November 2015 – Humble Mechanic

Does 3m Intake System Cleaner Really Work?

Today I will be testing 3m Intake System Cleaner. This cleaner is meant to clean the intake manifold, valves, and combustion chamber of 4 stroke engines. We will be cleaning the intake system of my 1998 Volkswagen GTI VR6. The maintenance history of this car is largely unknown. There are many products that claim to clean the intake system of cars. This will be the first test in the series.

About the 3m Intake System Cleaner

This is part of a larger 3m “Fuel System Tune Up Kit“. That kit includes the intake system cleaner, a throttle plate cleaner, and a treatment to add the the fuel tank. The intake cleaner goes in just before the throttle body and sprays the chemical past the throttle and into the intake. If it works right, it should clean much of the intake manifold.

Join me today as we test

BE SURE TO FOLLOW ALL SAFETY INFORMATION!
Setting your car up
Follow the instructions on the car
Ease of use
Setting up the car
Before pictures
Running the treatment
After pictures
Did it work?
Does the amount of tailpipe smoke mean anything?
and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “Does 3m Intake System Cleaner Really Work?” on YouTube.

As always I love to hear your thoughts. Please post them in the comments section below. Also if you have an idea for a show you can email me, or use the contact me form! Don’t forget to follow me at:

November 30, 2015/7 Comments/by Charles

Humble Mechanic

Top 5 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Tool Deals

It is that time of year again. Where we hunt down the best deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Whether you are braving the stores for doorbuster deals, or sitting behind your computer shopping online, there are great tool deals to be had. Here are my top 5 best deals

This Coast light has become my daily use light at the shop. It is crazy bright, focusable and rechargeable. It also comes with a sleeve to use regular AAA batteries which are included.

It is no secret that I love tools. And while kits like this come with more allen wrenches than you will ever need, there are a lot of good tools for the price. Plus remember that Craftsman tools have a lifetime warranty.

This is one of my top 5 favorite tools. And now it’s priced $50 less than I paid for it. You are probably not going to find a better drill and impact combo for less. I did a review a while back, if you want to see just how great these are. Makita Drill and Impact Driver Set Review.

When it comes to electrical diagnosis, the Power Probe is a must have. I own several Power Probes and they are my first grab when it comes to vehicle electrical diagnosis. This PP3 kit with all the leads is over $95 off.

Vice-Grip locking pliers are a great addition to every tool box. It doesn’t matter if you are a professional technician, or an avid DIYer, Vise Grips have a ton of uses. You can get this set for almost half off.

When doing this research, I was surprised that at the lack of great tool deals for Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. If you have a deal you have found, please post it in the comments section.

Don’t forget to follow me at:

November 26, 2015/4 Comments/by Charles

Podcast

Viewer Automotive Questions ~ Podcast Episode 114

Happy Monday everyone. Today I will be taking your automotive questions. This is one of my favorite shows to do. I love hearing from all of you and helping out with your issues with your car. Also these don’t have to be VW related questions. Send me questions on tools, being a tech, car repair I will do my best to help you out.

Sponsor of the Day
CRP deals in a ton of OE automotive parts. They also make the factory DSG fluid for VW. Having them as a sponsor will give us access to more information about fluids than I would ever get from VW. I am really excited to have them as a resource of information. To learn more about the great products they have, check out CRPAutomotive.com

Join me as I take your questions on:

What really happens during a vehicle software update?
Torque wrench vs torque stick vs nothing!
TDI manual transmission swap, what transmission to use
Do I need to replace my intake manifold runner motor
What to do when a shop may be taking advantage of you?
Issues with TDI regeneration
and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “Viewer Automotive Questions ~ Podcast Episode 114” on YouTube.

As always I love to hear your thoughts. Please post them in the comments section below. Again, if you have a question for a show like this, email me Charles(at)humblemechanic(dot)com with Question for Charles in the subject. Also if you have an idea for a show you can email me, or use the contact me form!

Don’t forget to follow me at:

November 23, 2015/5 Comments/by Charles

Humble Mechanic

Top 5 Failures 1998-2005 Passat B5/B5.5

Back in action talking about more failed parts. We are well into the series where we are talking about overall failures of the car, not just the specific parts. I think it’s a lot of fun to look back and remember all the issues a generation had. The car we are talking about today is the 1998-2005 Passat. This would include the 1.8t, V6, TDI, and the W8. There is not much to talk about on the W8. They had their issues for sure, but the production run was so limited, they are a rare bird.

Sponsor Of The Day
Today’s show is sponsored by Deutsche Auto Parts. They are the VW and Audi parts experts. They have great prices and awesome service. Plus they work really hard on a ton of VW DIY videos. Paul and the fellas at DAP are awesome. When you are shopping for VW Parts Online be sure to check them out.

Join me as we breakdown:

This is one of the most expensive VWs to own
Passat Oil leaks
Passat Water leaks
Passat Suspension links failing
1.8t Passat Engine sludge
Passat Rear brake wear
Rapid fire ~ Passat Recalls
Rapid fire ~ A lot of other issues
I LOVE my B5.5 Passat
and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “Top 5 Failures 1998-2005 Passat B5/B5.5 ” on YouTube.

As always, your questions and comments are welcome.
Please post them below. If you would like to suggest a part of a show like this, email me Charles(at)HumbleMechanic(dot)com. Thanks again to Deutsche Auto Parts for being such a great sponsor.

Don’t forget to follow me at:

November 20, 2015/5 Comments/by Charles

Humble Mechanic

The Best Car At SEMA 2015 – EricTheCarGuy – ChrisFix – Engineering Explained – Humble Mechanic

This is a project long in the making. Today EricTheCarGuy Engineering Explained, ChrisFix, and Humble Mechanic team up for some video shenanigans. On this episode we are chatting a little about what car we would drive home from the 2015 SEMA show. Be sure to stay tuned and subscribe for more!

The Cast

Join us as we decide:

What Eric would drive home
The perfectly fitting car for Jason
How many people will pay the price for Chris’ choice
Will Charles ever make up his mind?
and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “The Best Car At SEMA 2015 – EricTheCarGuy – ChrisFix – Engineering Explained – Humble Mechanic” on YouTube.

November 17, 2015/1 Comment/by Charles

Podcast

A Different Way To Buy A New Car ~ Podcast Episode 113 ~ Part 1

Today I have an amazing guest joining me. We are going to talk about buying new cars. But we are not talking about heading right to your local car dealership and doing that song and dance. Katie and I are talking about buying a new car through Costco. One of the benefits of being a Costco member, is their car buying program. Katie used the program to buy her first car. So we will be getting an awesome prospective from a first time new car buyer!

Sponsor of the day:
Rain Eater wiper blades. Wipers are one of the most important safety items on our cars. Think not, you must have never driven in bad weather. When you are ready to replace your wiper blades, a very easy DIY, check out RainEater wipers at RainEater.com. Plus I LOVE that their CEO is the one monitoring social media.

Join Katie and I as we chat:

What car Katie bought
The amount of research done when buying a new car
Resources Katie uses to aid her decision
How the Costco program works
How did that compare to the just walking in the dealer?
Pros of the Costco program
Cons of the Costco program
Would Katie recommend buying a car this way?
What surprises came up
The role crowd sourcing played
Follow Katie on Twitter @NoYinKatie
Our beer of the day
and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “A Different Way To Buy A New Car ~ Podcast Episode 113 ~ Part 1” on YouTube.

As always I love to hear your thoughts. Please post them in the comments section below. Also if you have an idea for a show you can email me, or use the contact me form! Don’t forget to follow me at:

November 17, 2015/2 Comments/by Charles

Podcast

Viewer Automotive Questions ~ Podcast Episode 112

Happy Monday everyone. Today I am back in action to take your automotive questions. I need to let you all know that today’s show is really only about half a Q and A show. For some reason I lost audio about half way throw recording. But that being said, today is still a great show.

Sponsor of the Day
CRP deals in a ton of OE automotive parts. They also make the factory DSG fluid for VW. Having them as a sponsor will give us access to more information about fluids than I would ever get from VW. I am really excited to have them as a resource of information. To learn more about the great products they have, check out CRPAutomotive.com

Join me today as I take your questions on:

A cool collaboration video coming out tomorrow.
Open call for TV host
Replacing 1.8t coils with 2.0TSI coils
2010 Tiguan with “the shakes”
Thoughts on the new (to the US) 1.4L engine
and more

Trouble viewing? Watch “Viewer Automotive Questions ~ Podcast Episode 112” on YouTube.

As always I love to hear your thoughts. Please post them in the comments section below. Again, if you have a question for a show like this, email me Charles(at)humblemechanic(dot)com with Question for Charles in the subject. Also if you have an idea for a show you can email me, or use the contact me form!

Don’t forget to follow me at:

November 16, 2015/1 Comment/by Charles