Throughout the entire month of October 2020, WJB is offering RockAuto customers an exclusive 10% off instant rebate on their full line of WJB Wheel Hubs, Bearings, Water Pumps and more!

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To see the WJB parts we have for your vehicle, go to the RockAuto.com catalog, and click on the "Brake & Wheel Hub" or "Cooling System" categories and look for the parts with a "". Simply put any WJB part in your cart to instantly save 10% off RockAuto's already reliably low prices.

The Mustang 428 Cobra Jet Registry Forum serves the community of enthusiasts interested in Ford's iconic FE engine.

Not only is there a forum, but other information like history, production and registry statistics for 1968 – 1970 Mustangs that were originally assembled with a 428 Cobra Jet or 428 Super Cobra Jet engine.

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact marketing@rockauto.com.

After high school in the spring of 1970, I went to work at my brother's service station. One day, my brother was servicing a Dodge Charger, and I was shocked when I found out it belonged to my driver's ed teacher from high school. My brother had to leave and asked me to finish putting the remaining two wheels on the Charger. Wanting to impress my former teacher, I made an extra effort to make sure I torqued the wheels by the book and cleaned the car up nicely. My teacher picked up his car and seemed very satisfied until he walked(!) back to the service station about 10 minutes later.

His normally cool demeanor gave way to behavior and language I did not know a school teacher could possess! Apparently my brother had only hand tightened the lug nuts on the two wheels he installed and assumed I would tighten them. I did not. After driving a few blocks, one of the Charger's wheels came off and the other was just about to. Amazingly, there was no serious damage, and everything was fixed to his satisfaction.

Lessons learned:

1. Finish what you start before handing a job off
2. If #1 is not possible, make sure you communicate exactly what has been completed
3. Never assume anything (ask questions when taking over a job)

Milton in Wisconsin

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the RockAuto catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

What is this interesting tool found under "Garage Equipment" in the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab?

A. Belt Tensioner Tester checks serpentine belt and timing belt tensioners to see if they apply force within specifications.

B. Thermal Load Meter measures the heat of an alternator's output terminal at maximum load (headlights, heated seats, etc. are all turned on).

C. Torque Angle Meter used when bolts must be torqued to a spec and then tightened/rotated further by a specified number of degrees.

What is this interesting tool?

Answer below

This year brought us a new specification for motor oil; ILSAC GF-6 / API SP. One of the primary goals of the new oil spec is to reduce incidence of two problems gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines have been experiencing.

GDI blasts the fuel directly into the combustion chamber at high pressure. This leaves less time for the air and fuel to mix together. The resulting air/fuel mixture may burn unevenly which may generate a lot of soot. As the pistons move up and down, the soot gets mixed into the motor oil. The soot travels with the motor oil through the engine and causes wear.

The most noticeable wear often occurs between the pins and bushings that hold timing chains together. As the bushing holes wear and enlarge, the timing chains stretch. Eventually the timing chains may stretch to the point that they slip across gear teeth or otherwise are unable to correctly connect the crankshaft to the camshafts. The computer generates a trouble code, the engine goes into limp-in mode and/or the engine stops running. GF-6 / SP oil resists collecting and circulating the harmful soot.

GF-6, API SP and API SN PLUS on label

The second problem, low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI), is also related to the uneven burning of air/fuel in GDI engines; specifically, turbocharged GDI engines. When running at relatively low RPM and under heavy load, like when moving away from a dead stop, severe knocking may occur inside the cylinders. Scientists figured out that traces of engine oil mixing and burning with the air/fuel mixture contributes to the damaging engine knock. GF-5 / SN-Plus spec oil was released a couple of years ago to combat this problem (watch for the “Plus” after SN). The new GF-6 / SP oil helps with both the soot and knock problems.

Ford has produced the most turbocharged GDI engines. Small 1L, three-cylinder Ford EcoBoost engines power Ford Fiestas, and big 3.5L, six-cylinder EcoBoost motors are in work trucks that rack up a lot of severe-duty (towing, dust, etc.) miles. The soot and knock problems have been studied most thoroughly on EcoBoost engines. The new specification actually requires that new GF-6 / SP oils pass tests running in Ford EcoBoost motors!

GDI / Direct Injection in part descriptions and Info page

These new oils, higher fuel injection pressures, intake manifold port injection coupled with GDI, etc. help solve these problems on older engines and prevent them on newer engines. GDI engine owners may be able to help the most by simply changing their vehicles' motor oil frequently and always using the correct oil. Instead of waiting for the longest, light-duty, oil change interval (often 7,000+ miles/11,000+ km), change the oil closer to the severe-duty interval (often 3,000 miles/5,000 km).

You can check to see if your specific vehicle's engine uses GDI by looking at the “Info” pages and part descriptions for the engine's Fuel Injectors found under “Fuel & Air” in the RockAuto.com catalog. Find the correct engine Oil for your vehicle under “Engine.” Oil is also listed by viscosity/weight under the “Tools & Universal Parts” tab.

Note: The “A” in GF-6A means the oil is a viscosity/weight compatible with existing engines. The “B” in GF-B means the oil is only to be used in recent engine designs that require completely new viscosity/weight oils such as 0W-16.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Toms articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

This is my 1986 Buick LeSabre Grand National. Not to be confused with the Regal Grand National, this car was solely built to qualify the LeSabre body for use in NASCAR. Only 117 were built in late 1985. This particular car was one of the last built and converted according to the VIN.

LeSabre Grand National models were outfitted with a special front spoiler for aerodynamics, as well as unique NASCAR rear quarter windows. They featured the naturally aspirated 3.8 liter V6 in front wheel drive configuration and of course had Grand National badging on the fenders with a solid red Power 6 logo instead of the typical yellow and orange variant found on the turbo Regals of the era.

I obtained this car from a friend and it was in sort of rough shape, but it was a rust free example originally from Tennessee. Every part of the car was touched -- anything that needed replaced, got replaced, and anything that needed refinished, got refinished or freshened up. This is also the first car I ever did a complete paint job on rather than just one or two panels.

Almost all of the parts I got were from RockAuto; specifically engine and suspension parts, engine and trans mounts, belts, hoses, gaskets, spark plugs and wires, struts, sway bar links and bushings, exhaust hangers, carpet, lug nuts -- the list goes on!

Thank you very much!

Andrew in Pennsylvania (RockAuto customer for over 10 years)

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to give you the opportunity to have your car or truck possibly featured in one (or occasionally more) of our publications such as the monthly newsletter, collector magnets, RockAuto social media or other commercial use. New, old, import, domestic, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please email flamur@RockAuto.com with the vehicle history, interesting details, your favorite images (tips for taking pictures of your car) and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

What is this interesting tool found under "Garage Equipment" in the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab?

A. Belt Tensioner Tester checks serpentine belt and timing belt tensioners to see if they apply force within specifications.

B. Thermal Load Meter measures the heat of an alternator's output terminal at maximum load (headlights, heated seats, etc. are all turned on).

Answer: C. Torque Angle Meter used when bolts must be torqued to a spec and then tightened/rotated further by a specified number of degrees. (Head bolts most commonly have a torque spec followed by being rotated a certain number of degrees. The clamp just helps hold the tool steady.)

Torque Angle Meter

Back up to trivia question