Pleasanton Auto Repair

If you're reading this article in Pleasanton California, then you probably care about your car and how it runs. Even though you care, there is still that moment of dread when your service technician tells you the manufacturer recommends some additional service. Your heart beats a little faster, your blood pressure rises. You worry about spending more money than you expected. And you worry that if you say "no", you might be harming your car or compromising safety. At the risk of sounding like your dad, you really should have done your homework. All of this stuff is in your owner's manual. But it is not like you want to keep your maintenance schedule on your nightstand for bedtime reading. Cars are complicated machines and it takes care to keep them running well. That is why manufacturers have maintenance schedules that explain how to keep your vehicle performing efficiently and prevent c ... read more

Myths passed around our Pleasanton California community start with a grain of evidence and are then built up with a lot of imagination and very elastic logic. And the internet is a breeding ground for automotive myths. Some bloggers recall the Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexuss of yesteryear and declare their modern decedents to be virtually maintenance free and that anyone who says otherwise is out to rip you off. Let's examine a couple of the more popular rants and look at the truth behind them. The first one is that the chassis no longer needs lubrication for suspension, steering and the driveline. They declare that anyone who has charged you for lubrication is a charlatan. The truth on which this myth is based is that many new cars come from the factory with sealed joints and cannot be greased. However, there are still some grease points on many cars around Pleasanton. A grease fitting may have been installed in conjunction with a repair. And most ... read more

Looking at getting some new tires? The choices at San Ramon 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 San Ramon 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 San Ramon in a sporty car. You may like to run a high-performance summer tire when the weather’s good. When California 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 ... read more

Everyone in Pleasanton California knows we’re supposed to go to the dentist twice a year. We get our teeth cleaned and have a thorough dental inspection. Once a year, we get x-rays to look for problems that can’t be seen with the naked eye. When the dentist is done, he tells us what he’s found – "Everything’s fine, see you in six months." Or "You’ve got a small cavity starting, let's schedule an appointment to take care of it." By the time you leave, you have a plan for addressing any necessary repairs. This system works so much better than waiting for a painful problem before going into the dentist. Small problems are fixed before they turn into big problems. And you avoid those huge bills. If we buy into this way of handling our dental care, why do we resist so much when facing the same system for our car care? Following the manufacturer's recommended intervals can be confusing. First there are recommendations for so many things: oil changes, tran ... read more

So you love our job, and your family life is great: You have achieved balance. But can you the same for your wheels? You can tell if your tires are out of balance by vibrations at higher speeds. If one of the front tires is out, you feel the vibration in the steering wheel. If it's a back tire, you'll feel the vibration in your seat. Tires and wheels are pretty heavy. When a tire is mounted on a wheel, it is usually not perfectly balanced. So the tire technician will spin the tire on a machine to determine where it's too heavy. He will then place weights on the wheels in strategic locations to balance it out. When a tire is out of balance, it actually bounces down the road instead of rolling smoothly. Since the average size tire rotates at about 850 revolutions per minute at 60 MPH, it is actually slamming into the pavement 14 times a second. That's where you get your vibration. Most people are surprised at how smoothly their car rides after balancin ... read more

If the fuel system in your Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus is dirty, you will be wasting gas and losing performance as you drive around Pleasanton California. Unless you drive a vintage car, you have fuel injectors. They need to be properly maintained. That is why your owner’s manual has a schedule for cleaning your fuel injectors and other parts of your fuel system. Your service technician at Precision Auto Repair has the tools and chemicals to do the job right. Precision Auto Repair uses a process that gives your car a deep, professional fuel system cleaning. The particles, gum and varnish that build up in your fuel system are removed so that it can run cleanly and efficiently. After a professional fuel system cleaning, you’ll notice more power, better gas mileage and reduced exhaust emissions. AutoNetTV strongly recommends you follow your manufacturer’s fuel system cleaning service recommendati ... read more

Modern cars and trucks in and around San Ramon run on 12 volt electrical systems. 12 volts is enough to get the job done without having so much power that there is danger of electrocution. But today's vehicles have more electrical components and do-dads than ever before. This really strains your electrical system, making it hard for the battery to keep up. Think about it: electric seats, seat heaters, power locks, windows and sun roofs. And then we have all the power outlets for our cell phones, computers, and DVD players. We also have navigation systems and powerful stereos. Plus there are all the engine and transmission computers, traction control, stability control, anti-lock brakes, sensors and on and on. Even the security system is running off the battery while the car is turned off. Fortunately, battery technology has given us resilient batteries that are able to meet these strenuous requirements. But the fact is, batteries just wear out over t ... read more

One might say the most challenging part of being an automotive service technician at Precision Auto Repair in Pleasanton California is diagnosing a problem before it can be fixed. Cars are made up of a bunch of complex systems. There usually could be a number of reasons for any given symptom. So it's challenging to track down the actual cause of the problem. And it can be frustrating for the vehicle owner because it can take time and money to get to the bottom of a problem. If it's not something obvious, it's easy for the customer to focus on the fixing and not the diagnosing. Let us introduce you to something we'll call Customer Detective Work – that is helping your Pleasanton California technician find clues to what's wrong. We start with the detective basics: What, Where and When. Play along with me. You come in to Precision Auto Repair and your car is making a funny sound. Do you see where we're going? You're gathering addition ... read more

Most Pleasanton drivers wait for their air conditioning to fail before they service it at Precision Auto Repair. That’s because many Pleasanton and San Ramon motorists don't really understand that automotive air conditioners need periodic service. Let me share some of the reasons why they fail. First, like every machine, the Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus air conditioner parts need lubrication. The lubricant is actually mixed in with the refrigerant (that’s the stuff that makes the air cool). So sometimes, even though the air conditioner is still making cool air, the oil that lubricates the parts has just been used up: and unlubricated parts can fail in all California cars. The air conditioner actually removes some of the moisture in the air. So if you have trouble with fogging on your windshield during California winters or during a r ... read more

Some Pleasanton motorists are confused by Precision Auto Repair charges for diagnostic services for a vehicle repair. Many services at Precision Auto Repair and other Pleasanton automotive repair shops include diagnostic fees. When you take your laptop into a Pleasanton computer repair shop for a problem you’ll likely have to leave a deposit for diagnostics. When we visit our Livermore 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 Precision Auto Repair for a tricky automotive problem shouldn’t be a surprise. In the Pleasanton area, automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus brakes when you slow down in rush-hour traffic on a busy California expressway, you pull off the next off-ramp and take a quick visual check. That is usua ... read more