I see many cars that need love, but I find it odd when you show someone how bad something is and they still feel it is not needed. That is just crazy.
It is the clients choice to do what they want, when they want, but waiting till it is broken just does not pay off in the long run. Preventing a break down saves time and money.
This filter was from a Toyota Sequoia. It was over due and blocking the air flow.
I have clients that keep the car they drive at (A+) ready for the road condition. Everything is in good shape and the car looks and operates just like new.
At the opposite end of the scale is the fix it when it breaks clients. Most of the time this kind of car is not ugly on the outside, but it is in need of love under the hood.
Waiting till it breaks and you are at the side of the road is no fun. Only fixing things when they break will cost more in the long run. It may not feel like it at first, but if you put the numbers on paper they add up to more over time.
Starting a repair savings fund at your bank is one way to plan for future repair needs. I have three clients, that use a change jug. All spare change goes in and stays in till it’s time to service the car. Basic maintenance costs less than you think.
Getting your car repaired is as fun as going to the doctor, but If you plan for the repairs needed, it will take the sting out of the visit.
Most kids do not listen to mom or dad. They respond as if they are listening, but it went in one ear and out the other.
As you get older you may grow out of it. I have car owners that selective listen all the time. They only hear what they want and the rest falls to the floor.
Part 1: Recently a young woman (mid 20’s) was in denile about the cars needs. It was explained three times, in different ways. She just did not understand why the car needed repair. The client only wanted to hear what she wanted to hear, she did not listen.
Part 2: Three days later the car came in on the hook, broken. The client was mad.
When we explained what happened, she said, how can that be, you just checked it out and said nothing was wrong. After reprinting the last invoice and showing her the area outlining the needed cooling system repair, it finally hit her. The car needed repairs on the last visit and she did not listen.
Listening is an art. To get good at listening, you have to practice doing it.
Really, you do not have enough money to maintain your car? I run into this statement often. This time it was a single mom with two little ones. She said, she barely had enough money for the oil change, much less any repairs.
The repair needed was a cooling system hose @ $63.00 parts and labor. I could not let a good car over heat and turn into a bigger issue. If the engine overheated, I knew she would have no money to fix that. So I gifted the repair to the client.
Then I issued a challenge to the client. I handed her a two-quart empty juice jug, it was clean…
I asked her to take any spare change she gets and drop it into the jug. I also told her not to cheat the jug. Leave the change in the jug till the next oil change. Then bring the jug to us and our morning guy would run the jug over to the Coin Star Machine during her next visit for repairs.
Well, the client came in and she was shocked when the jug was counted. She had enough money for the oil change and two other maintenance needs.
It does not take much money to maintain a car. maintenance is on going and if you ignore it, the car will break down. The national average for a basic economy car care is $.08 per mile driven. This is does not include European cars, big trucks, suv’s, 4×4’s and sports cars.
Edmunds has a great maintenance calculator that can help you find out your cars basic costs for maintenance.
I have many cars come in every year with rat or field mice damage. The little critters chew up wires and hoses, damaging your car or worse causing a health hazard by getting into the A/C system. If you have a car that sits for the season, the little critters can cause hundreds of dollars of damage in just a couple of weeks.
On many cars, critters can get up into the small spaces and start building nests. The video above is showcasing what I did to stop field mouse from nesting in a Lexus A/C system air intake passage. The client had replaced the cabin air filter 6 times in 4 months. I had to make a repair inside the A/C case related to the damage so this is what I did to keep the critter out of the inlet passage.
Rats and field mice can damage a wire harness in hours. One way to combat them is to use an ultra sonic pest repel unit, if your car is parked for storage this works the best. Local hardware stores have them and you can find them on Amazon. You have to plug them into a 110 volt power outlet, but if you can use this product, it is effective.
Wire and hose repairs we do at the shop, are wrapped up with rat tape. Rat tape has a spicy kick to it. It has a hot pepper additive in the tape that makes the rat think twice about chewing on it. Rat tape works about 90% of the time.
Summer time is here. Summer heat will place extra load on your engine. During the hot summer months it is advised to use top-tier gasoline. (91 octane) The engine systems in modern cars today do a great job to control timing, but sometimes it will still ping. Top tier gasoline most of the time will quiet the ping or rattle sound.
The engine knock sensor pictured above was causing a nasty ping on a Nissan Pathfinder. The sensor is located under the intake manifold, not easy to change. The one on the left is the new knock sensor. The sensor on the right was still working, but not correctly due to the broken outer plastic shell.
If you hear the ping sound, do not ignore it. Something could be wrong. An engine will also ping if it is over heating. If your car is 3 years old or older, inspecting your cooling system regularly is very important. Stop in at the shop if you have a ping or rattle condition. A prolonged ping condition can damage internal engine parts.
Click, click, click, this sound could be caused by a faulty starter, a poor cable connection at the starter or battery, or it could be a worn out battery. It could be related to anything in the starting system.
The most common reason is a faulty battery. (about 75% of the time it is just a faulty battery) In Arizona I see most batteries last about 18 months. (1.5 years) The heat is a big killer of batteries. I test every battery in every car I look at, even if it is in for a small repair.
A battery does not normally fail suddenly, but can. The battery will show weakness many months before full failure. Yes, it may start the engine just fine, but the cells inside the battery may have a reduced capacity.
The best way to test for battery health is to place a fixed load on the battery and watch the voltage drop over a preset time. This places a dynamic load on the cells. This is an old school type of test.
The next best way is to use a capacity tester. This type of test checks the internal cell resistance. If the cells are weak, the tester will show (percentage remaining) or a (replace now) depending on how weak the cells are.
Do not wait till you hear click, click click to take action, stop in today so we can test your battery. We are always happy to see new clients and our regular clients know we take care of everything under the hood. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
At Tony’s Service Center we check your battery at every visit. If it is having any issues, you will know before it fails.
The petty thief today does not want your car, they just want to swipe what ever you have loose in your car.
Car hopping is when the thief scouts for unlocked cars and just grabs what ever you have sitting out. It is a snatch and run. At night it is even easier for them to get away with your valuables. Upscale neighborhoods and shopping malls are the prime areas they strike. The worst part is the thief is dressing the part to fit into the surroundings. They are dressing nice to blend in.
Take the time to place your valuables out of sight, in the trunk or glove box. Remember to lock your car. Any loose change in easy view, may make you a prime target. It only takes a moment to become a victim. It also only takes a moment to put the stuff out of sight.
Take the time, be safe and do not become a victim.
By todays standards, a tune up is not like a tune up in the good old days. You may remember back to a time when dad or grandpa worked on the family car in the drive way. With many trips to the auto parts store and two six packs of liquid helper the car would run again.
O.B.D. 2 started back in 1995, but only on some cars and light trucks. By 1999 every car and light truck on the road had O.B.D. 2 computers running the engine and transmission systems. Many government mandates reshaped how engines and transmission systems are managed. Fuel economy and emissions standards became tighter. So car makers had to make changes.
From 1980 to 1999 many american cars used O.B.D. 1 computers. The O.B.D. 1 computer was slow and prone to odd issues. Each car maker had its own system with its own set of codes and short comings.
As fast as home computers changed, the computers used in cars changed, becoming faster and more capable. Some manufactures used old school ways with new electronics and it made a mess of everything under the hood. So many hoses, wires, valves and sensors it just made your head spin.
Imports had electronic systems back in to the 70’s, but no two makes of car ran the same style of system and they changed every 2 to 3 years. Many import cars used parts that did the same things that O.B.D. 1 parts did, but no one used a uniform standard. It was a big mess until O.B.D. 2.
Prior to electronic ignition systems, every engine used a set of points to trigger the ignition system. The points system was a mechanical on off switch for the ignition system. Every 6 months or so the parts would wear out and need replacement or a tune up. On the older cars you did not have a computer to give you a code. You had to find the fault by doing tests on all the parts that ran the engine.
Repairing the older cars required the mechanic to hook up a big engine scope to the engine. Getting good data from the engine during its operation was critical to a fast diagnosis. This was the heart of no code driveability. You had to know how every part worked and how wear effected the way the engine ran or how the transmission would respond. I do not miss the old cars, but I still have some vintage rides stop in for service.
Todays version of a tune up may consist of pulling codes and replacing some broken parts, but for the most part a modern car has nothing to tune up. A computer running a program sets the idle speed and timing to maximise fuel economy and engine performance, its pre-set, nothing to adjust. Service intervals are longer and wearing parts like spark plugs last longer. The Distributer, distributer cap, rotor, ignition wires and coil has been replaced with an ignition coil on plug ignition systems. Todays engine bay looks simple in comparison to a 80’s car. So what is a tune up? It’s about replacing the worn parts and making the car happy.
1997 Chevrolet truck with a 4.3 engine runs rough.The owner has maintained the truck very well, but with 300,000+ miles on the clock you would think it would be all worn out, but it’s not. This is why maintenance is critical to the long life of your car or truck. This truck looks and drives great because the owner loves his ride. The rough running condition was not setting any codes.
It was not related to the ignition system or engine compression. It was caused by a faulty fuel pressure regulator on the fuel injection unit. The only way to spot an issue like this is to know fuel delivery basics.
Some engine parts go bad slowly over time. The client did not know that anything was wrong. The client only said it felt rough at an idle and to check it out. This little monster below is the fuel injection unit from under the intake manifold. It is hidden from sight. So when it has a leak, you do not smell it or see it, but your fuel economy will drop when it is going bad.
The client may have noticed that the engine was using more fuel, but he does not check the fuel mileage regularly. The easy way to check fuel usage is to zero out your trip meter when you fill up the gas tank. Then at the next fill up, divide the miles traveled by the fuel used to re-fill the tank. Presto, you just found out what your fuel MPG is. Now, do this at every fill up and if you notice your mileage drop over 20% suddenly, you may need repairs or lighter feet.
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