If you see a Google ad up the top of the page when you are searching for a mechanic, just because they are at the top, it doesn't mean they are a top mechanic, but the reverse.

Here's how google ads work, there are free listings and there are paid listings. Paid listings are at the top of the page, but ask yourself a question. If they need to pay for the top listing then chances are they have no repeat business and the reason for this is they charge way too much or they are not very good so they need to pay for the ad to get new customers.

I don't pay for google ads, its far too expensive around 500 a month, instead i'm still on the first page as my site is attractive to google and i get a lot of traffic because of my blogs. I don't need to advertise and pay for a top page listing as I have 180 plus customers who wouldn't go to anyone else.

Also if mechanics are paying for a top listing on the first page of google they are paying top dollar for it, this added cost is intergrated to your bill. Take AutoKing for example, they advertise 'No call out fee's'. And they are technically correct as they don't charge a call out fee (but) their minimum is 100. I'm honest and charge a 88 min which includes the call out fee and 1/2 hour labor charge, clearly marked out on my first page so you know what you're paying for. I hope this clears up why some mechanics are on top page of google. Not because they are the best, because they need to be on the top of the first page.

I get a lot of calls for Servicing and Repairs to outboard engines and inboard Diesels. My Trade is Motor Mechanic and I'm also a Heavy Vehicle Fitter. So i'm trained to work on passager cars and heavy machinery. My Business name is Everything Mechanical, Everything Petrol and Everything Diesel in my field of qualifications.

Marine engines fall under a different qualification of Mechanic who is trained on small engines and light duty engines and they must have a seperate qualification to work on these engine types. A Mechanic falls under many different catagories, mine are light and heavy vehicles. I do work on my own outboard and my inboard on my boat, but i'm not qualified to work on anyone's marine engine. If a 'Mechanic' is spinning a dollar off fixing outboards without the marine certification then he's practicing illegally and why would you want a breakdown at Arlington Reef anyway?

Ask him if he's marine certified and if he isn't then find someone who is. You don't want to be in our croc waters to have your outboard breakdown or stuck out at sea. If you can't afford to have your marine engine serviced and looked after properly then the risk is great when it comes to saftey if you use a 'Mechanic' as he's cheaper, if this is a factor then you probably shouldn't have a boat as they are expensive.

If you have a marine diesel then give this guy a call, and he's the yanmar dealer

KG Mechanical

Diesel engine repair service in Bungalow, Queensland

Address: 26 Svendsen St, Bungalow QLD 4870

Phone: (07) 4033 7311

It's a question I am often asked, What should i buy?

When you are looking at a new car or a secondhand car you should be looking at a lot of factors like What do you want the car to do? like if you have a family a roomy car like an suv or a work ute or a passanger car for people without children. It's confusing, of course the car salesperson will say whatever to get the sale but there is little on the market in the form of good quality and something that will last.

In my opinion Vehicles that are 20 years old or older even some models 10 years or older are not worth the money as the design of them are only meant to last the warranty period and that's it, after that buy a new car.

I can't recommend any brand or car, but i can tell you what not to buy.

1. Great Walls are at the top of my list, the Chinese cannot make anything good and are renouned for making rubbish, I won't have a great wall in my shop even for a service. the parts are not readily available and Great Wall do not warrant their warranties, this is cheap and nasty.

2. Navara and Patrol 3.0 ltr. These are heavy cars with a long chassis and a very poor turning circle and are full of problems, they are messy to service and expensive to fix, they weigh far too much for a little 3.0 ltr engine to push and there are problems with the EGR and DPF filters. They clog up driveways and workshops

3. Holden Cruze, Barina and Astra are models designed for european climates, not hot rough climates like Australia, the 3.6 commodores are another car now showing problems with wiring and stretched timing chains as they are not meant to last.

4. Anything Indian made is another cheap pile of garbage, stay clear of these.

5. Hyundai Tuscan are full of problems the X3 excels have problems from showroom, not many around now but stay clear of this model

6. RAMs and Jeeps and chryslers. I have a relative to owns a Ram dealership and we don't talk as we have different opinions about these cars, if you bought a Jeep, congratulatios, you just bought a money pit

7. Ford Festiva, Focus and Fiesta again designed for Europe, not Australia.

Well there's a short list of what not to buy and the new cars are not getting any better, they are getting worse and are just not designed to last outside the warranty period. Toyota actually make a car for Australia. The others swap badges and rename a car for Australia.

Have fun shopping and remember, never trust a Car Salesperson!

O2 sensors measure the burn rate of the exhaust gasses. This information is sent to the computer to calculate the intake of fuel and air for the next combustion stroke. If you have scanned your car and found an O2 sensor code, it doesn't mean the O2 sensor is always faulty. If you use the term 'We are what we eat' then this also applies to your car. If you have bad fuel or cheap 91 fuel in your tank then the combustion burn will no be as high as good 98 fuel. If you look at fuel rates, 91 means only 91% of the fuel will be burnt, another 4 to 5% of the fuel will recirculate and burn up eventually but the remainer 3% will deposit as sludge and gradually build up in your intake and throttle body. If the O2 sensor comes up as faulty, remove the sensor and check for unburnt carbon deposits. cleaning the O2 can save you heaps

In Cairns, inside vehicle temperature can reach 120 cel, most people jump into the hot car, turn on the A/C and drive away without giving it another thought.

Every vehicle is fitted with a recircualtion/vent switch. There is a reason for this. When you get into the hot vehicle you should wind the windows down, put the vent on fresh and run until the majority of hot air inside the vehicle is despirsed. you will feel it when it's cooler, then wind the windows up and put on recirc.

By turning on the AC and recirculating hot air this puts more stress onto the engine as the AC compressor takes longer cycles to cool the cabin of the vehicle. This means more stress on the AC system, more stress on the engine and more fuel used to cool the car. The fuel used to cool when on recirc is excessive, it may cost you only 30 cents extra but think of that cost when you stop and start over a 6 month period. Makes sense to operate the AC the proper way than to pour your money down the drain.

When you turn off your car and park it for the day or night, all the oil in the engine drains back into the sump, the coolant cools and the thermostat closes.

In the morning when you start it up and drive it straight away, without giving it enought time to warm up you are actually causing premature wear and tear on your engine.

You may say that warming your engine is an old fashioned way of doing things, but warming up is actually written in most manuals you get when you buy your car. Loading up is a term that means you stress the engine or put load onto the engine, if you load it up when cold, or drop it into drive and drive it straight away the lubrication hasn't had sufficient time to get through all the oil galleries, the engine revs slightly higher as its cold and more fuel is deposited until warm up is completed.

All you need to do is start you car and wait until the temp guage gets to normal operating temp, then drive it. This way you don't stress out the engine, you will get better fuel economy and performance and reduce wear and tear on your engine. This applies to any engine from a ferarri to a lawn mower, regardless what engine oil you use, even aircraft need to warm up before flying, it makes sense to warm your engine up before you use it.

When going to change a drive belt on these models they are a nightmare, Usually the little shock absorber tensioner fails and you will need to change the whole tensioner. People go for the cheaper part so the cheapest part is a Gates 39214 Drive belt tesioner, however when you buy this cheap part you need to add the drive belt that they say suits the pulley @ $90.00 as the pulley is larger than the original. Next problem is the design of this engine as all the pulleys the drive belt runs on have what we call belt keepers. Belt keepers are a higher ridge pulley designed to keep the belt true to the belt grooves, but if you use the belt recommended ( 7PK1640) you will find this belt runs short, so you cannot get the belt over the keepers, all pulleys in nissans have keepers unlike everything else that has one pulley that the keeper is left off in order so you can get the new belt onto the pulley, the nissan engineers must have had a day off when designing this set up. This engine was partly designed by English engineers, This explains why there is problems as they really must be mummys boys to get them into engineering school, they create more problems with their designs, not solutions. So if you insist on the cheaper Gates tensioner then the recommended belt 7PK1640 will not fit, you need a 7PK1643 that is not available and the 7PK1645 is too large, it will fit but the tension will be too poor. The remedy using the cheaper tensioner is to remove the original pulley, replace the bearing and install the old pully to the new gates tensioner. This way when the belt breaks or after it's worn you will be able to get the correct belt when you quote your rego number or the other option you have is to buy the more expensive pulley or genuine pulley. The extra time needed to try and make this cheap tensioner fit far outweighs the extra cost of buying the tensioner that does fit. I've contacted Gates about this and they don't want to know about it, blaming this individual Patrol to my problem. But this is what i have experienced on at least 5 other models, so it's not a particular vehicle that causes this problem. It's the chinese lack of quailty that is infecting the automotive industry! My advise is buy a genuine belt tensioner or fork out a few extra for the correct size pulley, unless you want to go crazy rolling around on the grass in someone's driveway with dog shit stuck to your hair, is it really worth the stress?