Precision Import Service Tech Tips

My career in the import auto repair industry started in 1955 when I replaced the clutch in a MG TF 1500, a fine English car with wooden floor boards and a wooden headed "want to be" mechanic. (you can always tell a Dutchman but you can't tell him much). We had a shop manual but it was written using some of the classic English terms like remove in sititu and reassembly is the reverse of removal. I also learned about various versions of English curse words that usually started with the word "bloody" !.. You can fill in the rest.

Over my 50 plus years of fixing, reading about and fixing again various cars I look back and marvel how much there was to be learned and how ignorant I was about various parts of an automobile and how they work. Thank goodness the cars I was learning to fix had simple systems because we would have been lost with something really complicated. For example, in 1960 I saw cars with two to five fuses to protect all the electrical circuits, and in 1996 I owned a German car that had forty-five fuses with room in the fuse panel for more. The only thing that both cars had in common was that you did not want to "let the smoke out" of either cars electrical system. Some manufacturer's recommended things like removing the cylinder head in order to "lap in the valves" at 15,000 mile intervals. You can guess how often that got done.

Sometimes the manufacturer caused its own problems. I can remember a French car with a rear engine that was sold here in the 60's that had the cooling system filler and the fuel tank filler located next to each other under the rear engine hood. Guess what? Gasoline and water don't mix, and the hoses and cooling system seals are never the same after being soaked in gasoline. This same car had no fuse for the interior light and when it shorted out or melted there would be a burned trail thru the car's headliner that looked like a brown contrail map of the last space shuttle launch. Now, that would get your attention.

Service intervals were fairly frequent and not much changed until the government enacted emission control laws in the late 60's. Prior to that cars needed (by today's standards anyway) "tune ups" every 10 to 15,000 miles. Typical parts that were replaced were spark plugs, points, condenser, air and fuel filters. Many cars had valves that had to be adjusted at 10,000 to 15,000 mile intervals, and I am not even going to discuss cars with multiple carburetors that needed to be synchronized. One of the things that the emissions control laws required was that the engine be able to run for longer intervals without service parts replacement. We then started seeing cars with no points or condenser, ignition systems able to fire sparkplugs for a longer period of time and fuel injection. Our new cars are the beneficiaries of all this engineering. Many new cars now have no distributors at all, no points and condenser, no ignition wires, no cap or rotor, and spark plugs that are good for 50,000 miles or more. Thirty years ago a car that had not had the engine apart by 70 or 80,000 miles was unusual, today we see many cars with 150,000 miles or more, where the engine has never been apart and still running well. We never had it so good, but routine care of your car has never been so important! In some cases never has it been so difficult to perform. This newsletter is about service tips, so I am going to give some of my observations about what to do to keep your car alive for a long period of time and miles.

First of all, read your car's owners manual. There is important information about your car that you either need to know, or know where to find. Things like the type of lubricants to use, how often to change fluids, required service intervals and what is needed to keep your car covered while in warranty. Remember, if required service is not done your warranty may be void. If you are not sure about what you need call or come by and we can go over your service and warranty requirements with you. The other thing that should be considered is how long and for how many miles you plan to keep your car. If you are going to keep your car for a long time, periodic fluid changes are important. Also see if the term "severe service" as used in your owners manual applies to your cars normal use. In this area severe use and our normal use are almost the same.

Change your car's oil and filter often; if your engine could talk that's the first thing it would tell you. It is also a chance for someone to look your car over to see if there are any potential problems. Now I mean no disrespect to the "quick lube shops" but oil changes are all that they are trained to do. Many professional shops (such as Precision Import Service) have experienced mechanics check the car, these guys know what to look for and know what they are looking at.
...My suggestion would be, if you are pressed for time, to alternate your oil changes between a "quick lube" shop that strives to change oil in 100 or more cars a day. And a professional shop (like Precision Import Service) that will take the time to check your car more carefully and alert you to potetial problems. Its just common sense! Oil change interval is very important, what does the manual say? Do they have a definition of "severe service"? Usually this is what our normal driving is in this area. As a rule of thumb if the vehicle is being driven in local stop and go traffic we recommend use synthetic oil and change every 5,000 miles, if you use conventional oil change every 3,000 miles. Make sure you use the proper type and weight of oil, the days of "one type works on all" are gone. One other thing, you do not have to "change over" from conventional oil to synthetic. These oils are compatible with each other and will mix. No special procedure required. Every car that I have seen with high mileage that's still running without problems has had frequent oil changes over the life of the car.

Check your tire pressure at least once a month, New cars will have a sensor that will warn you if the tire pressure is low. Low tire pressures can affect tire life and can lower fuel mileage as much as 10% in some cases. Check your wiper blades, they are affected by the chemicals in the air which can affect their ability to clean properly. Replace your wiper blades every 12 to 18 months. Don't forget the rear wiper if you have one. Clean window glass when dirty or showing haze from gassing of interior plastic.

Your car has an air filter for the engine, and it should be checked and/or replaced every 15,000 miles. Some of these filters are hard to access; if yours is, then just change it when you get it out. On many cars there will also be a filter for air that goes into the ventilation system. This should be replaced every 10,000 miles and if very dirty more often then that. If you are having problems with heater, A/C or defroster performance, check this filter first. Also check for small animal nests in the engine and heater air inlets. You would not believe what we find sometimes.

Depending on the type of drive line that your vehicle has, there are as many as four different fluid levels that have to be checked and many cars have some or all of the following. All wheel or 4 wheel drive, front wheel or rear wheel drive. Front differential, rear differential, transmission, transfer case. In some models the transfer case and transmission share the same oil, in others they are separate. Some also have limited slip differentials that use a special fluid and a different oil change interval if off road use is extensive.
If you have an automatic transmission, checking the fluid level which should be simple is not always easy to do. What used to be a simple procedure with a dip stick just like checking engine oil is now a big deal. Many makes of car have very specific procedures and tools required to just check the transmission fluid. We have cars that must have the transmission fluid within a specified temperature range and then a level plug removed to see if it is full.
We also have special tools that have to be used to check and fill the transmission from under the car. Many makes are using expensive "life-time" fluid that can cost anywhere from $17.00 to over $30.00 per quart. The cars with this type of system are supposed to be better and can go for a longer time between servicing so the transmission fluid check is recommended every 25 or 30,000 miles as part of the recommended service in the owners manual. Many of these vehicles have a transmission fluid temperature sensor that will let the driver know if something is wrong.
The point is that the driver won't know if the fluid is low until it has started to overheat or evidence of leakage was found by getting under the car to look. Don't count on the quick service shops to check any of this because of the time and equipment involved. Ask questions! If fluid has to be added make sure it is what the manufacturer recommends. This is important!

As the owner of your car you need to know or need to make sure the checks are done at the proper service intervals. We have some customers that when asked about the recommended services tell us "Oh I have xxx quick lube do all my warranty services", then when you look at the bill nothing specific has been listed. This does not mean it was not done, but you could not prove it if you had to. A professional repair shop is going to itemize or refer to a specific service schedule when doing routine or warranty specific service. A professional repair shop is also going to list all parts and the type and weight of the lubricants used. We also keep records of all the service we have done on your car. Remember you are our customer - if you have any questions or need service history you can come by or call us we will be glad to help.

Precision Import Service has several ASE Master techs on its staff. From a customer point of view ASE tech certification is a good thing, and you can be confident that the person that fixes your car cares enough and knows enough about what he is doing to be certified.

You may have noticed that I have used the word "mechanics" in some places and not tech or technician. The trend for the last 10 to 15 years has been to call car repair people technicians, not mechanics. But I think that after 55 years in the car fixing business I will think of myself a mechanic who is still learning.