Los Altos Auto Repair

Duke here, and I am not fooling you today with No Fueling......which side is the fuel filler on???? 

If you've ever gotten in an unfamiliar vehicle, maybe a rental car, you may have pulled up to the gas pump and wondered, "Which side is the fuel filler on?" Here's a tip for you.  There is usually a little arrow on the instrument panel near the fuel gauge that points to the side where the fuel filler is. 

But why are the fuel fillers not all on the same side, anyway? There are lots of reasons.  At one time, many manufacturers tried putting them in an easy-to-reach spot: in the center of the vehicle's rear end.  Some even hid them behind a hinged license plate door.  Cool place, but it turned out not to be a good idea.  When a vehicle with a fuel filler in the rear was hit by another vehicle from behind, it was much more prone to catch fire and explode.

Safety regulations now dictate that the fuel filler doors be placed within crumple zones and away from where they can drip fuel on hot exhaust pipes or near electrical connections.  But why do manufacturers put them on either side?

Some say it should be on the side away from the road.  That way if you run out of gas and have to add a little from a gas can as your standing at the side of the road, you'll be a little farther away from passing traffic.  So some companies from North America and many European firms with left-hand drive put their fillers on the right side.

Some manufacturers think convenience for the driver is paramount, so they put their fuel fillers on the driver's side.  If you have a vehicle with a cable release for the fuel door inside the cabin, it's usually on the same side as the steering wheel.  As you can see, there's no standardization.

Fuel doors need regular maintenance such as lubrication, and your gas cap (if your vehicle has one) should seal properly.  Have your service facility inspect those regularly. Wherever your fuel filler is, it's obviously important that you can get at it easily because you have to fuel up sometime. Otherwise, you're not going to go too far!

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. ~ Mark Twain

Duke

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

Hey The Duke here and with the 4th of July just around the corner, sparks will be flying. But will you car be giving off those sparks too????  Today I will bark about Ignition Coil Replacement and  it's important job.  So let's set off those fireworks and bark into it.

Ever wonder how your vehicle’s engine is able to take the 12-volts from its battery and ramp that up to as high as the tens of thousands of volts it takes to fire its spark plugs? The secret is something called an ignition coil.  Most newer vehicles have an ignition coil at each cylinder, but older ones have a coil that serves all of the spark plugs. 

There are telltale signs that you have an ignition coil problem.  As you might expect, one symptom is it’s hard to start your engine or it won’t start at all.  If your engine is misfiring or not running smoothly or you see the Check Engine light come on, those all could point to an ignition coil failure.

Several things can contribute to ignition coil trouble in addition to normal wear and tear. Moisture and dirt may have gotten inside the coil, plus the heat and vibration of your engine over time can contribute to them going bad.  Bad spark plugs or plug wires can also be a cause.  

While ignition coils can last 100,000 miles/160,000 km, depending on how you drive and in what conditions.  If you start noticing some of the signs and symptoms just described, it’s a good idea to schedule a visit to see us so a technician can diagnose what’s wrong. Driving too long with an engine misfiring can damage your catalytic converter, and that can be expensive to replace.

A technician will thoroughly check your ignition system and determine where the failure is.  If it’s only one coil that’s bad, it may be the only thing that will need replacing.  If your vehicle has a distributor, it may also need to be replaced.  Properly-working ignition coils will help your vehicle operate at its best and help prevent future engine damage.

"May the rockets' red, white, and blue glare fill your heart with patriotic pride this 4th of July!"  ~ DUKE

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

Hey Duke here!  Today we are going to bark about bites......wrong kinda bites, I mean bytes like in your computer and such.  Nobody has to tell you that computers are a part of so many things in our lives.  Smartphones, kitchen appliances, vacuum cleaners, televisions.  You name it—it has a computer in it.  And your vehicle is no exception.

The earliest cars relied on the technology of their time, and there was no such thing as a computer.  But now, it's not unusual for a vehicle to have as many as 150 computers in it.

They perform a variety of functions. An important one is diagnosing your vehicle's problems.  There are various sensors throughout modern vehicles that measure thousands of data points.  When something is not working correctly, they send a signal to another computer that stores that information. The data can be read by someone who has a special computer that plugs into a port in your car.  It displays certain codes that help technicians track down the culprit. 

But it's not just the diagnostics that are computerized.  Everything from your vehicle's fuel injection to anti-lock brakes is.  Convenience features such as power windows, rain-sensing windshield wipers, a wi-fi-hot spot, streaming video and navigation are all sophisticated computers.  Then there are the safety features; air bags, traction control, automatic emergency braking and a host of others are all dependent on computers.

It is important that those computers work correctly because they interface with many of the other computers on board.  To properly diagnose problems with those computers requires training and special equipment. Your service facility has invested considerable resources into both, and they are equipped to properly evaluate and repair and/or replace malfunctioning components. 

Some lament the days when backyard mechanics could pull out their tools and do their own repairs.  Those days are fast disappearing with the computerization of vehicles.  But look at the bright side.  Your vehicle does so much more, has so many more features and travels far more safely than those past generations drove.  And they're bound to get better and more sophisticated down the road.

I leave you with my dog quote for the week, yes bite (byte) related,

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man." - Mark Twain.

Duke

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

A hound dog's nose is everything.  I can pickup on smells like you can't believe.  Hi Cayenne here and you guessed it, we are going to bark about a particular smell, GAS today.  If you've ever walked into your garage and noticed it smelled like gasoline, pay attention. Gasoline can be dangerous, both from the health problems fumes can cause and the fire danger gasoline presents. 

There are many things that can cause a vehicle to give off a gasoline odor.  One of the easiest to track down is the gas cap.  It could be missing or it doesn't seal well any more (they do wear out).  That can also cause the Check Engine light to light up, so those are clues to tell your service advisor when you take it in for diagnosis.

Another thing that can cause the Check Engine light to come on and produce a gasoline smell is the fuel filler neck. It's the part that goes from the place you put your fuel in to the gas tank. Over time, these can wear out and fail (they're made out of rubber or metal).  They can leak gasoline, too.

It's always a good idea to check the garage floor for any gasoline puddles.  Note the location of the puddle in relation to the vehicle. If it's near the back, that's possibly the fuel filler neck or the gas tank leaking.  In the middle of the vehicle? May be fuel lines.  Near the front? Could be fuel injectors (or carburetor if you have one) or fuel pump. 

There are other causes of gas odors, and you need an expert to figure out the source soon.  Gasoline leaks are nothing to play around with.  Gasoline is flammable, potentially explosive and its fumes can damage your lungs. A trained technician can pinpoint the cause and get your garage back to smelling like a normal garage again.

I leave you with this smell quote today,

"They told me my house smelled like dogs, and I asked them, do you know what a dog smells like?" It smells like gratitude, loyalty, nobility, affection, pure unconditional love. And in spite of all they've been through, they smell no resentment. So blessed that my house smells like dogs.”  ~ Patrick Swayze

Cayenne

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

Hey Duke here and you know sometimes the movie is better than the book, sometimes it's the other way around.  But when it comes to your vehicle, the best book of all is the owner's manual. The plot is simple and not talking about me even though I am a Plott, I am not simple: Owner wants long life and dependable performance from the vehicle, manual has the way to achieve that long life and dependable performance.  So let's turn the page and bark into the "Owner's Manual"

And yet, it's amazing that some people will own a vehicle for years and never even crack this book.  They'll only read it when they absolutely have to, for things like finding out how to change the clock. 

Ok, so you're probably not going to rush right over to your glove box and start reading the owner's manual cover to cover.  We know that.  But just think of what you can get out of it.

Consider this.  Those who wrote or helped write this book include the engineers who designed it and the people who tested and refined it.  They know more about your vehicle than anyone, period.  They know how long a part is likely to last and what you need to do to take care of it. They know how far a distance or how long a time you can drive before you have to change certain fluids in it.  They know what temperature it can reach before things will start to break.

And they've put your vehicle model through torture, testing it in the absolute worst conditions to see how to make it stand up to more abuse than it will ever receive.  They've then torn it down, examined it and, in many cases, redesigned the parts to make them even better. 

And they've put down—in fairly minute detail—this blueprint that, if you and our experts at Allied Auto Works follow their suggestions, will make it very likely that your vehicle will serve you well for a long time.  If you don't follow those suggestions, all bets are off.

We didn't even mention that the owner's manual tells you how to operate everything in your car.  How to adjust the heat and air conditioning, how to pair your smartphone with the audio system, how to program your key fob so it won't sound the horn when you lock your vehicle.

Have you lost your manual or did you buy a vehicle that didn't come with one?  Many are available either online or in paper form. If you don't know where to begin with such a long book, try a couple of pages a week, just three minutes.  You’ll discover your vehicle does things you never even knew it could do.  And the movie will never be as good.

I leave you with a reading quote for this week,

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all ~ Oscar Wilde

Duke

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

If you start me up, I'll never stop, so the lyrics go to the Rolling Stones: "Start Me Up."  Hi Cayenne here and well that's all good until your car doesn't start.    So yes, today we are going to start you up about ignition systems.  Let's get barkin'!

When you start up your gasoline engine car, you may not know it's using the same ignition principles as it has for decades.  You have spark plugs that require enough power so a spark can jump across a gap at its tip.  Years ago, a vehicle's 12-volt system had to produce 15,000-25,000 volts to do that, so engineers came up with something called an ignition coil that bumps up the voltage. It also has to be done at just the right interval, which is called timing.

The first systems had a distributor, a mechanical device with a rotating disc that switched the power to the ignition coil on and off.  That higher voltage was then sent to the spark plugs at the correct time interval. But the mechanical "points" had to be replaced and adjusted every 12,000 miles/20,000 kilometers.  Engineers later replaced the switching mechanism with solid-state ones, but they still needed replacement after 120,000 miles/200,000 kilometers.

The next evolution came in the 80's when the distributor was replaced with a couple of sensors that talked to a computer.  This "DIS" (distributor-less automotive ignition system) was a big advance.  Plus, it didn't use just one ignition coil for all the cylinders.  It had coil "packs" that each provided spark to two cylinders.  That way, the voltage could be boosted even higher, to 30,000 volts, which helped engines be able to ignite a leaner fuel/air mixture.

Even more improvements have recently come. Now, instead of coil packs, a coil is attached to each spark plug. No more spark plug wires means less maintenance. Plus, a stronger, hotter spark of 50,000 volts can make an engine more reliable, increase fuel economy, and reduce emissions.

No matter what ignition system your vehicle uses, your vehicle service facility has a staff of technicians trained to work with the latest technology. Make sure to maintain your vehicle regularly so you can fully take advantage of these modern engineering marvels.

Now that you have all the information, maybe these lyrics will stick.

"If you start me up, I'll never stop" ~ Rolling Stones

Cayenne

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

Cayenne here, and you've heard the saying "get back to the daily grind," but what if the daily grind is your vehicle?????  Well, today, we will grind our way into barking about the question.  

If your vehicle makes a grinding sound when you turn the steering wheel, it's speaking to you.  No, it is.  So listen to what it's saying and you could avoid a much more costly repair down the road.

A grinding sound coming from the front of your vehicle when you are turning can offer some very informative clues as to what's going on.  One cause could be that there's a problem with the mechanical linkage that enables you to turn the wheels.  Another is that the hydraulic system that makes turning the steering wheel easier may have its own problems. 

Think of it.  Hydraulic power steering has many components that need to work in tandem.  The power steering fluid may be too old and contaminated.  Or its level may be low. That may be caused by a leak somewhere in the system. A technician can check things over to find out exactly what's happening.

Other causes of grinding while turning can be problems with the suspension in the front.  You may have a failing CV (constant velocity) joint.  It could be your brakes are partially engaging while you are turning.  That metal-on-metal sound is never a sign that things are working just the way they're supposed to.

To a technician looking to pinpoint the problem with your vehicle, it's not a daily grind at all.  Experience and training will help her or him zero in on what's causing the noise and get you back on the road. Maybe you can enjoy your sound system more after that distracting background noise has disappeared!

I leave you with this quote about the "grind"

"Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work."

Cayenne

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

Happy Holidays everyone, Duke here and you know dogs can see better than humans even at night.  Our visibility to detect small and large creatures running around at night is amazing but you, not so much. You've all been through it. The vehicle ahead of you kicks up mud, slush, snow or salt on your windshield and you can't see a thing.  And not being able to see a thing when we're driving?  Not a good thing.  So today, we will bark out the importance of having visibility by cleaning the glass on our vehicles. Let's wipe away the dirt and get barkin'!

Debris on a vehicle's glass can be blinding when driving directly into the sun.  Other things can ruin visibility: scratches on the glass, fogged windows, and mineral deposits. 

So let's make one thing clear:  Your windows.  Here are some tips.

• Number one rule, don't use abrasives on glass. That means no gritty cleaners that are made of metal.  Avoid at all costs those dark green abrasive pads on some kitchen sponges that are made to clean metal pots and pans UNLESS the manufacturer specifically says they can be used on glass.
• Use the appropriate cleaner for the substance that's being cleaned off. Special automotive glass cleaners are available, and your Allied Auto Works service advisor can make recommendations.
• Vinegar can work wonders. Sometimes you'll see hard, grayish water spots on your windows that nothing seems to take off. Distilled white vinegar (available in the grocery store) gets rid of them safely, quickly and easily.
• Use a microfiber cloth designed for cleaning glass; that's what professional detailers choose.
• Clean the insides of windows, too. That film that develops on the inside of vehicle windows can be the result of plastic interior surfaces decaying in the heat of sunlight (plastic contains oil). The film can also be caused by cigarette smoke. Clean that oily layer off thoroughly.

Now that you have clean windows, here's how to keep 'em clean.

• Replace your wipers at least once a year. Rubber deteriorates the older it gets, even if you rarely use your wipers.
• You might consider a newer type called a "beam" blade. Most have an aerodynamic design that cleans your windshield better, especially at higher speeds.

Your service advisor at Allied Auto Works will be able to recommend good wiper blades for your vehicle and install them properly.

Visibility.  See what we mean?  Now where did I see my bone last??

Happy Holidays to all,

Duke

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

Hello, Cayenne here today.  TPS......hmmm, that sounds like it stands for Tender Porterhouse Steak.....yummy.  No, don't be silly and wishful.  What it really stands for is Throttle Position Sensor.  Yes, I know it's not as tasty sounding, but it's very important to your vehicle.  So today we will bark about what TPS is.  Let's get barkin'!

You know you have an accelerator pedal; step on it, and your vehicle is supposed to go.  But did you know there is a part in your vehicle that keeps track of where the throttle is? It's called the Throttle Position Sensor, or TPS.

The TPS is a sensor that helps your vehicle determine the right mix of air and fuel reaching your engine.  It does that by keeping track of the throttle and sending that information to your vehicle's computer.  Other factors affect how well your engine is performing, including air temperature, how fast the engine is turning over and air flow. 

When the TPS isn't working right, you may find your vehicle won't accelerate or doesn't have the power you're expecting when you press on the accelerator.  In some cases, it may accelerate on its own.  Sometimes, your vehicle won't go over a certain speed.  Your Check Engine light may go on.

Any of these symptoms should be checked out soon. If your TPS stops working right, your vehicle may not be safe to drive. Fortunately, most vehicles have a "limp home" mode that allows you to get off a busy road and to a safe spot. 

Your service advisor can tell you which TPS is the correct replacement for your vehicle. Your shop may have to re-program the new TPS so it works correctly with your vehicle's software.

It's a fact of life these days that computers control many of a vehicle's functions. The sensors that feed information to those computers help make your vehicle work how it was engineered to and keep you motoring safely and efficiently down the road.

As we move into Winter, I leave you with this,

He who marvels at the beauty of the world in summer will find equal cause for wonder and admiration in winter.

-John Burroughs

Cayenne

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com

It's Thanksgiving week, and the delicious smell of turkey is awaiting me. Hi, Cayenne here and you know I love the smell of turkey coming out of the oven, but have you ever had an awful smell coming from inside your car? Rotten egg smell, yuk, and today, we will bark about what that horrible odor is.  

The pungent smell of rotten eggs can send people running for the hills, so when that odor is inside your vehicle, yikes! Yolks! The good news is that a trained service technician can locate the source of that smell and stanch the stench… that comes from another word that begins with S.  Sulfur.

Fuel contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, but they're enough to stink up a vehicle when it's not properly burned.  You may know that the smell of rotten eggs often signals a catalytic converter that isn't working as it should.  That could be due to age, damage or an abundance of oil clogging it up. 

If a sensor in charge of managing the fuel fails, the engine can run with a fuel mixture that is too rich.  That can overload the catalytic converter and allow some byproducts to escape without interruption from the chemical reaction that prevents them from going out of the tailpipe.

There's another possibility, but it's usually only found in stick-shift vehicles. That's leaking old transmission fluid.

Catalytic converter repairs are best left to a professional. Technicians at your vehicle service facility have equipment and training that can help them pinpoint the cause of this funky fragrance. Once the cause is found, repairs are made, and/or parts are replaced, and the smell should go away fairly rapidly.

Now, let's start talking about the smells I do love: turkey, pumpkin pie, and sausage stuffing......I can go on

Happy Thanksgiving,

Cayenne

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road
Los Altos, CA 94024
6509687227
http://alliedautoworks.com