Express Car Care of Denver

"Denver's Best Auto Repair and Quick Lube"

Express Car Care Tech Question on Your Fuel Pump

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fuel-pumpExpress Car Care Tech Question:

I was driving on a local Denver freeway and my truck started sputtering and then the engine finally quit and I couldn’t get it started.  I was towed to a shop in Denver and found out I had to replace my fuel pump.

What could I have done to have saved my fuel pump?

Express Car Care Answer:

This is a tough one for Denver drivers because there isn’t any maintenance recommendations for fuel pumps.  They’re inside the fuel tank and you really can’t get to them without removing the tank.  But Denver motorists can do some things to make the fuel pumps job easier so they last a little longer.

A lot of vehicles are equipped with a fuel filter on their gas line.  This filters out dirt and rust from the gas tank before it gets to the engine.  Replacing a clogged fuel filter as recommended reduces the strain on your fuel pump.

Many newer vehicles driving around Denver have their fuel filter inside the fuel tank so it cannot be changed.  A good tip for car owners is to not run the fuel tank too low – this can cause fuel starvation that excessively wears the pump.  Also, you can’t go wrong using good quality gasoline with high levels of detergent.  This helps prevent the buildup of varnish and gum all along the fuel system.

A professional fuel system cleaning will clean fuel injectors and help remove carbon deposits from the valves and combustion chamber.

All these things improve fuel economy and increase performance for Denver car owners.  Ask your helpful Express Car Care service specialist if a fuel system cleaning is recommended.

Answers from Express Car Care: Tire Tread Depth

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Question:

How can I tell when my tires are worn so much that they need to be replaced? Answers about Tire Tread Depth

Express Car Care Answer:

That is an important question for car owners.  As we discuss the matter, keep in mind that one of the essential jobs of your tire tread is to move water.  The channels in the tread act as passages for water to escape from underneath the tire.  The deeper the tread depth, the deeper the channel – and the more water that can be evacuated.

When enough water can’t be moved from underneath the tire, the tire can ride on the water – often called hydroplaning.  The tire is literally not contacting the road but rather is “floating” on the water, so there is little traction and the truck or car can slide.

So somewhere between a brand new tire and a bald tire lies the point at which the tire should be replaced.  Some governmental jurisdictions have a minimum tire tread depth requirement for auto owners – others do not.  So check the important laws where you live to learn the legal minimum.

Tire manufacturers are required to mold a tread wear bar into the tire.  This bar appears across the tread when the tire is worn down to 1.6mm ( 2/32 of an inch).  Drivers can easily do the quarter test ( they used to use a penny, but I guess inflation has affected everything).  Insert a quarter into one of the grooves with the caribou’s head pointing down.  If you can see the tip of the nose of this great northern animal, it is a sign of very worn treads.  That means it is high time to bid adieu to your tires.

Studies have shown, however, that there is an essential difference in stopping distances for auto owners in detrimental wet conditions with tires that have less wear.  For example, in controlled, wet conditions a vehicle with 3.18mm ( 4/32 of an inch) of tread traveling at expressway speeds was able to stop in about 85 feet ( 26 meters) less distance than the same car with tires with 1.6 mm ( 2/32 of an inch) of tread.  That could easily be the difference between a safe stop and hitting the vehicle in front of you.

New tires are a big ticket item for motorists so it’s natural to want to get as much value out of them as possible.  Just remember that a huge part of the value is the ability to stop safely in wet conditions.  You can speak with your Express Car Care technician for answers about tire replacement.

Air Conditioning Service

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Air Conditioning ServiceLet’s talk about air conditioning service and repair issues for the Denver CO area.  Most of us Denver drivers don’t give our air conditioning a second thought as long as it’s making cold air.  But it’s a complex and expensive system that we should be thinking about before it starts blowing out hot air.

The refrigerant in the air conditioner contains a special oil that lubricates and cools the A/C parts.  When refrigerant leaks out, your air conditioner won’t make cold air, and the parts don’t have enough oil to protect them, so they wear out faster than they should.  This is the reason it’s important to service the air conditioner as recommended by your service center.

Replacing old refrigerant has another benefit:  refrigerant tends to gather moisture and become corrosive.  That causes leaks in the system which can be expensive to repair.  Fresh refrigerant protects the air conditioning components and keeps the system operating at peak efficiency so it doesn’t have to work as hard to keep you cool.

Even with regular service air conditioning parts can just wear out.  Normal wear and tear eventually gets to all moving parts.  Addressing early problems can save on more extensive repairs down the road.  For instance, a common failure is the clutch that turns the compressor on and off.  If you can take care of a bad A/C clutch when it first starts having problems you may be able to save the compressor.  Wait too long and you’ll have to replace both.

Check your owner’s manual or ask your service adviser at Express Car Care for service recommendations.  And if you’re hearing strange sounds when your air condition turns on, or if it just isn’t as cold as it used to be, have us give it the once over and see what it’ll take to keep you cool.

Did you know the Federal Environmental Protection Agency regulates the type of refrigerant you can use in your air conditioner?  Your service technicians are current on EPA rules for properly removing and disposing of used refrigerant, protecting the environment while keeping you cool.

Simple Answers from Express Car Care: Differential Service

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Differential ServiceQuestion:  What is a differential and why do Denver auto owners need to have it serviced?

Express Car Care Answer:

First of all – your vehicle has a differential.  If it’s a rear wheel drive, your differential is on the back.  If it’s a front wheel drive, your differential is built into your transaxle (transmission).  Denver auto owners with all wheel drive or four wheel drives will have differentials in the front and rear and maybe in between.

When you are steering through a turn at an intersection in town, the wheels on the outside of the truck or car have to spin faster than the inside wheels because they have to travel a slightly longer distance through the curve.  The differential compensates for these speed differences between the wheels.

Because it is part of the vital equipment that transfers engine power to the wheels, the differential is working pretty hard.  Differential fluid – an especially heavy-duty oil – cools, lubricates and protects the differential.  It needs to be replaced on a schedule to remove metal shavings and other contaminants.  Note:  If you have a front wheel drive vehicle, replacing your transmission fluid takes care of your differential service needs.

Differentials have become increasingly sophisticated for Denver auto owners.  Rather than the simple mechanical devices of “the good old days”, they are more complicated and may actually be part of the key computer controlled stability system.  This means they are more costly, so it pays for drivers to have them serviced on schedule at Express Car Care in Denver to avoid premature wear.  Talk to your helpful Express Car Care technician.  At Express Care, we provide quality automotice service including air condition service, transmission service and tire rotation.

We install quality NAPA replacements parts.  To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com

Burning Brakes

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Burning BrakesSummer driving in Colorado can be very challenging at times.  It is so important that we don’t forget what we learned about driving downhill on our steep mountain roads.  Heavy commercial trucks aren’t the only drivers that will experience burning brakes if they’re not careful.  We all need to drive in such a way that we aren’t relying on our brakes too much.  I see it all the time coming home from a mountain trip.  Drivers with their brakes lights flashing on and off all the way down the mountain.  Whether you are a long-time mountain driver or have recently moved to Colorado, it’s important to know how to drive safely in the mountains.  Two things are especially critical:  brakes and tires.

The brakes on automatic transmission, late-models sedans weren’t built to handle the constant braking required on the 7 to 8 percent grades of mountain passes.  This is the time to use your car’s transmission to keep your speed low enough to maneuver the hairpin curves that you’ll encounter during mountain driving and prevent those burning brakes.  Before heading downhill, shift into second gear.  Don’t shift into neutral.

Using your transmission to avoid overheating your brakes on  winding mountain roads is smart, but also has its challenges.  In summer, driving in second gear, will cause your car’s engine to reach higher RPMs and hotter temperatures.  So if you haven’t checked your coolant level, or changed it since winter, you should do it now or you might overheat.

Another thing to consider is under-inflated tires.   This will give you less control on the road, and that is never a good idea, especially on a road with no guardrail and a thousand foot drop below.  So check your tire pressure before you leave home.  Also tires without tread can cause problems, especially if you’re towing a load.  The tread helps your tires grab the road and turn rather than spin.

Be aware of gravel and rocks on the road.  Gravel will cause you to slide and perhaps lose control.  Rocks large enough to cripple your car can roll onto the road, so stay alert and free from distractions while you’re driving.  Wildlife is also a concern when you’re driving in the Colorado mountains.  They can dart into traffic in a moments notice.  So have your brakes and tires checked out before you hit the road.

Express Car Care Tech Question on Your Check Engine Light

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Express Car Care Tech Question on Your Check Engine LightExpress Car Care Tech Question:

I’m Alex.  My Check Engine Light came on in my truck and I’ve tried several things to make it go off but nothing has worked.  What should I do?

Express Car Care Answer:

Like Alex, most Denver car owners have experienced their check engine light coming on suddenly.  We get frustrated because we don’t know why.  Of course that’s perfectly understandable:  There are many reasons for the check engine light to come on – and there’s only one light.

Alex said she tried several things to get the light to go off – but it didn’t work.  Her goal was to get the light to turn off.  I would suggest that the goal should be to find out what caused the light to come on in the first place – and fix it.

You can search the internet and find millions of sites with tricks to get your truck engine light to turn off.  But what good does that do?  Whatever caused the light to come on is still wrong.  Not getting to the bottom of the problem can lead to other problems for Denver motorist – some minor and some more serious and expensive.

Your helpful Express Car Care service professional can get you started down the road of properly diagnosing the problem so you can have it repaired.  You can save yourself some time and frustration next time by having a professional diagnose the problem right away.

Simple Answers from Express Car Care in Denver: Severe Service

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Simple Answers About Severe ServiceQuestion:  What is a severe service maintenance schedule? 

Express Car Care Answer:

When I was a kid, Sunday meant having a bath, getting dressed for church and then hanging up my Sunday clothes as soon as we got home.  Mom didn’t have to wash those clothes but once a month.  Now Saturdays were a different story entirely, catching lizards, splash contests in mud puddles and crawling through the bushes with GI Joe.  Those clothes went straight into the laundry basket.  My Sunday clothes – easy use.  My Saturday clothes – hard use.  They required a different laundry schedule.

Severe service maintenance schedules are kind of like that for auto owners in Denver.  “Normal” driving has a regular schedule; “hard” driving has a severe service schedule.  Service intervals are shorter on the severe schedule.

Most owner’s manuals will describe severe service as:  Stop and go driving, short trips, low speed driving, extreme hot or cold, dusty conditions, carrying heavy loads, and towing.

For most Denver residents, some “severe” driving can be a part of their everyday routine.  You can meet with your helpful Express Car Care tech about how you drive around the Denver area and see if your routine is closer to the regular or severe definitions and then adjust your service intervals for things like oil changes, transmission and cooling system services so they fit your needs.  Give us a call and let us help.

Visual Blind Spots When Driving Around Denver

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Visual Blind Spots When Driving Around DenverWhen we drive on our Denver streets, we encounter blind spots.  We can greatly reduce our blind spots by properly adjusting our mirrors to give the widest coverage possible.  Make the adjustments to your vehicle before you start to drive.

First, adjust your rear view mirror to give the best possible view directly to the rear of your truck or other vehicle type.  You don’t need it to get a better view of either side of the car, the kids in the back seat or your dazzling smile.  The rear view mirror should look to the rear.

Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver’s side window.  Adjust your side mirror so that you can just barely see the side of your car.

Now, lean your head to the middle of the car and adjust the outside mirror so that you can barely see the right side of the car.

With your vehicle mirrors adjusted this way, you’ll have maximum coverage.  Of course, driving in Denver is a dynamic process – things change every second.  So it’s wise to take a quick look to the side when passing to make sure that another vehicle hasn’t moved into an area you couldn’t see in your mirrors.

As you drive in the Denver area, avoid staying in other driver’s blind spots.  You can’t count on them to be watching their mirrors and looking out for you.  Pass large trucks and buses on the left whenever possible.  A trucks’ blind spot is much larger on the right.

Be attentive and wear your seat belts, and thank you for reading!

 

Car Survival

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Car SurvivalSince we have been experiencing a lot of extreme weather here in Colorado, it’s important that we prepare for the unexpected as we drive around our cities and our state.  We need to be ready for anything.  With the unpredictable nature of our weather, you never know when you might have a road close down or wash out and leave you stranded in your car longer than you intended.  Our last two summers have been filled with either fires or floods and both of these forces of nature are capable of cutting off our roads.   Are you prepared for car survival?

When it comes to packing a car for an emergency, adventurer and Expedition Wild host, Casey Anderson says he’s “like a turtle, practically carrying my entire house on my back.”

People spend a lot of time in their cars, and there are a few essentials we all need.  Anderson recommends having at least a gallon of drinkable water in your car – crucial if you are stranded for a long time.  It also has many other uses, such as first aid and putting out fires that are not chemical or electrical in origin, to name just a few.  You should also toss some energy bars in your glove compartment, along with some hard candies to pass the time and give you energy to keep a clear mind if you need to wait a while for help.  In any emergency, communication is very important.  So it’s always a good idea to keep an extra cellphone battery and a fully charged external charger in your car.

We want you to be safe in your car, so take a few steps and prepare for the unexpected.

 

Express Car Care Tech Question on Your Cooling System

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Tech Question on Your Cooling SystemExpress Car Care Tech Question:   I was driving down the freeway in my car and smoke started coming out from under the hood.  I pulled over and called my husband.  I had to be towed to my Denver mechanic.  He said my car had overheated.  What can I do to prevent that in the future?

Express Car Care Answer:  It sounds like you had a rough experience.  Unfortunately overheating is the most common engine failure for Denver motorist.  It’s also one of the easiest to prevent.

The basic idea is this:  you need to keep enough coolant/antifreeze flowing through your vehicle’s engine to keep it cool.  Problems come for Denver drivers when they develop leaks in their systems – like in the radiator or a hose – and the coolant leaks out.  Sometimes the coolant gets so contaminated that it blocks up the radiator so the coolant can’t get through.  If that happens enough you’ll end up broken down on the side of the road.

Your owner’s manual recommends a schedule for coolant replacement.  That’s because your coolant actually becomes corrosive over time and starts to eat away at the cooling system, causing leaks or blockages.  New coolant stops that process.

Ask your helpful Express Car Care technician about inspecting your vehicle’s cooling system for leaks, spongy hoses and other damage.  If it’s time to replace your coolant, hoses or other cooling system parts, have it done right away at Express Car Care in Denver.  Prevention is the key.

 

Brakes Service

Oil Change

Suspension

Transmision Service

Engine Service

Auto Tips & Tricks