Express Car Care of Denver

"Denver's Best Auto Repair and Quick Lube"

Simple Answers: Check Engine Light

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Question:  My check engine light is on and my boyfriend thinks he can get the code read and know what part to replace to fix my car.  I say it’s not that simple.  Who’s right?

Answer:  The simple answer is you are! But let’s look at it logically and break it down.  There are hundreds of things that can go wrong with your vehicle.  Some are simple but some are actually quite complicated.

In today’s vehicles over 80% of engine functions are computer controlled.  The computer receives information from dozens of sensors.  When a sensor reading is out of range, a trouble code is automatically entered in the computer and the check engine light is illuminated.

Unfortunately it’s a common misconception that the trouble code will tell you exactly what is wrong.  Because the truth is, that for any given trouble code, there are any number of faults that would trigger that code.  For example, a code indicating a misfire on cylinder three could be due to a bad spark plug, a failed coil, ignition problems, compression issues, etc.  Each of those possibilities requires additional diagnosis to confirm or rule out a cause.  Once a trained technician with state-of the art diagnostic tools and access to extensive research databases, can then nail down the problem, and set about getting it fixed.

A complicated diagnosis may take some time.  Your boyfriend might be tempted to bypass a diagnosis charge by taking a trouble code reading with an inexpensive scan tool and start replacing parts.  He might get lucky, but chances are he’ll end up like a recent customer who ended up spending hundreds of dollars on parts that weren’t needed and didn’t fix his problem because he tried reading the code himself.  So save yourself time and money and have a professional with the right equipment check your vehicle.

Just one more thing… a flashing Check Engine Light indicates that a condition exists that could lead to serious damage.  You should get to your service center right away.  A steadily illuminated Check Engine Light is less urgent but still needs to be checked out.  Keep in mind that a minor issue today can become more serious if left unresolved.

Change Your Oil, Drivers!

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As engine technology advances, recommended oil change intervals have gotten longer.  High quality oil in a well-engineered engine has led to extended intervals.

Here’s the problem:  With longer oil change intervals, it’s extremely important to follow them closely.  Back in the day of 3 months or 3,000 miles, if you went an extra month or an extra thousand miles, your oil was still fresh enough that it didn’t have time to build up much sludge.

But if your recommended interval is 6,500 miles and you go over another thousand, you’re getting into heavy sludge territory.  This can cause big problems.

You absolutely need to follow mileage intervals on changing your oil very closely.  And don’t forget your severe service schedule.  If you do a lot of stop and go driving, short trips, drive in dusty or polluted conditions, hot or cold weather, or haul heavy loads, you’re driving in severe service conditions.  Is your driving closer to the regular schedule or the severe service schedule?  It’s your call as the driver to decide when to change your oil to protect your engine.

If your car came from the factory with synthetic oil, the recommended oil change interval is for synthetic oil.  If you use conventional oil, you shouldn’t be using the synthetic oil interval – you need to shorten it.

Service advisers often report that when they talk to a driver with 200,000 miles or more on their vehicle, the vehicle owner will say their secret is changing the oil on time.  Please don’t skip an oil change.  Once sludge has started to build up, it’s tough to get it out.  So don’t let that happen to you!  Change your oil, drivers!

Signs Your Car Needs An Oil Change

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It’s hard to ignore that your car needs gas to operate. If you don’t add more when the gas tank is low, you run out. And when that happens, your car stops working. It comes to a grinding halt, and you’re stuck wherever it happens … until you fill up the gas tank once again.

But what about car oil? It works in a similar manner. Your car needs oil to operate. If it runs out, your car will cease to operate. And a lot of damage will occur to the working parts of your car.

Yet a lot of car owners are ignoring this important fluid. If they have a newer car, they assume the electronics will tell them when things aren’t working. They drive and drive, almost waiting for a problem to slow them down.Signs Your Car Needs An Oil Change

As a result, repair shops all over are finding more vehicles than ever are coming in with engine damage. If the engine doesn’t have the proper fluids, it operates as best it can. Until it can’t. And a lot of problems occur in between.

What does car oil do?

For a car to operate as it should, it’s important to perform routine maintenance. That consists of an oil change, draining the old oil out and replacing it with fresh, new oil. An oil filter is usually replaced at the same time.

Cars have lots of moving parts in them. They are designed to move together, causing friction and heat. Car oil lubricates the engine and absorbs this heat, which lets all the internal parts work together without the chance of overheating.

This, of course, is a constant process of sending the oil throughout different parts of the engine, collecting dust, dirt, and other particles as it performs its task. The older it gets, the more it breaks down, unable to perform as it was originally intended. It becomes less effective at lubricating all the parts within the engine.

How often should you change car oil?

That depends on what car you drive.

Every owner’s manual for every car manufacturer will list specific guidelines for how often you should replace your oil. Be aware that not every motor oil is the same. You can’t run to your local discount store and pick up a can of oil and expect it to work for your vehicle. In fact, doing so can be downright dangerous.

According to the American Petroleum Institute, there are many different motor oils for sale in retail locations for the average DIYer that will cause more harm to your engine than good.

Your car requires a certain type of oil created for how your vehicle was built. This is where following manufacturers guidelines is an important part of your car’s maintenance routine. American built cars have different requirements than European cars, with the latter often requiring more rigid specifications.

When it comes to your motor oil, err on the side of selecting the best. Pay attention to what the car’s designers have to say, because it can help you avoid a costly mistake.

What is synthetic car oil?

Even if you have an older car, we think an upgraded oil is still beneficial for your car. Here’s why you should consider moving to a synthetic car oil.

Synthetic oil is made from natural gas or crude oil that goes through a rigorous process to convert it to motor oil. This process makes all of the molecules uniform in size. That means it flows through your car more uniformly. It reduces the amount of friction produced as it operates, reducing the wear on your engine.

If you use name brand, higher quality motor oil, you’ll have a better product. And with a better product means your engine will have a longer life. Is it worth a few dollars now to keep your car running well for years to come?

But what about older cars? Should you always buy upgraded oil? 

If you have a car and it’s been going strong for over 100,000 miles, it’s hard to argue that it’s been working fine with more conventional motor oil. Why not give it just the basic grade?

As your car ages, it starts showing signs of wear. Even the parts you can’t see unless you really look.

That may be precisely why it’s a good idea to upgrade your motor oil. Giving it a far superior product now means you’ll be giving it better fuel for operating. You know how you feel better when you eat, right? It’s the same for your vehicle; give it a higher quality product, and it will perform better over time.

What should I watch for to determine when I should change the oil?

Now that you know why your car needs motor oil and what you should be putting in, how do you know it’s time?

Mileage

Check your vehicle’s owner manual. Manufacturers list how often you should change your motor oil based on how many miles you put onto your car. This is a good guideline to follow to ensure you’re changing your oil regularly.

Dates

It’s also a good idea to pay attention to how you drive. Have you taken a road trip recently? Have you put on excessive miles in a short period of time? Or has your car been stuck away in a garage for months as you work from home? Paying attention to what you do in between oil changes will ensure your car always receives fresh oil.

Check engine light

Never ignore the little lights that pop on your dashboard. They illuminate for a reason. Some cars have oil change lights, while others may flash “check engine” instead. Proceed to your mechanic as soon as possible to avoid bigger problems.

Noise

Motor oil provides lubrication, a protective layer as engine parts move and operate. If it doesn’t have enough to do its job, you’re going to start hearing noises. That knocking, banging, clanging, or rumbling noise is trying to tell you something. Don’t ignore it.

Does your car show signs of needing an oil change? Make your appointment today.

Denver: Have You Considered Synthetic Oil?

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Denver: Have Your Considered Synthetic Oil?After recently seeing an ad for synthetic oil in Denver and realizing I didn’t know much about it.  I asked my helpful Express Car Care service adviser for some background.  Basically the inside of your engine gets really hot because of friction from the moving parts and from burning fuel.  Oil lubricates the moving parts to keep them from getting too hot.

The problem begins when oil turns to sludge, which is kind of a thick jelly.  Sludge clogs up little passages so that the oil can’t protect parts of the engine.  So the two best ways for Denver car owners to prevent sludge build-up is to always change their oil on schedule, and to use synthetic oil.

Synthetic oil is much more resistant to becoming sludge than conventional oil.  My service specialist says it has the added benefit of lasting longer than conventional oil so the recommended change interval can be slightly longer.

The thing I think is cool is that synthetic oil is more slippery than conventional oil.  Regular oil molecules are long chains where synthetic oil molecules are rounder.  It’s like which is more slippery, a pile of pencils or a pile of marbles?  This means that synthetic oil does a better job of lubricating my engine so it doesn’t get as hot, or wear out as fast.

Using synthetic oil can help Denver motorist improve engine performance and help their engine last longer.  I’m really glad my service adviser filled me in on synthetic oil.  Maybe you should consider synthetic oil for your next oil change.  Give us a call at Express Car Care and let us help.

The Maintenance Mindset: Full-Service Oil Change

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The Maintenance MindsetPeople generally accept that many things in life require regular maintenance:  their teeth, clothes, homes, yards and so on, but Colorado motorists don’t often apply the same idea of maintenance to their vehicles.  If you never brush your teeth or go to the dentist, you’ll become painfully aware of your neglect when you get a big cavity.  Once the damage is done, we learn our critical lesson and start to take better care of things.

Unfortunately, Denver people too often learn the hard automotive lesson only after they bring their vehicle to Express Car Care on a tow truck.  So many times, a little routine maintenance would have prevented an expensive breakdown.

So how do Denver car owners get into the habit of taking care of their vehicles?  It’s so easy to forget it’s not like cutting the grass which you can see every time you pull in the driveway.

Here’s something that will help:  The key to good vehicle maintenance starts with the oil change.  Think about it – when you go in for a full-service oil change in Denver, your cheerful Express Car Care service adviser will check all your fluids.  If one of them is low, he can look for the reason why.  If your serpentine belt is worn, he’ll see it and let you know.  Corroded battery cable – they’ve got you covered.  And they’ll check to see if your manufacturer has recommended any critical services at your current mileage.

The oil change becomes kind of a focal point, a way to check in to see what needs to be done.

The fact is that vehicle inspection surveys consistently reveal that over 80% of vehicles have one or more needed repair or maintenance service that goes undone.  Vehicles are generally very reliable and can take a lot of abuse and neglect – but you can only press your luck for so long.

So when you come into Express Car Care for an oil change, you get a visual inspection of your car and a reminder for recommended services so you can avoid a total failure.  Also keep in mind that your service professional can help you work out a maintenance and repair plan for your vehicle, prioritizing and scheduling the work to make sure you and your family are safe and help you avoid expensive breakdowns.

In addition to full-service oil changes, at Express Car Care we also offer air conditioning service, transmission service and tire rotation.

Give us a call.  Express Car Care 303.691.2760

 

 

 

The Express Car Care Guide to Synthetic Oil

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The Express Car Care Guide to Synthetic OilSynthetic motor oil has been around for a long time in Denver and more and more new cars are leaving the auto manufacturers factories with synthetic oil in their engines.  But a lot of car owners still don’t really know much about it.

Let’s start with conventional oil – the kind Denver folks are familiar with using in their engines.  Conventional oil is made up of naturally occurring hydrocarbon chains, which means its molecules are long and have various lengths, ( like a pile of pencils ), some of them are new and some of them are used.

Synthetic oil is man-made.  Its molecules are more uniform and regular in shape -more similar to marbles than pencils.  Some synthetic oil starts with a petroleum base that’s modified and others are entirely synthesized from other materials.

Synthetic motor oil works best in both hot and cold Denver temperatures.  It’s more chemically stable so it doesn’t readily evaporate or breakdown in the high heat produced inside your vehicles engine.  This means it resists turning to sludge, which is a real engine killer.

Remember the marbles and pencils thing we were talking about?  Well, that makes synthetic oil more slippery than conventional oil which means less friction in your engine when you use synthetic oil.  Your vehicle’s engine runs cooler, wears less and lasts longer.  You also get a boost in power and maybe even an improvement in fuel efficiency.   Synthetic oil also lasts longer so you change it less often – which is great for the environment.  With longer oil change intervals, you will need to use an oil filter specifically built for the longer service life of synthetic oil.  Talk with your cheerful Express Car Care service professional about synthetic oil and synthetic blends -they might be just what you need to improve engine performance and extend the life of your vehicle.

Give us a call at 303-691-2760 or stop by and see us.

Oil Change Intervals

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Quick lube businesses and their employees have often been accused of recommending “unneeded” oil changes so they can make more money.  That may be true for some businesses, but when we service a car, we only recommend services that we believe are necessary to keep your car running at its best.  Here are some of the reasons why we encourage an oil change interval of 3,000 miles or every three months.

In recent years, many vehicle manufacturers have extended their recommended oil change intervals to 7,500 or 10,000 miles.  They have good intentions of trying to help reduce the maintenance costs for car owners, but they have run into trouble.  The Center for Auto Safety has gotten thousands of complaints from drivers who thought they were following the correct oil change  intervals in their owners manuals but ended up with a crankcase full of sludge.  Motor oil does more than just lubricate the engine.  It also forms a film on surfaces that separates moving parts so they don’t rub against one another, reducing friction and wear.  Oil also serves as a coolant for critical engine parts like the crankshaft and valve train.  It also helps to prevent rust and corrosion from building up inside the engine and keeps surfaces clean by dissolving and carrying away dirt and deposits.

Extended oil change intervals of 7,500 to 10,000 miles are based on “ideal” operating conditions, not stop and go driving, or driving our cars for several short trips, like the majority of drivers do each day.  So most drivers should be following a severe service schedule rather than a normal schedule to better protect their engines.  Most experts still consider a 3,000 mile or six month oil change interval the best for “severe” drivers.

Customers at our shop have also told us that they think because motor oils are of a higher quality than they once were, they don’t need to change the oil as often.  This would be a valid argument if oil filters had also improved in quality as well, but unfortunately they haven’t.  An engines main line of defense against abrasion and the wear caused by it,  is the oil filter.  The oil filter’s job is to remove solid contaminants like dirt, carbon, and metal particles from the oil before they can damage surfaces in the engine.  If your oil filter is clogged, it can’t do its job and unfiltered oil will enter the engine.  Contaminants  that find their way into the crankcase will be pumped through the engine and accelerate wear.

Although motor oils have been improved and are continuing to be improved, there hasn’t been much done to improve oil filters.  The majority of oil filters still need to be replaced every 3,000 miles, so until the oil filters have been improved as well, we will continue to recommend a 3,000 mile or three month oil change interval.

For all of your Denver Auto Repair needs, trust Express Car Care.  Call (303) 691-2760 or stop by our shop today.

Why Is A Car Oil Filter Important?

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There are many times in our business that we meet customers who don’t understand why a car oil filter is important.  Most of them recognize the importance of quality oil but don’t realize how the oil and oil filter work together to keep their car running.  So why is a car oil filter important?

Oil filters have a very important function and if your oil filter has poor quality, it can shorten the life of your engine and cause other parts to fail as well.  This small part of your car’s lubrication system plays an important role in protecting your engine from premature wear.  All the moving parts in the engine need clean oil to properly lubricate them.  Tiny bits of metal chip off of various engine parts while it’s running.  If these bits of metal are allowed to recirculate through the oil, they could break off other bits of metal, which eventually will cause erosion in the engine.  A quality oil filter helps prevent this erosion from taking place.  The oil filter cleans the oil as it passes through the filter and prevents abrasive contaminants from damaging the parts in the engine.

It is very important to choose a high quality oil filter because the internal construction and quality of the filter has a huge effect on the life of your car’s engine.  Here at Express Care, we use a Wix oil filter.  Wix was patented in 1954 and has been at the forefront of oil filter technology and performance for passenger cars, trucks, buses and off-road vehicles ever since.

One of the standards used to determine the quality of an oil filter is called filtration efficiency or particle size retention.  Particle size retention is the measure of how well a filter can retain particles of various sizes.  Wix has developed optimum filtration efficiency in their filters.  They are able to trap and hold essentially all the particles larger than 25 microns (a human hair measures about 70 microns in diameter.)  These filters can also capture a high percentage of even smaller particles.

Another standard that a quality filter must meet is dirt-holding capacity.  This is the amount of contaminants that can be removed and held by the filter until the filter no longer works.  The capacity of Wix filters is much larger than the minimum requirements that are specified by vehicle manufacturers for a regular oil change interval.

Hopefully these facts help you understand why a car oil filter is important.  A quality oil filter and quality motor oil work together to help our cars run more efficiently.

For all of your Denver Auto Repair needs, trust Express Car Care.  Call us at (303) 691-2760 or stop by and see us.

 

Synthetic vs. Conventional Oil

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During these times when we are dealing with the economic crunch as well as concerns over the environment, the answer to a common question has even more significance.  Synthetic vs. conventional oil, which is better?

Conventional oil comes from crude oil that is pumped out of the ground.  The crude oil is refined at an oil refinery and becomes the base stock for conventional oil.  Even though it goes through a refining process, conventional oil still contains small amounts of contaminants that can’t be removed.  Unlike conventional oil, synthetic oils are made through chemical reactions.  Even though they are considered “artificial”, synthetic oils still have the same natural ingredients found in “real” oil, but these ingredients are recombined like a Lego set to create the characteristics desired.  These oils are purer and cleaner, custom designed to provide the “ideal” lubrication. Typically, the best synthetic oils use a combination of up to three different synthetic base fluids.

Because of the higher purity properties of synthetic oil, it can stand up to heat and withstand colder temperatures much better than conventional oil.  This is a huge advantage when you first start your car in the cold weather.

Both synthetic and conventional oil have additives to help prevent sludge and deposit build-up, but synthetic oil also has performance additives that provide superior protection for the life of your engine and in extreme driving conditions such as extremely cold or hot temperatures.

Synthetic oil flows easier in colder weather, so if you live in an area where it gets really cold in the winter, synthetic might be the better choice for you.

Because synthetic oil doesn’t break down as readily as conventional oil, there will be longer intervals between oil changes.  Synthetics can last almost three times longer than conventional oil, but still not forever,  as some people may think.  Eventually the additives in the synthetic will break down just like in the conventional oil and it will need to be changed.

The higher cost of synthetic oil has been a major deterrent for some people, but the fact that they extend drain intervals, provide better fuel economy and reduce engine wear, can offset the cost and make them more economical than you might think.

Take a look at your vehicle’s owner’s manual and see what the recommendations are and then come in and see us or give us a call at (303) 691-2760

What Every Car Owner Should Know About Motor Oil

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Whether you are a first-time car owner or you are on your fourth or fifth car, basic maintenance comes with owning a car. And one of the most routine items on your maintenance schedule is changing your motor oil on a regular basis.

Motor oil is essential to the operation of your vehicle. Without it, your car is not going to get very far before the motor locks up – and you are left without transportation. Understanding what motor oil does to protect your motor will help you ensure that you are never left on the side of the highway due to motor oil problems.

Motor oil is a lubricant for your engine. However, it does much more than simply keeping the parts lubricated. Motor oil creates a film on bearing surfaces that helps to separate the parts and keep them from rubbing on each other. This minimizes friction and reduces wear and tear on your engine. Motor oil also cushions the moving parts of your engine. It keeps certain parts of your motor cool and keeps rust and corrosion at a minimum. In short, motor oil serves many purposes within your engine – each one vital to the longevity of your motor. [Read more…]

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