Dear JB,
    I drive a 1995 Ford Taurus with 93,000 miles.  It has a 3.8 liter V-6 which recently overheated due to blown head gaskets.  After it overheated I drove the car only a couple of miles to the garage.  Everything seemed fine at the time, but now that the engine has been repaired my mechanics are telling me that the transmission is slipping.  Are they trying to pull a fast one here?  I never had trouble with the transmission before!  I believe they damaged it somehow and want me to pay for their "hot rodding!"
Signed,
Furious Felix 

Dear Furious,
    Before you get too upset with your mechanic let's examine what happens to your car when it overheats.  Now, you would obviously expect things to get scorched in the engine, but think about your transmission and how it stays cool.  The transmission pumps its fluid

through a passageway in the radiator called a transmission cooler, which in turn is cooled by the engine's anti-freeze.  When you overheat the engine or allow your radiator coolant level to get too low the transmission begins immediately overheating, the fluid begins to thin out and it starts cooking itself from the inside out.  Since there is no warning gauge on the dashboard you won't realize the condition until your transmission begins to slip and by then you need a new one!  I believe that this is what happened to your Taurus.  Wish I had better news for you.  Now, go bake your

mechanic a batch of cookies and make up to him before he does something really bad to your car - on purpose!

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Dear JB,
    How come my 1999 Cadillac needs a tune-up when it only has 44,000 miles on it?  I thought GM says that it should last 100,000 miles with no service needed.  What can I do to make it last longer like it should?
Yours,
Kid Cadillac

Dear KC,
    Allow me to offer you a seat by me in the real world.  No car is capable of going 100,000 miles between services.  What GM marketed to you and countless others is a spark plug which under ideal conditions would continue to fire for that long.  Granted, that the center

electrode will be completely burnt away by then, not to mention the fact that the threads will likely pull out of the aluminum cylinder heads as you crank the plugs out of their holes, but, hey, you got 100,000 miles between tune-ups!  Also, cars equipped with longer life spark plugs aren't equipped with longer life ignition wires, PCV valves, fuel filters, etc. because these parts don't exist.  My advice is to follow the manufacturers recommended replacement intervals on these items

hopefully enabling your car to last its recommended lifetime. 

JB can be seen each Thursday morning on WDEF-TV News 12's Morning Show at 7:30 A.M. where he answers your car questions.  He can also be heard Saturday Mornings 7-9 on Talk Radio 102.3 FM on the Saturday Morning Garage.  He spends the rest of his time taking advantage of helpless motorists at North Shore Auto Repair in Chattanooga.  E-mail JB at jeepster1515@yahoo.com to have your car care question answered in this column.