Advance Auto Zone

Government auto emissions control legislation mandates that virtually all cars built or sold in the U.S. come equipped with a catalytic converter. A smart device, catalytic converters help to convert dangerous and polluting exhaust gases into less harmful carbon dioxide and water. As helpful of a device that it is, there are some hazards that come with the use of a catalytic converter. Read on to learn what you need to know about your vehicle’s catalytic converter.

Many consider a catalytic converter to be a godsend. With pollution levels ever climbing, the U.S. government acted to reduce harmful pollutants in a step to clean up the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency was formed by the Nixon Administration and the agency was instrumental in passing the Clean Air Act to help America control pollution. Since 1975 virtually every passenger vehicle has come equipped with a catalytic converter.

As helpful as catalytic converters can be, they can be problematic. Besides catalytic converter failure, which generally goes unnoticed until your vehicle flunks its next inspection, it is the intense heat of the unit that can cause problems.

If you work on your own vehicle, you need to let your car cool down completely before working near the exhaust system. Catalytic converters get very hot, as hot as 1800 degrees, and any burn sustained from touching a hot converter can be very dangerous, even deadly.

Motorists have also learned that a catalytic converter can be a fire hazard. For the past three decades police and fire department reports have indicated that many car fires have been started because a motorist parked their car over dry leaves. Even when the engine is off the hot converter can drop a spark which can ignite leaves underneath. If that happens, your car can be engulfed in mere minutes and destroyed by the conflagration.

There are also hazards that occur to the catalytic converter itself. Because the unit burns at such hot temperatures, catalytic converters can suffer rapid thermal deactivation. Some experts suggest switching to synthetic engine oil to help reduce phosphorous contaminants a known contributor to catalytic converter failure.

No, you cannot legally remove your catalytic converter as you may become subject to stiff fines and penalties. Yes, if your car was built before 1975, none of these concerns matter to ou so enjoy your classic and let her rip without pollution controls holding you back!

Copyright 2006 – Matt Keegan is The Auto Writer covering topics from replacement auto parts to auto show information. To find quality autopartswarehouse.com/catalytic_converters~pop.html catalytic converters such as a autopartswarehouse.com/shop_parts/catalytic_converter/ford.html Ford catalytic converter or a autopartswarehouse.com/shop_parts/catalytic_converter/volkswagen.html VW catalytic converter shop online at the Auto Parts Warehouse today!

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Have you ever been frightened off buying a used car from a newspaper ad, or a man in the street, for the fear it might be registered as stolen?

With Home Office figures showing more than 300,000 cars and motorbikes were stolen in the UK, in the last recorded year, that is a very understandable fear. The consequences of discovering the dream car or motorbike you have just purchased was registered as lost or stolen can be devastating.

Because of the way UK law works, many people every year lose both the car they have bought in good faith, and their money, because they have failed to take the necessary checks before embarking on, what is for many, their largest purchase, after the roof over their head.

Help is at hand. The internet revolution has opened up a vast spectrum of free information on many different aspects of every day life. It is now possible to access, gratis, the price houses have sold for in a neighbourhood, the cheapest petrol stations in a locality, and even what newspapers people living in the same postcode area read. It is also possible, now, for motorists to find out, free of charge, if a used car is registered as stolen with the police’s, lost and stolen database by logging onto the net.

With the motto ‘buyer beware’ in mind, the UK Home Office Car and Bike Theft Indexes, also available online, gives motorists an insight into the type of cars and motorbikes which are most likely to have been stolen.

Government statistics show saloon cars are the car thief’s vehicle of choice, and were the most likely type of car to be amongst the UK’s 282, 816 stolen cars, according to latest figures. Around 12 in every 1000 saloon cars were stolen, which is twice the number of 4×4s and people carriers, which ranked at 6 stolen for every thousand that were registered.

The age of a car has a significant impact on its chances of being stolen. Cars registered more than 13 years ago were the most likely to be stolen, according to the Car Theft Index, with a theft rate of 31 per thousand registered. Vehicles registered after 1997 are much less likely to be driven away by a car criminal, with just 5 in every thousand being stolen.

Two wheelers are proportionately more at risk of theft than cars, with 37 per 1000 being stolen, compared to 10 cars per 1000. This is due in part to the ease at which a motorbike can be put into the back of a van or lorry. Low powered mopeds and scooters are the most likely sort of motorbike to be stolen, with those under 5 years old, being stolen at a rate of 85 in every 1000, and making up 60 per cent of motor bike thefts.

Richard Goedegebuur is Press Relations Officer for checkmyfile.com the UK’s leading online provider of credit reports to consumers. Checkmyfile.com offers consumer credit advice and postcode relevant information. Contact Richard Goedegebuur on mailto:richardg@checkmyfile.com richardg@checkmyfile.com

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Many people when they purchase a recreational vehicle or motor home will look to buy the most comfortable and largest motor home possible. This makes sense for new motor home owners because they are not used to living in such a small environment and space.

Unfortunately if you get your motor home too large then it is hard to maneuver in the city and therefore you need to tow your car behind your motor home and then you end up with a very long rig, which is even harder to turn around.

If you plan on towing your car behind your recreational vehicle there are a few things you should consider. For instance you’ll need a brush guard to prevent a rock chips from hitting the front of your car and damaging the paint job. You will also need to make sure that the alignment on your car is correct so that it tows correctly. But most of all you need an excellent toll bar that has multiple swivel points and is easy to connect and disconnect.

May I recommend an aluminum toll bar, which does not weigh that much and is easy to use. I chose this Sterling All-terrain Tow Bar when researching the different tow bars available for a friend. It is easy to connect or disconnect your vehicle no matter what angle you were at. The safety wires and electrical wires always stay with the tow bar.

The tow bar stores in folded position and out-of-the-way very nicely and remains attached to the RV itself. And best of all the whole unit is made out of aircraft grade aluminum and weighs less than 35 pounds total and can tow up to 60,000 pounds and still only costs $1000 or less. Perhaps you might consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

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