Motor Mag Top 20

posted links on CTI page for top 20 tools for our customers and how to read past issues of Motor Magazine - check it out

From Ken Niefer - NGK

NGK Tech Tip - Interesting tip from Andy from NGK. Gasoline now contains ethanol (has for a while) and because ethanol burns so quickly and so easily, your shops' customers may actually notice a decrease in their fuel mileage. To combat this you have to "slow down the burn" in the combustion chamber. This is done by installing a spark plug that is one heat range cooler than the recommended plug and by gapping the plug .010" narrower than the recommended gap setting (to a minimum of .035"). This applies to listings in the NGK catalogue for vehicles '05 and older. For '06 and up, use the plug and gap setting listed in the catalogue. This also applies to vehicles using K&N or other high-flow style air filters.

filter differences

Wix ( Affinia ) have plants in USA & China ( the Cdn plants are now closed ) --click on the image to bring larger to read what it says -- fyi

Better E-cat?

Here is something that I stumbled upon. A much more complete Blue Streak Catalogue. Check out http://www.smpcorp.com/ ; If you want to have a little fun learning how to navigate their e-cat enter the contest. The contest is only open to residents of the U.S. but it still worth while trying it.

CTI classes start Wed Oct 24 & Thur Oct 25

The CTI classes start this week--- Wed & Thur at room 320 in St Clair --- how to tune your Honda

Classes are OPEN to all staff who want to attend - and we are encouraging you to sit in on a few ... yes ...there are some ( many ) things you may not understand ... but

1) as you continue to go - you pick up the info and see how the pieces fit together
2) you are becoming obsolete if you don't start leaning the new tuning - how can your customers talk to you if you can't understand his terms

PLEASE confirm if you are coming with your store manager ( who in turn tells Randy )

see the CTI blog for the course outline ( click link on RIGHT hand side )

Regards

Greg H

Battery Core

A while back CARQUEST added the part # BAT CORE that we use for over the counter batteries to charge and credit back when the old core comes back.

1) Greg Guyitt notices that the core value has risen recently - let us know if you feel this is OK. Please bear in mind the HUGE increase in lead prices - reflecting in the core increase

Recycler prices have gone from $4.00 to $5.50 effective Oct 1/07 - fyi for a 'standard' battery

2) D&T should be proud of how they have used the BAT CORE number - and another store has been told to PLEASE improve their performance -- go to a 2.2 screen and type that part # in and see what you see... gaining profits or wasting profits? Who gains when a customer throws a battery into the 'back 40' - help the environment - help lead recycling - help your profit sharing

try a CARQUEST-LINK search

Sometimes we get set in our ways --and because it didn't work before --we ASSUME it doesn't work now. Good case in point is the search feature for CARQUEST-LINK. For a long time it was a very dreadful type search function -where you needed to search on the BEGINNING of the title. So if you wanted to find something - you needed to know the FIRST part of the title

Well - guess what --somewhere, at sometime - the search function has improved to where you search for a part of name as you would normally assume -- the example was for the word 'owners' .... go try the search and see what you find.

I am told that we are still going to have a 'google' type search where you can search for data contained within the item or article - but that is still some time away. We await this final improvement.

TLR Trailer parts - new Blister pac's

Morco trailer parts ( line TLR ) has blister pac's --the part number is the same - add a B to the suffix ( end ) of the part #.

We are awaiting Majid in Toronto to finish up and add the parts - we are told within a month ( we won't tell you how long they have been to get to this point ....but ... )

Soon -- we will look at updating our stock to the blister numbers.

Sample part # 1550135 -- shackle nut & Bolt
new # 1550135B --- is 6 bolts and nuts --the amount required for typical application. There is NO surcharge for the blister ( which is nice - as many companies have a 10 to 30% surcharge for the convenience and that inflates the price too hi )

ANOTHER CHANGE will be for items TOO BIG to fit into a blister pac ... eg. 1050025 single hanger kit ...the new part # will be 1050025 BX ...this is the same -- but with a customer friendly label with three languages and a bar code .... these extra labels will be available if we want to change from the old part to the new part. TLR 1050025 becomes 1050025BX


watch for the new #'s to arrive in 60-90 days

Product Feedback form

We are a better organization if we give quality feedback - and we are a lesser group if no one cares ands ignores the IMPORTANCE of good feedback to CARQUEST!

At the next staff meeting we will be looking at staff who have -- and staff who have NOT used the feedback form. After the normal meeting we will have some extra time for just staff who have NOT done a feedback form as staff training ...so you could save both of us some time if you ask your store manager to show you if you are unclear.

Once you have given the feedback - make sure you check back to see what they have done with your feedback ...click on the image to see a sample feedback -- you click on the word DETAILS to see the full details for each form submitted.

Worried that your feedback is not a NOBEL PRIZEWINNER ---look --- not every piece of info can be 'life changing' .... and if you make a mistake -- the IMPORTANT POINT is YOU TRIED .... even Barry Binds doesn't hit every ball thrown at him -- some he misses ---so don't fear ....and learn to understand that your customers are giving you clues on what you need to discuss with your store manager and what you need to forward to CARQUEST to get fixed and improved ... to help us all.

weblink vs j-con

I was looking up a new master cylinder for a 1995 ford f350 diesel in J-con which seemed like a straight forward listing.The truck was having a low brake pedal which the shop guessed was a master cylinder.I happened to look it up in Weblink and found a whole lot more info than J-Con told me.Look it up both ways and read the yellow bar in weblink.This was the exact problem we had,so we went with the 1996 listing and cured a problem.(4 sets of shoes to 1 set brake pads over a 4 year period)

Update -- FYI --this extra detail does NOT show on Exploris either -it is probably awaiting the next generation e-cat

This begs a further question --if we know of a helpful hint like this one shown -- WHO do we send the info to --?? We will see if the mechanism supports jobber input.

part description updates

Found out the reason-- we mentioned at the last meeting the end of day report showed the DESCRIPTION field in BDR was updated ...and we wondered who corrected it back to where we needed it ....

In fact --the update is waiting for the next parts source CD --then the changes will happen .... we changed the setting

BUT--we still have one change PENDING for BDR that will happen on the next parts source CD update --so when that happens I have a list I will get someone to update for the X lines we source from other vendors ( while we wait for CARQUEST to fix their BDR prices)

From now on-- updates will happen the day they are put in ...this will make it easier for us to see the lines that CARQUEST updates description so we can correct back to required.

If confused --see Greg H

CARQUEST DirectHit demo

Identifix is offering dealer demo in Windsor on Mon Nov 12. 1:00 session and 6:00pm session. Food is provided as well

Click on image to bring larger for details or see Store Manager or salesmen - they have e-mail copy

Clip-Light HEMI drop Light

The new ClipLight LED drop lights are now added into the Toronto DC data base ( so we get the data with the next Parts Source update - or you can force data by ordering using the F-10 screen in POS ). Blair McLaughlin is the new buyer for this and many other 'retail' type lines.

Dorman wall chart

We are trying to get 50 more of this window regulator wall chart. Stay tuned.

how many items are we limited on ?

These items are available to the USA CARQUEST Jobber in the CHM line code ( along with Starbrite marine products )


Supplier NUMBER Description

Reed Union NFS-05 NU FINISH SCRATCH DOCTOR
Reed Union NF-76 NU FINISH LIQUID CAR POLISH
Northern Factory Sales RW-126 NORTHERN EXO-COAT (RW0126)
Northern Factory Sales RW125-5 FUEL TANK PREP (RW0125-5)
Northern Factory Sales RW125-9 FUEL TANK LINER KIT (RW0125-9)
Northern Factory Sales RW0125-1 FUEL TANK LINER
Alvin 10101 REPAIR/PATCH COMPD.
Alvin 10102 REPAIR/PATCH COMPD.
Alvin 11102 HI TEMP PATCH COMPD.
Northern Factory Sales RW125-77 FUEL TANK CLEANER (RW0125-77)
Alvin 16001 AUTOMOTIVE GOOP
Alvin 20102 THINNER/METAL CLNR.
Eclectic 38000 SEAL-ALL 380012 - 1 OZ
Eclectic 38001 SEAL-ALL 380112 - 2 OZ

Some of these the writer is not aware of --but one caught our eye --we have been selling SEAL-ALL for many years and is a real problem to source --and yet it is available thru New Castle IN Warehouse ( provider of all small lines and service parts )

PLEASEZZE Toronto --how about more listings -- give us what you CARQUEST gives their USA jobbers .... lets play fair.

updated version in Next-Gen e-cat --- comments

some improvements to Worldpac next-gen e-cat have been realesed - they will load automatically when you start SpedDIAL. They are ....
+ Qty per car is displayed in part type and detail panel. Use numeric key to change order qty. Xfers qty to price and availability or quick order
+ VIN answers chassis range question when applicable.
+ Refine vehicle is scrollable; no more "lost" part types. Previousy, you had to resize the window but the scroll bar solves the problem
+ Catalog (sDNGC too) supports long notes. No more "
" in the middle of notes ( see image to explain this point)

Jay Cobb posted this on the forum in Worldpac

Dorman new product e-cat

Two of only a few new items for the Sept e-cat ( to view what is new go to 8-12 menu on J-Con and select 8 - View Bulletin Board ) are Dorman OE Solutions for steering knuckles and Dorman HELP Fuel Door Springs.

Can someone do some verification -- do you see these in our paper catalogues - or have me been missed on mailings
- do you see these in e-cat - if not it could be an oversight -or the fact that the Toronto warehouse has not yet decided if they will keep ....which is our next point
-do you see these part numbers in our JIF ( jobber file ) and/or Parts Source CD data file? If they are brand new parts it could take 45-60 days ( or LONGER ?? ) to get these parts added ...we will ask our Dorman Rep Fred Peters from ZPS to help.
- also see if you see the data in ALL LINES for e-cat --an option that we pay extra for in J-Con but is standard in Exploris.

Thanks for any feedback offered.

TPMS video test

we did a test of youTube video for a TPMS tool on the CTI blog -- see it ... (anyone from a VPN connection will have youTube blocked --we have asked to have this removed -- but -- will wait and see if it can be done --

See the CTI blog for more ..... remember how to get there ??

staff meeting changed

The NORMAL change that happens every year - is happening yet again ... the 2nd monday staff meeting ios moved to the 3rd Monday in Oct --since the 2nd monday is Thanksgiving holiday here in Canada -- see you on the 3rd monday