Civali's Auto Service Tire Safety: Washington vs. Lincoln

Welcome to the Civali's Auto Service blog. Today, let’s talk about the effect of tire tread depth on braking. When talking about stopping power, most of us Hamden drivers tend to focus on our brakes. But our tires are where the rubber meets the road. So having good brakes isn’t enough. Safe Hamden drivers need to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power.

Let’s focus on stopping in wet Hamden conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water.

That’s called hydroplaning. If it’s really bad, Hamden drivers can actually spin out of control. At best, you won’t stop as fast.

So how does a tire move water? It has channels for water to flow through. Look at your utility truck tire and you’ll see channels: channels that run around the tire and channels that flow across the tire. They’re designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.

And the deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new Civali's Auto Service tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop your utility truck on wet Hamden roads.

So that’s why it’s so important to replace our utility truck tires when they get worn. Consumer Reports and other advocate groups call for a standard of 3/32 of an inch and they have the studies to prove it.

By comparison, you’ve probably seen the wear indicator that’s molded into tires. When tires are worn 3/32 of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out utility truck tire.

At Civali's Auto Service, we want our customers to know that the deeper recommended tread depth makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet Hamden roads. A safe stop from CT freeway speeds with 4/32 of an inch of tread would result in a crash with worn out tires.

There’s an easy way to tell when a tire’s worn to 4/32 of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your utility truck tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

Many Hamden car owners have heard of this technique using a penny and Abe Lincoln’s head. That measure gives you 2/32 of an inch – half the suggested amount. Of course, utility truck tires are a big ticket item. Most of us in Hamden want to get as many miles out of them as we can. But there’s a real safety trade-off. It’s your choice.

Suspension Service At Civali's Auto Service

Suspension systems will continue to operate effectively for many years and tens of thousands of miles. Eventually utility truck components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive in Rockfall.

As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth CT highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads. In addition to just wearing out, utility truck suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact – like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road. Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your utility truck manufacturer recommends periodic inspections.

During an inspection at Civali's Auto Service, your appreciative Rockfall service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts. Let me give a rundown of the major suspension components.

First there are the springs. The springs hold the weight of the vehicle. There are several kinds of springs. Springs are obviously heavy duty parts that rarely break or wear out. Shock absorbers work in conjunction with springs to smooth out the ride and help keep the tires on the road. The shocks are key to handling performance and ride comfort.

You’ve probably heard of struts. They combine a shock absorber and a coil spring in one unit. Shocks and struts will wear out over time. There are some signs that shocks or struts are wearing out. The tires may have a cupped wear pattern. This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly. You may notice a floaty or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your utility truck dives excessively when stopping, or rocks back and forth after you stopped, your shocks may be worn out. And if they are leaking fluid, it’s definitely time to replace them.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, visit Civali's Auto Service for a suspension inspection. Same if you’ve been in an accident that involved one of your wheels. If your utility truck suspension actually fails, it could lead to a serious accident, so take care of these things.

When you replace your shocks, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time. That’ll give you more even handling. Talk with your Civali's Auto Service service advisor because you don’t want a big difference between the performance of your shocks from wheel to wheel, and replacing all may be the safest bet.

There different grades of shocks and struts. You always want to use a replacement shock or strut that equals the one that came as original equipment when your utility truck was new. But remember, they were designed to meet the expected needs of the broad range of Rockfall people who buy that particular vehicle. Your needs may be more specialized.

For example if you want increased handling performance for your utility truck, your appreciative Civali's Auto Service advisor can recommend an upgraded shock or strut to give you what you want. If you haul heavy loads or trailers, you can get a more heavy duty shock absorber.

Civali's Auto Service Maintenance Tips: The Belt Goes On

Today's Civali's Auto Service auto maintenance article focuses on your serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that’s driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems. Let’s go over them.

First, the serpentine belt drives your utility truck air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in Marion.

Next, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that’s used by your utility truck’s electrical systems and also charges your car battery. All Marion drivers know that without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles.

The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering and power brakes. And, on many utility trucks, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant through the engine to keep it within normal operating temperatures as you drive around Marion.

Now on some utility trucks, the water pump is powered by the timing belt instead of the serpentine belt. So you can see the serpentine belt does a lot of work. And it if breaks, it affects a lot of systems. That’s why manufacturers and your service advisor at Civali's Auto Service have recommended that it be changed every so often so that it doesn’t fail.

Your Marion service technician can perform a visual inspection of the belt to see if it has any cracks that signal the belt could fail soon and will measure the amount of belt material to make sure there is enough.

There’s a special, spring loaded pulley attached to the engine called the tensioner pulley. Its job is to make sure there’s a constant tension on the serpentine belt so that it doesn’t slip. The spring can become worn and no longer provide the necessary pressure to keep the belt tight. At Civali's Auto Service, we recommend that the tensioner be replaced at the same time as the serpentine belt.

All in all, the serpentine belt’s an important part for the function of your utility truck. And it’s not that expensive to replace in Marion – so it’s good to do so before it fails.

PCV Valve Service At Civali's Auto Service In Meriden

The PCV Valve is a little, inexpensive part that does a big job for Meriden drivers. PCV stands for Positive Crankcase Ventilation.

The crankcase is the bottom area of the engine that holds the oil. When the utility truck engine’s running, fuel is burned to generate power. Most of the exhaust from combustion goes out through the exhaust system. But some exhaust blows by the pistons and goes into the lower engine, or crankcase.

These hot gases are about seventy percent unburned fuel. This can dilute and contaminate the oil, leading to damaging engine oil sludge. It can also cause utility truck engine corrosion, something we see occasionally at Civali's Auto Service. At high speeds on Meriden freeways, the pressure can build up to the point that gaskets and seals start to leak.

Back in the old days, engine makers simply installed a hose that vented these gases out into the atmosphere. But starting in the 1964 model year, laws mandated that these gases be recycled back into the air intake system to be mixed with fuel and burned in the utility truck's engine.

This is much better for the environment and it saves gas too. (Budget-conscious Meriden drivers take note!) The little valve that controls all this action is the PCV valve. The PCV valve lets gases out of the engine, but won’t let anything back in. Over time, the vented gases will gum up the PCV valve and it won’t work well. That can lead to all of the problems I’ve already described, oil leaks, excessive oil consumption and wasted gas.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to test the PCV Valve at Civali's Auto Service and quick and inexpensive to replace. Even so, it’s often overlooked because many Meriden drivers don’t know about it. Check your utility truck owner’s manual or ask your Civali's Auto Service service advisor. If this is the first time you’ve heard of a PCV valve, you might be in line for a replacement.

There’s another aspect to the PCV system. In order for the valve to work correctly, it needs a little clean air to come in. This is done through a breather tube that gets some filtered air from the engine air filter. Now some vehicles have a small separate air filter for the breather tube called the breather element. That’ll need to be replaced at Civali's Auto Service when it gets dirty.

Please ask your appreciative Meriden service advisor about your PCV valve. For the price of a couple of burger combo meals in Meriden, you can avoid some very expensive deep engine repairs.

Tire Replacement: What Rockfall Drivers Need to Know

Looking at getting some new tires? The choices at Rockfall tire stores can be a little overwhelming. Suppose you have an SUV and are trying to decide between all season tires or some that are also rated for off-highway. Do you get off the payment on the outskirts of Rockfall more than most? If so, some additional off-road traction would be nice.

Maybe the real reason for wanting those off-highway tires is that they look cool. Well there’s nothing wrong with that. If you make sure that you’ve got your functional needs covered with your selection, then you can have some fun with where you go from there.

Let’s suppose you zip around Rockfall in a sporty car. You may like to run a high-performance summer tire when the weather’s good. When CT weather turns cold, you can put on high-performance winter tires. For the kind of driving you like to do, you want full-on performance tires. All-season tires are naturally a compromise that works well for most Rockfall drivers, but since you have a choice, go for dedicated summer and winter tires.

When it’s time for new tires, visit with a knowledgeable Civali's Auto Service tire professional. Describe your needs and wants. He’ll come up with some selections for you to discuss. And once you settle on a type of tire, there are options for special needs: like pulling a trailer or carrying heavy loads.

Tires are one of the biggest purchases for Rockfall drivers. With so many choices, you’ll be able to get what’s best for you. Take their time. And don’t worry about what’s in stock. If you want something that isn’t here at Civali's Auto Service, manager Joey Civali can order it. Chances are you’ll be rolling on your new tires in a couple of days.

Marion Safety Systems: Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances can all be the result of Marion folks driving around on under-inflated tires. Now, it’s hard to tell when a radial tire is under-inflated. If your manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your utility truck tire’s considered significantly under inflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds.

New laws required 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 manufacturer’s pressure recommendations.

This technology has been used by Marion race car drivers for years. They are able to head off problems from under inflation by closely monitoring tire pressure on the track. It’s up to your car’s manufacturer to determine which of many TPMS systems available they’ll use to comply with the law.

Obviously, all of this doesn’t come free for Marion drivers. U.S. government studies have estimated the net costs. Of course, the TPMS system itself will cost something. Maintaining the system will have a cost, replacement of worn or broken parts and tire repair cost increases.

The costs are partially offset by savings in fuel and tire wear. There’s also a saving in property damage and travel delay. The net cost is estimated to be between $27 and $100. The government predicts fewer fatal accidents. They estimate that it will cost between three and nine million dollars for every life saved.

Your safety has always been a concern at Civali's Auto Service. We want you on the road and accident free. We've traditionally provided things like tire rotations, snow tire mounting and flat fixes at a very low cost. We’ve been able to quickly and cheaply provide the service, and pass the low cost on to you as an expression of our good will.

That’s why we're concerned about how you’ll perceive the changes that this new law will force. Every time a tire is changed: taken off to fix a flat, a new tire installed, a snow tire mounted; the Civali's Auto Service service technician is now going to have to deal with the TPMS system.

Even a simple tire rotation will require that the monitor be reprogrammed to the new location of each tire. When a car battery is disconnected, the TPMS system will need to be reprogrammed. TPMS sensor batteries will need to be changed and failed parts replaced.

Like all other Marion service centers, here at Civali's Auto Service we've had to purchase new scanning equipment to work with the TPMS sensors and to update expensive tire change equipment to better service wheels equipped with the new monitoring systems. Our Civali's Auto Service service technicians have been thoroughly trained on many systems and new tire-changing techniques. All of this adds up to significantly increased cost to perform what was once a very inexpensive service for you.

So when you start so see the cost of tire changes, flat repairs and rotations going up at Civali's Auto Service, please keep in mind that it’s because of government mandated safety equipment. We want to keep you safely on the road – and we're committed to doing it at a fair price. This new safety equipment will help you avoid the most common types of vehicle failure in Marion, and possibly a catastrophic accident.

Your Well Trained Technician At Civali's Auto Service

When your utility truck breaks down, or just needs some routine service, you might get a little nervous. Your car’s so important to your life in Rockfall, you need to back on the road as soon as possible – with the problem fixed right the first time.

If you’ve ever checked into some of the technician training Civali's Auto Service professionals receive, you may be surprised at how much knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern car. Let me give you some perspective. Today there are four cylinder engines that make more power than the V-8’s in luxury cars twenty years ago. I mean a new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket’s Ferrari in a race to sixty.

Our engines are more and more powerful and at the same time their fuel economy keeps inching up – even with steep Rockfall gas prices. And they’re so reliable. This is all due to engineering. But the advances come at the price of simplicity. The modern cars driving around Rockfall roads are so much more complex from a mechanical standpoint that it makes your head spin – not to mention the electronics.

Some cars have several networked computers controlling most of the engine functions and many other vehicle functions as well. Rockfall motorists take all of this sophistication for granted – but somebody has to fix it when it breaks. It’s a real challenge for Civali's Auto Service technicians to keep up, but we work hard to stay ahead of the technology. It requires a high level of commitment on the part of the technician and the Rockfall service center as well.

In addition to the training, there’s the financial commitment to purchase the diagnostic and repair tools. Civali's Auto Service technicians receive training through a combination of formal classroom training, training provided at Civali's Auto Service by parts and equipment manufacturers, on-line courses and home study courses.

There are many independent certifications available at Civali's Auto Service all the way up to Master Technician. The ability to repair your utility truck requires a strong combination of training and resources. No one can know everything, so Rockfall auto service centers subscribe to data services, technical libraries and even on-line communities that can help them when they run into a difficult problem.

It’s like those medical diagnosis shows on TV. Here are the symptoms – what’s the diagnosis and treatment? Diagnosis is every bit as much an art as a science. At Civali's Auto Service, we want everything to be simple, straightforward and cheap – but sometimes it just isn’t.

So try to be more relaxed next time you bring us your utility truck. You’re in good hands.

On Board Diagnostics For Meriden Motorists

Some Meriden motorists are confused by Civali's Auto Service charges for diagnostic services for a vehicle repair. Many services at Civali's Auto Service and other Meriden automotive repair shops include diagnostic fees.

When you take your laptop into a Marion computer repair shop for a problem you’ll likely have to leave a deposit for diagnostics. When we visit our Plantsville doctor for a medical problem, we’re paying him to diagnose our ailment and of course for the tests that go along with it.

So receiving a diagnostic charge at Civali's Auto Service for a tricky automotive problem shouldn’t be a surprise. In the Marion area, automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your utility truck brakes when you slow down in rush-hour traffic on a busy CT expressway, you pull off the next off-ramp and take a quick visual check. That is usually enough to know what needs to be done. If you’re having an intermittent problem with your utility truck engine, Civali's Auto Service diagnosis may be much more involved.

Much of the Marion public’s confusion comes when the problem involves the check engine light. The check engine light comes on when the engine management computer has sensed a problem.

There’s a common misconception among Plantsville, Rockfall, and Hamden drivers that the trouble code tells the Civali's Auto Service technician exactly what’s wrong. Why then is there a diagnostic charge, the scanner just gave the diagnosis?

Reality is more involved than that. The computer monitors many sensors throughout the vehicle. When one of these sensors has a reading that’s out of parameters, the computer will record a trouble code and turn on the check engine light.

The utility truck computer's trouble code just tells the Civali's Auto Service technician what engine parameter is out of range – not what’s causing it. The technician needs to determine the underlying problem that’s causing the symptom.

There are many problems that could cause a troublesome sensor reading for Civali's Auto Service Meriden customers. The Civali's Auto Service technician makes a list of the most likely causes and begins tracking down the source of the problem.

Marion service centers subscribe to databases that document possible causes for a given trouble code. They outline procedures for confirming a diagnosis and provide the documented fix. These databases are specific to each vehicle and engine combination.

Some diagnoses are quick and easy. Others are more involved and difficult. Of course Civali's Auto Service wants to figure out what’s wrong with your utility truck and get you back on the road as quickly as possible.

Fuel Injector Cleaning In Plantsville, Rockfall, and Hamden

In very simple terms, a fuel injector is a valve that squirts fuel into your utility truck engine. Your engine control computer tells the fuel injector how much fuel to deliver as well as the precise time it should be delivered. Of course this happens thousands of times a minute in every single fuel-injected car driving down Plantsville, Rockfall, and Hamden roads.

Most fuel injectors for gas engines are known in the Marion auto industry as port fuel injectors because they deliver the fuel to a port just outside the cylinder. The fuel pump provides pressure needed to squirt the right amount of fuel into the engine.

A few auto makers have recently introduced gas direct injection systems on some engines. They are now available at some Marion dealerships. These systems inject the gas directly into the cylinders under very high pressure – many times the pressure of port injection systems.

Although more complicated, direct injection technology promises greater power with improved fuel economy for gas-poor Plantsville, Rockfall, and Hamden commuters. CT motorists can expect to see more of it in the future.

High temperatures under your utility truck hood and variations in Marion gas quality cause fuel injectors to be fouled with wax, dirt, water, additives and carbon. Injectors can become partially clogged, preventing them from delivering the proper amount of fuel at the correct pressure.

When injectors are dirty, the fuel doesn’t burn as efficiently resulting in poor fuel economy and loss of power. So it’s important for Meriden drivers keep their fuel injectors clean.

Your Meriden Civali's Auto Service service center can perform a fuel system service for you in which the fuel injectors are cleaned so that they operate properly and deliver the right amount of fuel at the right time.

Proper maintenance of your utility truck fuel system means that you will spend less on gas, enjoy strong performance and prevent costly Marion repair bills down the road.

Clean Air for Your Engine: Engine Air Filters In Meriden

Every Meriden car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter’s dirty.

Here’s what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your utility truck owner’s manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your Marion technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed.

So between your owner’s manual and your Marion technician’s inspection there’s really no guesswork involved.

Now, most air filters purchased in Plantsville, Rockfall, or Hamden don’t cost a lot to replace. It’s just that CT people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Civali's Auto Service can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in Marion.

Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Rockfall home. When it’s all clogged up, enough clean air can’t get through. In your utility truck, that means that your engine can’t get as much air as it needs to burn the fuel efficiently. So it makes do with less air and has to use more expensive CT gas to move your vehicle around Marion roads.

Your utility truck actually needs about 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of gas it burns. Engine air filters don’t cost much in Meriden at Civali's Auto Service. When it’s time to change yours, just get it done. You’ll save buy less expensive Marion fuel, have better performance and protect your engine.

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