Automotive on Kereso Barat

Maintaining and changing brakes on your own VW vehicle is not as hard as you may think. But, keep in mind that when you change your own brake pads, there are some other aspects that should be checked also to ensure that your brake pads are safe and dependable. If the brake pads or brake shoes are worn and need to be replaced, chances are other VW brake parts in the brake system may require attention too. The most obvious ones would be the brake rotors or drums and brake calipers or wheel cylinders. Both the front and rear brakes should be inspected.

A quality brake job should cover everything from the brake master cylinder where you add the brake fluid, to the calipers and wheel cylinders.

Changing the brakes include inspecting all the mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical components in both the front and rear brakes. If necessary, replace the front and rear brake pads. Then, inspect or replace brake rotors or disks.

Brake rotors require a clean, smooth, flat surface on the rotors. Otherwise your brake performance will suffer. A rough surface will accelerate pad wear. It will also increase the risk of noise. An uneven surface or variations in rotor thickness can cause vibrations, noise and annoying brake pedal pulsations. Brake drums that have grooves or any kind of damage should be replaced immediately. Sometimes, you cannot do all auto work by yourself. Your local auto parts store can help you turn the rotors for these discs to have extra life so you do not have to buy new.

The next thing to do is to check the level and condition of your brake fluid. Changing the fluid is recommended to get rid of moisture contamination. Always follow vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations.

Changing the brake pads is the next step. Remember that there are books at your local auto parts store, on eBay, and at any bookstore that you can also buy. These will give you step by step instructions along with picture illustrations as to how to change and maintain brake pads.

First off you need to purchase break pads, which are available from any local auto parts store. You can also purchase the pads from a dealer but they run a lot more than the local auto parts store. There are many different brands of brake pads but what you have to put on my vehicle are the ones that are considered lifetime. These run a little more, but the cost covers itself in the long run. The next time you do a break job you take the lifetime ones back in and they exchange them free of charge.

Do not hurry up. Take your time in familiarizing yourself with the brakes on your car before you begin work. It is also a good idea to work on one side at a time in case you have trouble. In that way, you have one side to use as a reference. Remember that your front brakes provide most of the stopping power for your vehicle.

Changing the front brake pads require setting of your parking brake, and block the rear tires so your vehicle will not move. Loosen the lug nuts. Using a jack, raise your vehicle and place it securely on jack stands. Then, remove the lug nuts and remove the wheel.

Now you can see the brake calipers holding the brake pads against the rotors. There are 2 pads in each wheel that squeeze the rotor. Unbolt the caliper mounting bolts and pull the caliper back from the rotor. Be careful not to bend or break the brake hose. Sometimes the caliper mounting bolts require you to use a Torx or Star bit instead of a normal socket set. These can also be purchased at your local auto parts store and an employee will help you to purchase the size that is just right for your VW vehicle. Plan ahead and make sure you have the right tools for the job to save you a trip back to the auto parts store.

After you remove the caliper, remove the front brake pad and leave the rear pad in place. Using a C-clamp, compress the caliper piston into the caliper housing. Make sure you remove the cap off the brake reservoir before you do this. This needs to be done so that when you put the new pads in the caliper, it will create a space to put the caliper back on.

Examine the break pads for unusual or uneven wear. These could be signs of a problem that need to be taken care of immediately.

While doing this, it is also a good time to examine the condition of the rotors. You will need to get the rotors turned or replaced if they have deep groves or if you have noticed that the car shudders when you hit the brakes.

Install the new pads in the caliper. Usually it is best to place the inner pad first, then the outer pad second. Before you install the pads back on to the caliper, make sure the piston is fully depressed. Once the pads are properly seated in the caliper, put the caliper back on the rotor and bolt it firmly in place.

If everything is correct, then you can put the wheel back on, hand tighten the lug nuts, and lower the car to the ground. Finish tightening the lug nuts in a start pattern so that they are even.

The last thing to do in doing a brake job is to test the brakes. Carefully check your brakes and brake fluid levels before entering traffic. Sometimes some air can get into the brake lines when you change the brake pads. If this happens, you will need to bleed the brakes before you try to move the car again.

Marking another momentous milestone in the progress of its turnaround plan, the Chrysler Group earlier hosted a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future Trenton Phoenix Engine Plant in Michigan. The $730 million engine plant is part of the automaker’s $3 billion Powertrain Offensive as announced in February.

At groundbreaking ceremony were Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, Trenton Mayor Gerald Brown, UAW Vice President General Holiefield and other public officials. They were joined by the Chrysler Group executives.

“Today’s groundbreaking ceremony commemorates an important growth milestone for Chrysler Group and for the City of Trenton,” said Frank Ewasyshyn, the Chrysler Group Executive Vice President for Manufacturing. “Constructing our new plant at this site also confirms the commitment of Chrysler Group to investing in the communities where we do business and supporting economic development throughout the State of Michigan. This new plant will enable us to develop products that are designed to meet changing consumer tastes for more fuel efficient vehicles.”

The 822,000-square-foot Trenton Phoenix Engine Plant will produce a new family of fuel efficient V-6 engines, known inside the Chrysler Group as “Phoenix” engines. In time, the Phoenix family of V-6, designed to compete with Hypertech and other refined engines, will decrease manufacturing intricacy by paring the company’s four present V-6 architectures to one. The production of which is set to begin in 2009.

The plant will be situated adjacent to the Trenton Engine Plant, on Van Horn between Fort Street and Jefferson. The Trenton Phoenix Engine Plant will have an annual manufacturing capacity of 400,000 to 440,000 engines. Once the plant is completely equipped, the Trenton Phoenix Engine Plant will employ 485 full-time workers.

“These engine plants help cement Michigan’s position as the world’s leader in automotive innovation and excellence and show what can happen when state and local governments work with business to make our state competitive,” Governor Jennifer M. Granholm said. “From investing in our workers to creating a business-friendly climate throughout the state, we are working every day to attract new automotive companies and other industries that will bring jobs and grow here in Michigan.”

“We appreciate the confidence Chrysler Group has shown in its workforce by this continuing investment in powertrain operations, which will help preserve good-paying manufacturing jobs,” said General Holiefield, the UAW Vice President, who directs the union’s DaimlerChrysler Department. “UAW members at Trenton are 100 percent dedicated to quality, and we’re excited to participate in building the next generation of fuel-efficient engines for Chrysler’s great line-up of vehicles.”

The new Michigan plant of the American automaker will have an aggressive labor agreement that integrates Smart manufacturing initiatives, volume-bundled parts purchasing, flexible CNC-based machining, volume-bundled capital investment and standardized tooling.

The total cost of the building, land improvements and equipment mirrors one of the Chrysler’s biggest capital investments in the city. Since 2003, the Auburn Hills automaker has invested $4.4 billion in its Southeast Michigan manufacturing operations.

It is no secret that the Czech Republic’s biggest car maker Skoda Auto has been in the past – a laughing stock in the automotive world. But things are finally turning around for the automaker and right now it has become a profit producing force for its owner Volkswagen.

The Czech Republic’s biggest car maker is also planning to open up new markets in China, India, and Russia. Skoda Auto was bought by Volkswagen in the year 1991 and become one of the forces behind the latter’s global force. And as part of Europe’s largest automaker, Skoda Auto makes use of quality Volkswagen auto parts for its production like the popular Volkswagen spark plug wires.

Skoda Auto was able to record net profits for the last week of 2006 totaling to 11.06 billion koruna or 392 million euros (515 million dollars). It obtained a 40% increase as compared to its earnings in the previous year.

Skoda Auto’s production also increased by 12.6 percent or 556,347 units with successful deliveries of up 11.7 percent resulting to an overall sales increase of 8.7 percent to 203.7 billion koruna. For this year, Europe’s largest automaker Volkswagen owner of Skoda is expecting for it to produce more than 600,000 cars.

According to Marc-Rene Tonn an analyst from German bank MM Warburg and Co., ”Skoda is an extremely profitable part of the Volkswagen Group.” He also stressed that about one in every 10 Volkswagen Group cars are produced in the Czech Republic especially those sold in the year 2005. This was seconded by Stephen Pope, a London-based analyst with financial services group Cantor Fitzgerald Europe, “Volkswagen will rely heavily on Audi and Skoda during this current period.” Since he said that the Europe’s largest automaker is currently struggling with an ageing range of models and it needs new launches to revive it. “The whole new image of Skoda has changed. It is no longer taken as a joke and is now seen as a pure derivative of Volkswagen, but much more reasonably priced.”

Pope also added that this simply shows the remarkable development that Skoda Auto has achieved under the management of Volkswagen for the past 15 years as part of the VW Group. Praises also to Volkswagen for being steadfast in its decision not to scrap the Skoda brand in spite of the not so good image that the brand has in Western Europe (DaimlerChrysler could used some advice from Volkswagen).

The turning of the Skoda into one of Volkswagen’s flagship producer of reasonably priced reliable cars just goes to show the effective management style that Europe’s largest automaker have. And today, Volkswagen is leading Skoda to become its low-cost spearhead into the booming economies of China, India, and Russia without damaging along the way it attempts to target a more prestige market.

Pope also said that “Skoda will be designated as the entry level car with the premium part of the market left for Volkswagen.”

The boss of Skoda Detlef Wittig has announced last week the company’s goal of producing low-cost car for the Asian market, mentioning also that the company plans of opening up markets in India, Russia, and China. The low-cost Fabia and the top-of-the-range Superb are scheduled to be produced for China in partnership with Shanghai Volkswagen. Likewise, launches production of the mid-range Octavia model are set for China this year.

The Czech automaker has already car assembly and production projects in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, and India. Current models lined up for production includes the mid-range Roomster which will complete the current four model range and the three-door sporty vehicle called the Skoda Joyster which is designed for young buyers.