Boulder Auto Repair

Let’s talk about air quality in Boulder. It’s a global issue, but affects us wherever we are. Many decades ago, Boulder motorists began to become aware of how air pollution negatively affects health. But what about the air inside your vehicle?Cabin air filters are now coming on most new family cars in Boulder. These filters clean the air in the passenger compartment. They can filter particles down to three microns, so that’s good enough to clean out dust, pollen and most pollutants. If you suffer from allergies in Boulder, this is very good news. Your car can be a haven during your Boulder commute.Now, it’s only been in the last few years that cabin air filters have become common in Boulder. You can look in your owner’s manual to see if you have one. If you do, there’ll be a recommendation for replacing it when it gets dirty. If you live in ... read more

Have you noticed an increase in price when you get a flat fixed in Boulder or your tires rotated? It might be the result of your TPMS, or Tire Pressure Monitoring System. The federal government began requiring a TPMS system on 2008 model year passenger vehicles and light trucks. Some 2006 and 2007 models may have them as well. The system has a warning light that is mounted on the dashboard that will go on if one of the tires becomes severely under inflated. Why the new requirement? Because underinflated tires are the number one cause of tire failure. Tire blowouts cause harmful and sometimes fatal accidents. Underinflated tires also need longer stopping distance and can skid, both of which also present dangers on CO roads. Many flat tires can also be prevented by proper tire inflation, and though this may seem an economic consideration, Boulder car owners who have changed a flat on the side of the road recognize that this has serious safe ... read more

For advice on how to make your family car last longer, visit us at John’s Auto Care 1900 55th St. #104 Boulder, CO 80301303.442.2932 These days many people in the Eldorado Springs area are really committed to making their cars last a long time. First thing: you’ve got to start with what you’ve got. It’d be ideal if people started with a brand new car, never missed a scheduled service item, paid attention to the severe service maintenance schedule and had regular inspections. But if you’ve had the vehicle for a while, or bought it used, its maintenance history is what it is; and that’s where you start. Go through the maintenance schedule for your family car and see what’s been done and when. Have your Boulder service advisor at John’s Auto Care do an inspection and come up with a list of stuff that needs to be done. Review the li ... read more

Every family car on CO expressways has a differential, and it is essential to the proper operation of the vehicle, but most Boulder auto owners don’t have a clue what it is. The differential compensates for differing wheel speeds. For example, when you turn, the inside tire on the turn travels a much shorter distance than the outside wheel. So the inside wheel of the family car must move at a slower speed than the outside wheel. Without a differential, the wheels would hop and scrape while turning. Have you ever seen the large bugle-shaped object in the middle of the rear axle of a truck? That’s the differential. In a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the differential is located on the back axle. Four-wheel drive vehicles and SUV’s have differentials on both the front and the rear axle. You might expect that the differential is located on the front axle of a front-wheel drive ve ... read more