Posted on 08 December 2024
Maybe your vehicle feels like Breaking Bad. In other words, when you brake, things are bad. You may find it takes you a longer distance to stop, you feel a vibration, or it’s pulsating when you depress the brake pedal, or perhaps your vehicle pulls to one side. Those can be symptoms of failing brake drums. While a lot more vehicles these days have disc brakes, many vehicles still have brake drums, almost always in the rear wheels. The drum is a cast iron shallow cylinder that surrounds the other parts, including curved brake shoes that press pads against the drum to slow you down or stop the vehicle. Any time you have things going wrong with your brakes, you should get them fixed soon. Safely operating any vehicle depends on having the brakes be able to slow and stop you dependably. It can make the difference between avoiding a collision and having one. When you bring your vehicle in, a technician will inspect your braking system. Depending on ... read more
Posted on 01 December 2024
We all want to breathe clean air and keep our planet green. One of the ways to do that is by requiring all vehicles with internal combustion engines to pass an emissions test. That’s because these vehicles can be big polluters. Everyone wants their car to pass the test so they can continue their day-to-day driving routine. But then comes that one day when they tell you your vehicle has failed. Why does that happen? One of the most common reasons is that your gas cap is leaking or loose (or maybe you don’t even have one on your vehicle!). The gas cap is supposed to seal in vapors, but sometimes its seals or gaskets dry out or crack. Replace it, and you’re good to go. Another common reason your vehicle failed the test is that your catalytic converter isn’t doing its job. It is supposed to convert toxic gases from your engine into ones that don’t pollute the air. There are many reasons the catalytic converter may not ... read more
Posted on 24 November 2024
When you start your vehicle’s engine, there’s another motor that makes that whole process possible. It’s called the starter, and it’s a small electric motor that gets your vehicle running. As you can imagine, it’s quite a chore for a little electric motor to turn over the big engine that powers your vehicle. And after hundreds of successful starting missions, after a while, it will start to give out. You’ll know the starter is starting to give up the ghost when it turns too slowly or sometimes doesn’t do anything when you turn on the ignition. Maybe it makes funny noises like grinding when you try to start your vehicle or maybe there’s just a click. Those are all reasons to get your vehicle over to us so we can see what’s going on. A technician will make sure the problem is the starter and not in the battery, a switch, or other electrical component or connections. If all of those are ruled out, y ... read more
Posted on 17 November 2024
Engine air filters may not seem like a big deal, but when they’re clogged up with dirt, dust, and insects, your engine could wind up choking for air and not delivering you the power and performance it was designed to give. There are actually a couple of air filters in your vehicle. One filters the air going into the cabin (the cabin air filter), and the other filters air going into the engine. That engine filter is the one we’re talking about. After several months and long distances traveled, your engine air filter accumulates the junk it’s preventing from getting into your engine. You may notice your engine misfiring, your acceleration may not be what it used to be, it may make strange noises, and the Check Engine light may come on. When you notice any of those signs, it’s time to bring in your vehicle to have us figure out what’s going on. We’ll visually inspect your air filter. Keep in mind that your vehicle’s manufacturer ... read more
Posted on 10 November 2024
You may have heard about an important part of your vehicle's engine called a timing belt, and many know that if that belt breaks, it can cause some very serious engine problems. Not all vehicles have them, and the ones that do generally have smaller engines. The timing belt keeps the engine synchronized so that every time a spark plug fires, the crankshaft, camshaft, pistons, and valves are all working together. Timing belts will eventually have to be replaced, and most vehicle manufacturers recommend when that should be. Typically, it's around every 60,000-100,000 miles, or 100,000-160,000 km. It's a good idea to stick to your vehicle's schedule or be alert for signs that the timing belt may be failing prematurely. Some of those symptoms? Maybe your engine won't even turn over when you try firing it up. You might hear a ticking or banging sound under the hood. Perhaps you spot an oil leak or notice the engine misfiring. If any of those are happenin ... read more
Posted on 03 November 2024
See if any of these are happening to your vehicle. You feel it vibrating excessively underneath when it’s running, or you hear strange clunking, grating, or grinding sounds coming from beneath. Maybe it’s hard to turn your vehicle, or you can hear squeaking when you’re going slow. Perhaps you feel a shudder when you step on the throttle. Any of those could be signs that your vehicle’s driveshaft might need lubricating, and it’s important to have one of our technicians check it out. Your vehicle’s engine puts out a lot of twisting power. That force is called torque, and the driveshaft is the part that handles the job of transferring all that torque from your engine to the wheels. If it’s a four-wheel or all-wheel drive vehicle, it will have driveshafts front and rear. Some driveshafts have different segments which are connected by couplings called U-Joints. So that everything can glide along fine ... read more
Posted on 27 October 2024
As you know, today’s vehicles rely on a lot of computers in them to keep them running clean and efficiently. Those computers depend on information delivered by several sensors throughout the engine and exhaust system. And one of the most important is the oxygen sensor. Known as the O2 sensor for short, it looks for too much unburned oxygen that has made it into the exhaust. That signals something isn’t right with the engine’s air-fuel mixture. The sensor sends signals to the engine’s computers, which can then make adjustments to make sure the engine is running as it was designed to. Some vehicles can have several O2 sensors, and since they can measure oxygen at various points in the combustion/exhaust process, the computers can pinpoint where the problems lie. For example, an O2 sensor can detect how much oxygen is coming out of the engine’s combustion chamber, and another one can measure oxygen coming out of the catalytic co ... read more
Posted on 20 October 2024
If your vehicle’s power goes to the rear wheels, then you have something called U-joints in the drivetrain. U-joints are connectors that allow the rotating power from your vehicle’s engine to deliver its power through a driveshaft to make the rear wheels rotate. You need U-joints because the surfaces you drive on aren’t perfectly flat, and the driveshaft has to allow for some flexibility when you are traveling over uneven surfaces. As you can imagine, the U-joints have to move and flex a lot as your vehicle is going down the road. They have bearings in them to allow that flexibility, and those bearings are lubricated when your vehicle is made. Some U-joints have lifetime lubrication and are not designed to be serviced. When they fail, they have to be replaced. Others have grease fittings on them that need periodic lubricating by a technician at intervals recommended by your vehicle’s manufacturer. There are signs you can look ... read more
Posted on 13 October 2024
It's safe to say that most drivers take their brakes for granted. You press on the brake pedal and the vehicle slows down or stops. It's easy to see why it is so important for your vehicle's brakes to be working correctly. Brakes are an important safety feature of any vehicle. When it comes to your brakes working correctly, maintaining them regularly will ensure that you will always be able to slow or stop your vehicle in any situation, whether on a sunny day on dry pavement or a bad weather day on slippery surfaces. And that is why regular brake service is such a sound investment for all drivers. The combo of brakes" and "surprises" doesn't usually end well. You might already know about some of the parts of your braking system. Terms familiar to you might be pads, rotors, and calipers. In short, the calipers press the pads, which in turn contact the rotors. The resulting friction slows your vehicle. Another type of brake uses a drum and brake ... read more
Posted on 06 October 2024
You’ve probably already heard that regular oil changes are extremely important for the health of your vehicle’s engine. That’s sound advice. But what you might not know is when it comes to motor oil, the real thing may not be the best thing for your engine. There are different types of motor oil:
• Conventional oil, extracted from the ground and refined.
• Synthetic oil, manufactured from high-quality base oils and artificially-made chemical compounds.
• Synthetic oil blend, a mixture of conventional and synthetic oils. The first thing you need to know is that most new engines require synthetic oil. If synthetic oil is recommended for your car – you MUST use it. For the rest, there are many advantages to using synthetic oil over conventional oil. • Synthetic oil provides better protection for your engine while helping it to perform better.
• Co ... read more