How to Stop a Car From Backfiring


1. Examine your carburetor. The carburetor is the device that regulates airflow into your engine. This facilitates the controlled gas explosions that keep your car cruising along. Balance and tune the carburetor to ensure the air and gas mixture is properly balanced. The backfire may be your car's way of telling you that it's not getting enough air in its fuel mixture. You may also be able to prime the carburetor to fix it if it hasn't been used in quite some time.
2. Check the distributor cap. If it is cracked or broken in any way, it can easily backfire. Be sure to look very closely. Even a hairline crack can cause a car to backfire.
3. Evaluate your spark plugs. These provide the spark that ignites the air and gas mixture. If they are dirty, backfiring may be a symptom of an underpowered car. Remove the plugs with a wrench and make sure the pins are the right distance from the base of the plug. There may also be small bits of dirt in the plug that could cause a problem.
4. Inspect the integrity of the gaskets in your engine. These gaskets keep the proper gases in and the unneeded gases out. If these are compromised, they could cause backfire.
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How to Upgrade an Audi MMI


1. Turn off your Audi so that the ignition is in the 'Accessories' position and the car's electronics system is activated, or start the engine.
2. Insert the MMI upgrade CD in your audio unit.
3. Allow your MMi system to recognize the CD that you've just inserted as a software upgrade so that it can initiate the upgrade process.
4. Follow the prompts to complete the upgrade process, using the MMI menu navigation knob and buttons that are behind your gear shift lever. The prompts and specific upgrade processes will differ depending on your existing MMI version and the version to which you are upgrading.
5. Remove the upgrade CD after the upgrade has been completed. Restart your Audi to ensure that the new settings have taken effect.
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How to Change Sprinter Fuel Filter


1. Turn off the Mercedes Sprinter if it was on. Prop open the hood with the hood support rods.
2. Put on your plastic gloves.
3. Remove the left-most tube feeding the fuel filter. Clamp the tube collar with your needle-nose pliers. Press on the locking tab of the collar with your screwdriver. Release the collar. Pull the tube off the fuel filter nozzle.
4. Press in with your screwdriver on the releasing tab at the base of the tube collar of the middle tube. Release the tab. Pull the middle tube off the fuel filter.
5. Remove the two screws securing the fuel tube bracket to the fuel filter. The fuel tube bracket has two tubes attached to either end. Lift the bracket directly off the top of the fuel filter and set it aside.
6. Place a drainage bucket below the fuel valve on the side of the fuel filter. Twist the fuel valve counterclockwise to loosen it. Wait for all of the filtered fuel to drain out of the fuel filter.
7. Unplug the sensor harness on the bottom side of the fuel filter.
8. Remove the Allen screw securing the fuel filter mounting bracket to the fuel filter with your 5 mm Allen wrench.
9. Pull the filter directly upward and out of its mounting bracket.
10. Twist the sensor block on the bottom of the fuel filter off the old fuel filter. Insert the sensor into the bottom of the replacement fuel filter and twist it clockwise to secure it in place.
11. Seat the replacement fuel filter into the fuel filter mounting bracket in the same orientation as the previous fuel filter.
12. Fill the fuel filter with 1 pint of replacement diesel fuel.
13. Replace the two tubes on top, as well as the fuel tube bracket. Spread a small amount of grease on each nozzle as you plug back in each tube. Plug back in the sensor harness.
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How to Replace the Ignition Switch on a BMW 533i


1. Turn the ignition key to the 'II' position.
2. Insert the piece of wire all the way into the hole located just underneath the ignition cylinder and switch assembly.
3. Pull the ignition lock and switch assembly out of the steering column. Maintain pressure on the wire as you pull the cylinder out of the column. Once the switch is out of the column, remove the wire.
4. Insert the new switch and cylinder assembly into the steering column, with the ignition key turned to the 'II' position in the new cylinder, until the switch and cylinder assembly locks into the steering column.
5. Turn the ignition key to the 'Off' position and remove the key.
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How to Remove a Crankshaft Bolt


1. Loosen the lug nuts on the side of your vehicle where the crankshaft pulley is located. Turn the lug nuts 45 degrees.
2. Place the floor jack under your vehicle and jack up on the factory jack point or on the frame of the vehicle (front of the vehicle).
3. Place the jack stands under the frame of the vehicle and lower the vehicle onto the stands.
4. Finish loosening the lug nuts and take the wheels off.
5. Remove the splash guard using the screwdriver. To do this, you'll need to wedge the screwdriver in between the plastic rivets holding the splash guard and the splash guard itself. Then pry up on the rivets to pull them out.
6. Place the crankshaft pulley bolt remover tool over the pulley bolt.
7. Turn the air compressor on, and put the socket end of the impact wrench over the bolt remover tool.
8. Make sure the wrench is initially set to turn counterclockwise and begin loosening the bolt. You may need to adjust the air compressor or impact wrench so that it can apply a force equivalent to 1,000 foot-pounds of torque in order to remove this particular bolt. The adjustment settings will vary depending on the air compressor or impact wrench you are using. This bolt is not meant to be easy to remove. You may need to turn the bolt 'back and forth' with the impact wrench to vibrate it loose. To do this, switch between turning the bolt clockwise and counterclockwise; ultimately, you want to turn the bolt counterclockwise to finally remove it.
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How to Buy a Mercedes Diesel


1. Check out some of the new Mercedes diesel models such as the E320 BLUETEC which has all the luxury of a Mercedes but puts out a grumbling 400 pounds of torque and more than 200 horsepower. Best of all, the diesel gunner gets around 35 miles to the gallon, making it fast, powerful and efficient.
2. Take a look at the MB GL320 BlueTec if you're in the SUV market but don't want to give up on the diesel engine. The MB GL320 uses an advanced fuel injection system that cuts down on diesel emissions in order to make the car 50-state legal.
3. Make sure you're aware of the pitfalls of buying a Mercedes diesel car, especially in older models, since the cars are known to have problems with the cylinder walls, which in turn leads to compression problems. For this and other mechanical reasons, older Mercedes diesel should be serviced every 15,000 miles, including a valve clearance.
4. Choose between the turbo and non-turbo engines of the Mercedes diesel, available to all models. The difference is one of performance and money so if you're willing to spend a little more for some power and speed than the turbo is the way to go.
5. Find out what the price of diesel gas is and make sure that there are places in your area to fill up. This is important because the car will absolutely not run on gasoline and any gas that gets into the tank can cause damage (and will certainly cause the car to not start).
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How to Replace Audi Wiper Blades


1. With your Audi's engine running and the car in park, turn on the wipers and let them extend upward. When the wipers are in an upright position on the windshield, turn off the engine. Grasp one wiper arm and gently pull the wiper away from the glass in order to make it easier to complete this job.
2. Depress the release tab located on the wiper arm, near the point where the wiper blade meets the wiper arm.
3. Hold the release tab and slide the blade in a downward position until it unlocks from the wiper arm.
4. Place the new wiper blade assembly onto the pivot point. Slide it up until the retaining clip locks the new blade in place.
5. Return the wiper arms and new blades to the window surface. Wet the windshield and operate the wipers to make sure they are properly fitted.
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How to Reprogram a Mercedes Remote


1. Place your key in the car's ignition and turn the key two clicks to the 'On' position for any Mercedes car.
2. Press and release the lock button on your Mercedes keyless remote.
3. Press and hold the unlock button on your remote.
4. Press the lock button on your remote five times consecutively, while the unlock button is still held, at one or two second intervals.
5. Release the two buttons and wait five seconds after pressing the lock button for the fifth time. Press either the lock or unlock button once to finish the programming sequence.
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How to Change the Brake Pads on My BMW 330Ci


1. Park the BMW on a flat, level surface. Loosen the lug nuts that hold the wheels on with a lug nut wrench. Raise the car with a floor jack and lower it onto jack stands at all four corners. Finish removing the lug nuts, remove the wheels and set them aside.
2. Disconnect the brake pad wear sensor located on the front passenger side. Spray brake cleaner on the brake caliper, brake rotor and nearby parts. Wipe them down with a clean dry rag.
3. Remove the plastic covers on the caliper guide bolts and then loosen the bolts with a socket. The bolts are located on the top and bottom of the caliper on the side facing the wheel well. Once the bolts are loose, push them out of the caliper with a screwdriver.
4. Pry the anti-rattle clip off of the caliper with a screwdriver. This is the larger clip that is attached vertically to the caliper. Slide the caliper off of the rotor. You may need to use a screwdriver to leverage the caliper off of the rotor. Tie the caliper with a piece of wire to a nearby suspension piece so that it does not hang on the soft brake line.
5. Remove the inner brake pad from the caliper piston and the outer brake pad from the caliper bracket. Disconnect the wear sensor cable from the inner brake pad. Compress the caliper piston with a C-clamp so that the new, thicker brake pads can slide over the rotor. Place one pad of the C-clamp over the piston and the other over the outside of the caliper and tighten the clamp until the piston is retracted into the caliper.
6. Clean all of the brake parts with brake cleaner and a clean rag. Install the inner brake pad by pressing the clip on the brake pad into the caliper piston. Install the outer pad into the slot in the brake pad carrier in the same orientation that the old pad was removed.
7. Slide the caliper over the rotor. Clean the brake caliper retaining bolts. Install the retaining bolts and tighten them with a socket. Reinstall the anti-rattle clip with a pair of needle nose pliers. Reinstall the covers for the caliper bolts. Reconnect the brake pad wear cable.
8. Repeat steps 2 through 7 for the other three corners of the vehicle.
9. Replace the wheels. Lower the BMW to the ground and reinstall and tighten the lug nuts.
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How to Remove the OVP on a 190E Mercedes


1. Move the vehicle onto a flat work surface. Place the car in park. Shut the engine off and apply the parking brake. Open the hood of the vehicle.
2. Find the OVP relay. Its box casing is made of black plastic and is next to the car battery.
3. Take off the OVP's cover. You'll see a 10-amp fuse that leads to the relay. Remove the OVP by taking out the fuse.
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