Boulder Auto Repair

Flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances can all be the result of Boulder car owners driving around on under-inflated tires. Admittedly, it’s hard to tell when a radial tire is under-inflated. If your auto manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your family car tire’s considered significantly under inflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds. New laws required vehicle manufacturers to include a Tire Pressure Monitoring System – or TPMS system – in all cars and light trucks by the 2008 model year. The system has a dashboard mounted warning light that goes off if one or more of the tires falls 25% below car maker’s pressure recommendations.This technology has been used by Eldorado Springs race car drivers for years. They are able to head off problems from under inflation by closely monitoring tire p ... read more

The drive train in your vehicle includes all the critical components that transfer power from the transmission to the wheels. Those components differ depending on what type of vehicle you drive, namely, front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The preventive maintenance your driveshaft needs will also differ by what type of vehicle you drive. Let’s start with front-wheel drive. In this vehicle, the transmission and the differential are combined in one component, known as the transaxle. The transaxle is connected to two half-shafts (axles), which are then connected to the wheels with a constant velocity (or CV) joint, which is protected by an airtight rubber boot. John’s Auto Care service for this type of driveline includes servicing the transaxle and inspecting the CV boot. If the boot is damaged, the CV joint will need to be inspected, and the boot will need to be re ... read more

Okay. You went to your local Boulder car wash and while your family car was under the dryer, the check engine light started flashing. Panic! What did you just do? Something is seriously wrong with the family car! You head for the nearest Boulder service station, but on the way, the check engine light stops flashing, and just glows red. Hmm. Maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem. You decide to wait until payday to take your family car in to get serviced. In the meantime, the check engine light goes off. What? You decide the light must be faulty, or that when it comes on it doesn’t mean anything, or that it’s just in your family car as some sort of scam to get you to pay for unnecessary pricey repairs. You’re glad you didn’t take your car to the Boulder repair shop and resolve to ignore that engine light in the future. Whoa! Let’s look at what really happened. Your family car was under an air dryer. Your air i ... read more

Brakes really aren’t optional equipment for Boulder drivers. And taking care of them isn’t optional either. A regular brake inspection is on every CO car’s maintenance schedule. At John’s Auto Care, our team will check your brake system and let you know if there are any important problems. Of course, if you’re having trouble with your brakes, get your car into your Boulder or Lafayette service center right away. And watch out for these problems:Low or spongy brake pedalHard brake pedalA brake warning light that stays onConstantly squealing or grinding brakesVibrations or clunking sounds when you apply your brakesThere are two types of brakes: disc and drum. Disc brakes have a rotor that’s attached to the axle. Calipers straddle the rotor, kind of like the brakes on a bicycle. Drum brakes are more common on back wheels. Pads, called shoes, push against the inside of the drum to slow the vehicle. There are several things ... read more

Ever heard the sad tale of a staggeringly pricey repair bill from a broken timing belt? Bad news. Let’s Boulder car owners take a lesson from their woes and remember to think about our critical timing belt. First, let’s review what a timing belt does. The top part of the engine, over the cylinders is called the cylinder head. The head contains the valves. There’s at least one valve that lets the fresh air into the cylinder. This air, mixed with fuel, burns to create power. Then another valve or two open to allow the exhaust out of the engine. Each cylinder has 2 to 4 valves – that’s 12 to 24 valves for a V-6, up to 32 values on a V-8. The opening and closing of the valves is done by a camshaft. The timing belt uses the rotation of the engine to drive the camshaft which opens and close the valves. It’s called a timing belt because it has to be adjusted to rotate the camshaft to keep proper time with the engine so that everything’s in sy ... read more