Mercedes 126 Repair - Forgotten Fluids, Part I

While most responsible Mercedes owners remember to change their engine oil reasonably frequently, not everyone remembers to look after the other lubricants on the car. This article focuses on arguably the most severely neglected fluid: the gear oil in the rear differential.

DIFFERENTIAL SERVICE

Most Mercedes 126 cars have "open" differentials, though a few of the later models came with limited-slip differentials. The former do not require much attention and are, in fact, extremely robust. Hot-rodders have found that the rear differential on the 380SE can handle as much as 800hp through the rear wheels. But, that does not mean we can forget about it completely. The gear oil should be changed at roughly 100,000-mile intervals, or every 50,000 in severe service. If left in too long, it will eventually lose its ability to lubricate and starts to resemble frothy pea soup! (It does not smell too good, either!)

Fluid capacity is only about 1.5 quarts, so there's no excuse not to use the "good stuff." Amsoil, Redline, and Royal Purple all make high-quality synthetic gear oils, typically with 75W-90 viscosity. Just as with an oil change, this is best done with the fluid at operating temperature. The two plugs in the differential - upper fill and lower drain - take a 14mm hex key and are usually extremely hard to budge. A long breaker bar will be required. Make sure that you loosen the filler plug first, because if you remove the drain plug and then find the filler is stuck, you've got a bit of a problem. Melting an ice cube in the filler plug's 14mm-fitting may help loosen it through thermal contracting.

Refilling is much easier with a small oil pump. Simply fill until the gear oil is level with the filler hole; when it starts to see out of the threads you know you're done. To ensure an accurate fill, the car should be level during this operation, though this is not critical. If you leave the rear of the car up on jack stands, a slight overfill will ensue. Torque the plugs to 50Nm (37 lbs / ft).

Seniors Need Income, Not Payments

When I create my personal balance sheet, I list all my assets and liabilities. The assets include bank deposits, investments, retirement accounts - and my home. Of course, my liabilities include credit cards, student loans I signed for (I have three in college), and my mortgage. That's my picture at age 54. But for retires, the home does not always appear as an asset, even if it is free and clear of any mortgage. Folks consider it "wealth", but it really is an asset that has a zero rate of return. Some think that because real estate values ​​rise, that means they "made money" on their home. This is simply not true.

No doubt retirees find much security in having their homes paid off, not having a monthly mortgage payment to make. That is great for cash-flow. But for many retirees, their home is the only asset they have. Many different agencies report that as many as 70% of retirees have less than $ 25,000 in retirement funds, and an equal amount depend on Social Security benefits as their sole source of income in retirement. This is a very sad statistic.

So how can that home, that proverbial "nest egg" turn into an income-supplementing asset? Before I answer that, I want to point out that many seniors say their home is their nest egg, and that it is where they would turn to for cash. Well, there are two ways to get money out of your home - you can sell it, or you can take a mortgage. If you take out a mortgage, you can have a monthly payment, or do not have a payment.

Recently I met with a client, age 75. She needed to supplement her income. Her husband of 50 years passed away, and she found out that she will be living on much less income than before. Her husband's pension ended upon his passing, and of course the SS benefits decreased as well. Seven years earlier her bank recommended she take out a HELOC. That worked well for a while, until the payments started to increase and she approached maxing out her line. She absolutely was left with a payment and no income - just the opposite of what she came in asking for. Now HELOCs are a fine way to access a home's equity, but it is not a solution for supplementing income, especially in retirement age.

A much better solution would have been a reverse mortgage line of credit. There are no monthly payments (interest accrues). The line actually grows (currently about 4% a year), and can never be called in. Credit requirements are minimal (not credit score driven, no debt / income requirements).

In this client's case we are extinguished her current mortgage, eliminated her monthly payment, and still provide her to provide a significant line of credit. But the improved cash flow was enough for her to maintain an excellent quality of life.

Finally, a reverse mortgage is not something that should be sold. It is a financial tool that can improve the quality of life for seniors, reserve assets, and eliminate much potential financial and emotional duress for the senior and their families.

For more information, contact me or visit www.topflitereverse.com/florian to see what you can qualify for.

Campers Motorhomes - Understanding the Role of the Leisure Battery

Have you ever thought of purchasing a motorhome and enjoying the associated lifestyle. Good idea, it's a pursuit practiced and enjoyed by many around the world, but be aware of the difference between living in a motorhome compared to living in your domestic house. Do not jump into buying a brand new motorhome without thinking it through and being comfortable with your new found responsibilities.

The basic principles of a motor home and a domestic house are the same in that you have four walls, a roof over your head, admittedly much less space in your leisure vehicle, but it is a space in which you can live in and travel in for a lengthy period, with the correct planning. Like a domestic house you have running water and power - and these are the two key components of the motorhome you must understand.

Electricity in a domestic house requires no maintenance, until something breaks. Electricity and your supply of power in a motorhome requires constant attention. Unless you are plugged in to a mains electricity supply at a campsite, your power supply is coming from a limited source. These sources include, your vehicle battery, your leisure battery, generator power and solar power. These all require constant vigilance. Your leisure battery is generally intended to provide a small amount of voltage supply for a long period of time, for example the power required to light the living area of ​​your motorhome. But it also does power the 12 volt points such as 12 volt televisions, dvd's, toilet flushing, water pumps etc. It recharges when the vehicle engine is on (via the alternator) or when plugged in to camp site mains electricity. The leisure battery may, in some cases also be powered by solar panels.

Managing your leisure battery in your motorhome does take some care and attention, but once you take care not to run it down completely, you should avoid embarrassing confiscances. Do not forget to care for your battery in the winter time - take time to charge and discharge it during those cold months.

Photo Cake

If you've been to a child's birthday party recently, you've more than likely to have seen a photo cake. A photo cake has a photograph of the guest of honour or something they hold close to there heart imprinted on top. Thanks to technology, a non-toxic photo can be printed out and used as a cake topper!

How is this possible? Most people ask this and its simple the person wishing to have a photo on cake made gives a favourite photograph to a website of choice. The website will print out your image with and description that you require on happy birthday or anything you want then you will add it to your cake.

To make the photograph for the photo on the cake, the website will add any inscription you require and print the provided photo. Once the photograph fully edited it's printed out on special edible "paper" made from potato starch, water, vegetable oil. The ink used to print the picture onto the edible paper is made from food colouring.

(This edible paper won't take away from the overall taste of the cake)

The things to keep in mind when picking your picture will be that you want the person or main object to be centre this will help if you want an inscription on your picture so the inscription can go around the edge. If you can't find a picture were the person / object is centered a good website will still be able to produce a great photo cake.

LED Headlight Bulb Conversion Kit Upgrades for Car Headlamps

In 2015 there are quite a few companies selling LED headlight kits.

The things that you need to look for are Heat Dissipation, Beam cut-offs, and the type of light emitting diodes that are being used. With LED headlight technology, you can't have one without the other, and in the end, the same old adage, "you get what you pay for", still rings true.

If you have great Philips or CREE LEDs in the product, but don't have the technology and thermal management systems to properly interact with these LEDs, you are simply wasting your money.

Thermal management is key in getting the longest life out of the LEDs.

You want the LEDs to be bright, but you also want them to last the distance.

Beam cut-offs are also important so as to give the best beam of light possible out the front of your car, truck, motorcycle, or driving light.

A lot of companies simply do not have the depth of technology to be able to get these three elements working together, to maintain brightness, beam direction, and longevity.

Thermal management systems have come a long way since the "bad old days" when people started pumping more power through light emitting diodes.

The main issue was that light emitting diodes burnt out very quickly in high temperature environments.

LED headlamp bulb manufacturers are now using either the "Fan" type system coupled with copper pipe tubing technologies to dissipate the heat away from the light emitting diodes to prolong their life.

This in itself is a definite science, and without the right people, money, and equipment, you will not go far.

Luckily, a few companies are emerging as leaders in this industry and so providing the market with an affordable alternative to old halogen technology, and even HID technology.

There are many types of bulbs available that you can retro-fit into your car, but make sure you check the size of the LED bulb before you buy them.

Each car, or application, can have specific limitations on how much room is available in the headlights housing so make sure you check that the LED bulb is going to fit your specific application.

LED bulbs for cars are now becoming a lot brighter, but remember that they are still not as bright as HID.

They key to buying high performance LED headlight bulbs is to go with the leaders in the industry and pay the little extra for the best products on the market.

Look for companies who have been dealing in this technology from its conception and you will be well on your way to finding a solution that stands the test of time.

Tips on Making Money With Clickbank

Many people have tried and failed to make money with Clickbank. In fact some stats say it's over 90%. Which obviously leads to a success rate of less than 10%. Leaving many people frustrated and eventually causing them to give up.

But there is way you can beat the odds and become a successful Clickbank affiliate.
First: The wise words that Winston Churchill once said to a graduating class: "Never, never, never, never give up!"

Just because you failed once or twice or more does not mean you should quit. Remember other wise words - "It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up."

Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before he perfected the electric light bulb.

When you were a child learning to walk you fell many times before you finally started drinking around the house.
To make money with Clickbank is no different. Perhaps all you need to do is slightly tweak your campaigns a little.

Second: Making money from Clickbank means you do not just pick something because it offers a high payout. Pick a product you like or truly believe can help people solve some problem. In promoting stuff you do not really believe in it does have a negative effect on you writing about it which can show.

One way to do this is look at the refund rate. If it has a high refund rate compared to similar products in Clickbank there's probably a reason. And that is it's a low quality product.

Third: Get training. Every new skill we learned in life we ​​took lessons to get it right. You did not just get behind the wheel of a car and started driving without any lessons first did you? If you did the results would be similar to any of your attempts to make money with Clickbank.

The same goes for swimming, any sports we got into, learning a musical instrument. You were not an expert right from the get go were you?

So why would this be any different? You need good training with a community that will help you grow as you make money with Clickbank.

Roadside Assistance - Better Than Just Towing

Car problems will usually occur at the most inconvenient time. With so many vehicles on road, every driver should think about what they would do if their car suddenly broke down and they were stranded on the side of the road. There was a time when the only resource a driver had was a local towing company. Local towing services are not always open and their location may be far away from where the car is located. Once a towing service arrives, people will usually have to get their car towed to the closest garage. Individual towing expenses can be expensive and you may end up paying more for a repair, especially if you are not familiar with the car repair shop. Fortunately, there are many companies that offer roadside assistant memberships that include towing fees with their service.

Depending on which road side plan and company you choose, they can provide a number of added benefits over the service of a regular towing company:






- Roadside plans will cover a variety of vehicles such as passenger cars, trucks, company cars, SUVs, and RVs.

- Roadside assistance plans will usually cover you whether you are the driver or a passenger

- Many roadside assistance plans will reimburse for costs of repairs if you arrange for your own repair when the plan can't find anyone to help you in a reasonable amount of time.

- Auto clubs provide 24-hour assistance and towing practically anywhere in the U.S. The service will cover any accessible road. Most auto clubs allow a certain numbers of roadside assistance tows each year. This service is a good investment because you will end up saving more money than if you used a regular towing company.

- Roadside assistance packages normally include: battery boost, tire change, parts delivery, towing or wrecker service, winching services, freeing a locked key, replacing lost keys, unfreezing "frozen" locks, replacing broken keys, delivery of emergency gasoline or other fluids, spare-tire installation, and accident or breakdown reimbursement.

- Manufacturer supported roadside assistance generally requires a tow to the nearest car dealership. This may not be helpful if the problem is not covered under a manufacturer's warranty. For instance, tires are not usually covered. Auto clubs do not mandate what garage you can have your car towed. Your towing fees will be covered under the membership.

- Increased competition among auto clubs has kept costs low. If you have an older car, a membership can be an inexpensive method of protection. As an incentive, some cell phone and credit card companies offer roadside assistance plans.

- Auto club companies also offer members travel services, complimentary maps and guidebooks, and discounts for partner services such as hotels. You can often add bicycle roadside assistance coverage to an auto program You can also receive free road atlases, trip routing, travel assistance, and bereavement assistance. Free custom trip routing can include detailed trip planning, mileage guides, destination brochures, information on road conditions, camping locations, and more.

- If your vehicle is trapped in the mud or a ditch, roadside assistance will have someone come out and pull you out.

- Provide legal fees for speeding or moving traffic law violations.

- Travel assistance to reimburse drivers for vehicle rental and/or travel expenses when the vehicle is stolen or disabled due to an accident. This can include car rental, hotels, meals, and public transportation.

- Provide medical assistance such as doctor referrals and cover costs of a hospital stay.

Roadside assistance service plans are quickly becoming a popular choice for drivers. When traveling late at night or long distances, it will give you peace of mind knowing that help is only a phone call away.