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By NAPA
The NAPA Network supplies adventure seekers and outdoor enthusiasts with the best RV cleaning products to keep their home away from home fresh and road ready. Whether you drive a large recreational vehicle with its own engine or tow-behind camper trailers, including Airstreams, pop-ups and fifth wheels, we have you covered. And of course, NAPAonline and NAPA Auto Parts stores carry
link hidden, please login to view. To start off, browse through products specifically designed for
link hidden, please login to view. Suck up any loose debris, dirt and pet hair using a high-powered link hidden, please login to view from popular brands like Craftsman, Armor All and Milwaukee. Keep in mind, even the best vehicle vacuum leaves behind crumbles wedged into crevices. To grab up as much as possible, utilize a link hidden, please login to view that can squeeze into hard-to-reach gaps. A cleaning gel features a non-stick, residue-free formula that leaves no mess behind, making it simple to clean your vehicle’s surfaces without the need for water or additional cleaning agents. link hidden, please login to viewIf you are shopping for the best products for RV interior spring cleaning, you can’t go wrong with
link hidden, please login to view. An RV is jam packed with surfaces that are coated with sticky handprints, food residue, grimy gear and pet hair. This multi-surface cleaner does not contain bleach, and is safe to use on vinyl and upholstery fabrics. And, after being applied, it will prevent mold and mildew from forming, which is great for families spending time at the beach or lake. Speaking of surfaces, an RV camper is filled with glass surfaces from appliances to bathroom fixtures to windows inside and out. Our NAPA experts highly recommend grabbing a bottle or two of the
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At NAPA, we realize you bought an RV camper to spend more time outdoors, so let’s head outside. To start off your kit of RV exterior cleaning products, our experts recommend purchasing a solution to tackle splattered bugs, road tar and bird droppings. Because your recreational vehicle is massive, and you are likely to need to complete many washes in a season, go for the 32-ounce concentrate of
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link hidden, please login to view from Griot’s Garage. The ultra-slick formula offers a versatile application, including a traditional hand-applied bucket wash or with a foam sprayer. After doing all this intense spring cleaning, protect your hard work with the best RV wax that is safe on fiberglass. Our experts recommend, link hidden, please login to view, formulated specifically to remove oxidation from fiberglass or painted surfaces. The glossy shine provides unbeatable protection from harsh UV rays. Apply by hand or with an electric buffer. Need to stock up on the best RV roof cleaner? For RV roof cleaning, grab a bottle of Meguiar’s
link hidden, please login to view. It cleans, penetrates and rejuvenates nonpainted vinyl and rubber surfaces like new. Then, work your way down to any pull-out awnings. link hidden, please login to view should do the trick. It works on both vinyl and canvas materials. And finally, keep a can of link hidden, please login to view on hand. Of course, spring cleaning an RV is only one part of the long list of maintenance items for this rewarding passion. The NAPA Network carries the
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By Counterman
Spark plugs are the “canary in the coal mine” of the combustion chamber. The electrodes and porcelain can reveal short- and long-term problems if you know where to look.
Most OE spark plugs have a life of more than 50,000 miles, thanks to electrodes that contain precious metals like platinum and iridium. OEMs consider the spark plugs a part of the emissions system on most modern vehicles.
If the plugs fail sooner than the recommended interval, it’s important to solve the problem before installing new plugs. If you’re replacing spark plugs to solve a misfire problem, the car will be back.
But first, what causes spark plugs to foul quickly? What does a fouled spark plug look like, and what is spark plug fouling?
Carbon Fouling
If the spark plugs have a matte black or grey appearance, it could be carbon fouling – something typically caused by a fuel mixture that’s too rich.
During normal combustion, most of the fuel oxidizes and changes into carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide gas. When there is more fuel than oxygen, the carbon in the unburned fuel polymerizes into carbon deposits. These molecules like to stick to the hot spots in the combustion chamber, and this includes the spark plug’s tip and insulator.
Curing the problem will typically point to the fuel system and how the engine is breathing. If a fuel injector is clogged or sticking open, extra fuel can cause carbon problems.
If the mass airflow sensor or oxygen sensors aren‘t accurately reporting the air that’s coming into the engine or the oxygen content in the exhaust stream, it could cause a rich-running condition that can cause carbon to foul the spark plugs.
Another factor is how the air flows past the valves. If the air is restricted or has to flow past carbon deposits on the intake valves, it will be turbulent and disturb the flame front and fuel-droplet size in the combustion chamber. This means that the fuel injected into the intake port or combustion chamber won’t entirely burn.
Oil Fouling
Oil fouling of a spark plug typically results in a shiny, black appearance. If enough oil is in the combustion chamber, the deposits can build up on the tip, porcelain or shell.
If you can’t determine if it’s carbon or oil fouling, smell the plug; it will smell like engine oil. The oil can come from the piston rings, valve stem seals or the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system. Leaking piston rings can be diagnosed with a leak-down test. If one cylinder has oil fouling, a relative compression check can help to assess mechanical issues with that cylinder.
Malfunctioning PCV systems are becoming a leading cause of oil fouling in modern engines. These systems have become more than just a spring-loaded check valve. Modern systems can separate oil from the crankcase vapors and electronically regulate when the engine ingests the vapors.
Some PCV systems have a heater to ensure that the valve doesn’t freeze under certain conditions when condensation is present. If the valve does freeze, it can cause higher-than-normal crankcase pressure. This can cause oil to be forced past the valve seals.
If the PCV valve is stuck open, the excess vapors and oil droplets can quickly foul the spark plugs.
A failed turbocharger can be another source of spark plug oil fouling. The seals on the turbine shaft are robust, but they can be victims of heat and poor oil quality. The oil that lubricates the shaft can enter into the pressurized intake and eventually the combustion chamber.
OEMs have issued technical service bulletins concerning excessive oil consumption. Most of these problems relate to cylinder deactivation and variable valve timing (VVT).
The main culprit in these problems is vacuum generated in the cylinders that sucks engine oil past the rings and into the combustion chamber. On vehicles with cylinder deactivation, the deactivated cylinder has negative pressure and draws oil droplets in the crankcase past the ring and eventually into the converter. This has happened on some GM and Honda engines.
On some vehicles with VVT (typically on the exhaust and intake cams), the valve timing could produce higher-than-normal vacuum pressures that could suck oil past the rings. This was the case for some recent Toyota, Honda and GM models. The customer would report increased oil consumption that exceeded one quart every1,000 miles.
Beyond the oil getting past the rings, the oil trapped in the rings can become carbonized and cause damage to the cylinder walls. This can lead to even more damage and more oil consumption. In some cases, the oil consumption results in a low-oil condition that would cause damage to the bearing surfaces.
Coolant Problems
Internal coolant leaks can foul a spark plug and cause a misfire. The problem could be a leaking intake manifold or a head gasket, and the fouled plug might be localized to one or two adjacent cylinders. The burned coolant leaves ashy, white deposits on the electrodes and insulator, creating hot spots that could cause pre-ignition and a misfire code to be set.
When the plug is pulled, it might have a chalky appearance on the ground strap and center electrode. Modern coolants don’t cause this type of buildup quickly, due to the reduction of phosphate, zinc and other additives that can contaminate the catalytic converters.
In the past, the converter would become clogged and stop the engine before significant damage occurred.
Unfortunately, formulations mean that drivers can run a vehicle with a coolant leak for several thousand miles, while the plug becomes slowly fouled.
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By Counterman
One of the more difficult things about any technology is all the new terms you seem to get hit with, and in the automotive world, CAN bus was one of those terms. The second half, “bus,” was a term we had already used for many years, primarily as “bus bar.” A bus bar was a metal strip or bar that distributed power among multiple components.
In the automotive world, even when fiber-optic turn-signal indicators mounted on the front of a fender were as high-tech as it got, bus bars were inside many components such as fuse panels and relays, and sometimes under the hood for various engine electronics.
Then computer electronics took over. At first, we just had one electronic control unit (ECU) to deal with, and it was for the engine. Before you knew it, there was a transmission control unit, then the ABS control unit (not necessarily in that order). Wiring harnesses got bigger … and bigger and bigger.
Today, a car can have as many as 150 ECUs. In addition to the familiar engine, transmission, brake and airbag control units, doors, seats, mirrors, power steering, audio systems, cruise control, batteries and charging management systems all have their own control units. And as you can imagine, that’s just scratching the surface.
As technology was taking a ride with all these systems, engineers realized there were too many wires and too many sensors. There was no choice but to get aboard the CAN bus. CAN stands for controller area network, and a CAN bus, simply put, is a common communication line that can be used by all ECUs on the network.
The various control units on a modern vehicle need to communicate and share information over this network. Here’s an example of how and why. Years ago, when you turned on the air conditioning, a simple switch sent power to the compressor clutch. Today, the HVAC control module may need to communicate with the body control module (BCM) to notify it that A/C has been requested.
The BCM in turn sends a request to the engine control module (ECM) to “ask permission” if it can energize the A/C-compressor relay. The ECM looks at current engine operating parameters and sends a response signal to the BCM, which, in turn, sends a signal to the A/C relay.
The technological features on today’s cars are nothing short of impressive. Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) include features such as adaptive cruise control, forward collision warnings, high-beam safety, lane-departure warnings, traffic-signal recognition, lane-keep assistance, automatic emergency braking and traction control.
All of the associated control units are in constant communication with each other, and since many of them must utilize information from the same sensors, through the CAN bus network this is possible. Instead of an ambient-temperature sensor for the ECM, the HVAC control unit and the instrument cluster, one sensor can share its data over the network.
Some high-end vehicles have a feature called automatic brake wiping, or brake disc wiping. This feature utilizes information from a rain sensor (also used by automatic windshield wipers) that’s sent over the CAN bus to the ABS control unit. In programmed intervals, the ABS control unit lightly applies the brakes in a manner that the driver won’t notice, to clear water and moisture away from the rotors and provide maximum braking when needed. All of this is only possible thanks to the communication available over the CAN bus.
Developing the CAN bus system was no simple feat, and it took many years to complete. The requirements for automotive CAN bus communication are standardized as part of the OBD II vehicle communication standard. There have been many changes over the years related to CAN communication, primarily affecting the speed and manner in which data is transmitted. The easiest way to think about it is to relate it to the changes over the years in USB design we’re all familiar with. It’s for the same reason. They transmit data quicker.
From a service standpoint, technicians have had to become familiar with CAN bus systems. U-codes that indicate a loss of communication between modules or on a specific bus are a tool designed to help technicians diagnose CAN bus problems.
Electrical wiring diagrams reflect the CAN bus network, and there are three different types of networks – loop, star and loop/star hybrid – referred to as CAN bus topology. Being able to recognize the type of topology can help a technician diagnose CAN bus errors quicker. In today’s world, we all have to get aboard the CAN bus.
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