Brake noise is a common part of brake operation. A majority of the time you will hear nothing inside your vehicle. Worn brake pads can make noises you would hear inside your vehicle. The most common noises are a crunch or runch sound. Another noise you may hear is a high pitch shriek. Shriek noises are very common with very worn brake pads or budget “cheep quality” brake pads, even if newly installed.
I like to install OE dealer brake parts when ever possible. OE parts fit correctly and offer the best noise control for the life of the brake pads. 
When grinding noises happen every time you press the brake peddle. Your brakes are 100% worn out. the metal part of the brake pad is making contact with the metal brake rotor.
The service “wear out” specs on brake pad thickness can vary from 1mm to 2mm. Brake wear sensors will normally turn on the dash brake wear light around 2mm.
Brake pads that use a noise tab built into the pad, may make a high pitch noise only when backing up, but quiet going forward.
When I inspect brakes for wear, I look at the thinest brake pad to judge the wear % remaining. Once below 30% remaining life (around 3mm of pad thickness remaining) brake replacement will be needed soon.
If you are noticing brake noises, stop in at your local repair shop and have them inspect your cars brakes. Waiting to see if the noise just goes away can cause bigger issues. If the brake rotors or brake calipers become damaged from metal to metal contact it can increase the cost of your brake repairs.
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Over loading a circuit with aftermarket equipment is the most common reason for a fuse to fail “blow out” In a home, you have 
circuit breakers that protect each circuit within the home.
I have found ear rings, small tokens, and paper clips stuck in the 12V power sockets. A direct short to ground will cause a fuse to fail instantly. 
Once you remove the junk from the socket the fuse can be replaced. At our service desk we offer free 12V socket to USB power adapters to plug into the open 12V sockets, just to prevent issues like junk or coins from getting into the socket and shorting the terminals in the socket
You do not want to use an inverter larger than 150 watts on a 15 amp fused circuit. Most basic 12V sockets only have a 15 amp fuse to power the socket, and its easy to pop a fuse with an inverter, cell phone, and GPS navigation all plugged in at the same time.
We re-finish plastic head light lenses all the time.
Not all lenses can be saved. Rock pits, scratches, and plastic cracking can not be fixed with sanding if it’s too deep into the plastic surface. 20% of the head lamp housings I run across in my shop have major damage and need to be replaced.
The process of refinishing the plastic lens is fairly simple, and many parts stores sell DIY kits to sand, polish and protect the plastics.
So here it is in a nut shell, we clean the plastics, wet sand the imperfections out of the surface. Then use a 2 step polishing compound to restore the clear as glass look. Last step is a double coating of wax. Regular car war works fine for this.
Filters protect your car from harmful debris that can cause damage to internal moving parts. The engine, and transmission need service regularly to keep them alive and happy. So what about you, the driver? Back in the mid 80’s some European car manufactures started adding air filters to the A/C system. Mercedes-Benz called it a particulate filter and it protected the A/C evaporator core from getting contaminated with hair, lint, leaves, and other nasty things that could get pulled into the air intake of the A/C system. It also protected the inside of the car from dust and oder. Most of all, the clean air was a benefit to the driver. European cars started using “Cabin Air Filters” first, around the mid 80’s. In the late 90’s I started to see them in high-end Japanese cars, and by the mid 2000’s almost all cars had some type of Air Filter added to the A/C system. The filter works great till, till it looks like the one in the picture. A filter can only do its job if it can catch and hold the dirt. This filter is past its way past its prime. looking at it, you might think it’s very old, but it’s only 3 years old, but the car is only used in town and in 3 years has only driven 7,000 miles.
working on the car.
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