Air Conditioning

Air Condtioner Parts
Air Condtioner Parts and what they do:

• A/C comperssor: is the pump that moves the freon through the system A/C lines: what the freon travels through to reach all of the viable systems.
• Cooling Fan: this part keeps the condensor cool.
• Schrader Valve: is a part of the fitting to recharge the system.
• Evaporator: is the part that cools the air in the vehicle
• Condensor: this part converts the freon gas into liquid
• Accumulator/Reciever Dryer: keeps moisture out of the system and also it collects the freon that is not being used at the time.

What is involved in recharging my A/C?
If your vehicle is blowing out cool air or hot/warm air it could be time to recharge you’re A/C. The steps involved include the following:

• Get an actual vent temperature from the vehicle.
• Make sure the compressor and the cooling fan are engaging.
• Check system for any visible leaks.
• Hook up A/C machine and evacuate system and make sure the system has the proper vacuum pressure in the system.
• If the vacuum is bad then there is a leak in the system, we then use our sniffer to test for leaks, if we can't find the leak then we put an oil dye in the system and recharge the a/c. After a week or two we would need to recheck the system for leaks.
• If the vacuum ok then we recharge the system as well as put a dye in the system so if there is a future leak it can be detected easier.

Brakes

Common Brake Problems

• Brakes are squeaking: This is the most common complaint with brakes and may be caused by numerous problems. One problem could be that the brake pads or shoes have worn down to discard level and a squeaker put in by the manufacturer is rubbing against the rotor causing the squeaking noise. Other problems could be that their is a heat glaze on the rotor that is causing the noise or some brake pads have a higher tendency to cause squeaks than other brake pads.
• My brake pedal is soft: This is normally a symptom of either a brake fluid leak in the system somewhere or their might be an air pocket in the brake lines. Inspecting the system for a leak and replacing the faulty part or flushing the brake fluid are the two most common cures for this problem.
• My ABS light or my brake light is on: Concerning the ABS light, this could be a warning to you that a component of your ABS system is failing or needs attention. Their is normally a ABS control module that receives a speed signal from the speed sensors. If one of these units are not working properly it will send a signal to the main vehicle computer and turn your ABS light on. If the brake light is on that is normally either the vehicle is low on brake fluid or the brake lining is worn down to a discard level.
• My car pulls when I brake: This is normally a sign of a possible caliper problem in your brake system. If a caliper has frozen up on one side it does not let the system brake correctly which would cause a pull in a certain direction.

Complete Brake Job
A complete brake job should begin with a thorough inspection of the entire brake system, which includes the condition of the linings, rotors, drums, calipers, wheel cylinders, brake hardware, hoses, lines and master cylinder. Any hoses that are cracked, chaffed, swollen, or leaking should be replaced. Any caliper or wheel cylinder that is leaking should be replaced as well as frozen calipers that don't allow the brakes to function properly. Also leaks at the master cylinder or a brake pedal that gradually sinks to the floor tells you that the master cylinder should be replaced. The rotors and drums should be inspected for wear, heat cracks, warping or other damage. If the rotor or drum are worn to thin they must be replaced. Brake hardware should always be replaced if it is frozen or not retaining the correct spring. Wheel bearings, if not self-contained, should always be re- packed with new grease seals. Finally, old contaminated brake fluid should always be flushed out with new fluid.

Major Brake Components

• Brake Linings: these are either considered brake pads or brake shoes. Both of these items are made up of a semi- mettalic material or an abestos material. The brake pad and the brake shoes are the piece of material that presses against a rotor or drum, which causes friction to stop your vehicle
• Brake Rotor: this is a disc shaped item where the brake pad pushes against to cause the friction needed to stop your vehicle
• Brake Drum: is an item that covers a rear brake shoe system. The rear brake shoes in this system rub against the brake drum to cause fricition so your vehicle will stop
• Brake Caliper and Wheel Cylinders: these two items are the
  hydraulic devices that keep the brake fluid running to the brake system to make sure the brake linings are properly pressing against the rotor or drum at the right pressure
• Master Cylinder and Booster: the master cylinder and booster are the two brake components that pumps the brake fluid to the front and rear brakes. These components make sure fluid gets to all the vital brake components and makes sure that the right pressure is in the system.

Commonly Asked Questions

How often should belts and hoses be replaced?
Most hose manufacturers recommend replacing hoses every four years. V-belts should be replaced every three years or 36,000 miles. The incidence of failure rises sharply after the fourth year of service for hoses and third year for belts. Serpentine belts typically last about five years or 50,000 miles. Both hoses and belts are made of rubber material and wear out with age. If these items breakdown it causes more grief than anything because you might get left stranded on the side of the road. It is best to take precautions and have the belts and hoses replaced when they start to show signs of age so you won't be
left stranded.

When should I change my filters?

• Air filter: needs to be inspected regularly and replaced as often as needed, regardless of mileage or time. Dirty air filters can increase fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.
• Fuel filter: should be replaced yearly or at every tune-up, especially on fuel injected cars. The fuel filter picks up most of the debris from the gas tank. If the fuel filter gets clogged then it could cause damage to the fuel injectors.
• Oil filters: need to be replaced at every oil change. A new filter is cheap insurance against major engine damage, so why take unnecessary risks.
• Transmission filter: should be changed every two years or 30,000 miles to prolong the transmissions life.

Why do timing heirs need replacement?
First of all the timing belts and chains ensure that crankshaft, pistons and valves operate together in proper sequence. Like other components timing belts wear out. Proper maintenance requires that belt should be replaced at regular intervals before they break. The timing belt is one of the most critical components to your vehicle and should be replaced at the manufacturer's recommendations. The timing belt is not an inexpensive job but it is a lot less then it would be if your timing belt were to break causing damage to you engine. Timing belts will range in the hundred dollar ranges to low thousand dollar ranges but that is a lot better than a new or used engine which is typically a couple to a few thousand dollars.

Why vehicles need preventative maintenance?
Manufacturer's and technicians know that a properly maintained vehicle will be more dependable, safer, last longer, and increase your satisfaction with their product. Car makers and owners have a responsibility to make sure emission controls receive regular service and are functioning properly. Regular maintenance helps accomplish these goals by keeping your engine running efficiently and eliminating potential problems that may leave you stranded. A well maintained vehicle provides you with a more dependable vehicle, retains that "new car feel", less chance of a costly breakdown, a safer vehicle for you and your family, doing your part for cleaner air, a car worth more at trade in or sale and an intact warranty.

Cooling System

Cooling System Parts
Here is a list of the most essential cooling system parts in a vehicle and what they do:

• Water Pump: circulates the antifreeze through the system
• Cooling Fan: comes on at set temperatures to keep the system cool
• Thermostat: opens and closes at a set temperature to allow the coolant to circulate through the system
• Radiator: is the main reservoir for the antifreeze so it can circulate throughout the cooling system
• Radiator Hoses: are rubber hoses that the antifreeze runs throughout from component to component.
• Heater Core: allows the coolant to run through the cabin in the vehicle to produce heat inside the vehicle
• Antifreeze: is the fluid that runs through all the components of the cooling system. The antifreeze should be a mix of (SO/50) water and antifreeze

What can make an engine overheat?
Overheating is caused by anything that leads to a loss of coolant, prevents the cooling system from getting rid of heat, or causes excess heat in the engine itself:

• Coolant leaks
• Weak radiator cap
• Cooling system clogged
• Thermostat stuck shut
• Inoperative electric cooling fan
• Bad fan clutch
• Missing fan shroud
• Slipping fan belt
• Bad water pump
• Collapsed radiator hose
• Debris in the radiator
• Restricted exhaust system
• Radiator and/or fan undersized for application
• Too low or too high a concentration of antifreeze

These are the most common symptoms of why the engine might overheat. If your engine is overheating make sure you get your vehicle checked out before you blow your head gasket and cause yourself a very expensive repair over a moderate repair.

Electrical System

Electrical Components

• Starter: is the component in your electrical system that starts the ignition of your vehicle. Vehicles should fire right up in a second and a half at the most, if your vehicle does not then you might be experiencing a problem with your starter
• Alternator: is the component in your electrical system that provides the voltage needed to keep all of your electrical components operating smoothly.
• Battery: is the component in your electrical system that provides the power (juice) to keep all your electrical components running. Most batteries should put out at least 9.6 volts or higher
• Voltage Regulator: is the component of your electrical system that regulates the voltage going to your battery and alternator.
• Ignition Switch: is the component of your electrical system that sparks the ignition of your vehicle from the battery to the alternator
• Sensors and Electronic Control Assembly: This assembly is the electronic control assembly (the vehicles on-board computer) controls all of the sensors in the vehicle to the fuel injectors. Vehicles today have more on-board computers than the first space shuttles. If a sensor fails then you could experience either
  hard starting, stalling, hesitation, poor mileage, high emissions and many other problems. Normally if a sensor fails the computer will send a signal so your check engine light comes on. If this occurs you should bring you vehicle in to be checked out and serviced.

Engine Sensors and what they do
All sensors are important in your vehicle. The computer is the brains of the engine control system and the sensors are the links to what's happening under the hood. Below is a description of the most important sensors in the vehicle.

• Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor: is often called the master sensor because the computer uses its input to regulate many other functions. Because of the coolant's central role in triggering many engine functions, a faulty sensor can cause a variety of cold performance problems. The most common symptoms include poor cold idle, stalling, cold hesitation or stumble, and/or poor fuel mileage.
• Oxygen (02) Sensor: this sensor measures how much unburned oxygen is in the exhaust. The computer uses this as an indication of how rich or lean the fuel mixture is. A problem with the 02 sensor will prevent the computer from keeping the fuel mixture balanced under changing driving conditions, allowing the mixture to run rich or lean.
• Throttle Position Sensor (TPS): this sensor is used with feedback from the carburetor or the fuel injection system to inform the computer about the rate of throttle opening and relative throttle position. The classic symptom of a defective or misadjusted TPS is hesitation or stumble during acceleration.
• MAP Sensor: this sensors function is to sense air pressure or vacuum in the intake manifold. The computer uses this input as an indication of engine load and spark timing. Symptoms that arise with a faulty MAP sensor include loss of power and/or fuel economy due to the improper timing and an excessively rich fuel ratio.

There are other sensors in a vehicle such as, the knock sensor, egr solenoid, throttle air bypass valve solenoid, and a few more. So if your engine light is on it could mean you have a faulty sensor that could cause a driveability problem in the future.

Fluids Flush/Services

Brake Fluid
Brake Fluid Flush: Provides the vehicle with improved longevity of calipers, wheel cylinders, hoses and lines, improved braking and less chance of brake fade or soft pedal, reduced chance of master cylinder malfunction and less chance of expensive brake component failures. Service involves checking the brake fluid for moisture and contamination, inspecting all hydraulic lines, hoses, calipers, wheel cylinders, master cylinder and cap, then we clean out the old fluid and dir1 from the master cylinder, flush the fluid from the master cylinder, calipers and wheel cylinders and then put in new fluid, then we take the vehicle for a road test to make sure the brake operate properly.

Coolant (Antifreeze)

• Cooling System Power Flush: Provides increased longevity of cooling system components, improved performance of heating and air conditioning systems, helps maintain proper engine operating temperature and causes a less chance of costly breakdowns. The service includes pressure testing the cooling system for leaks, flushing the engine radiator and heater core, checking the hoses for swelling or cracking, adding antifreeze to proper mix per manufacturer's recommendations, checking the ph level, then starting the vehicle till it reaches operating temperature and check for leaks.

Differential Fluid

• Differential Service: Provides vehicle with improved shifting, maintains warranty, gives smoother, quieter operation, revitalizes seals and increases longevity of major components. The service includes a visually inspection for any leaks, drain or remove oil fluid, add correct fluid to proper level, torque the drain plug and the recheck for leaks.

Oil Service

• Lube, Oil and Filter: Pr9vides the vehicle with longer engine life, increased fuel economy and increased longevity off all lubricated parts in the engine. Service involves draining the old oil, removing old oil filter and installing new oil filter, lubricate chasis components, checking and topping off fluids, checking air filter and filling the engine with new engine oil and then starting vehicle till it reaches normal oil pressure level and then check for correct oil level.

Power Steering Fluid

• Power Steering Fluid Flush: Provides your vehicle with improved longevity of power steering components, the fresh fluid revitalizes seals limiting the chance of leaks, quiets and smooths out the operation of the components and provides a less chance of costly power steering failures. The service includes inspecting the system for leaks, flushing out the power steering lines, pump, rack and pinion or gearbox, flushes out all the contaminated fluid and revitalizes system with new fluid, and then we bleed the system and road test to make sure all components are in good working order.

Transmission Fluid

• Transmission Service: Provides the vehicle with smoother shifting, prolongs the transmissions life, maintains factory warranty and revitalizes the seals and minimizes leaks. The service involves inspecting the transmission mounts and linkage, inspecting the transmission and cooler, removing the transmission pan and replace the filter and o-ring, clean the transmission pan, re-install the pan using a new pan gasket, fill with the appropriate transmission fluid and the road-test and make sure their are now leaks or other problems.
• Transmission Flush: Provides the vehicle with longer transmission life, removes particles from the transmission, removes varnish, cleans internal components, smoother shifting, flushes out all the transmission fluid and replenishes with new fluid. The service involves flushing the transmission cooler and cooler lines, flushing the torque converter, flushing out all the contaminated fluid and replacing with new, then road testing the vehicle to make sure it runs properly and smooth.

Should I fix my vehicle or get a new one?

Fixing your present vehicle saves money:
Most of us want to get the most for our motoring dollar. One of the best ways to do this is extending the life of your current vehicle. With new car prices in the United States averaging well over $10,000, money invested in keeping your existing vehicle in good shape could save you hundreds--even thousands-of dollars a year. When you consider the true cost of buying a new car (price of the car, sales tax, license and registration fees, insurance), it is not difficult to justify investing a few hundred dollars to repair your present vehicle.

Suspensions & Alignments

Alignments
Alignments are how the tires are aligned with the suspension to give you the best ride from your vehicle. Improper alignments can cause excessive tire wear, poor gas mileage and damage to your suspension components. If the tires are out of alignment the tires and suspension are fighting with the road to make the vehicle move. There are three settings on an alignment: the toe, camber, and caster. Toe is how parallel the tires are to each other on each axle. Having the tires be completely parallel to each other will result in a better ride.  They are the better. Camber is the tilt of the tires. The tires should be straight up and down, and if they are tilted in or out then the camber is out of adjustment. Caster is based on the centerline of the suspension. So if the tire is in front of the centerline then it would be a positive caster and vice versa. Caster normally causes the vehicle to pull or drift in a certain direction and toe and camber cause more tire wear and poor gas mileage if they are out of alignment.

Suspension Parts
There are many different parts to a suspension. The suspension controls how your vehicle handles the road. As parts become weak they will cause the ride of your vehicle to worsen as well as cause premature tire wear, worse braking distance and damage to your other suspension components. The main components of your suspension are the shocks or struts, tie rod ends, idler arm, control arm, center link, pitman arm and the rack and pinion. These are the major components of the suspension system. As these parts go bad it can cause a bouncy or uncomfortable ride, nose dive when braking, excessive body sway when cornering, and many other drive issues.

Tires

Speed Ratings
All new tires today are made to give the consumer better handling, braking distance, and overall performance. That is why we don't like to call these ratings speed ratings we call them performance ratings, because the lower the speed rating the less performance you will receive from your tires. The performance rating is normally right after the size of the tire, for example: P205/65R15 91 H. The 91 H tells you two things. The '91' is a rating for the load index of that tire. There is a conversion chart that shows how much weight that tire can hold at it's maximum air pressure. The 'H' is the performance rating. The performance ratings are as follows, 'S', 'T', 'U', 'H', 'V', 'W, 'Y', 'Z'. All of these speed ratings have different maximum speeds that the tire can handle. 'S' is up to 112mph, 'T' is up to 118mph, 'U' is up to 124mph, 'H' is up to 130mph, 'V' is up to 149mph, 'W is up to 168mph, 'Y' is up to 186mph and 'Z' is 149mph and above.

Tune-ups

What should a complete tune-up include?
Tune-ups today are not just replacing the spark plugs anymore. With all of the different type of emission controlled sensors and computer controlled sensors in today's vehicle a tune-up is not a simple job anymore. If you have a drive-ability problem the technician could end up spending hours on your vehicle to find the correct problem. Saying that there are many items that should be checked and replaced in a complete tune-up:

• Replace the spark plugs
• Replace the rotor
• Check distributor cap (replace if necessary)
• Check timing (adjust if necessary)
• Check ignition wires (replace if necessary)
• Check ignition performance (firing voltage and igntion patterns)
• Check idle speed (adjust if necessary)
• Check choke (carbureted engines)
• Clean fuel injectors
• Check compression and/or power balance (identifies bad fuel injectors as well as compression problems)
• Check manifold intake vacuum (reveals exhaust restrictions)
• Check battery/charging voltage
• Check exhaust emissions (verifies fuel mixture, ignition performance and emissions performance)
• Check vehicle computer for trouble codes
• Install new air filter
• Replace fuel filter
• Replace PCV valve
• Check all emission controls such as EGR valve, air pump, etc.
• Check all vital fluid levels (oil, transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, and power steering)
• Check belts and hoses
• Check safety items such as lights, wipers, tires, horn, etc.