RockAuto is now happy to carry Vemo and Vaico brand parts built by Germany's Vierol AG for Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mini, Volvo, VW and other European brand vehicles.

Vemo sensors, relays, switches, valves and other electronic parts are found under many categories in the RockAuto.com catalog including "Brake & Wheel Hub", "Electrical", "Exhaust & Emission", "Fuel & Air" and more. Vaico covers non-electrical parts; everything from Lift Supports, to Wheel Hubs, to Filters, to Tie Rod Ends, to Brake Shoes.

Open the RockAuto.com catalog to see the Vemo and Vaico brand parts now available for your specific European brand car or SUV.

During June 2020, AutoLine Products is offering RockAuto customers an exclusive 10% Instant Rebate on select Remanufactured Fuel Injectors and New Distributors. AutoLine is a family-owned business that has been making parts better than new since the '60s.

AutoLine Products is known for remanufacturing fuel injectors, carburetors, throttle bodies, distributors and other crucial, precision-made parts. This month's Exclusive AutoLine Instant Rebate helps highlight that AutoLine now also builds 100% new distributors, broadening the ignition repair solutions available for many vehicles.

AutoLine new Distributors feature precision machined shafts and OEM Equivalent Electronics (modules and coils), to ensure proper function and long service life. They come ready-to-install with cap and rotor, gasket, wire harness and/or other required parts.

The AutoLine June rebate is instant. While shopping, simply put the select AutoLine parts in your cart to immediately save 10% off RockAuto's already reliably low prices.

From now through the end of June 2020, Holstein is offering RockAuto customers an exclusive 10% instant rebate across their line of ABS Wheel Speed Sensors, Brake Pad Wear Sensors, Crankshaft Position Sensors, Camshaft Position Sensors, Variable Valve Timing Solenoids and more!

Holstein parts are tested to ensure they meet or exceed OE standards for fit and performance, helping ensure the repair is done right the first time. Holstein parts are OE-quality without the OE price. Find Holstein sensors and solenoids available throughout the RockAuto.com catalog for a wide range of vehicles. Simply put a Holstein part in your cart to instantly save an additional 10% off RockAuto's reliably low prices!

More Rebates
Go to the Promotions and Rebates page to see details for these rebates and additional rebates from ACDelco, AMS Automotive, Auto Meter, Fab Fours and KYB.

While shopping, watch for the yellow Promotion/Rebate Star in the RockAuto.com catalog to help you save even more on RockAuto’s reliably low prices!

Suzuki-Forums.com is a forum community dedicated to Suzuki owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, troubleshooting, reviews, maintenance and more! All Suzuki models (Aero, Vitara & Grand Vitara, XL-7, Samurai, etc.) are well represented and have active discussions loaded with information.

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact marketing@rockauto.com.

Having been an auto mechanic in my early years, I get called in by friends when they are stumped on their car repairs.

A friend with a 1989 Chevy Suburban was having trouble with his back window not closing correctly after trying to repair it. We dug into the tailgate by removing the access panel on the inside. He operated the window using the key in the tailgate lock. The window moved up, down...and sideways! I looked around and found one of the six bolts that mount the window assembly was still in place. The other five were nowhere to be found. We remounted the assembly with all of the correct bolts, and the window then moved correctly.

My friend reinstalled the access panel, closed the tailgate, raised the window, and it stopped short about 1" from the window gasket! The access panel was removed, inspected, and installed a couple of times, always with the same result. I then sat inside with the panel off to watch how the window moved while he operated the window. It went up and sealed perfectly!

I took one of the access panel mounting screws and screwed it into its hole in the tailgate without the panel. I had him raise the window a little at a time. Sure enough, the screw caught the mechanism and stopped it short, leaving the 1" gap. He admitted that he lost the original screws, and grabbed the first ones that "fit" the holes for the access panel.

Jim in California

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the RockAuto catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

What vehicle did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau inherit from his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, in 2000?

A. 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300SL
B. 1982 Renault Le Car
C. 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
D. all the above

Answer below

Original equipment (OE) Park Assist Cameras (AKA back up, rear or rearview cameras) became increasingly common over the past decade and were mandatory on new vehicles starting in 2018. Like with many other types of electronics, how long a back up camera lasts depends partially on concrete factors such as operating environment and miles driven and partially depends on luck. Here are some suggestions that may help diagnose back up camera problems.

Environment?
Make diagnosis easier by knowing where the camera lens is located on the vehicle long before the camera starts having any problems. Strategically dropped bird poop might be all it takes to stymie the mechanic if he/she does not know the back up camera lens is cleverly located in the corner of the vehicle's center stop lamp (now covered by the bird poop). On some cars, the camera is hidden behind a door that only opens when the transmission is in reverse. Ice or dirt may jam that door. Some trucks have the camera in the rear bumper where its lens or wiring harness might get damaged by a trailer tongue, road salt or debris.

Reverse?
Images from the back up camera are supposed to display on the screen in the dash when the transmission is in reverse. If the backup lamps at the vehicle's rear do not come on in reverse gear and/or the screen on the dash keeps showing a radio display while in reverse gear, then the computer may not know the vehicle is backing up. If the computer does not know the vehicle is backing up, then it will not turn on the camera; maybe a fuse is blown, a wire is pinched or the gearshift's Shift Interlock Module is worn out.

Camera or Module?
The back up camera is often what fails because it gets the most exposure to vibration, heat, cold, moisture and other hazards, but there is always a chance that wiring harnesses/connectors, upstream electronic modules or software glitches may be the culprit. The back up camera is relatively simple on some vehicles, and on others, the camera includes the complexity of a "module."

The simplest wiring includes power, ground and video-out connections. An electrical Multi-Tester can be used to see if the camera is receiving power. Repair manuals (found under "Literature" in the RockAuto.com catalog) can help identify circuit components and recommend tests.

Word on the Street?
It is sometimes impossible for a repair manual written when the vehicle was new to foresee electrical problems that occur five, ten or fifteen years down the road. But, there is a good chance that other owners of that model vehicle have already experienced the same problem and written about their diagnosis mistakes and triumphs in online vehicle-specific forums.

One example is the back up camera on late-model Chrysler 300s and Dodge Chargers. The radio, climate control, etc. displays on the dash screen all look normal. However, the back up camera screen flickers and fails to show the animated vehicle width lines. It shows an image, but everything in the picture is backwards. (Back up cameras are supposed to show a mirror image so the driver sees what he/she would see in a conventional glass rearview mirror.) A camera that works but shows the wrong stuff (no guidelines, image is reversed) might suggest daunting software problems, but other 300/Charger owners discovered simply installing a new back up camera fixes the problem; a repair about as easy as changing a light bulb in the car's center stop lamp.

Find OE-style Park Assist (PAS) Cameras for specific vehicles under "Body" in the RockAuto.com catalog. Aftermarket Back Up Camera Systems are found under the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab in "Accessories."

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Toms articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

This is the car I owned during high school, and I am now returning to its original glory. She is a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme Convertible with the optional 3.4L DOHC V6. I have purchased parts from RockAuto for everything from the new brake system (brake booster, calipers, pads, rotors, hydraulic lines and hardware) to the steering and suspension (inner and outer tie rods and KYB Excel G shocks and struts) to engine parts; from basic tune up stuff, to the head gasket job I completed and everything in between. I also just recently purchased the A/C kit to redo for this summer!

Thank you RockAuto!

Doug in Kentucky (RockAuto customer for over seven years)

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to give you the opportunity to have your car or truck possibly featured in one (or occasionally more) of our publications such as the monthly newsletter, collector magnets, RockAuto social media or other commercial use. New, old, import, domestic, daily driver, trailer queen, classic, antique, we want to see them all! Please email flamur@RockAuto.com with the vehicle history, interesting details, your favorite images (tips for taking pictures of your car) and what parts from RockAuto you have used.

What vehicle did Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau inherit from his father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, in 2000?

Answer: A. 1960 Mercedes-Benz 300SL (link to story on Hagerty.com)
B. 1982 Renault Le Car
C. 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan
D. all the above

Back up to trivia question