Answers From Our Knowledgeable Auto Repair Professionals
When you need someone to service or repair your car, it’s a good idea to know a little about the professionals you’re about to trust to your vehicle with. At Foreign Car Repairs, transparency and honesty are two of our biggest priorities, and we welcome questions from prospective customers. Here are answers to some of the most common questions we get.
YES. Failure to replace your car’s timing belt can lead to major damage to your engine. In addition, the repair cost of a broken timing belt in your engine is far greater than the price of a simple replacement of your timing belt.
Because failure to rotate tires can be a major cause of your tires’ premature deterioration, it is recommended that you rotate your tires every 7500 miles.
Vehicle manufacturer’s today recommend oil change intervals anywhere from 3000 miles to 15000 miles. Your oil change interval depends on the type of vehicle you drive, type of oil used, and type of driving that you do. The short answer is we recommend oil changes every 5000 miles for our normal oil, and 10,000 miles for synthetic oils. The long answer can be found in this oil change article.
If you have an engine which is turbocharged, high performance, or driven under severe conditions, synthetic oil can be a good choice as a synthetic oil can withstand more abuse and more extreme temperatures than regular oil. Synthetic oils also last a lot longer before needing to be changed.
When your engine oil turns this color, it is a hint that there is coolant in the oil. This is the result of a blown head gasket, cracked casings, or even a failed transmission cooler. If this happens, you need to have your car checked by a qualified technician as soon as possible as this can cause a serious problem.
There are some instances that this light turns on even though your car runs smoothly. The reason for this is because there are several computerized components and sensors which manage your engine’s performance and emissions. In order to avoid further damage later on, you should have this problem addressed as soon as possible.
An overheating car is a serious problem. If you allow your car to overheat for a long time period, it can damage your engine. As soon as your car overheats, you must look for a safe place you can pull into but you should never turn your engine off. At the same time, you should not attempt to open your radiator as the hot fluid can result in severe burns. What you can do is have your vehicle towed to My Mechanic Auto Center.
It is important that you regularly clean and inspect your battery cables and terminals so you can make sure that they have a good connection that is free of corrosion.
On older vehicles, replace the fuel filter of your car roughly every 30,000 miles so you can ensure trouble free and dependable performance for your vehicle. Newer vehicles with returnless fuel systems have filters integrated with the fuel pump in the gas tank and do not need to be replaced as part of your normal maintenance routine.
Regular spark plugs should be replaced every 30,000 miles to maintain optimal performance and gas mileage. Platinum spark plugs are recommended at 60,000 miles.
Follow your owners manual for instructions on where to find the fuse. Once you pull the fuse out and confirm it is blown, you must check that the fuse you replace it with has the same amperage as the ones that have already burned out. If there is a fuse which continues to blow, you need to have its circuit professionally checked for shorts.