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by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager
For the fashion conscious woman, this is the time of year that our minds turn to our summer wardrobe. Let’s talk belts. There are fashion belts, designer belts, utilitarian belts, chastity belts, cloth belts, leather belts, bejeweled belts, girdle belts, and the list goes on. How about serpentine belts?
No, they are not snakes wrapped around the waist. The serpentine belt is a long, continuous, multi-grooved belt that drives several devices in the engine, such as, the alternator, A/C compressor, air pump and water pump. It increases mechanical efficiency and reduces the load on the engine and increases fuel economy and power. This very important belt must be checked regularly for wear and breakage. If it breaks in two, it can act like a weed whip and do a pretty thorough job of chewing up engine parts.
Other belts include the vee belt, the ribbed belt, and timing belts. The vee belt is the basic belt for power transmission. The ribbed belt is also a transmission belt that has a long life, stability and reduced vibration. The timing belt is used instead of chains and gears, is less noisy and does not need to be lubricated. They are used in the camshaft and are the most efficient at transferring power.
If maintained properly and chanced at proper intervals, these belts help your car remain healthy and reliable. If left without maintenance, many of these belts can become brittle and cause moderate to extensive damage. At Cars For Keeps your belts are checked for wear every time you get your oil changed. You will be advised if you should get a new belt now, or if it just needs to be checked again soon.
Personal note: I wish they came in colors, but basic black does go with everything!
by Dennis Sweet, Cars for Keeps Customer Service Manager
Have you bought something and regretted it afterwards? I'm sure we all have. While there's nothing we at Cars for Keeps can recommend for shopping sprees, we can help you feel better about your used car purchase, while saving you money down the road.
When you're shopping for a new-to-you vehicle, everything looks good! New used cars are shiny, have less miles than your vehicle, and they're new and different to you. Buying that used car sounds like fun, it's in a price range you can afford, and you really like how it looks. You buy it, you feel good and then you bring it in for its first service visit. The auto garage brings you back a list of items which need to be fixed three pages long! You get the sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, you are angry, disappointed and you begin to realize that your decision to purchase that vehicle may not have been a good one.
I hope you never find yourself in this situation. At Cars for Keeps, we can ensure that this never happens to you by performing a pre-purchase used car inspection on any vehicle you're considering purchasing. This a bumper to bumper inspection, after which we provide you with complete list of items that a vehicle needs or is going to need in the near future. This way, you know what repairs a vehicle needs and what its true working condition is, so you can make the best, most educated decision. We have helped my clients over the past 20 years with this decision making process.
When if you find yourself looking for a different vehicle, happy hunting!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Service Manager,
Dennis
by Rob Hopp, Cars for Keeps Owner
The concept of the spare tire seems pretty basic, but it's surprising how often they're used improperly - or not at all. For those car owners out there who are "mechanically challenged", we've put together a few simple suggestions for maintaining and using your spare tire to ensure it's there when you need it most.
Do: Learn how to install the spare on your vehicle - before you have to! Locate where the spare tire, jack, lug wrench and wheel lock key (if equipped) are located and ensure the components needed are actually there. The jack is almost always intended to engage the vehicle in several specific areas to safely lift it without damage. Practice changing a tire. This will make it a lot easier on that cold, dark rainy night when your vehicle has a real flat.
Do: Check the spare tire's air pressure with a tire pressure gauge on a monthly basis, when you check all other tires on the vehicle. There’s nothing more aggravating than a flat spare when you have a flat tire. (This is performed at Cars for keeps whenever we perform our Free Pit Stop or other scheduled maintenance). All temporary (compact) spare tires are designed for short-term use only; they are not designed with the same capabilities as full size spare tires in terms of load capacity, speed capability, or all-weather traction. Refer to your vehicle’s owner's manual and a temporary spare's sidewall for instructions on proper use.
Do: If your vehicle’s spare is located under the vehicle, understand how it is lowered or released. This type of location leaves the assembly exposed to all the debris, salt and moisture you drive through day after day. Cars for Keeps will help you ensure the assembly is lubricated and functional when you need it.
Don’t: Forget the spare when you are preparing for winter, a road trip or sending a loved one off on their own.
Cars for Keeps can help when it comes to keeping the car safe, reliable and ready for life!
If you've ever worked with us - or any other highly accredited repair shop, for that matter - before, you probably have been asked at your car's first visit when the last time its timing belt was changed. Auto technicians who emphasize preventive car maintenance pay special attention to timing belt maintenance, and for good reason. Imagine the following scenario...
Your six-year-old vehicle is starting to show a bit of wear and tear, but everything mechanical still works fine, so maintenance gets pushed to the back burner. Until it doesn't. Specifically, the engine suddenly goes dead silent one fine day, and you find that your vehicles timing belt failed!
Due to the damage the broken timing belt has caused, not only do you have to pay for the tow and the belt replacement, but also a costly valve job, because there's no compression on two cylinders. You're one of the unfortunate car owners with an "interference engine" -- an engine that can leave one or more valves still propped open far enough to contact a piston when the belt parts. Sadly, car sales brochures don't list whether or not an engine might suffer catastrophic damage if the belt goes.
In most cases, this bit of unpleasantness could have been prevented with timely maintenance. It's best to replace the timing belt according to your vehicle manufacturer's recommended schedule. Some rarer engines -- like those in more expensive models -- still use timing chains, rather than belts, like they did back in the day before the popularity of overhead camshafts. Unlike belts, timing chains usually don't have a routine replacement interval, but for most car owners, regular timing belt replacement is critical.
The timing belt (or chain) is the sole component that keeps the camshaft (make that camshafts on a DOHC or V-type OHC engine) and crankshaft in sync. So replacing this cogged reinforced-rubber belt at regular intervals -- generally every 60,000 miles unless the car manufacturer specifies longer -- is a lot less expensive and aggravating than having it break first. To find out what your car's maintenance schedule is, consult with us here at Cars for Keeps or read the owner's manual.
by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager
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