An L.O.F. is: the primary service your car needs every 3,000 to 5,000 miles.
Every car and truck needs service. Some people call it an oil change, in our shop we call it a L.O.F.
L.O.F. – Short for; Lube, Oil and Filter. Today I had a new client in for an oil change and everything went fine till it was time to talk about what the car needed. What it needed in addition to an oil change.
Yes, the car needed much more than just an oil change.
The client just could not come to grips with what we found. A leaky cooling system hose, a worn set of wiper blades, two brake light bulbs burnt out, an accessory drive belt with chunks of rubber missing. In all, the car needed many repairs.
The client said, his car can not be in that bad of shape, and we are just trying to rip him off.
During an oil change, it is my job as a service technician to inspect the car top to bottom and front to rear. I list and estimate anything I find that is worn out or a safety issue.
I am not checking everything out to rip someone off. I check everything out to keep my clients informed about needed repairs and safety concerns. No one likes to break down at the side of the road.
I help clients plan for repairs they need. Even if your car needs many repairs, nothing says you have to do the repairs on the same visit, unless it’s a safety repair.
If the car owner wants to wait till things are 100% broken, I understand. I can only recommend a repair to a client, I can’t force them to repair it.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
Spray penetrating oil; I like WD40. I have a use for it on every car that comes in for service. Door locks, hinges, hood latch’s. You name it I have a use for it.
Today I had a truck in for service that the rear door was not functioning correctly. The lock was not working. The client could not lock and unlock the door, plus the door latch’s hung up causing the door to not latch. The client has been slamming the door to close it, and now the doors metal frame was showing cracks near the latch.
After removing the doors inner panels. I sprayed down the latch’s and door lock. Now everything is happy, the lock turns and the door shuts easy.
The client was stunned, he said he sprayed lot’s of spray oil on the latch and lock and it never made them work well. The kicker was to spray the latch’s and lock from inside the door vs just from the outside.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
I have worked on hundreds of Saturn cars. I like them, but I find some Saturn owners are odd. Not a bad odd, just odd. Lady Saturn is just that, she is odd. Lady Saturn thinks she knows everything about everything. Google is just a click away, so why should Lady Saturn take our word that her car needs to be repaired. Lady Saturn can click her car into good health.
Lady Saturn stopped in today for me to look at a noise. (Note Lady Saturn has been in the shop 8 times in 12 months, but never said yes to any repair we estimated.) The noise was related to a drive belt that was ready to fail. The belt was missing chunks of rubber and it had a tattered edge. It was needing replacement today.
When I showed Lady Saturn the belt she debated that is was not bad enough to change yet and I must be wrong about the cause of the noise.
I just closed the hood and walked away. Lady Saturn was not seeing the need for the repair. The car is ready to break down today and Lady Saturn wants to debate that nothing is wrong.
So why did she stop in to have us look at the car? I am still wondering why.
I hate to say it, but I hope Lady Saturn does not come back.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
Green grass with a shrub fence line, it looks nice, but what is on the other side?
The big question of the week, is the Grass Greener? Yes, yes it is, if you are on the right side of the fence.
When do you know you are on the right side of the fence? When you get what you want, duh.
So is it Ok to jump ship for something better, yes! If it is better and not a tease.
Many “big chain” retail shops today will bid low to draw you in, then slowly add things until they get what they want. This is called (a bait and switch) Coupon shopping automotive repair can lead you to bigger problems.
Wow, this looks good, it’s green.
At Tony’s we have an up front pricing system.
Yes, it may seem higher if you are a discount shopper, but it is real world pricing with quality parts and a solid warranty.
Some people, including my wife will drive 10 miles to save $1.00 on a pair of $18.00 shoes. The percentage of savings ‘vs’ gas cost does not add up. The grass was not greener.
The savings has to be BIG for me to look across the fence. Service providers like to know you use them because you like the work they do. The price is not the main issue, it’s about the quality! Anyway, if I want a service to match a price, most of the time they can match apples for apples, you just have to ask.
Stacy was a long time client and her truck needed transmission repairs. Our transmission vendor looked at the truck and advised a full overhaul. The transmission had 147,000 miles on it. It lived a good life and then some. Stacy did not like the price of the repair. Stacy was mad, because she felt our price was just too high. Stacy picked up her truck and took it to a big name transmission retailer that said they could do the full overhaul 20% cheaper than we could.
Fast forward 2 months, Stacy finally got her truck back from the transmission shop. Yep, It was in the shop a long time. The first overhaul only went a week before it failed. Stacy’s second visit to the retailer took 2 weeks to sort out who would pay for the failure. In all, Stacy had to take her truck back to the shop 4 more times before it was working correctly. It was a big mess. Stacy, spent over $4,000 for all of her efforts, not including rental car charges. Stacy was not happy.
Our overhaul price was only $3,200 and it came with a 24,000 mile / 2 year warranty. The other shop only offered 1 year and 12,000 miles.
I know the full story, because Stacy’s brother is a client at our shop. I hope Stacy will return to our shop some day. Stacy found out too late, the grass was not greener.
No body want to land in something like this. Bouncing from shop to shop will not save money in the long run and you could land in a nasty mess.
Price matching an estimate is easy. I know my estimates will always be higher, I am picky about quality. If a client has a legitimate written estimate from a competitor, we can match that estimate apples for apples.
Quality vs price;the quality will be remebered long after the price savings.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
Why do you want an oil change so cheep? It does not cost much anyway. Our average oil change price is $38.00 with an air filter installed. $30.00 with out an air filter. That is the, out the door price (tax, fees and service) Most cars only need 3 oil changes a year. Why skimp on an important service? 3 oil changes are less than $150.00 a year.
Changing your oil does not have to be pain full. The car care special we are running till the end of 2013 is a great deal. A full service Oil change with Air Filter if needed, all under hood Fluids topped off, Charging system checked, Battery checked, Lighting system checked, A/C system checked, Tire rotation, Brake inspection and more. It’s a huge savings and great value.
Coupon Oil Change, why use a coupon?
Yeah, you get your oil changed, but what type of product is going into your engine? Do you think that a $14.95 oil change is going to get high quality oil?
A major “chain store” retailer that does oil changes, uses recycled oil in the oil change special unless you pay extra for the new oil.
Ask for new oil and your oil change just jumped to $26.00 before tax and fees.
Every place that offers a coupon oil change is doing it at a loss. They figure, if they dangle the coupon oil change in front of you, you will spend money freely on other repairs needed.
Yeah, like that will happen, why do you think you are using a coupon.
Oil Change Loyalty
Our clients have the oil changed at least 3 times a year. During our oil change we look at the entire car. Front to rear, we look at everything we can without removing any major parts.
We do this to find any repairs that may be needed.
Yes, it is a fact-finding mission.
Yes, we want your business, but we will not lie to you to get it.
Once we inspect your car, we ask you if you would like prices for the things we see. If you say No. We note our findings as future needs on the work order and we finish the service.
No high pressure. It’s Yes or No.
Chain stores use high pressure words and sales tricks to get you to say yes today, I do not. As long as the repairs needed are not a safety risk to you, we can plan for the repairs to be done on the next visit.
Why go cheep? Be Loyal and be rewarded.
A regular client does not have to question us about why the car needs repairs, but if they have questions about the repairs needed, we are here to help them. The goal is to keep the car in good shape. Nobody want’s to sit on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. Cars wear out and need repair. If you drive it, it will break some day.
The idea of inspecting the car during an oil change is to inform the client of upcoming repairs. This gives the client the power to plan for the repair.
I have a budget and I know I have to stick to it. Most repairs do not need to be done that second, but should be done soon. I promote preventive maintenance. Repairing the car before you break down on the side of the road.
Oil Change Challenge!
I hear people say this often, I can’t afford that much for an oil change. You must plan for your cars service and repairs. A repair savings account is a good place to start. You can also try the oil change challenge below. What goes into the jug stays in the jug.
An oil change does not cost that much. Our basic oil change is $30.00 out the door. (tax, fees and service)
A coupon special may be $14.95 before tax and fees. By the time you walk out the door your bill is close to $ 25.00 or more. So did you save any money? Maybe, but how much?
My oil change challenge: save your spare change in a large jar or 2 qt. juice jug till it is time to change your oil. I know you will have more than you need to do an oil change. Plus you will have money remaining to do extra service repairs. Do not cheat the jug, what goes in, stays in till it’s time for service.
Bring us the coupon! “Coupon Oil Change”
If you need auto repairs, bring in any oil change coupon and we will match that coupon price during your repair visit.
In fact, mention HeyAnthonyAz.com and your oil change is on me. How cool is that, get your car repairs done here and you get a free oil change.
Yes, the free oil change has a catch. It has to be during a repair visit and your repair visit needs to be at least $150.00. It’s that easy.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
I have some clients that say this: I do not want to go to the dealer.
Why?
The dealer has all the cool tools, great parts and factory trained mechanics. So why not go to the dealer. They know everything about the car you drive. It must be a great place.
I have worked in three dealerships. Everyone of them was challenging. Shop politics, back stabbing, steeling work from each other, breaking things to flag warranty time, high mechanic turn over and the list goes on. In short, it sucked.
Because I have morals, I never did very well at the dealership level. I did not play along with the shop games, politics and shady ways to flag time.
I did have an advantage, I could work on anything that rolled. I always had work when everyone else was standing around. In the long run I still made my pay check, but I did it the hard way, I worked for it.
I like working at a family owned repair shop.
Clients like the family owned repair shops because they get better overall service. A family shop is a great place to go for all your repair and maintenance needs. A family repair shop works on anything that rolls. Any year and model, we do not mind. A family owned shop can do everything the dealer can do. A family repair shop offers you a personal touch.
A family shop will always be a better place than the dealer, because we care about you.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
I have at least 2 cars a month that need a water pump replaced ASAP. If a water pump is leaking, you risk over heating your engine. An overheating condition can destroy an engine in less than couple of minuets.
If the engine over heats from coolant loss, repair costs can get ugly fast.
This leaking Nissan water pump was changed before engine damage could happen, the leaky pump was noticed during the oil change service. Regular service visits can prevent bigger failures.
The best time to replace a leaking water pump is before engine damage occurs.
This is a no brainer. At least we would think that is the case.
On the web, you can find many auto forums that say, do not get ripped off by replacing parts before they break. Yes and No. Most forums are 50% helpful. Populated by wannabe mechanics or shade tree D.I.Y. guys and you can get advise that will cost you more in the long run.
So are you getting ripped off if you can prevent a bigger failure?
This mess is from an Audi A6. The water pump failed and caused the engine to over heat. The repairs totaled $6,400.00 because a $86.00 water pump failed at 39,000 miles.
Sometimes it is Ok to replace a part before it is 100% broken.
Would you fly in an airplane, if you knew the ground crew waited till an engine part was 100% broken before they replaced it? > No! <
If I knew the airplane could break down when it was at 30,000 feet, I would never want to fly at all.
Preventative maintenance is just what it implies. Fix it before it fails.
I have a BMW client that comes in every 45,000 miles to replace the water pump, upper radiator hose, thermostat and coolant. This is because the water pump life span is about 50,000 miles and the client does not want to have any breakdowns. The above repair is only $590.00, but an engine replacement is around $9,000.00. The client understands the value and loves his car.
Water pumps do not have to leak to cause engine damage. This Volvo S80 water pump has a broken impeller. Repairs for this condition can range from $550.00 to $6000.00. It all depends on how hot the engine gets.
Yes, I know cars do not fly, but many states have safety inspections to keep cars in a safe working order. Brakes, tires, lights, steering, suspension and drive train parts must be in good working condition. If the car needs repairs, you do not drive the car till it pass’ inspection.
I do not like to wait till my car is broken down on the side of the road to take action. Maintenance is required to keep everything ship-shape and ready for the road.
This water pump caused over heating damage and the engine needed replacement because the over heating melted the pistons to the cylinder walls. The car was only 2 years old with 47,000 miles on the clock.
I like to see our clients in at least twice a year for service, but they can stop in anytime to get free air in the tires. Our clients know they are welcome to stop in anytime for a quick under hood check. A quick look costs nothing, but could save you big.
You do not have to wait till the next oil change to pop the hood.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
Every body want’s a quickie. Plastic head lamp lens polishing.
This head lamp lens was very hazy. Both head lights looked the same way, hazy. The driver did not notice the lights being dim. Once I sold him on a quickie polish, he liked that the front of the truck looked new again. The next day he called me. He was in shock, he noticed right away, that the lights worked better.
Many of today’s head lamp lens’ are made of plastic. The plastic may become discolored and fade after many years of service. Hazy or yellowed head lamp lenses will reduce the light coming out of the head lamp fixture. The Hazy condition acts like a diffuser, making the light travel less distance down the road. A yellow lens condition will diffuse and change the color of the light. Both conditions will reduce the distance your head lamps can project down the road.
Hear at the shop, I have three levels of lens clean up.
2 Step Quick Polish: Clean the surface and polish the lens with a cleaning wax.
4 Step Polish: Clean the surface, polish with cutting paste and then fine polish plus apply a wax sealer.
8 Step Sand & Polish: Clean the surface, sand plastic in 3 steps, polish in 3 steps and then apply a wax sealer.
Most of the time a 2 step quick polish is all most cars need. The 4 step is for very heavy hazy and yellowing. The 8 step polish is for pitted and scratched lenses. Some times very deep damage will require lens replacement.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
I just replaced my tires last month. Well, sort of.
The client in question, did replace the tires on this month, but it was 3 years ago this month. Time just zips by, and I have this happen to many clients, they lose track of when they last visited the shop. That is why we mail out reminders to clients, so they come in for service regularly.
I see 4 to 5 cars a week that need tires. So why do drivers wait till the tire fails? Why wait till you are on the side of the road.
I blame it on an old school idea, the myth is that Abraham Lincoln’s head is a good judge of tread depth. In the last couple years I have seen many automotive articles on tire wear and when it’s time to replace the worn out rubber.
Penny @ 2/32″ of an inch vs a Quarter @ 4/32″ of an inch.
When you use a penny to judge the tread depth, you are waiting too long to replace your tires. Waiting till your tires are at 2/32″ of an inch to replace them puts you at risk of hydroplaning in wet conditions.
Hydroplaning; “Verb” To slide uncontrollably on the wet surface of a road : a motorist whose car hydroplaned and crashed into a tree.
Many tires may still have tread in the center, but may be worn at the edge, or worse. Your tires could be age cracked, or have cuts on the side wall from hitting curbs. You must look at the condition of the entire tire, not just the thread thickness.
I know, I live in Arizona. It never rains in Arizona, right? Well the fact is, yes, it does rain in Arizona just not very often. But when it does rain, all the oil in the road rises to the top of the wet surface. That makes the road very slick. Any tire at 2/32″ of an inch will slip, slide and lose traction very easy in that type of wet condition.
So I like to use a Quarter, I keep one in my pocket to show clients how important thickness is when the road is wet. A Quarter will give you 4/32″ or 1/8 th of an inch of tread thickness. I use 4/32″ of an inch as a guideline for tire wear. Many tests have shown that tires worn to 4/32″ of an inch will still grip the wet road and bring your car to a safe stop.
The video below is showing a tire that is worn too much, it needs replacement now. If you look at the center of the tire you can see the tread is still thick enough that it could give the owner the idea the tire is still good. The client did not think the tread was that bad till I showed him up close how cracked and worn the tire was. In fact all 4 tires looked just like the one in the video clip. He only came in to get the fluids checked and the tires aired up because he was going on a trip in the morning.
So as your tire wears down below 4/32″ it will start to lose traction when the road is wet. Tests on tires looking at tire wear vs wet traction showed that at 3/32″ of an inch the wet stopping distances starts to increase by 15 to 50%.
At 2/32″ of an inch almost all the tires tested showed the cars using over double the amount of distance to stop. That is almost 100% more stopping distance needed when the road is wet. Replacing your tires at 4/32″ is a good idea. Think safety first.
By the way the client was very happy we found this before he had a break down. With 4 new tire an oil change and new wiper blades he was ready for his trip.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
An engine miss fire feels like a bumping sensation. Most of the time, this is noticed by the driver when accelerating. A miss fire condition may cause the Check Engine Light to turn on or start flashing at you.
This is a spark plug with carbon tracking. The dark black lines running left to right in the center of the image is a carbon trail caused by a faulty spark plug wire. This type of condition will cause a single cylinder miss fire.
If an engine miss fire condition is causing poor tail pipe emissions, the check engine light will start to flash on and off.
When you see the check engine light flashing at you, do not continue to drive the car. Get it in for repairs right away. The catalytic converter maybe damaged if you continue to drive the car with the check engine light flashing.
A Catalytic Converter damaged by a miss fire condition. A miss fire condition will melt down a converter very quickly.
A catalytic converter is not chump change. On a Nissan Pathfinder, I just replaced both front catalytic converters on the Nissan and it was related to a miss fire condition. It was over $1,400.00 just for the dealer cats.
This set of worn spark plugs was causing a DTC P0300 on a Ford 4.2 V6. The plugs are 8 years old with 102,000 miles of use. The engine needed more parts than just spark plugs. This set of plugs also shows oil build up, the engine was due for a valve job on top of all the other needs.
If the check engine light is flashing, get it in for repairs!
OBD2 cars today can store a code that will direct the mechanic to look at a specific area.
A good example of this is when you have a DTC P0302 miss fire detected on cylinder #2, you have a place to look (cylinder #2 has a miss fire). You just have to look at things that would affect cylinder #2.
Oil fouled spark plug, this plug was causing a single cylinder miss fire. (DTC P0304)
On a DTC P0300, this is a random miss fire condition that could be caused by anything. Anything that changes the air/fuel mixture to all of the cylinders in the engine at the same time.
A dirty MAF sensor can cause this type of change to all the cylinders.
MAF: Mass Air Flow Sensor, is a sensor that takes reading of the incoming air into the engine and sends a signal to the computer. The signal is used to make fuel system, cam timing and ignition timing adjustments.
The driver may not feel the engine miss fire with a DTC P0300, but the driver should see the check engine light turn on. Other things the driver may notice. The engine may feel like it is not responding crisply or the driver may notice that the fuel economy has been poor.
A couple other things that can cause a DTC P0300. Poor engine compression or an engine that is out of time due to a faulty timing belt or timing chain. A large centrally located vacuüm leak or a restricted exhaust system.
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DTC P0300 Defined: Random Cylinder Miss Fire, this condition could be caused by any parts attached to the engine or parts inside the engine. You have to look for any condition that will change the air/fuel mixture, spark or compression to all the cylinders at the same time.
DTC P0301 Defined: Miss Fire on cylinder #1 or any cylinder that the code lists. (P0301, P0302, P0303, P0304) The last number in the DTC is pointing to the cylinder that set the code.
It’s all good under the hood. Anthony Xavier ASE Master Technician
copyright: All rights reserved @ HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2013
