RockAuto.com is excited to announce the addition of Dynamic Friction Rotor & Brake Pad Kits to our online catalog! Kits help ensure a successful brake job and prevent unwanted surprises by installing matched rotors, friction and hardware all at the same time. To celebrate the release of their Rotor & Brake Pad Kits, Dynamic Friction is offering RockAuto.com customers an exclusive 10% instant rebate starting September 16, 2021 through the end of September 2021!

RockAuto has Dynamic Friction Rotor & Brake Pad Kits designed to fit every driving need and style, including:

Pro-Kit 3000 - Designed for the budget conscious driver, Dynamic Friction's Pro-Kit 3000 delivers a competent, no-frills brake job. Each kit includes smooth, non-directional rotors, ceramic brake pads and stainless steel hardware.

OE-Kit 5000 - For drivers seeking OE brake performance, Dynamic Friction's OE-Kit 5000 is designed to be a direct replacement for the components that came on your vehicle from the factory. These kits feature a pad material that matches the OE material, smooth, non-directional rotors and stainless steel hardware.

Geo-Kit 5000 - For drivers seeking additional protection against rust related braking problems, Dynamic Friction's Geo-Kit 5000 is the perfect fit. This kit features GeoSpec Rotors, with a patented coating that forms a durable and attractive silver-gray finish that fights rust better than other conventional paint or zinc coatings. To ensure OE braking performance, each kit includes model specific brake pads and stainless steel hardware.

Performance-Kit 5000 - For drivers who need increased braking performance over OE, Dynamic Friction developed the Performance-Kit 5000. This kit features drilled and slotted rotors that increase pad bite and reduce heat buildup to deliver shorter stopping distances. Available with both Silver Plated and Black Plated rotors, this kit will not only decrease stopping distances, it will also look great behind open spoke wheels! Each kit features model specific brake pad material compounds and stainless steel hardware.

Find the Dynamic Friction Rotor & Brake Pad Kit for your specific vehicle in the “Brake & Wheel Hub” category of the RockAuto.com catalog. Do not delay, this manufacturer rebate ends September 30th, 2021. Simply add a qualifying part to your cart and instantly save even more on RockAuto's reliably low prices!

DigitalCorvettes.com is an online forum community dedicated to all Corvette owners and enthusiasts. With over 2 million posts covering all generations of Corvette (from C1 to C8), find the information you need or join a discussion on topics such as performance, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance and more!

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.

I am restoring a 1981 Camaro and enjoy doing most of the work by myself. I recently decided to replace the power steering pump since it was 40 years old. After doing some research, I realized the pulley is simply a press fit, so I purchased a power steering pulley tool and easily removed the pulley.

Using the same tool (with a different attachment for installing the pulley) I easily installed the new pulley onto the new pump. After installing the pump, I went to put the power steering belt on, but something was not right. The belt would not line up with the pulley and the crankshaft main pulley, what gives?

Thinking I did not put the pulley on far enough, I removed the pump and then realized I put the pulley on backwards. No problem, I will just remove it using the puller tool. Nope! Since the pulley was on backwards, the groove that the tool uses to pull the pulley was not accessible. Now I am really toast. No way to get the pulley off!

So now the pump and pulley are no good. So off to RockAuto for a new pulley and a new pump.

Believe me, now I know to make sure that the pulley goes on in the right direction. Once I got it on correctly the pump and belt installed just fine.

Rick in Maryland

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 is GM's "rope-drive," introduced on the 1961 Pontiac Tempest?

A. The steering wheel was made of thick cotton rope covered in rigid Bakelite resin; designed to collapse during a "significant collision."

B. A smaller, lighter starter motor tightened a spool of cable rather than spun a gear to turn over the engine. It was sometimes unofficially referred to as the "Lawn-Boy starter."

C. A "thumb-sized" flexible metal rod connected the engine at the front of the vehicle to the transmission/axle located at the rear of the vehicle. It helped reduce the vibration generated by the four-cylinder engine.

Answer below

Oddly, a high mileage gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine may signal that it needs a new timing set (timing chain, tensioners, etc.) by setting a diagnostic trouble code for high or low fuel pressure.

High pressure GDI fuel pumps typically are driven by a lobe on a camshaft. A fuel regulator valve solenoid mounted on the side of the pump controls the fuel pressure generated by the pump. There are two different fuel pump/valve designs that either activate to release pressure or activate to build up pressure.

One fuel pump design activates the solenoid to open a valve that vents excess fuel back to the low pressure fuel line. If the solenoid is not opening its valve at the right time intervals, then the fuel pump's fuel pressure will be too high.

The second fuel pump design activates the solenoid to close a valve that allows fuel pressure to build up. If the solenoid is not closing its valve at the right time intervals, then the pump's fuel pressure will remain too low.

The engine computer decides when to activate the solenoid based on engine timing; what position the camshaft lobe driving the fuel pump is in. Fuel pressure trouble arises when the computer does not know the correct position of that camshaft lobe and ends up activating the solenoid that opens/closes the valve at the wrong times. This can occur when the computer uses the signal from the crankshaft position sensor to tell it the position of the camshaft, but the crankshaft and camshaft are no longer synchronized because a timing chain has stretched and/or a chain tensioner has loosened.

Eventually, the timing chain/tensioners will probably fail badly enough that the computer will generate trouble codes specifically related to crankshaft/camshaft position sensors and/or engine misfires. But, there may be a period when the computer does not see enough engine timing error to activate engine timing trouble codes but does see enough fuel pressure error to activate fuel pressure trouble codes.

A high mileage GDI engine that has a newer high pressure fuel pump but still has its original timing chain and tensioners may need a new timing set rather than another new fuel pump. Use a stethoscope to listen for noise coming from a loosening timing chain and be suspicious if the engine runs a little rough or occasionally generates seemingly unrelated fuel pressure and engine timing diagnostic trouble codes.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

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

The original owner of my 1982 Honda Civic 1500 was an older man who always kept it garaged, never took it out of the county and rarely out of town. A few years ago he passed away, and his wife had to sell the car. There were about twenty people who responded to the listing before me, but I was the right owner who knew and loved this car. Now it is all mine.

It always surprises me how often I get stopped by folks who tell me how wonderful they think it is, how they used to have one, how jealous they are or how they want to make an offer on it. For a couple weeks my wife drove it to work each day while I had to do some work on her car (with RockAuto parts of course). She told me after a few days how people would slow down as they drove by just to get her attention to give her a thumbs up. I told her to get used to it. She then later said that multiple times she thought guys were looking at her when she would get out of the car, but realized they were just checking out the car.

This is my third wagon of this generation and the one I will not be letting go of. It will be my daughter’s car once she gets her license in a few months. Well it is hers until we get her something else. I am not willing to give it to her for good, but do not tell her that. For my wagons I have ordered more RockAuto parts than I can list. For this one, I recently ordered a carburetor rebuild kit, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filters and front brake pads. I think shocks and struts will be next.

Thank you for all you do to be my favorite auto parts supplier.

Bo in California (RockAuto customer for over nine years)

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What is GM's "rope-drive," introduced on the 1961 Pontiac Tempest?

A. The steering wheel was made of thick cotton rope covered in rigid Bakelite resin; designed to collapse during a "significant collision."

B. A smaller, lighter starter motor tightened a spool of cable rather than spun a gear to turn over the engine. It was sometimes unofficially referred to as the "Lawn-Boy starter."

Answer: C. A "thumb-sized" flexible metal rod connected the engine at the front of the vehicle to the transmission/axle located at the rear of the vehicle. It helped reduce the vibration generated by the four-cylinder engine. (Source: Page 56 of this issue of "Popular Science")

Flexible metal rod runs through the hollow member that joins front and rear running gear

Back up to trivia question