This time we have some interesting tools for the do-it-yourselfer.  The first three are from Innovative Products of America, like this Gator Jaws.

Now you look at this, it’s a very aggressive looking tool, but what would you do with it?  Well you would find out in a hurry if you had an oil filter that was stuck, and they frequently are, they’re very difficult to turn, very difficult to reach.  This will grab an oil filter, give you lots of leverage and you can get that stuck oil filter off very easily.

Second is another oil change tool. This has all of the popular sizes of oil drain plugs, sockets for them, on the two ends.  It also has a magnet where you can stick the drain plug on to the wrench so you don’t lose it.  Very clever, saves a lot of extra tools.

And finally, here we have an interesting wire stripper and cutter.  One end cuts the wire, and the other end is where you put the wire in and you squeeze it and strip the end of the wire. Very easy to do.

All right, now your cars may have E-G-R valves.  E-G-R systems = Exhaust Gas Recirculation.  What that amounts to is where exhaust gas is taken from the exhaust coming out of the engine and re-circulated back into the engine to keep the engine from pinging and to reduce oxides of nitrogen emissions. Now if your car had one it would probably be mounted back here on the intake manifold, sort of like this.  There are two types, one is electronic like this and can be over $350, or on older cars a mechanical one that is vacuum operated and is a lot cheaper. 

Anyway, you have an E-G-R problem, what’s it going to do?  The car may ping, it may hesitate, it may idle rough, or you may get a check engine light and an E-G-R code.  Well don’t just go out and buy a new E-G-R valve because that probably isn’t what’s wrong.  You see, the exhaust gas as it leaves the E-G-R valve has to flow through passages in the intake manifold.  We’re using this piece of surgical tubing to show you what it might look like and it’ll always be curved and right on these curves carbon from the exhaust will clog the passage and you get that check engine light or the other problems.

Now in the past it was next to impossible to clean these without taking the car apart.  Well now there is Snake Bit, a flexible drill that can go into a variable speed hand held drill and it’ll go down through that clog, clean away the carbon, the carbon then passes through the engine and out the exhaust and you have saved a lot of money and aggravation.


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