Stow Auto Repair

Top 10 Car Summer Maintenance Tips     Summertime is travel time. Even with gasoline prices at an all-time high, Americans can't resist the lure of sunny skies and the open road. According to a survey by AAA­, 31.7 million Americans planned to travel by car over Memorial Day weekend 2008, despite gas prices that are an average of $.60 more per gallon over the previous year [source: The Los Angeles Times]. Before hitting the road this summer, you can take several simple precautions to keep your family safe and save money at the pump. Extreme heat and long drives can be tough on cars. Cracked hoses, leaky radiators, under inflated tires and dirty filters can significantly lower your ... read more

If you notice any of the conditions listed below, it may be time to replace your brake rotors. The 10 most common signs that you may need brake service includes: 1. Squealing sounds from the brakes 2. Longer stopping time 3. Steering wheel vibrates when braking 4. Brake pedal pulsates when braking 5. Banging sounds when braking 6. Scratched, scored, or grooved rotors 7. Large edge on the rotor’s surface 8. Blue color on rotors 9. ABS warning light HOW DO BRAKE PARTS WEAR OUT? Your brakes can wear out for a number of reasons, such as: Axle position: Front axles often bear more weight than rear axles. When this happens, it means that the front bears more of the braking load. This can cause front rotors and pads to wear out more quickly than rear rotors. Vehicle weight: The heavier the vehicle, the quicker its rotors and pads are likely to wear down. Driving style and environment: Aggressive driving and ... read more

The oil in your car’s engine has an incredibly challenging job. From lying cold in the bottom of the engine’s oil pan, it needs to surge up to the valve gear at the very top, then flow all the way back down down, and that has to happen almost instantly when you start the engine. The oil protects everything inside your engine: bearings, pistons, cylinder walls, and all the other parts that that move or touch something that does. Then, after the initial cold startup, the oil must continue protecting no matter how hot it gets and how hard the engine runs. It has to do that for a period of months, if not years, through numerous short trips, long cruises, and (for some) occasional racetrack or twisty two-lane flogs. You depend on your car’s oil to do its job flawlessly through the bitter cold of northern winters and the sticky hot of southern summers—all while fighting rust, contaminants, and passage-clogging deposits. Your oil works hard, so when should you change ... read more

Are you Looking for ways to save money on car repairs? Regularly maintaining your vehicle with things like oil changes and tire rotations is the best way to give your trusted mechanic the chance to keep an eye on your vehicle’s overall health. That way, items that require attention won’t be left to deteriorate to the point of major parts breaking, which could get far more expensive than your budget allows. Just like preventative dental care, regular car care can identify and stave off big, expensive issues. Another way to save on car repairs is by bringing your own auto parts to a mechanic. Everyone knows there’s a markup on parts, but that markup helps shops to pay their rent, employees, pay for pricey equipment, and to make some money – after all, they’ve got to remain in business, right? So, since it could save you a few bucks, you may be wondering, “Can you bring your own parts to a mechanic?” In the long run, it’s actually not a ... read more

The REAL Way to Restore Headlights Permanently by Scotty Kilmer Rev up your engines! today I’m going to show you how you can keep your plastic headlights from yellowing and fading and cracking, now you may not know it, but modern cars, all the headlight assemblies are made out of plastic, they’re not made out of glass anymore now the use of plastic instead of glass has a big drawback plastic fades, cracks, while glass, it’s nice and hard, you can always clean it when it gets dirty but really, this is a 24 year old glass headlight and it still shines and looks great, plastic doesn’t last that long, now the modern headlight assemblies hey, they’ve got one better idea, the bulbs just fit inside and you can just pop them in and out when they burn out, but when the assembly gets cloudy and looks horrible because it’s plastic, it costs a fortune to replace these things, and yes there’s kits out there that you can polish them and the ... read more