Express Car Care of Denver

"Denver's Best Auto Repair and Quick Lube"

Disc Brake Maintenance

by Leave a Comment

Disc Brake MaintenanceYour brakes are extremely important as you drive around Denver.  Having good brakes just keeps you out of trouble.  You’ll want to carefully maintain your brakes.  With disc brakes, brake pads rub on a disc – or rotor – to slow the wheels.  The brake pads are attached to a caliper that squeezes the pads against the rotor.  It’s kind of like how squeezing the handbrake on a bicycle pushes the brake pads against the wheel of the bike.

Now brake pads just wear away with use – like a pencil eraser wears out.  The good news is that replacing brake pads is a straight-forward repair.

If you hear squealing or grinding when you use the brakes, have your Express Car Care service adviser check them out.  He’ll have a technician perform a thorough brake inspection to see what needs to be done.  He’ll check for signs of brake problems and go over other brake components to see that they’re working properly.  He can tell you if it’s time to replace the pads or if there are other issues with your brakes that should be addressed.  Some people make the mistake of ignoring the warning signs and keep on driving long after the pads are completely worn out.  When that happens, metal brake components will grind on the rotor, damaging it enough that it needs to be resurfaced or replaced.

Rotors can also warp or crack, in which case they’ll need to be replaced.  Brake calipers also wear out over time.  They can develop leaks or the caliper pistons can freeze open or closed – either way it’s not good.  When this happens it’s time to replace the calipers.  A thorough brake inspection will reveal worn bearings or seals as well.

The new brake pads we put on your vehicle will restore your brakes to manufacturers’ specifications.  Or, we can install upgraded parts to increase your stopping power and reduce brake noise and brake dust.  We have several options to meet your braking requirements and your budget.

Taking care of your brakes keeps them working safely – and you could prevent premature brake repairs down the road.  At Express Car Care in Denver, we install quality NAPA replacement parts.

Deciphering the Menu Board at Express Car Care

by Leave a Comment

Deciphering the Menu BoardYou may not be familiar with all of the items on Express Car Care’s menu board so here is a quick description of some of the typical services that might be listed.  Remember, the board is there for reference; speak to your Express Car Care Service Adviser about other possible needs or services.

Express Car Care Fuel System Cleaning:  Over time, the fuel system gets gum and varnish built up.  A fuel system cleaning at Express Car Care gets rid of that and cleans out the fuel injectors.  This saves you gas as you drive around Denver and on the freeways.

Express Car Care Headlamp Replacement:  Halogen and standard headlamps gradually fade.  When one burns out, replace both so they’ll have the same brightness.  Also, if your headlamp lenses are yellowed or cloudy, you can have them professionally restored to an almost new-condition.  Ask your friendly Express Car Care adviser for information.

Express Car Care Inspections:  Denver drivers get inspections for many reasons.  Maybe they’re going on a trip or just want to make sure their vehicle’s ready for summer or winter in Denver.  Maybe they just bought a used car and want to give it the once over.  An inspection at Express Car Care may reveal some things that are broken or are getting close to having a problem.

Express Car Care Oil Change Service:  There are several options, some Denver auto service centers offer just an oil change and new filter as an option.  We will also check and top off all of your other fluids and do a quick visual inspection with a full service oil change.  We also have options for higher mileage fluids or an upgrade to synthetic oil.

Express Car Care PCV Valve Service:  PCV stands for Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve.  It’s a little part that releases pressure from the engine.  It can get gummed up and that can lead to engine damage. It just needs to be changed now and then.

Express Car Care Power Steering Service:  Often overlooked.  Your Express Car Care technician will evacuate the old fluid, clean out the system and replace it with clean fluid.  Keeps the system running well for a long time.

Express Car Care Serpentine Belt Replacement:  This starts with an inspection of the suspension components.  Shocks last a long time and wear out slowly, so many Denver motorists don’t notice when it’s time to change them.  If they’re worn or leaking, they need to be replaced.

Express Car Care Transmission Service:  This involves removing the transmission fluid and replacing it with clean fluid.  It’s like an oil change for your transmission.

Express Car Care Tire Rotation and Wheel Balancing:  The tires are rotated from front to back using the recommended rotation pattern.  This helps tires wear more evenly.  Wheels need to be balanced from time to time to keep them turning without any wobble or bounce.  Helps the ride and saves tire wear as you drive around Denver.

Give us a call at 303-691-2760 and let us help.

 

 

A Long Lasting Cooling System for Denver Driving

by Leave a Comment

A Long Lasting Cooling System for Denver Driving e PadsOur vehicles operate in a wide range of outside temperatures in Colorado.  That’s why vehicle manufacturers use testing grounds from the frozen tundra to the blistering desert.  Your engine coolant must be able to perform in these extreme temperatures, even if we don’t always get the extremes in Denver.

Coolant has to move heat away from the engine to prevent costly damage.  Water does a very good job of holding heat, but it freezes at thirty two degrees (Fahrenheit).  That’s why we mix anti-freeze with water – it lowers the freezing point of the coolant, and raises the boiling point as well.  A fifty/fifty blend of water and anti-freeze is the usual recommendation from Express Car Care.

And on top of that, coolant has to protect the components of the cooling system from corrosion.  Your owner’s manual will tell you what kind of coolant you should use.  Of course, your Express Car Care service representative in Denver will know what you should put in your car.

Coolant system failure is one of the most common mechanical problems people experience.  Much of that can be avoided by following factory schedule service intervals.  Check your owner’s manual or with your service adviser at Express Car Care for recommendations.  We can also conduct a cooling system inspection to look for leaks, weak hoses or bad connections.

Give us a call at 303-691-2760, or stop by Express Car Care at 4200 E. Evans Ave. Denver, 80222.

 

Need A Suspension Inspection at Express Car Care in Denver?

by Leave a Comment

Need a Suspension InspectionYour suspension system keeps your car up off the road.  From there, it’s responsible for a smooth and comfortable ride around Denver.  It also keeps your car wheels firmly planted over bumps and through curves on roads and highways.

Your suspension system has many important parts that do a big job.  They should be inspected routinely for damage and excessive wear at least once a year.  A good time would be when you get an alignment check in Denver.

Here are some warning signs of suspension problems:  the vehicle pulls to one side, wandering, erratic steering, uneven tire wear, leaning, shocks bottom out, poor ride or handling, oil leaking from shocks, and excessive bouncing.

All of your vehicle’s suspension parts wear out over time.  Shocks and struts eventually lose their ability to control your ride.  If you’re in an accident, your suspension can be damaged or knocked out of alignment.  Even a minor accident, like hitting a curb, pothole or large rock can mess things up.

If you suspect you might have suspension problems, ask for an automotive analysis and let the cheerful service professional at Express Car Care in Denver set things right.

Give us a call at 303-691-2760 or come in and see us.

At Express Car Care in Denver we install quality NAPA replacement parts.  To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com

Replace Your Engine Air Filter

by Leave a Comment

Replace Your Engine Air FilterWhen you are driving around town, your car engine needs clean air to burn the fuel – and it needs a lot.  In fact, a typical vehicle needs about 216,000 gallons of air for every tank of gas.

All that air passes through a filter that catches the dust and dirt.  Eventually the filter will get completely full.  Because the filter can only hold so much, the dirt starts getting through.  This dirty air passes through the mass airflow sensor and starts to accumulate on the delicate sensor element.  The mass airflow sensor measures how much air is getting into your engine.  When the airflow reading is incorrect, your car engine doesn’t get the proper amount of fuel.  The engine runs rough and doesn’t perform as well as it should.

Eventually, the sensor is so damaged it needs to be replaced – which is expensive.  In fact you could buy a case or two of air filters for the price of a sensor replacement.

Of course, that dirty air keeps on going through to your engine where it is burned along with the fuel, which gets your combustion chamber dirty and increases harmful exhaust emissions – not a good thing for Denver air quality, not to mention our lungs.

When your Express Car Care service adviser brings out your dirty air filter and recommends a replacement, remember the cost and poor performance that can be waiting for you down the road if you neglect this simple Express Car Care service.  Ask your friendly service tech if it’s time to replace your engine air filter.

Express Car Care in Denver has been providing quality auto repair services for auto owners for eleven years.  Our specialties include brake and transmission service, windshield wipers, and tire rotation.

Come by and see us at 4200 E. Evans Ave. or give us a call @ 303-691-2760

Fuel Injector Cleaning At Express Car Care in Denver

by Leave a Comment

Fuel Injector CleaningSomething we hear quite frequently from Denver drivers is that their fuel efficiency is down and their vehicle just doesn’t have the pep that it had before.  When that happens, one of the things we look for is clogged fuel injectors.

The engine management computer tells your fuel injectors exactly when to squirt fuel into your engine.  It is vital that clean fuel injectors spray the right amount of gasoline or diesel fuel in an even, specific spray pattern.  A dirty or clogged injector can’t spray enough fuel and it comes out in an uneven, weak pattern.

When Denver drivers’ fuel injectors are dirty or clogged, the fuel just can’t burn as efficiently, which causes gas mileage to drop and your vehicles engine can’t produce as much power.

Fuel injectors just get dirty over time.  Gas and diesel fuel cause varnish and gum to build up in your fuel injectors, especially if you buy bargain gasoline.  If your fuel injectors get too dirty, they can be damaged and will need to be replaced – which can be pretty costly.

The good news is that a professional fuel injector cleaning at Express Car Care in Denver can get all of that gunk out of your injectors.  They’ll be able to spray the right amount of fuel, at exactly the right time, and in the right spray pattern.  Your gas mileage will be restored along with your engine performance.  Fuel injectors are cleaned as a part of a comprehensive fuel system cleaning service that includes the induction system ( throttle plates, intake manifold, idle air by-pass passages and – if applicable – the mass airflow sensor).

So ask your friendly service tech about a fuel injector cleaning at Express Car Care in Denver to get your engine running like new.  Give us a call @ 303-691-2760 or come in and see us.

What’s A Serpentine Belt?

by Leave a Comment

What's A Serpentine Belt?All of us in Denver have those days when we’ve got a bunch of errands to run all over town.  Suppose on your day off you need to get gas, pick up some groceries, swing by your local ATM and pick the kids up from school.  Now you could make four separate trips, but that would be a waste of time and money and totally inefficient.  Instead you get organized and hit the ATM first and get some gas next.  Then you go to your Denver supermarket and pick up the kids on your way home.  That’s a much better use of your time.

Now you may wonder what this has to do with a serpentine belt.  Well, back in the day, each of your engine’s accessories, such as the alternator and air conditioner, were powered by separate belts.  A vehicle might have five or six belts.  These days, vehicles have a single belt to run all the accessories.  It’s called the serpentine belt because it snakes around everything, efficiently connecting each accessory.  Just like bundling your errands.

A pulley attached to the engine’s crank provides the power to turn the serpentine belt.  The belt  provides the power for the power steering pump, which makes it easier to steer your vehicle.  Next comes the alternator which generates electricity to run the vehicle’s electrical system and charge the battery.  On to the air conditioning compressor.  This helps make the cold air to keep you comfortable all during the summer here in Denver.

On some vehicles – the water pump, radiator fan and the power brakes are also run by the serpentine belt.  Some even have two serpentine belts.  No matter how your engine is arranged, you won’t get very far without a serpentine belt.  Your auto manufacturer has a recommended interval for inspecting your belt and your Denver service adviser can inspect it for any damage or wear.

Finally, there is the belt tensioner.  Its job is to apply pressure on the belt to keep it tight.  Several years ago, manufacturers started making serpentine belts out of a new material.  It is much more durable, but it’s harder to tell when the belt needs to be replaced.  The old style belts would crack and chunks would fall off so you could easily see when you needed a new one.

On the new style belt, if the ribs wear too deep, it’s time to replace it.  Your service technician uses a simple gauge to tell when the belt is worn and you need a serpentine belt replacement.  A worn belt stresses your engine’s expensive accessories and causes them to wear out prematurely.  So change your serpentine belt and belt tensioner as recommended by your helpful Express Car Care tech and extend the life of your accessories and  prevent future breakdowns.

At Express Car Care in Denver we install quality NAPA replacements parts.  Give us a call @ 303-691-2760.  To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com

Car and Truck Suspension Problems in Denver?

by Leave a Comment

Suspension Problems In Denver?Suspension systems should continue to operate effectively for many years and thousands of miles, but eventually components do wear out.  How long it takes for them to wear out depends a lot on how you drive.

As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth Colorado highways, your vehicles shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy Denver roads or hauling heavy loads.  In addition to just wearing out, upgraded shock suspension components can be damaged in an accident or just by a hard impact – like hitting a pothole, curb or a rock in the road.

Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your vehicle manufacturer recommends periodic inspections.  During a car inspection at Express Car Care, your service technician will check for worn, broken or missing suspension parts.  If the inspection reveals any problems, it’s important to have them  taken care of quickly.  When you do need to replace your shocks, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time.  This will give you even handling at all four corners of the vehicle.

If you have special road handling needs – like – improved cornering or towing and hauling requirements in Denver, your Express Car Care adviser can recommend an upgraded shock or strut that will meet your needs.

At Express Car Care, we have been providing quality auto repair in Denver for over ten years.  Ask manager Rob about transmission service and windshield wipers.  We are here to help with all your auto repair needs.  Give us a call @ 303-691-2760 or come in and see us.

Chilling In Denver With Winter Tires

by Leave a Comment

Chilling In Denver With Winter TiresThere is more to winter tires than Denver drivers may think.  Those days of clunky, tractor-like snow tires are long gone in Colorado.  They have been replaced by high-tech winter tires with special rubber compounds and advanced tread designs.

In Denver winter temperatures, the rubber in summer tires becomes hard and inflexible and they don’t grip the road as well.  In contrast, winter tires use special rubber compounds that are more pliable when the thermometer drops below 45 degrees, giving you better road contact; so even if you don’t get much snow, winter tires will really add to your cold weather safety in Denver.

Winter tires may also use a micro-pore rubber compound that increases surface area so they can bite into ice and packed snow on Denver roads and highways.

The tread on winter tires needs to clear out water, snow and slush as the tire turns so it’s ready to take another bite when it comes back in contact with the road.  But summer tires can actually be dangerous because they get packed with snow, making them very slick, so your vehicle will be hard to control.  Winter tires have a lot of thin slits in the tread which help the tire grab ice and packed snow, providing extra traction.

Many new vehicles in Denver come with all-season tires which are good for a wide range of Denver weather and road conditions, but don’t provide top performance in Colorado snow and ice.  For example, winter tires provide 25 to 50% more traction than all-season tires.  And all-season tires take up to 42% longer to stop than winter tires in slick conditions.  For all these reasons, the tire experts at Express Car Care in Denver recommend you put winter tires on all four wheels because it makes sense to have equal traction and handling at all four corners of your vehicle.  Uneven traction could result in loss of control for Denver motorists.

Your vehicle may be equipped with stability control, anti-lock brakes and traction control – all important safely systems for Colorado auto owners.  But in order to do their job you still need good traction.  Winter tires help you start, stop and corner when things get cold and slippery.

So when temperatures drop below 45 degrees, be sure you have a set of four winter tires for maximum performance in snow, ice and wet Denver roads.  Your Express Car Care professional can help you find the right winter tire for your vehicle and driving needs.  Give us a call @ 303-691-2760 or come in and see us.

Busted in Denver: The Maintenance Free Myth

by Leave a Comment

Busted in Denver: The Maintenance Free MythQuality surveys report fewer problems with new Denver cars than ever before.  So does that mean that modern vehicles have become maintenance free?  Not really.  Back when cars spent more time in Denver repair shops, drivers were more mindful of routine service.  Now, it is much easier to put it off.

Take tune-ups for example.  In the days of mechanical ignition system, an engine needed to be tuned-up every couple of years.  If your engine was out of tune, you knew it.  It ran poorly and got bad gas mileage driving on Colorado streets and highways.  Now, the ignition system is electronic and controlled by the engine management computer.  Spark plugs rarely get extremely dirty and will last for as much as a 100,000 miles.  So car tune-ups used to force you in for service and while you were there you just took care of whatever else was on the list.

So what is the benefit to keeping up with factory scheduled maintenance at Express Car Care?  Well, your vehicle will perform better and return better fuel economy.  Those benefits pay for the service as you go along.  the big plus is that major repairs – and the associated breakdowns – are prevented.  And these aren’t just repairs that are a long way off.  Modern engines are far more sophisticated and have many parts that are in critical need of lubrication.  Missing just one oil change at Express Car Care can allow oil sludge to start forming.  Sludge clogs small engine passages, robbing car parts of the lubrication they need.  An expensive failure could easily occur with two or three years.

Taking care of the little things at Express Car Care prevents big problems with your vehicle later.  No Denver motorist wants to be stranded by a breakdown.  Your car still needs to be taken care of – it’s just that some of those points of care have changed with automotive advancements.  The need for proper maintenance at Express Car Care in Denver did not go away.

Give us a call @ 303-691-2760

Brakes Service

Oil Change

Suspension

Transmision Service

Engine Service

Auto Tips & Tricks