800-$900 on Amazon?)… and the battery is dead. You plug in the proprietary charging connector (if you haven’t lost it, that is), but […]

Dead Power Wheels Battery? Maybe You Can Trick it Back ...


This is another of those posts that might only be for my own benefit, so that the next time I need to change the oil on my wife’s 2008 Cadillac Escalade, I can simply locate this post to remember what parts I used… and whether I liked them. 🙂 I […]

Oil Change and Filter Parts for 2008 Cadillac Escalade



Reverse lights (top row) illuminated. 5
A burned out bulb on your car isn’t just an annoyance, it’s a safety issue… and one that could get you pulled over. So many of my favorite COPS episodes on TV start with a plain old “your tail light is burned out” traffic stop. Bad boys, bad boys… what’cha […]

How To: Replace Ferrari 512 TR Bulbs with LEDs


My baby - a 1992 512 TR. 3
The Ferrari Testarossa, along with its later 512 TR and F512M variants, are iconic cars of the 80s and 90s. Every kid my age wanted to be Sonny Crocket cruising around Miami in a white Testarossa. What we never saw, however, was Crocket having trouble starting his Testarossa. Every time he had […]

DIY: Fix a Ferrari Testarossa / 512 TR Hot Start ...


My GMC logo is black! 3
I keep a 2007 GMC Yukon Denali parked at the Utah house to drive when we’re there. It’s perfect for “Inter-mountain West weather.” It’s comfortable, holds plenty of passengers and cargo, has great four wheel drive, heated seats, and a has a handy windshield washer fluid heater system that can help […]

Rant & Rave: GMC Dealer Recalled a Little Too Much



TPMS warning on dash 50
Last month, I noticed the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) warning light turn on in my 2007 GMC Yukon Denali. When I pressed the button on the dash to see my tire pressures, the left-front tire showed nothing… meaning the computer wasn’t getting any data from that wheel. After a few miles, it started […]

TPMS Warning Light? Replace your TPMS Sensors for Cheap


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If you do a Google search on “Escalade warped rotors,” you’ll quickly find lots of stories from Cadillac Escalade owners complaining about their front brake wear. It’s easy to understand why. These behemoths are heavy. The standard 2008 Escalade’s gross weight is 7,100 lbs. But if you opt for the longer […]

Product Review: Brake Performance Front Rotors for 2008 Cadillac Escalade ...


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Earlier today, I received the following email from someone who is not named Bob, but that’s what I’ll call him to protect his privacy: Steve, Did you recently sell an F40? Or are in the process of selling one? I have one with your vin number being offered to me that I am […]

Fraud Alert: Mark Raider of Rogclassics in Ely, Nevada is ...




Navigation Disc 1
I called the Cadillac toll-free customer service number earlier today, and a pleasant-sounding voice identifying himself as “Christopher” answered. I could tell from his accent and demeanor that he was Filipino (later in the call, when I told him that I’d been to the Philippines often on business, he confirmed that he […]

Rave: Cadillac Customer Service is Alive and Well


BlueFusion by Scoche 6
My wife’s been nagging me gently reminding me that she wants to be able to listen to her iPhone’s music library in her 2008 Cadillac Escalade ESV. Combine that with her patriotic respect of the law and love of automobile safety (she’s never got a ticket, and her first one […]

Review: Scosche BlueFusion Bluetooth Car Kit



CTEK OEM Chargers 11
As some one with a small car collecting problem, I don’t always get a chance to drive all my cars all the time. Some are stored in remote locations. Some are less amenable to rainy weather (the Atom). Some stay parked when gas prices are higher (the Hummer). Some might […]

Review: CTEK Multi US 3300 & Multi US 7002 12-Volt ...


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As I do a fair amount of air travel, I sometimes convince family members to drop me at the airport, sometimes I use a car service, and sometimes I drive my own car and park it at the airport. For me, the latter is the most convenient, but depending upon […]

WallyPark Premier Garage Review


If you own an Ariel Atom and are looking for an Ariel Atom discussion forum to talk about your car, then check out ArielAtomChat. It’s a discussion forum dedicated to Ariel Atoms, but unlike some other Ariel Atom forums, it’s not affiliated with the Ariel Atom Club or the Ariel Motor Company. […]

Ariel Atom Forum



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With the insane prices map software companies are charging these days for replacement map DVDs (used in DVD-based nav units), it’s a smart idea to create a backup of your nav DVD in case of theft, loss, or damage. I’ve used the following method to back up the MDV-09D data […]

How to Backup your Navigation DVD/CD


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As the new owner of an Ariel Atom, I was dissatisfied with the limited amount of information available online for owners and prospective owners. There is one other major Ariel Atom forum out there already, but their website goes offline way too much, so rather than complain I decided to […]

New Ariel Atom Online Community


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Evening Magazine, a local show here in Seattle on NBC-affiliate KING5, did a segment on “over the top” home theaters. They tracked me down on the Internet (not really that hard to do) and talked me into allowing a film crew into the house (which also wasn’t that hard to do), […]

Look, Ma! I’m on TV!



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A few months ago, I installed two software upgrades in my 2007 Maserati Quattroporte GT Sport: an enhancement module for the drive-by-wire system, and an ECM peformance chip, both developed and manufactured by Formula Dynamics. They both made huge differences to the car’s performance. Until recently, neither unit had produced […]

Got New OBDII Code Scanner to Clear Check Engine Light ...