Jason Shackelford
Auto Technician
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Forum Comments (2)
I would also recommend looking into getting your financing from your bank or credit union for a couple of reasons:
1. Your bank or credit union can help you decide what you can or cannot afford.
2. Car dealers make “points on the back side,” so you are guaranteed a better rate with your own financial institution. In other words, if a lender will finance you at 10% and the dealer tells you 18%, the lender will give that additional 8% back to the dealer.
Co-authored Articles (303)
How to
Hotwire a Car
While most newer model cars have done much to hide the wiring and otherwise outfit the steering column with safety measures to prevent hot-wiring, older models up to the mid-90s are typically good candidates for hot-wiri...
How to Fix the Car and Lock Light on Your Dashboard
Reasons why this anti-theft symbol is lit & how to repair them Is there a car and lock symbol on your dashboard preventing you from starting your vehicle? This symbol means the automatic security system kicked in, but n...
What to Do If Your Car’s Anti-Theft System Prevents It from Starting
Diagnose the problem and start your car correctly If your vehicle won’t turn on and you see a little car and lock light on your dashboard, your anti-theft system is probably preventing the car from turning on. As confo...
How to Ride a Motorcycle for Beginners
Learn the basics of driving a motorcycle and get on the road in no timeLearning to ride a motorcycle can be fun. The best way to learn how to properly ride is in a safe and controlled manner. Always practice safety first...
How to Reset Your Vehicle's MAF Sensor
The ultimate guide on recalibrating the mass air flow in your engine A combustion engine relies on a delicate mixture of spark, gas, and air to run properly. But how does your engine know if it’s getting enough air or ...
Car Not Starting, but Still Has Power? These Are the Most Common Causes
Try these fixes if your car has power but still won’t crank Is your car not starting despite having power? We’ve got you covered. There are lots of reasons why this might happen, like battery trouble, electrical prob...
How to Turn off an Airbag Light with or without a Scanner
A comprehensive guide on how to reset airbag on or airbag off lights If you’ve got an airbag on or airbag off light that won’t go away, you may be wondering how to reset it. Rest assured, it’s actually pretty rare ...
How to Reset a Gas Gauge Needle
You’re driving along and you notice your gas gauge needle moving erratically. It needs a reset, but how do you do it? Resetting the needle is a quick and straightforward process that doesn’t require a mechanic. The e...
How to
Test Your Batteries
There are many different types of batteries, and you can test all of them to see if they're charged or not. Alkaline batteries bounce when they're going bad, so drop one on a hard surface to see whether or not it bounces...
How to
Shift Gears on a Motorcycle
One of the most important processes of riding a motorcycle is shifting gears. This may seem like a challenge to master, but shifting gears is really a simple process. How you shift gears, however, will depend on whether ...
How to Diagnose and Fix Problems with Your Electric Parking Brakes
Your guide to electric brake problems in Hondas and more If you’re getting warning signs on your dashboard or computer screen about issues with your electric parking brake, you may wonder what your car is even referrin...
How to
Connect Your Phone to Your Car
This wikiHow will teach you how to connect your phone to your car using a variety of methods from Bluetooth to AUX cables. If your car stereo has a system in place though, you can use features like Ford SYNC, UConnect, o...
How to
Do a Burnout
In a burnout, the wheels of your car will spin at a high frequency, causing a large amount of smoke. The car will stay static until you pop the clutch, letting it spring into motion. Burnouts began in drag racing, where ...
How to
Remove a Cigarette Lighter Socket
Cigarette lighter sockets are very useful for operating lighters and many other electrical gadgets, but they wear out over time. Fortunately, removing the socket is a relatively easy process that doesn’t require mechan...
How to Diagnose and Fix a Cylinder 3 Misfire (P0303)
Narrow down the symptoms and solutions to fix your engine issues If your OBD-2 scanner has pulled up a cylinder 3 misfire error and you see the P0303 code, it indicates that one of the cylinders in your engine isn’t co...
Installation Guide: How to Remove and Replace an Old Car Stereo
A simple step-by-step guide to replacing your car stereo Installing a new car stereo can often be simple enough to do yourself, and this article will provide you with a general guide on how to do it. Keep in mind that so...
How to Locate, Remove & Clean a Dirty MAP Sensor
Easy steps to clean your sensor & improve your car’s performance If your car gets lower fuel efficiency, idles roughly, stalls when you accelerate, or has a check engine light that won’t turn off, a dirty manifold ab...
Why Your O/D Off Light Is On
The ultimate guide on Overdrive functionality and its dash lights O/D is short for Overdrive—a unique feature on automatic transmissions made between the mid-1980s and the mid-2010s. Overdrive is usually on by default,...
How to
Ride a Manual Motorcycle
Manual transmission motorcycles are popular because they usually have more speed, power, and control than automatic transmissions. However, driving a manual motorcycle is also tricky because you have to shift gears whene...
How to
Adjust an E Z Go Golf Cart Governor
Adjusting the governor can make your golf cart go faster. If you do this to an E-Z-GO golf cart, you might be able to go from to . It will only take about 5 minutes to do it.