Auto News
Precision Tune Auto Care wants to help you stay informed on everything automotive, from the latest safety tests to exciting new vehicle reviews. Whether you want tips on keeping your vehicle in top shape or a sneak peek into Jay Leno’s amazing car collection, you can find everything you’re looking for in our resources overview.
Recently, Nissan introduced the latest version of its Leaf, the company's electric car. It has many new features, including something called e-Pedal. It allows the driver to let up on the accelerator and, unlike a gasoline engine car, the Leaf doesn't just slowly lose speed; letting off the throttle pedal brakes the car in a very controlled way, using regenerative and sometimes friction brakes. With practice, a driver can go for a fairly long time without touching the brake pedal.
Another system,...
Drivers want their tires to last as long as possible. Two ways to extend tire life are wheel balancing and tire rotation. When wheels are out of balance, they wobble and vibrate. That makes the tires wear in a cupping pattern. If a front wheel is out of balance you'll feel it in the steering wheel. If it's a rear wheel you'll feel it through your seat. To fix this, your technician at Precision Tune Auto Care puts weights on your wheels to balance them out. That brings us to tire rotation...
Imagine waking up one morning with a stomach ache. You pick up the phone, call the doctor’s office and say, “I’ve got a really bad tummy ache. How much will it cost to make me feel better?” Of course you wouldn’t do that. You know that there could be a lot of reasons for your symptoms and that the doctor will have to examine you, ask some questions and probably run some tests before she can tell you what’s wrong and give you treatment options.
This same scenario...
The timing belt rotates the cam shafts which open and close the valves that allow air, fuel, and exhaust to flow through the engine as it powers your car when you drive around. An old timing belt can lose a “tooth” in the belt allowing it to slip. The engine could stop or misfire. Timing belt slips – or a broken timing belt – can be disastrous on some engines. In “interference” engines, open valves can get in the way of the piston when the timing belt breaks...
Most drivers are all talking right now. Better gas mileage. Fewer emissions. Some folks want to save the environment and our pocketbooks. And we drivers all know — or should know — that preventive maintenance will help maintain maximum fuel efficiency. But is there something more we can do? After all, some of us road warriors can't cut back on our driving, and others would like to do more to economize. Weight is one major enemy of fuel economy. The more you lug around in your...
When the weather gets colder, sometimes the noises your vehicle makes will change. For example, you may notice a whining sound when you get going in the morning. It may go away when the vehicle warms up, but it's best not to ignore that sound because it could be a warning of worse things to come.
Colder temperatures cause different components to behave differently. Let's take a look at a few of them. First, the fluids in your vehicle. Cold temperatures can make...
Most folks worry about running out of gas or having a breakdown on the side of the road. That is why we practice preventive maintenance on our vehicles that and to keep our repair bills down. But one important part of preventive maintenance that may get overlooked by drivers is a periodic alignment inspection . Poor alignment causes tires to wear rapidly, unevenly or both. This means they will have to be replaced early, and new tires are more expensive than an alignment check. Bad alignment...
Hello drivers! Need a new battery ? There is a good chance that you do – 70% of batteries need to be replaced within four years. As your battery discharges and then recharges as you drive around, bits of the surface of the battery plates disintegrate. As this process continues over a few years, the alternator has to work harder to supplement the battery charge. Over time, enough of the battery is damaged that it can no longer hold a charge and it needs to be replaced. This also speeds...
There's nothing that radiates cool like a vehicle radiator that's helping to keep your engine running at the proper temperature. You don't have to baby it, but you can't simply ignore it, either.
Let's take a quick dive under the hood to let you know what the radiator is doing. It takes the heat your engine produces and moves that heat outside. It's not an easy job and heat is an engine's number one enemy. Now that you're thinking how nice you want to be to your...
Some vehicle owners wonder why Precision Tune Auto Care and other auto repair shops charge a fee for vehicle diagnostics.
Receiving a diagnostic charge at Precision Tune Auto Care for a tricky automotive problem shouldn't be a surprise. In the area, automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your vehicle brakes when you slow down in rush-hour traffic on a busy road, you pull off at the next off-ramp and take a quick visual check. That is usually enough to know what...