Boulder Auto Repair

Today John’s Auto Care is talking about the proper fluids for your vehicle. It’s become more complicated with changes in automotive design and manufacturing. It’s not that people in CO are confused as much as they don’t realize how much things have changed in recent years.Let’s take engine oil. Twenty or thirty years ago, there were just a handful of different weights of oil. The weight of an oil is a scientific measure of its properties, particularly its viscosity or thickness. It was common in those days to use a lighter weight oil in the winter when it’s cold outside. That way the oil would be able to splash around inside the engine and protect the parts before it was fully warmed up. And a heavier weight oil would be used in the summer. The thicker oil wouldn’t thin out too much in the summer heat and vaporize in the engine. Modern valve trains have become very complicated with more moving parts and small passages than ev ... read more

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