Month: January 2020

The best wrench I have ever used? Knipex Pliers Wrench.

Is this the best adjustable wrench money can buy? Is the Knipex Pliers Wrench better than your typical adjustable Crescent wrench? In my YouTube video I go over how I discovered this wrench and I compare it to other wrenches and pliers that are similar in design. The Knipex Pliers Wrench may look like a pliers, but it does the job of an adjustable Crescent wrench, only MUCH better. In fact, if you have the space, it’s probably better than a typical open end wrench because of the amount of squeeze pressure that can be applied to the fastener. This has become one of my favorite tools and I recommend these to anyone who works with hand tools on a regular basis.

Sure, this wrench won’t work in many tight automotive situations. And I’m not saying this tool will replace any other wrench you already have in your toolbox. What I am saying is… Anywhere a normal adjustable (Crescent) wrench would work, this wrench will do the job easier, quicker and with less chance of rounding off the fastener. If I was in the hydraulic business and worked with JIC fittings and hoses all day long, this wrench would be in my hand 90% of the time. If I was a maintenance mechanic in a commercial factory or any other industrial setting on a daily basis, I would carry the small version of these Knipex as part of my every day carry, (EDC) in addition to my normal tool belt/toolbox.

The Knipex Cobra, Aligator, Mini Bolt Cutters, and this Pliers Wrench are all must haves in my book. Knipex tools are not cheap, but they are VERY well made and work terrific. Kinipex tools will last a lifetime…

Get yourself a pair, you won’t be sorry!

How to unlock a car door without keys, the easy way.

I show you an easy way to unlock your car door if you have locked your keys in the vehicle. This is the easiest car door unlocking tool that I have found after working in the automotive roadside assistance / towing industry for almost 3 decades. It is made by Access Tools and is called the RCBM- Remote Control Button Master. It is a long reach grabber tool used to unlock vehicles with vertical door locks. Longer versions of this tool can also be found by various manufacturers that are long enough to reach inside the car or truck and grab interior door handles, etc. In the video I use two air bags, also known as air wedges, or air jacks to help open the door just enough to get the tool inside. These air bags a not 100% necessary. You could also use plastic door wedges, a homemade wooden wedge… or even just a screwdriver if you don’t care about damaging your vehicle. This is a pretty simple process to unlock a door with vertical door locks using this tool. Try not to wedge the door open too far, just enough to get the tool in. And also once the door is unlocked, be sure to remove all wedges and/or air bags before opening the door. This removes all pressure from the door latch and lets the door open smoothly.

This was basically a video demonstration of one specific type of door unlocking tool, that works on one specific type of door lock. I took a lot of heat in the comment section for this YouTube video. If you read the title, and the caption in the thumbnail, you will see this is exactly what I show in the video…. “how to unlock A car without keys”. I do apologize if you found this post and/or video while standing in a parking lot trying to figure out how to get into your car. I REALIZE you do not have this tool in your pocket. I REALIZE this post/video does you NO good while you’re stranded outside of your car. However, this video wasn’t really intended for people in your situation. This was a demonstration of a door unlocking tool for people who work in the automotive industry, who buy tools on a regular basis. YouTube is full of tool review videos and this video is no different.

Again, I’m sorry if you’re locked out of your vehicle and found my tool demonstration video thinking I had a magic solution to unlock your car. Unfortunately, I do not.

I may do a future video/post about other types of door unlocking tools that we’ve used over the years. There were some real weird looking “door tools” that we used years ago that would go inside the door, under the glass, then back up inside the car on the inside of the glass, then wrap back down over the interior door panel and physically move the door lock on the door. The bad part was, if you couldn’t get the car unlocked, you couldn’t get your tool back out…. and I never lost a tool, by the way! lol. Door tools generally worked good on the older cars that had loose doors and door seals but as time went on and doors got tighter, door tools became more difficult to use. Not to mention all the wires and air bags inside modern car doors . Door tools and a slim Jim were all we had back in the day and now those tools are rarely used today.

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Car Stereo Auxiliary Input Humming Buzzing Whining Hissing Noise Sound

I made a YouTube video showing how to fix humming, buzzing, whining, and hissing noises when using your auxiliary audio input on your car stereo. This is caused by a common ground between the audio source, and the radio in the car. It’s called a ground loop, and you can buy a ground loop isolator to easily fix this problem. The isolator shown in this video was purchased at a Micro Center retail store but they can also be purchased on-line. I included a link under the video to the item on the Micro Center website, and to a similar unit that can found on Amazon.

In the video I demonstrate the ground loop noise with an aviation radio scanner (I am an aviation nerd, lol) but the problem can happen with any audio source like your cell phone or MP3 player (do they still sell MP3 players? lol) that you might have plugged into your 12 volt power port inside your car. Anytime your car radio and your external audio source share the same ground, you could possibly experience “ground loop” noise. Sure, you could just unplug the 12 volt power cord from your phone but then you wouldn’t be able to charge and listen to your music at the same time without listening to that hideous noise. These simple and inexpensive ground loop isolators fix that problem.

Please be sure to give my video a thumbs up, and maybe post a quick comment below, and subscribe for more…. It really helps a guy out!

Bleed ABS Brakes Like A Pro With an Affordable Scan Tool

I made a youtube video to show how an affordable ABS scan tool can auto bleed ABS brake systems and ABS module just like a pro scanner. You don’t need a 5 or 10 thousand dollar GM Tech2 or Snap On diagnostic scanner (or any other high end vehicle manufacturer specific diagnostic scan tool) to preform an auto bleed on an ABS brake system. https://youtu.be/fUqmBqYIEAE

While searching online to find this affordable solution, I also found a few other low priced ABS scan tools that are supposed to also do an auto bleed. They are, The Foxwell NT630 Plus: And the OTC 3210: Please do your own research to be sure these scanners will work with your vehicle. The Foxwell seemed to be the cheapest, and the OTC was the most expensive. TO ME, the Autel seemed to be the best decision because it wasn’t the most expensive, but at least it was from a company that I had heard of before. OTC is a good, well known brand (Originally from my home state) but because of that, it seems that you are somewhat paying for the name. The Autel MaxiCheck Pro was middle ground for me. After using it to bleed my brakes, I can say that I am very happy with my purchase. I’m sure there are others out there but at the time of my YouTube video, these seemed to be the cheapest three (that I could find) with auto bleed capability.

It’s important to keep in mind that not every make and model of vehicle is capable of performing an auto bleed. The vehicle must have that function programmed into the ECM to begin with. It is the computer (ECM) in the vehicle that is actually performing the function, the Autel MaxiCheck Pro OBDII scan tool (or any other brand of scan tool) is only commanding the vehicle’s computer to run the auto bleed. The Scan tool itself is not doing anything other than commanding the auto bleed function that is programmed into the vehicle’s ECM from the factory. I suggest doing a google search for your make and model to see if your vehicle has the ability to auto bleed the ABS brake system before you buy a scanner.

And just to be clear…. I manually bled fluid from all four wheels before AND after performing an auto bleed with the scan tool. Once the air is moved out of the ABS module, (with scan tool) it must then be physically bled out of the system at each wheel. I did this entire process twice. And another side note: I use the Motive Products Power Bleeder to bleed my brakes. All other forms of bleeding may work eventually, but using a power bleeder (any brand) is absolutely the quickest, easiest and most reliable way to remove air from the brake system…. Your mileage may vary.

Check out my video below on YouTube to see how easy it was to perform an auto bleed on my 2006 GMC Sierra 1500.