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I love to cook over real fire! Whether on a gas grill, charcoal grill, smoker grill, fire pit or even in my fireplace, cooking with fire is fun and creates unique and delicious aromas and flavors that enhance many foods greatly. But by far my very favorite way to cook is over a real hardwood firewood fire. While good charcoal and smoker cooking can certainly give you some nice char-broiled wood flavors, there is nothing quite like a real wood fire. There is something very primitive and romantic about it, harking back to pre-modern times when food was all cooked over an open wood fire.

Most people do not take advantage of real wood to cook anymore because technology has made things easier for us. Between gas stoves and grills and easy to light charcoal, cooking with fire is quick, easy and pretty much hassle free nowadays. However, there is something to be said for a leisurely afternoon, building a real fire and then using that fire to perfectly cook your grilled meal. Sometimes I don’t want “quick”, “easy” or the bare minimum.

So for all those like-minded grillers out there, those who want to get a little more primitive and a lot more delicious, here are some tips for how to cook with real firewood on your grill, fire pit or even in your fireplace. It takes some time and it take some practice to get right, but I think you will love the results!

Choose Good Hardwoods

At the heart of great wood cooking is good firewood which burns long, hot and gives off savory aromas. Don’t skimp in this department! All of the smoky, grilled flavor that you get in your food comes from your wood so if you use bad wood, your results will be bad. So what is bad? First of all, avoid softwoods in general.

Softwoods burn easily and hot but don’t burn as long and don’t tend to develop long-lasting hot embers at their core. Softwoods, like pine for example, also tend to be fairly resinous and many give off piney or other sharp smells which, while not unpleasant, do not pair well with food. You can use softwoods to help get your fire started, but what you really want for the majority of your firewood is good, seasoned hardwoods.

Hardwoods are denser and will burn longer and hotter. They take longer to get started, but the extra work is worth it. There are dozens of hardwoods that make great fuel for cooking, some of which have very distinct and delicious aromas and flavors. Oak is very common, which gives off a rich, smokey aroma. I prefer fruit and nut woods as they tend to have a milder, almost sweet, aroma. Some excellent choices are almond wood, apple wood, pear wood, and pecan wood, if you can find them. Most people know about mesquite and hickory for smoking, but they are also hardwoods which make excellent fuel. If you happen to live on a vineyard, old grape vine cuttings make great wood for quick fires!

Build Your Fire Ahead

As I mentioned above, starting a hardwood fire can take some time to really get going. In addition, because you want to cook with embers as much as possible, you want to give your fire a chance to burn down as much as possible before you throw food on top. This can take quite a long time and depending on how much you are planning to cook and how big your fire pit or grill is, this can take literally several hours to build the fire, keep feeding it to build up a core of embers, and then let the large flames die down before starting to cook. Of note, while I generally prefer to do this type of wood fire cooking on an outdoor fire pit with a grill grate, most people don’t realize that you can burn a wood fire in most heavy duty charcoal grills as long as it is big enough. I have used the large Weber 22-1/2″ charcoal kettle grills to good effect as well as some Char-Broil charcoal grills.

Cook with Embers

As mentioned above, when cooking with real firewood, cooking over the hot embers is ideal. Why? A new fire, which has just been started does not give off much heat. Additionally, there are large flames coming up from the wood. If you lay a grill grate across this young fire, you will not get much radiant heat and instead will have big open flames lapping up around your food. This spells disaster for grill cooking! Your food will not cook on the inside very fast and the outside will catch fire and get burned to a crisp in no time!

To avoid this and to get the most of your firewood, take your time and start early. Red glowing embers give off tons of heat and don’t have big flames. If cooking in a fire pit or large grill, start your fire early and keep adding wood for a while to build up a deep core of hot, glowing red embers at the bottom. Then let the top wood burn down until you barely have any flames left, just a big, deep pile of red embers. These embers give off a lot of heat and because they don’t have large flames, they are less likely to char your food to a crisp. Only then should you lay your grill grate across and add your food. If you are cooking a lot and the heat starts to die down, stirring the embers with a poker helps to get more oxygen to the wood and will increase the heat for a while. If you really need more fuel, you can add firewood to the side and only push it over, under the cooking area, when it has burned down and no longer has large flames.

Rotisserie Cooking

One way to get a lot out of your wood fire cooking is to use a rotisserie. There are various rotisserie contraptions that can be purchased at grilling and camping supply stores. These are basically a large motorized or hand-turned spit that rotates over your fire pit. This is advantages for several reasons. First of all, for large roasts, such as whole poultry, pigs, and other large roasts, it gives you a very even, consistent cooking heat throughout the meat so that your food stays succulent and evenly done.

Also, for these larger roasts, laying them directly over hot embers can burn the surface long before the interior is even warm. Finally, the rotisserie can hold your food a considerable distance above your wood fire so that you can even cook over open flames without your food burning. If high enough, only the rising heat, not the actual flames, reaches your food, which is perfectly rotated in the aromatic smoke. Therefore, prep time is reduced as you don’t have to burn your wood down to embers first, although some embers help to supply adequate heat. For grilled leg of lamb and whole chicken and game birds, rotisserie cooking over a fire pit is one of my favorites!

Fireplace Cooking

In the winter it is often too cold outside to cook outdoors. However, many of us have a wonderful real wood cooking area right in our homes, although some of us don’t realize it. Most fireplaces are used exclusively for heat and ambiance these days, but years ago it was the primary cooking area in many houses. I love hearth cooking and it is not as difficult as most people think. For most types of fireplace cooking, special equipment is needed. There are fireplace cranes available which hold a handled Dutch oven pot or kettle over your fire to cook stews, soups or coffee. Fireplace grills are available which is basically a grill grate that sits over your firewood grate in the fireplace and allows you to grill any number of foods.

Even fireplace rotisseries are available which sit just in front of the fireplace and slowly turn your roast meats. But if you don’t want to invest in any extra equipment, there is always string-turned fireplace cooking. Traditionally a way to roast a leg of lamb in front of the fire, I have adapted string-turning to roast a number of different types of roasts, from whole poultry to tri-tip. All you need is a long piece of kitchen twine and a screw or hook installed in your mantle above your fireplace. The weight of the roast slowly spins it on the string so that you have a poor man’s rotisserie without a lot of extra equipment!

An Alternative

Finally, if all of the above seems like too much work and too much hassle there are easier alternatives to infuse wood smoke flavor into your food. Using smoking wood chips or chunks in either a barbecue or dedicated smoker grill is an option. Smoker cooking can really give you rich, aromatic smoke flavors in your foods. However, because you are using standard charcoal or gas as a fuel source, you avoid much of the hassle of cooking with real firewood.

I hope these tips help to get you started cooking with real firewood to bring your grill cooking to a new level of fun and flavor. Remember to always be safe when using fire of any type! Follow all basic fire safety rules so that only your food gets cooked!

Josh Dusick is the editor of the Fire Pit and Grilling Guru website at http://www.firepit-and-grilling-guru.com where you can get information about grills, barbecues, fire pits, indoor grills, firewood, charcoal, grill and fire pit cooking, cooking in your fireplace, grill food and wine pairing and even how to build an outdoor fire pit. Take your cooking with fire to the next level!

Small engines are used on many types of outdoor power equipment including lawnmowers, snowblowers, tillers, trimmers, chainsaws and blowers. From time to time these engines require service. When this happens, should you attempt to fix the problem yourself or should you instead take the machine to a local repair shop?

There are some good reasons to consider repairing your own small engine. Most repair shops charge a fee just to look at your machine. At fifty dollars or more per hour of labor plus the cost of parts, your bill can quickly add up. During busy seasons a repair shop may take weeks to repair your machine. Before any of that you must load the heavy equipment into your car or pay expensive pickup/delivery charges. Will they fix it right the first time?

With some basic mechanical ability and a few common tools you can often do the job yourself, saving money and time. Start by reading the machine’s owner’s manual. There you’ll find important safety and warranty information, operating instructions and maintenance procedures. If the solution to your problem isn’t found there then find the machine’s make and model number. Often these numbers are stamped directly into the engine’s cover, or they may be located on a sticker or tag attached to the engine. There may be separate model numbers for the engine and for the chassis or “body” of the machine.

Use your machine’s make and model number to obtain the correct service manual. Many of the same service manuals that professional small engine mechanics use are readily available via the Internet and are quite inexpensive. Some online stores offer a wide selection of service manuals in a number of formats including paper, downloadable electronic PDF, VHS video and CD-ROM. These manuals are quite detailed yet are written at a fairly basic level. They contain important safety information, adjustment procedures, troubleshooting tips and specifications in addition to step-by-step repair instructions. The service manual will easily pay for itself on the first job.

After using the service manual to diagnose your machine’s problem, decide if it is something that you can repair yourself. Some problems require specials tools or are covered under the machine’s warranty and these repairs are best left to a professional. Many common problems however are easy to fix yourself. Replacing a clogged air filter for example is quite simple and takes just minutes. Replacement parts are available online and at local dealers that support your brand of equipment.

So the next time your lawnmower won’t start, don’t run to the local repair shop. If you’re the least bit handy, consider trying to fix it yourself. Not only can you save money and time, but you’ll also get the satisfaction that comes from repairing your own power equipment.

Dan Batrams is a professional mechanic at M&D Mower and Appliance, the Web’s leading retailer of parts and accessories for power equipment. He is certified to perform factory-authorized warranty service for many popular brands of outdoor power equipment and power tools. Visit http://www.M-and-D.com for free technical help and expert customer service.

As vehicle engines become old, or improperly maintained, internal engine component failure can occur. While some vehicle owners may choose to simply buy a new car, there are many people that want to repair their engines so that they do not have to take on a car payment for a new car. Especially in this economy, it is understandable how people want to stretch their money as far as it can go. In many cases, rebuilding a damaged engine is more cost effective then buying a new car in the long run.

When an engine has failed, a skilled automotive technician will remove it from the vehicle. This is a laborious process and can often cost around seven hundred dollars to remove and reinstall automotive engines. Once the engine is out of the vehicle, it normally is given to a skilled engine builder for further assessment.

Once the engine builder has the engine, it will be carefully disassembled. Notes will be taken during this process to document the damage found. Once the engine is completely disassembled, all of the components are chemically cleaned to remove the oil, carbon and any contaminates. At this point, the engine builder can use specialized measuring tools to determine whether or not the internal engine parts are within acceptable tolerances. After a full assessment is made, the engine builder will then quote out the parts and labor necessary to repair the engine.

The labor to repair an engine is the largest component of the overall engine repair bill. In many cases the cylinder block must be bored, new pistons installed on the connecting rods and the cylinder heads reconditioned. Another labor intensive process is repairing the crankshaft.

When you hear people saying that their engine has a “spun bearing,” this simply means that one of their crankshaft bearings has failed. Bearing and crankshaft failure, by most accounts, are the leading cause of failed engines being removed from vehicles. When the crankshaft must be reconditioned, the process is completed in a crankshaft grinding machine. The equipment to perform this task can cost well over $50,000, which is why repairing crankshafts is not inexpensive.

After all of the engine components have been repaired or replaced, an engine builder will thoroughly clean all of the components before assembly. This is needed to remove any contaminates from the internal engine parts. With clean parts in hand, the engine builder may assemble the engine in a clean environment so that it is ready for the automotive technician to install.

After the automotive technician has installed the rebuilt engine, in most cases they will offer a limited warranty of one to three years. This warranty assures vehicle owners that the investment they made in repairing their engine is protected by a contract. With a typical car payment being $300 or more each month, vehicle owners can often save nearly $10,000 when they repair a failed engine instead of buying new. In these tight economic times, those savings can allow consumers the opportunity to save a significant amount of money over just a few years.

This author is an engine builder and certified automotive engine machinist. As part of his engine building career, Jeff also is responsible for the crankshaft grinding, welding and reconditioning services which are performed in his automotive machine shop.

What is health Insurance

The main reason why you need an affordable health insurance is to help you plan ahead in case of unexpected costly emergencies. The only way you can accomplish this is to compare prices from most leading insurance companies and also choosing a health insurance plan that best suits you. Back in the days, getting a cheap health insurance plan was simply unaffordable. But these days, individuals, small groups, families and students can choose a health insurance plan that is best for them, e.g. like acquiring a help insurance plan that ensures that an individual suffering from any previous medical condition is not excluded.

Private health insurance plan is totally an unrestricted open market, so those who do not yet have a health insurance plan should consider taking out a plan. For those who are seeking good medical health insurance program, having one is possible through the help of specific companies which specializes in providing health care insurance for individuals and also meeting their requirements and also staying within your budget.

Also for individuals who do not want to use a company, then they can use the internet. One major way Americans get health insurance coverage is mostly through their employers. Many employers them receive health insurance coverage for their workers for a limited time thus enabling them receive health insurance coverage. The internet provides an option for a cheaper health insurance. There are lots of companies that provide all types of health insurance plans, making it possible for you and your family to have a specific reasonable and affordable health care insurance plan. Finding out what kind of reputation the company has and how long the company has been in business is a smart idea.

Having a kind of ideal they have for you is advisable also making sure they have been licensed in your state, because it is of no use getting an insurance with a form which has no license and cant get the exact health insurance you want, many agents will help work hard for you, so you could have an affordable health insurance plan which you and your family could live with without great cost. Everyone wants the best health insurance both for themselves and for their families, but only the best health care insurance can do this with low premiums and full coverage.

What are the advantages of health insurance?

Having the right and the best health care insurance is difficult. In order not to get confused, one needs to decide which the best is by doing his or her research thoroughly. The first step to take includes checking out the credentials and also their past performances of the very company you are considering. Just as on insurance outfits does a background check of individuals before accepting proposals, one should also review the financial status including the customer care services of the insurer, by so doing; you stand the chance to know which health insurance company’s best for you. One major way for you to get ratings of these agencies such as A.M best or Moody’s is by using the better business bureau. Many employers use the health insurance scheme to either attract or even retain their quality employers. The health insurance coverage might be a personal scheme or a group scheme organized and sponsored by the employers for employers who work between 20-29 hours per week.

Companies also do not add cost of fringe benefits alongside health insurance, to the price of their product and service. Over the past decades, the cost of health insurance has increased tremendously, surpassing the general rate of inflation in most past years.

The different types of health insurance includes individual health insurance, affordable employee health insurance which is also known as group health insurance, affordable family health insurance, affordable business health insurance etc, your monthly insurance is determined by certain numerous different things. For instance, most premiums based on or according to your age. So your health insurance rates changes accordingly with the type of health policy you have. If your health insurance is basically for yourselves or your entire family, the procedures must surely have an impact on any quote you are young or advanced in age, self employed receiving health insurance companies will adjust your premium based upon your age and this will also affect the cost of your health insurance.

What are the Disadvantages of health insurance?

Since unforeseen occurrences may occur any time, one will never know when an accident is likely to happen, be it the need to be admitted in the hospital for stitches or a broken bone, you may be in the position to receive help quickly without the worry of receiving a huge bill, unlike when you don’t have a health insurance your credit rating beers all the cost. But you can prevent all this problems from happening and also protecting your credits for your future health financially. Increasing the amount of your health insurance deduction is another way in which you can help make sure your insurance rates are lowered. This higher monthly premium is necessary for anyone who has an existing health problem that requires an extensive medical treatment getting variety of quotes from insurance companies which meets for your health and budgets standards, is a wise decision when selection an health insurance. Searching can be done online and this will have saved you money as well.

Many people feel that they are healthy enough, so they don’t need health insurance because they have never had any major medical problems but one thing to note against the possible health insurance is the protection against the possible health problem that may happen in future. It might happen to you in particular or any member of your family, so why not plan on having an affordable health insurance plan today.

Kingsley Duru has an BSc (Banking & finance). Insuranceavenue.info offers our visitors the best of Insurance articles, review and endeavors to find the best possible deals for our customers. To find travel insurance [http://www.insuranceavenue.info], long term care insurance, business insurance visit Insurance Avenue [http://www.insuranceavenue.info].

Singapore has excellent tennis centres and coaching facilities. Learning tennis in Singapore is easy. I found that tennis lessons or tennis coaching can be arranged from the following entities:

1.Private Tennis Lessons

There are various levels of tennis qualifications offered by the Singapore Tennis Association (STA). Go for someone with at least a Level 1 qualification. Most would charge a basic fee of $50 per hour, excluding court booking fees, if needed. There are group classes as well, usually, not more than 3 persons. Try looking for at least 3 of your fellow friends who wish to learn to play tennis and get an individual tennis coach. It will save you some money while still being properly trained.

2.Group Tennis Lessons

Group tennis classes are found at the various public tennis centres. These classes are for both children and adults. The benefits of such group classes are that they tend to be cheaper. However, the class size tends to be larger and therefore, you may not pick up the skill as fast as you would have wished. It would be better to have a combination of group and private individual lessons. You will get the best of both worlds, playing with others and also being coached more effectively.

3.School Tennis CCA

Tennis is a CCA for some primary and secondary schools. Again, the class size tends to be quite big but it is a good and fun way to learn your tennis amongst your peers. It is also subsidized and is therefore, cheaper. Some schools make CCA compulsory and therefore, if tennis is something you child likes, make tennis his or her CCA then.

4.Tennis Sections and Clubs

Unfortunately, there are not many purely tennis clubs in Singapore. However, there are many country clubs with tennis sections. Tennis sections are a good way to start improving your tennis once you are able to play fairly well. Nothing beats playing more and more against someone of your level or higher.

5.Tennis Academies

Unlike the more established tennis playing nations, we do not really have a successful and quality tennis academy. Tennis is not even featured in the South East Asian games for Singapore. Hence, tennis is not one of those preferred sport which is earmarked for further development unlike its sister sport of table tennis. However, one can always head north to Malaysia or Thailand where they have various tennis camps which cater to all levels of play. It is an intensive and highly effective way of improving your tennis as you do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe tennis for a few days!

As an avid tennis player, I had my fair share of experiences in trying to find out which are the best ways to learn tennis in Singapore. I hope this article will provide some guidance for all would-be tennis players! If you find this article useful and would really wish to learn tennis, please check this out http://www.1sports.asia/

Happy Learning & Playing!

I wanted to cover safety in deep snow today because skiers die unnecessarily every year from not being able to self-rescue in deep snow.

Today I skied Mammoth Mountain Ski Area just after they got 10.5 – 15.5 feet of new snow. I skied today because it is supposed to snow this afternoon and tomorrow. I skied about 6 runs this morning in mostly knee-deep, pretty heavy snow. And just when I thought my balance was perfect, I was 10? tall and bullet-proof, I did something weird and fell in the bottomless powder in the trees. I got snow in my mouth when I fell, and that always gives me a short-of-breath/claustrophobic feeling.

I fell softly with my skis to my left, and my body fell to the right. Suddenly, I knew it would be really difficult to get up and out of this bottomless powder. So I took a moment, took a few deep breaths, and accessed my situation. I was somewhere in the trees that someone was unlikely to find me.

I needed to self-rescue. I knew from experience that I was in bottomless powder, and my poles would be of little help. Some say to make a “t” with your poles and lean on them, but no way would that have worked. The powder was too deep, and deep powder provides unique, potentially life endangering challenges. So we need to be prepared. Larger baskets on your poles are helpful for pushing yourself on powder days, but do not provide enough resistance to aid you in standing up from a fall. Since my body is heavier than by boots and skis, the more I struggle and move, the lower my body will sink putting my feet be above my head.

In this case I was able to slowly over a period of about 2 minutes shift my butt to be more over my skis by pulling my body mass over the skis by pulling on my legs below the knees. The last part was hard because I had nothing to brace against, but I knew if I could make this one last move to get my butt over the backs of my skis, I could stand up. So I pulled on my legs one more time because I knew that would give me the resistance I needed.

I managed to stand up, now about 5 minutes after I fell. Both my skis were on, and sunk deep in the snow. I slowly pulled the right one up breaking the surface of the snow to get higher footing. Then I did the same with the left ski. OK, I was finally able to glide back out onto the groomed part of the run, and complete the self-rescue from bottomless powder.

In another blog post, I have detailed how to find a ski in bottomless powder which can be challenging. Search in the search window of this blog for “Lost ski” or “finding lost ski”, and it should come up. My method has always been able to find the lost ski quickly, so you no longer need to worry about that.

But I still want to cover what happened to me at June Mt. as a kid. It was a week with 8 feet of new snow at June Mt. I skied the face successfully, but fell and made a huge hole in the flat part at the bottom. At first I kind of panicked, and struggled to get to my feet. But the more I struggled, the more I sank down in the powder making the hole deeper. It got to the point where I was 8 feet down in this hole, and still could not get to my feet.

I knew no one was skiing the face that day. If a ski patroller skied by he would not hear my cries or see me unless he saw the track to my hole. I couldn’t count on that!

I was only about 11 years old, and I needed to get resourceful to self-rescue, or I could be there all night and freeze. I decided to take a break. I took out the camera I had in my pocket, and took a photo from the bottom of my 8 foot deep hole. I tried to push my poles to hit something solid, and I sank them all the way to my shoulder. I hit nothing that could support me.

I thought some more and finally I figured that I could take 1 ski off, and use it horizontally to be a form of support. I was able to take 1 ski off and holding the side of the ski and digging it in for grip, pull myself to a standing position this way. Then I pulled my upper body up, and stepped up sideways up the side of the hole. I kept doing this until I got to where I was only knee deep again.

I put the ski back on, and was able to break trail back to the chairlift. Please remember this technique if you get stuck in a hole in deep powder. This same self-rescue strategy could work to extricate yourself from a tree well, which can be fatal if you do not know what to do. More information about what to do if you get stuck in a tree well is located at: http://www.treewelldeepsnowsafety.com. There are some really good safety tips at that site that I have not covered here.

I can tell you from experience it is easier to learn these proven self-rescue techniques from some one else than to have to make up a rescue technique when you get stuck. People die from getting stuck in deep powder. I gave you 2 self-rescue techniques here. I also recommend you always carry a whistle when you ski the trees. It might give you the capability to summon help where you can not be seen. I also recommend you carry a fully charged cell phone with Mammoth Mountain’s ski patrol phone number programmed into your phone. This way, when you get injured, you can call for help and tell them where you are. You should program under ICE for In Case of Emergency, your person to be contacted in case of injury or emergency. Emergency personnel know to look in your cell phone for this, so you need to program your emergency contact phone number in there so they can find it if they need to.

Other emergency stuff I carry because I ski the trees are:

1) Small knife – Can cut you down from a tree, or filet a fish or squirrel if you have to.

2) I told you about the whistle – Can help ski patrol hear you when they are making their last sweep of the mountain at closing.

3) Lighter – If you had to spend the night, making a fire could save you from freezing to death.

4) Your cell phone programmed as recommended above.

5) Cliff Bar – These have a lower freezing point so you won’t have to chew on a rock-solid snack bar.

6) Fleece balaclava – Can really increase heat retention in winds, and if you get stuck overnight.

7) Ski helmet – Wear a helmet every time you ski. You cannot predict when a dangerous situation will present itself. 80% of fatal ski injuries could have been prevented by simply wearing a helmet.

I photocopy my driver’s license and medical card so if I am knocked unconscious they know who I am from my driver’s license. And they know my “ICE” In Case of Emergency person to call because it is programmed into my cell phone I have on me all day.

Being prepared and informed can save your life or keep you from being stranded in the woods for hours or overnight. If you just ski the groomed runs, you only need about 1/2 this stuff. But I like to duck into my tree powder stashes, so I keep this packed in my ski jacket at all time so I will have it if I ever need it. Please teach these deep snow self-rescue techniques to your family, friends and loved ones so they will know what to do in this potentially life-threatening situation. Be Safe On the Slopes!

Larry Conn has snow skied since 1968, and loves Mammoth Mountain so much he moved there in 2005 after taking 2 years off work to “test-drive” living there. Now he is launching Mammoth Ski Club for active adults who want more fun, activities and involvement with snow skiing and other activities at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area and Mammoth Lakes resort. Get your complimentary gifts, full color newsletter, and special report, “Who Else Wants Active New Affluent Friends of the Same Ski Ability Level, and a Lifetime of Great Memories?” by going to http://www.MammothSkiClub.com/

Engine repair for your vehicle is news no one likes to hear. It can only mean 1 result, money spent on your car just to keep it running. Replacing the engine is usually the most expensive mechanical repair that is performed on a vehicle. People have to replace used engines for several different reasons. Most of the time failure is due to lack of maintenance. Issues that happen from not keeping your car are many. Dirty oil is always a problem for engines. When the oil is not changed on a regular basis sludge builds up. Most people do not realize engines have very small oil journals that need to stay clear so all areas of the engine stay lubricated. You can have just 1 of these areas get enough build up to restrict flow to a small area of the engine and the will in turn cause total failure of the engine.

The timing belt is a very inexpensive item that is over looked so much in today’s cars. Not because of the cost of the part but the repair itself is the issue. Your owner’s manual will have a recommended time when the timing belt needs replacing. To replace a timing belt means the front of the engine including all the belt driven accessories must be removed to replace the belt. The bigger problem is if the belt is not replaced when it should be. The timing belt is under a tremendous load and when it breaks, the engine becomes non-repairable. Most engines today are interference engine by design. That means if the timing is off, the valves will hit the pistons and major damage occurs. The timing belt goes around the crankshaft and up to the cam shaft. This is how the valves open to let fuel in and close for combustion, the exhaust valves open to let out the spent fuel. When the valves open they push down into the cylinder where the piston is moving up and down. The piston is on the down stroke when the intake valve opens and comes back to the top as the valve closes and the gas explodes. That pushed the piston back down and the exhaust valve opens to let the exhaust out. When the timing belt breaks the bottom of the engine keeps turning but the cam stops. Half of the valves will be in the down position or open. The pistons hit the valves and extreme damage occurs. I wanted to see what a damaged engine looked like so the people at ASAP Motors dismantled an engine that had been damaged and allowed me to see the cylinders. If I learned one thing, replace the timing belt when the time comes.

After you receive the estimate from your garage, do your homework. Shop the internet for what you are looking for. There are many suppliers who will compete against each other trying to offer the best deal. After you settle on whom you want to do business with, check out the BBB report. They are a very good honest source of information about companies. Then take and compare the prices you’re found with the installer you are using. An import reason to keep in mind is if the installer supplies the engine, he warranties the labor. But he will mark up the used engine he selling you and could be purchasing from the same company you are.

Perry McHowton
ASAP Motors
A reliable source for used engines online. Call us today!
800-669-8287
http://www.asapmotors.com