The reality is that the oil you choose can make a significant difference in engine performance and wear over time. Here’s how to decode your oil type and why it matters. A MATTER OF THICKNESS For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on multigrade oils, which are the oils most commonly used in cars…
If your vehicle’s automatic transmission isn’t shifting like it used to, you might be wondering if a large repair bill is in your future. Transmissions are complex and repairs can be costly, but many common problems, such as delayed or hard shifts and slipping, can be prevented or fixed without a trip to the shop. …
In 45 years as an automotive and diesel technician, Richard Crabtree performed thousands of emissions tests on a wide range of vehicles in Northern California. The reasons for vehicles that failed were just as varied: misfires, bad O2 sensors, EVAP system leaks, bad fuel caps, failed catalytic converters—all things that would trigger one or more…
The Rough Idle Problem As your car or truck gets older and accumulates miles, you might notice that it doesn’t fire up and idle as well as it used to. Maybe you’re experiencing hard starts, or your car seems to run rough at idle, or it dies easily or intermittently after startup. There are many…
Cars are an investment, and in order to get the most out of that investment, we need to do everything we can to ensure a longer life for our vehicles. In most cases, that longer life begins and ends with the engine. Without frequent and proper care, your car’s engine can quickly gather oil crankcase…
From monthly financing and insurance payments to regular maintenance, costs can quickly add up over a vehicle’s lifetime. This makes it especially important to find ways to reduce costs where you can when it comes to car ownership. One of the best ways to do this is to spend less time and money at the…
Sea Foam Universal Power Steering Fluid has helped a Texas shop cure chronic pump failure Most auto service and repair shops won’t touch the type of work Rob Wechsler and his team take on at Collin County Customs in McKinney, Texas. The shop, about a half hour north of Dallas, specializes in classics, customs, muscle…
When Grant Broggi found out in March that he would need to close his business, The Strength Co., in Orange County, California, the Marine captain and entrepreneur went into combat mode. “I just thought, take care of your Marines, or in this case, my members, immediately,” said Broggi, who had to shut the doors of…
We often hear about blueish smoke from the tailpipe as an indicator of burning oil. You might see it on startup or under acceleration—or more frequently depending on the severity of the problem. Burning oil, generally speaking, describes oil that is entering your engine’s combustion chambers and being burned with the fuel-air mixture. It’s most…
It’s been more than three decades now since fuel injection systems hit the automotive scene in force, becoming the standard method of fuel delivery on just about every car and truck in the U.S. Carburetors, which held the job for nearly a century, were retired from the mainstream and relegated to custom and classic applications….