Gene’s Car Tips – Page 37 – certifiedauto.com

Why Won’t My Car Start?

Car problems of any kind can be frustrating but the one that seems to annoy people the most is when their car won’t start. There are several possible reasons your car won’t start but the number one reason is a battery issue. If you try to start your car and you don’t hear a noise we call that a “no crank” and this could be caused by one of three things; the battery, the ignition or the starter circuit.

The two main reasons for shortened battery life are;

Excessive heat – Heat causes battery fluid to evaporate, damaging the internal structure of the battery.
Overcharging – A malfunctioning component in the charging system, usually the voltage regulator, allows too high a charging rate, resulting in a slow battery death.

To get the most out of your battery:

Have your battery and its connections checked at every oil change
Be sure the electrical system is charging at the correct rate. Overcharging can damage a battery as quickly as undercharging.
Always have the battery replaced with one that’s rated at least as high as the one originally specified.
Keep the top of the battery clean. Dirt becomes a conductor, which drains battery power. Further, as corrosion accumulates on battery terminals it becomes an insulator, inhibiting current flow.

Batteries do not always give warning signs before they fail. It is always wise to check it after summer’s end.

If the battery isn’t the issue, if you don’t have experience with ignitions and starter circuits it is best to leave this to professionals. This calls for inspecting, cleaning and tightening plus testing. If the test proves the part is beyond repair, you need to purchase the part and replace it. This is great if you know what you are doing but if you don’t you could inadvertently cause more problems.

Crank is when you hear your car trying but it just won’t start the engine. This again could be caused by one of three issues…your car has run out of fuel, it has no spark or it has no compression. Of course the first thing to check is the fuel. If your car is on empty then of course you need to refuel. Hopefully you can just add gas and all will be well but sometimes this isn’t the case. Most vehicles have an electric fuel pump. This sits inside the tank actually submerged in the fuel. This allows the pump to stay cool and lubricated and this submergence in fuel keeps the pump from destructing due to overheating. The reserve fuel inside your tank prevents this from happening. Some vehicles have a well that the pump sits inside and if this well runs dry the pump also gets damaged. If your vehicle is fueled by diesel and this occurs, it also becomes necessary to “prime it” to get fuel to the pump. Obviously, you can’t drive forever on an empty tank…but if you regularly put in just enough gas to get by; your fuel pump can fail earlier than normal. Your pump will also be taking in the “bottom of the barrel” fuel which is full of debris. This sediment in the bottom of the fuel tank can also clog the fuel filter, fuel injectors as well as the pump pickup. I generally don’t let my tank get below 1/4 tank for this reason.

If the problem is no spark or no compression I again recommend you get your vehicle to your car care provider. If you don’t know what you are doing you could even have a “shocking” experience.

Keeping Your Engine Cool In Glendora, California

The cooling system keeps California car owners’s engines from overheating while they are driving around Glendora, San Dimas and Covina. Its job is to move heat away from the engine. Let’s talk about the various components of the system and how they make this happen.

The radiator is the part most Glendora drivers associate with the cooling system. Coolant flows through the radiator which has fine cooling fins that draw the heat out of the coolant and dissipate it into the air. To make sure there’s enough airflow over the radiator, a fan pulls air over the cooling fins even when the sedan is idling.

In some sedans, the fan is powered by the serpentine belt. On others, an electric motor runs the fan. Electric fans turn on and off as needed. You may have heard the fan kick on shortly after you turn your sedan off. The sensor has determined that the engine needs a little help cooling down to a safe temperature.

A hose connects the radiator to the water pump. The water pump pushes the water into the sedan engine block. Now the engine block and cylinder heads have passages for the coolant to pass through without getting into the oil or the combustion chamber. In the automotive community, these passages are referred to as the “water jacket”.

While the coolant is passing through the water jacket, it absorbs heat from the sedan engine on its way to the radiator for cooling. Between the engine and the radiator is a gatekeeper called the thermostat. The thermostat’s job is to regulate the temperature of the engine just like your home thermostat regulates the temperature in your Glendora house. It gets your engine up to the correct operating temperature and then keeps it from overheating.

When you first start the engine, it’s very cold and needs to warm up. So the thermostat blocks the flow of coolant to the radiator. As the engine warms up, the thermostat starts to let coolant flow through the system.

The final component the team at Certified Auto Specialists wants to point out is the overflow reservoir. This bottle is designed to hold some of the coolant. It’ll have a mark that indicates whether or not you have enough coolant. This is where you should add coolant if you just need to top it off.

Caution: never open the reservoir or the radiator cap when the car’s hot. The cooling system is pressurized and opening them while it’s hot can cause hot coolant and steam to escape resulting in serious burns.

Cooling system failure is the most common mechanical failure in vehicles around Glendora, California. At Certified Auto Specialists, we can do a periodic inspection of the components for harmful leaks, loose connections and weakening hoses.

Certified Auto Specialists
476 Vermont Avenue
Glendora, California 91741
626-963-0814

Your automobile manufacturer has also specified a cooling system service interval. With a cooling system service at Certified Auto Specialists in Glendora, the old coolant is replaced with correct clean fluid that contains the additives required to prevent corrosion. The additives are depleted over time and you need fresh fluid for adequate protection. Your radiator pressure cap should be replaced at this service as well.

Gas Savings In Glendora: Sharpen Your Pencil

High gas prices in Glendora increase the cost of living for California auto owners. You’ve probably budgeted a certain amount for vehicle related expenses. Increased fuel costs now consume a larger portion of our incomes, causing some Glendora vehicle owners to skimp in other areas – like scheduled maintenance.

According to California news reports and automotive industry studies, this is becoming increasingly more common. In fact, nine out of ten personal vehicles on the road have at least one maintenance or repair item that hasn’t been done. Some of these items pose serious safety risks. Others are just more likely to make it more expensive to drive.

In this area, we can take a lesson from professional Glendora vehicle owners. I’m talking about fleet owners and operators. You know, Glendora folks like the trucking companies and delivery services. Because their livelihood depends on it, they have gotten scheduled maintenance down to a science. And the last thing they skimp on is regular maintenance.

Why is that? Well, for one thing they know that routine maintenance prevents expensive repairs and costly breakdowns. They also know that a well-maintained vehicle uses less fuel. For them, even a small decrease in fuel efficiency may put their Los Angeles business in the red.

So what does this mean to Glendora drivers? Well, there’s a ninety percent chance that you’re missing some service that would improve your gas mileage. Here’s a quick reminder list:

Fuel system cleaning, transmission service, differential service, engine air filter, wheel alignment, oil change, tune up.
Ring any bells? Can most Glendora car owners honestly say that there isn’t at least one thing on the list that hasn’t been done?

Let’s suppose you chose to spend one hundred and fifty dollars and get caught up on some of these services at Certified Auto Specialists. Figure that they combine to improve your fuel economy by fifteen percent. What would that mean to your pocketbook?

Well, the average personal vehicle in Glendora is driven about twelve thousand miles a year. If you get twenty miles per gallon in your sedan, over the course of one year you would pay for the hundred and fifty dollars worth of service and save an additional hundred and sixty five dollars if gas is at three dollars and fifty cents. If gas is four fifty, you would save two hundred and fifty-five dollars. And you’d rack up savings of three hundred and forty five dollars with gas at five and a half bucks.

GAS PRICE	$3.50	$4.50	$5.50
20 MPG	$165	$255	$345

From this you can see that the more fuel costs, the more it pays to keep up on scheduled maintenance. Some of us drive trucks in Glendora for work or recreation – or want a large SUV for family needs. A fifteen percent improvement in fuel efficiency can generate huge savings – six hundred and sixty dollars a year if gas is four fifty a gallon in Glendora. Take a look at this table to see where your savings could lie.

GAS PRICE	$3.50	$4.50	$5.50
10 MPG	$480	$660	$840
20 MPG	$165	$255	$345
30 MPG	$60	$120	$180

So catch up on those services you’ve been neglecting at Certified Auto Specialists. Get a couple done now and a couple next time. Chances are you’ll save a lot of income at Glendora gas pumps this year – and a lot more on repairs in years to come.

Getting the Right Tires And Wheels In Glendora

A lot of people get custom wheels in Glendora. When you do this yourself (over the internet . . .) you could run into trouble if you’re not careful. Sometimes, once they’re mounted, they just don’t fit right. The tires rub in turns or on bumps. You don’t want that.

Consulting your Certified Auto Specialists tire professional can ensure you get the right fit. First he’ll ask you a series of questions about your Glendora driving needs and what you want in your new wheels. Now, not every wheel can go on every car. Care must be taken so that tires and wheels are not too large or that the wheel is centered too far towards the outside or the inside so the tires rub.

If you don’t want to make any modifications to your sedan, you would need to focus on the wheels that would fit. With trucks, some Glendora people like much bigger tires so they need a suspension lift.

Also, most Glendora drivers don’t realize that you need to keep the rolling diameter of your new tires – that’s, like the overall height of the tire – very close to what came from the factory in order for your sedan anti-lock brakes and stability control systems to work properly.

The computers that control these systems are calibrated to a certain size tire. When you go bigger or smaller, the computer doesn’t know what changes you made so it can’t tell how fast you’re going. This, of course, means it sends commands to the brakes and traction control that are based on the wrong speed. If you go with a different rolling diameter, your sedan engine control computer can be reprogrammed for the new tire size.

Either way, there are hundreds of wheel and tire choices to choose from in California. You can pick the style of wheel you want and then talk with your reliable Certified Auto Specialists tire professional about how big the wheel should be – and how to select the right tire for your sedan. Your Certified Auto Specialists service advisor will help you find the best tire to meet your style, performance, ride and handling needs in Glendora.

V2V Technology and What It Means To You

V2V or “Vehicle to Vehicle” communication technology is a tool that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is taking steps to enable. Cars and light trucks that can “talk” to each other will significantly cut down on accidents and hopefully prevent them completely.

The Department of Transportation began testing this program in August of 2012 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Nearly 3,000 vehicles were used in the biggest road test of V2V technology. It seems that vehicles can communicate well with each other regardless of their manufacturer. The test was considered a success and does work in a real-world situation.

Consumers seem pleased to embrace this new technology. They are also happy to hear that V2V technology is only concerned for their safety and it does not involve exchanging or recording personal information or tracking vehicle movements. Much of today’s new technology seems intrusive to consumers’ privacy…especially when it can be sold to a third party.

In the next few weeks NHTSA will share its final analysis of its year-long testing with the public. The report will include key areas of concern including the following:

Privacy and security
Estimates and costs
Safety benefits

The next step for NHTSA will be a regulatory plan to include:

Date required for V2V to be mandatory in new vehicles
Consistent and applicable legal requirements
Executive orders and guidance

With V2V technology drivers can enjoy 360-degree situational awareness enabling them to avoid crashes:

It can let a driver know it is safe to pass on a two-lane road in order to avoid a head-on-collision.
It can let a driver know it is safe to make a left turn that crosses on-coming traffic.
It can let drivers know it is safe to change lanes in two or more lanes of traffic all traveling the same direction.
It can communicate the message that yards ahead an unseen vehicle can be a threat so the drivers can avoid a crash.

The United States is the leader in the global automotive industry and this type of research and development is the reason why. Stay tuned for more updates!

Please call us with any questions at 626-963-0814 or visit our website at www.CertifiedAutoCA.com.

Hometown Service You Can Count On!

Don’t Let This Be You

It is estimated that 600 deaths a year are a result of bad tires. Remember, they don’t last forever. Most tires don’t make it to the 50,000 mile mark. Bald may be beautiful but it isn’t beautiful on your tires! They need good tread so you have traction and you can stop without sliding. They need to be properly inflated. Check the number listed on the inside of your car door (not the tire) for the proper inflation for your make and model of vehicle. Have your tires rotated every 5,000 – 6,000 miles.

Proper inflation is also of high importance for the health of your car’s tires. This is a service that should be performed each time you get your car serviced or quarterly. Many things effect tire pressure, including temperature fluctuations and this puts an unnecessary pressure on your tires which wear them out! Not only does improper inflation cost you in fuel efficiency, it can lead to tire puncture and poor car handling if left unchecked for a long period of time.

Q: What causes tires to wear out?

A: Tires wear unevenly even when they are properly aligned. Irregularities in the road and of the car can lessen tread and tire life.

Q: How can one increase their tires’ life?

A: By having your tires rotated and balanced regularly you can increase a tire’s life expectancy by nearly 50%.

Q: Why do cars need an alignment?

A: Even if your tires’ tread looks normal, rough roads and repeated encounters with curbs will make your vehicle’s tires suffer. Having your car put on an alignment rack once a year will keep the tires healthy. Incorrect alignment makes tires follow their own paths and causes scrubbing action against the road surface. In addition to excessive wear, this friction causes the steering wheel to fight the driver, requiring additional efforts to keep the vehicle on the road. A wheel alignment service should include a careful examination of steering and suspension components. Even the best equipment and technicians cannot align a vehicle with worn or damaged parts.

Q: What is the big deal about proper inflation of tires?

A: Under-inflated tires cause your tires to wear along the sides, while over-inflated tires cause your tires to wear down the middle of the tread. Radial tires always look a little soft, but don’t be fooled and assume inflation is correct. Buy a tire gauge and use it monthly to keep your tires properly inflated. It saves your tires and saves on fuel too!

Q: What is the best thing one can do for their tires?

A: Take your vehicle to a service repair facility quarterly to make sure you are driving on the safest and most comfortable tires possible. You and your passengers depend on them.

Privacy and Your Car

AAA says that automobile manufacturers are capable of collecting huge amounts of data as cars get more and more advanced. If you are in the market for a new car, read the fine print of your contract. More than likely you will be asked to sign a document allowing the manufacturer to accumulate not only your location when you are driving but how many times a day you get behind the wheel and when.

In light of the Driver Privacy Act AAA suggests manufacturers at least offer some transparency into what data they are collecting and why. To protect drivers’ privacy AAA asks for the following information to be given to the consumer:

Provide transparency about what data is being collected and how is it being used.
Allow the consumer to choose who they are sharing the data with and why they are being asked to share it.
Make sure the data is secure.

Some manufactures were planning on selling their collected data to third parties. Thankfully United States senators put a stop to that. In light of all the recent breaches to security it is making consumers uncomfortable and many get the feeling that privacy is a thing of the past.

The Driver Privacy Bill was recently introduced as a bi-partisan bill to the senate. This bill’s purpose is to protect our Fourth Amendment rights. AAA conducted a study last fall that revealed that 79% of consumers felt we had a right to choose whether or not our auto data is shared and who it is shared with. 68% are very concerned with their privacy and security when data is shared.

Let’s take this a step further. If you sell your car or trade it in, does the data collection stop and the purchaser of your vehicle get to decide if they will allow data to be collected or does it just keep on collecting without the new owner’s knowledge? Currently so much data is being collected that the manufacturers aren’t even sure what they going to use it all for but certainly this scenario needs to be considered to protect the privacy of those purchasing used cars.

Some of the reasons data is being collected is to help accelerate emergency response time and to help maintain traffic so drivers aren’t delayed. At least one manufacturer (and of course more will quickly follow) has the capability of sending software updates to vehicles wirelessly to address problems and enhance performance.

A few years ago we might have thought such issues were only in the minds of science fiction authors but it is the reality of today. We will have to see where it leads us.

Emergency Items For Los Angeles motorists

Safe California travel starts with preventive maintenance and good car care at Certified Auto Specialists. But there are other things Glendora motorists can do to prepare for emergencies on the road. Here’s some auto advice that can help you plan for emergencies, and just may save your life — or someone else’s.

First, Glendora auto owners should consider keeping an auto emergency kit in their car. The kit should contain items that will allow you to deal with common emergencies on the road.

Some key items you should carry in your sedan include jumper cables (or a booster box), flares, a flashlight and some basic hand tools. Other useful items include gloves, two quarts of oil, some antifreeze, water and everything you need to change a tire. You might also consider a can of tire inflator, which is a great temporary fix for minor flats.

But taking care of your sedan is only part of emergency preparedness. It is critical to take care of the people in the car, too. For this reason, you should carry a first aid kit, drinkable water and blankets. Other items to consider include high-calorie food items (like energy bars), toilet paper, a towel, a hat and boots. And, of course, when you travel in California and out-of-state you should always have your cell phone, some emergency cash and a credit card.

Depending on where you live, you may need to add other vital items to this list. For example, sunscreen, sunglasses, and extra water would be good to have on hand in a hot climate. For the cold and snowy California season, some salt, a hand shovel, emergency blankets and matches might be in order. Also, if your California area is prone to severe weather or earthquakes, you should check with your local Red Cross or disaster preparedness office for their recommendations on what to keep on hand in your sedan for emergencies.

When you travel away from your Glendora home, you should check the weather forecasts before you leave, and pack appropriate emergency supplies. Also, do some research about the areas you will be traveling through so you can be prepared for the climate and terrain. Remember the basics: heat, water, shelter, light, and food.

When you travel, it is essential to leave your itinerary with a trusted friend or family member. Check in periodically at prearranged checkpoints. That way, if something does happen, someone else will quickly know you are in trouble and will be able to send help. These checkpoints will also help rescuers find you quickly, as they will have a better idea as to where you are.

The automotive professionals at Certified Auto Specialists want Glendora drivers to be safe. Preventive maintenance, proper planning, smart communication: these are the basics of safe travel.