Fix It

Trying to work with an O2 sensor without the proper tools may result in a myriad of problems. An oxygen sensor plays an important role as it measures the amount of oxygen in both the gas or liquid that the sensor is analyzing. Should a problem arise with the O2 sensor and it needs to be repaired or replaced, the importance of having the appropriate O2 sensor tools on hand increases significantly.

Oxygen Sensor Wrench

Reaching an oxygen sensor is often a challenge as it is generally located in a hard-to-reach space. The oxygen sensor wrench was created for just this purpose, as it is capable of replacing and installing new oxygen sensors, or simply giving the oxygen sensor a "checkup." Oxygen sensors wrenches are generally 22 mm, and vary in style based on what tool is needed for a particular O2 sensor (such as rusty or overheated sensors).

Oxygen Sensor Tester

The oxygen sensor tester tool measures the response time of the O2 sensor. If the O2 sensor, when tested, is unable to move from under 175mV to over 800mV in under 100mS upon snapping the throttle, then the test is failed, indicating the need for a new O2 sensor.

Oxygen Sensor Socket

The oxygen sensor socket tool is specifically designed to assist in removing the O2 sensor from the exhaust manifold. Alternatively, a 22-mm socket may be used if you are unable to acquire an oxygen sensor socket. The socket is placed over the O2 sensor and turned clockwise to loosen it, with heat (via letting the car warm for five minutes) and oil applied if you are unable to loosen it.

The National Automotive Parts Association, more commonly known as NAPA, sells its own line of automotive tools under the brand name Evercraft. The Evercraft brand includes a line of pneumatic (air-powered) tools. These tools are sold at certain NAPA stores across the country as well as through the companys website.

Evercraft Impact Wrench

Evercraft impact wrenches use pneumatic power to twist on heavy lugs on wheel rims and other parts. The 3/8-inch Butterfly impact wrench has an aluminum housing and operates at a speed of 10,000 revolutions per minute (RPM). It has a maximum torque of 75 foot-pounds. It is a little over 6 inches long, weighs 2 lbs. and uses a 3/8-inch air hose. The 1/2-inch impact wrench is even more powerful with a maximum torque of 230 foot-pounds.

Evercraft Air Ratchet

Producing 45 foot-pounds of torque with 170 RPM at 90 pounds per square inch (psi), the Evercraft Air Ratchet has a ribbed handle to allow the user better control. It also has an aluminum and steel housing. It is 8.9 inches long and weighs 2.8 lbs.. It uses a 3/8-inch hose and has an average air consumption of 4 cubic feet per minute (CFM).

Evercraft Air Hammer

An air-powered hammer that produces 3300 strikes per minute at 90 psi, the Evercraft Air Hammer has a built-in regulator for added control with an air consumption of 5.1 CFM. It has a bore diameter of 11/16th inch, a stroke length of 2.6 inches, a total length of 6.9 inches and a weight of 3.5 lbs.

Evercraft Die Grinder

A high-impact, pneumatic tool used to grind down materials such as metal car parts, the Evercraft die grinder has a safety throttle lever, a rear exhaust mechanism and a built-in regulator. It also has a ball bearing construction that adds to the durability of the tool. It spins at 22,000 RPM and is 6.75 inches long. The company also makes a 90-degree angled die grinder with similar specifications.

Evercraft Utility Cutoff Tool

The Evercraft utility cutoff tool is a device used to cut metal car parts. The utility cutoff tool has a metal guard, a built-in regulator, a safety throttle lever, ball bearing construction and a rear exhaust mechanism for blowing debris away from the worker. It has a free speed of 20,000 RPM and 7.125 inches long.

Owning a Mercedes-Benz automobile has its advantages. Mercedes-Benz enjoys a reputation for automotive quality, safety and longevity. But repairing them requires certain specialized tools. Mechanic shops specialize in repair and maintenance of Mercedes-Benz automobiles, but you can find and purchase the specialized tools yourself. Tools for Mercedes-Benz automobiles are varied and divided into function. There are specialized tools for everything from automatic transmissions to wheels and tires.

Automatic Transmission Tools

There are a variety of specialized tools to work on automatic transmissions within Mercedes-Benz automobiles. They include tools as basic as the oil level dipstick for viewing the oil level height to various drive shaft groove nut socket wrenches. Clutch pack compressors help remove the snap ring. A brake band piston loader is a specialized assembly tool for brake pistons. A special axial play parallel rest tool measures axial play--the side-to-side movement--on the gear sets.

General Engine Tools

Specialized tools designed for general engine use are available for Mercedes-Benz vehicles. These include a special slide hammer adapter for removing the precombustion chambers from early- and late-model turbo diesels, and a specialized diesel pin wrench. A special "pencil" type, extra-long glow plug bore reamer removes heavy carbon deposits in glow plugs--a sometimes necessary first step to removing the plugs--for models 1996 to the current year. There is also one for models from 1983 and for nonturbo models from 1967 to 1985.

Electrical Equipment and Tools

Special Mercedes-Benz tools are designed to work on the vehicles electrical systems. These include a wire terminal and connector crimping master kit. The kit includes the basic crimper and five interchangeable magnetic crimping heads, along with a one-handed wire stripper that crimps butt, hex, coaxial, insulated, noninsulated, closed, flag and cord end Mercedes-Benz terminals of varying sizes. A special Mercedes-Benz data scanner reads and resets fault codes and reads live data for road tests. Also available is a bearing and race puller for use on battery terminals, small gears and bearings and relay pliers for easy removal of the Mercedes-Benz Bosch electrical relays, in the smallest, tightest locations.

In the golden age, before electric starters, when every motorcycle needed to be literally stomped into life with a booted, right foot, old school bikers regularly built their own motorcycles, made their own parts and imagined their own tools. Many of these tools were improvised, on the spot, in the middle of unexpectedly difficult repairs to solve some problem. Their manufacture and use became shop lore. Here are three classic examples: the specialty angled wrench; the magnetized screwdriver of exactly the right size; and the "spare tire" club bikers can fold up and carry in their bags. These examples of things men once did are dangerous and are described here for entertainment purposes only.

Instructions

1

Heat the handle of an appropriately sized combination box/open end wrench with a propane or oxyacetylene torch. Heat the handle about two inches, or an appropriate distance, from the box end. Heat until the spot turns dull red.

2

Put the box end in a vise and bend the wrench 90 degrees. Allow the wrench to cool. Remove it from the vise.

3

Heat a spot on the same wrench about 1/2 inch from the box end until it also glows dull red. Put the hot end in the vise and bend the wrench 90 degrees so that the box end is once again parallel to the wrench handle but offset 1 inches.

4

Allow the wrench to cool. Remove it from the vise and use it to turn otherwise inaccessible nuts in impossible to reach places on your motorcycle.

5

Remove the seat from your motorcycle by loosening the seat bolt with an Allen wrench and access your motorcycle battery. Disconnect both battery cables.

6

Tightly wrap the exact screwdriver you need magnetized with about two feet of insulated, copper wire. Leave about two inches of wire on each end unwrapped.

7

Strip and straighten each end of the insulated wire. Note the approximate distance between the positive and negative terminals on your motorcycle battery. Arrange the stripped ends of the insulated wire wrapped around the screwdriver so they are about the same distance apart as the terminals on your battery.

8

Put on sunglasses. Put on leather gloves. Wrap the handle of the screwdriver with clean, oil free rags.

9

Touch one end of the wire to the positive battery terminal. Boldly touch the other end of the wire to the negative terminal.

10

Drop the screwdriver when it becomes too hot to hold or when the rags begin to smoke after about five seconds. Allow the screwdriver to cool.

11

Remove the insulated wire. Use the magnetized screw driver to retrieve lost screws and bolts in otherwise inaccessible nooks and crannies of your motorcycle.

12

Crimp two threaded hose fittings with a crimper tool to both ends of a five foot section of rubber air hose. Screw tire nozzles, like the ones in gas stations, to both fittings.

13

Pack the hose in your saddlebags when riding across the Mojave or other relatively unpopulated regions with your friends. Use the hose to siphon air from your friends motorcycle tires when you develop a slow leak.

For an automobile owner to experience a smooth ride while traveling down a freeway or local dirt road, it is essential that the automobile is equipped with a stable suspension. But when the cars suspension jumps out of alignment, the suspension needs to be re-aligned by using specific types of suspension alignment tools like an electronic camber gauge. This tool checks exact areas where a cars suspension needs to be repaired.

Digital Coil Spring Tester

To check if an automobiles springs are working correctly so that the cars suspension alignment can be properly repaired, a car technician will use a digital coil spring tester. This device is constructed out of hard metal and contains a six-inch test spring that the mechanic positions underneath a cars chassis to see if the cars suspension has fallen too far down to be repaired or if the suspensions spring coils need to be replaced.

Spring Platform Wrench

Constructed out of a hard steel and equipped with an easy to grip metal handle, the spring platform wrench is a suspension alignment tool that is used to fit over spring platform nuts up to 3-1/4 inches in diameter. When a cars suspension is out of alignment, the spring platform wrench is used to tighten up all spring platform nuts after significant alignment adjustments have been made to the suspension.

Digital Caster/Camber Gauge with Magnetic Adapter

To ensure that specific sections of a cars suspension is re-aligned so that the car can drive smoothly, a digital caster/camber gauge with magnetic adapter tool is used. This piece of equipment contains a backlit LCD readout that shows the mechanic exact angles up to 20 degrees in 0.1 increments so that the mechanic can see where the suspension needs to be re-aligned. A 9-volt battery powers up this unit so that the car technician can place the tool underneath the cars chassis to inspect the suspension.

3/8-inch Drive Spring Platform Adjuster

When an automobiles suspension needs a lot of small adjustments to be properly re-aligned, the 3/8-inch drive spring platform adjuster can be used. This small metal tool is equipped with a 3/8-inch square socket that fits snugly over almost any cars spring platform nuts and bolts so that adjustments can be made. The tool also is designed with an easy grip handle, which allows the mechanic to adjust nuts and bolts with less stress.

Since the introduction of the 260D car in 1936, the Mercedes Benz company has been focused on diesel-powered automobiles and its cars are still on the cutting edge of todays diesel vehicles. To keep your Mercedes running smoothly, its advisable to own some of the specialized Mercedes diesel tools.

Engine Tools

If you need to remove the pre-combustion chambers on your diesel motor, use a slide hammer with a threaded adapter or get the special slide hammer adapter with two different threads. Other specialized wrenches and sockets include the pre-chamber retainer ring pin wrench, which removes and installs the threaded retainer ring of the pre-chamber, and a multi-spline socket to remove the pre-combustion chamber retainer ring on later injection diesel models. For the glow plugs, you can use a glow plug bore reamer, which is a pencil-type reamer that removes the carbon deposit from the glow plug holes. This reamer comes for turbo or non-turbo diesels. Many other tools, like hex head sockets, used to access the head bolts, can be used for both diesel and gasoline Mercedes Benz cars.

Cylinder Head and Engine Timing Tools

If you need to adjust the valves of your diesel engine, a pair of diesel valve adjusting wrenches and retaining nut holders come in handy. The diesel spring plate holding wrench will hold the retaining nut as you adjust the valves. To check the compression, get a compression gauge and an adapter. The gauge comes with a hose and the adapter of your choice. Make your car run its best with some new glow plugs, or analyze your old plugs with the glow plug analyzer, which tests 12-volt glow plug systems in the newer model diesel engines. To reach the deep port injectors and the glow plugs easily, a diesel compression adapter extension can be used.

Injection Tools

Test your cars opening pressure, the spray pattern and the cleaning injectors with a diesel injection nozzle tester. You can get this tool in a kit, which includes a gauge and the pump and steel adaptor lines. This kit is adaptable for gasoline injectors, too. A specialized diesel fuel pressure tester lets you measure the fuel pressure in high pressure CDI-type engines and a timing tool allows you to calculate the start of the fuel delivery with the RIV method. To maintain your timing while working on the pump, use a diesel pump lock pin, which locks the pump cam. The diesel drip tube helps you adjust the start of the fuel delivery and a vacuum control adjusting roller can measure the vacuum pressures on the control valve. A diesel nozzle socket and an injection socket are helpful tools, too.

Automotive reprogramming or re-flashing is the act of basically rebooting the automotive engine control modules (ECMs). ECMs are small computers built into your vehicle, and they have many standard computer features, including random access memory (RAM), a microprocessor and chips. These computers also have programmable read-only memory (PRsaya) type chips, which help calibrate the ECM computer. When you reprogram your vehicle, you are actually deleting the data stored on the PRsaya and reprogramming it with new accurate data.

CarDAQ-Plus

This tool is designed to work with any type of controller area network (CAN), which is generally found in newer model cars and trucks. This tool comes with both a universal serial bus (USB) port and an Ethernet port, which allows you to connect this tool to your computer. This tool helps you diagnose problems on CAN vehicles, and you can use this tool to re-flash the computer systems. Other features of this tool include that it comes with expansion slots, which allow you to add memory and additional functionality, and the system can be upgraded via firmware updates. As of 2010, this tool costs $1,638, and is manufactured by Drew Technologies. It is targeted to industry professionals and smaller automotive repair shops.

Race Technology

This re-flashing software is for Race Technology products, and this is a free product. You just need to download it from the company website. This tool is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7, and this re-flashing software allows you to delete stored information. Then, the software will update the system with the latest firmware updates, which include security and software updates. These updates could also correct things like emission, transmission and fuel economy problems. You must plug your device into either a computer or a laptop since this is where you will install the software.

Universal Reprogrammer

The Universal Reprogrammer is compatible with General Motors (GM), Toyota, Ford and Chrysler vehicles, and it allows you to re-flash your system using the same software updates as the dealer does. This is a stand-alone tool, and it uses a wizard to guide you through the process. Other features of this reprogrammer include that it comes with its own scan tool, and it is compatible with Windows XP with the Service Pack 3 (SP3), Vista and 7, and it is only compatible with 32-bit systems. As of 2010, the Universal Reprogrammer costs between $1,000 and $2,395 if you want a wired connection, and it costs between $1,000 and $2,495 if you would like a wireless connection.