What’s involved with an Engine Tune-up?

All vehicles need the best fuel economy in this day and age with our economy. Having a professional do a tune-up on your car can help save you money in the long run and will help your engine run more efficiently.

Replacing Spark Plugs

If you are doing this yourself, make sure you purchase the ones recommended for your particular vehicle make and model. You will want to buy the best quality ones you can afford. Be sure to have a feeler gauge available to set the recommended gap on all of the new plugs. Either your owner’s manual or an auto parts store can tell you the setting.

Be sure to replace one plug at a time, remove the wire, and carefully unscrew the plug from the engine. By replacing one plug at a time, this avoids mixing up the plug wires. Insert the new plug with the spark plug wrench, tighten it down and replace the wire. Continue this process until all plugs are replaced.

Replacing Spark Plug Wires

The same will apply for those wires. You will want to purchase good quality wires that are recommended for your make and model vehicle. And again, the employees at the auto parts store will be a great resource. Replace one wire at a time so you don’t confuse the firing order. Each wire on the distributor cap must match the right spark plug. Remove the wire from the distributor cap and follow it to the spark plug and remove it.

Replace one wire at a time, again, so you don’t confuse the firing order. Each wire must match the right plug. Remove the wire and follow it to the spark plug and remove it.

Perform General Maintenance

Add a cleaner to your gas tank. Check to see what is recommended for your type engine. Over time, carburetors can become sluggish so your engine will thank you. Fuel injectors also need occasional cleaning maintenance to keep them running efficiently.

Check all of the belts on the engine. Over time, belts age, crack, wear, and weather. Inspect them thoroughly and replace any that are in poor condition. This will save you money in the long run.

Check all of the fluid levels, including radiator fluid, oil, and transmission fluid. Low fluids will greatly affect your engine’s performance and life.

Important Tips:

Preventative maintenance will save money in the long run.

Make sure your engine has cooled before working on it.

Always use the recommended parts and fluids for your type vehicle.

Moore’s Automotive
1246 Hartford Turnpike
Vernon, CT 06066
Phone: (860) 872-2024
www.mooresautomotive.com

 

Summer and Your Car’s A/C

Have you ever driven your car on a hot summer day and wondered why the air conditioner suddenly decided to stop working? The most common cause for a malfunctioning air conditioner unit is a low level of refrigerant. This could be caused by a leak somewhere in the system. Since modern air conditioning units are complicated creatures, it’s best to have a professional check it out. 

A lot has changed sinced 1994, when the Federal government outlawed the use of a refrigerant called
R-12 or as we know it, Freon. In the past, if our vehicle wasn’t blowing cool air, we’d drive to a nearby service shop and they would refill the Freon and we’d be on our merry way. Today, it’s a little more complicated than that. Freon has been entering the atmosphere every year, therefore destroying the ozone layer. Lots of people needed Freon refills because they had a leak in their system, therefore millions of pounds of Freon were entering the atmosphere every year.

If your car was built before 1994, then you will need a licensed professional to check out the system to see if you have a leak and take care of any repair work and that can dispose of any needed Freon properly . In some states, it is illegal to refill a leaky system with R-12. Even older cars can be retrofitted to use the newer, safer type of refrigerant called R-134a.

To help better understand the air conditioning unit in your vehicle, let’s help you become familiar with the system. The automobile AC unit is basically a refrigerator in a weird layout. It’s designed to move heat from one section (inside your vehicle) to some other place (the outdoors). We hope this article will give you some basic understanding so you can pinpoint where the problem is coming from so you can explain to your service shop and have a better understanding as to what needs to be repaired when they have a diagnosis for you.

Now, get familiar with the parts to your a/c unit:

• The compressor: compresses and circulates refrigerant in the system
• The refrigerant: (on modern cars, usually a substance called R-134a, older cars have r-12 freon which is becoming increasingly more expensive and hard to find, and also requires a license to handle) which carries the heat
• The condenser: Changes the phase of the refrigerant from gas to liquid and expels heat removed from the car
• The expansion valve: Somewhat of a nozzle and functions to simultaneously drop the pressure of the refrigerant liquid, meter its flow and atomize it
• The evaporator: Transfers heat to the refrigerant from the air blown across it, cooling your car
• The receiver/dryer: Functions as a filter for the refrigerant/oil, removing moisture and other contaminants

The compressor puts the refrigerant under pressure and sends it to the condensing coils. In most cars, these coils are in front of the radiator. Compressing a gas is very hot, which makes the extra heat picked up in the evaporator expelled to the air flowing across it from outside the car. When the refrigerant is cooled to its saturation temperature, it will change phase from a gas back into a liquid (this gives off a bundle of heat known as the “latent heat of vaporization”). The liquid then passes through the expansion valve to the evaporator, the coils inside of your car, where it loses pressure that was added to it in the compressor. This causes some of the liquid to change to a low-pressure gas as it cools the remaining liquid. This two-phase mixture enters the evaporator, and the liquid portion of the refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air across the coil and evaporates. Your car’s blower circulates air across the cold evaporator and into the interior. The refrigerant goes back through the cycle again and again.  

Leaks are easy to spot, but not easy to fix without pulling things apart. And if there is a bad enough leak, the system will have no pressure in it at all. Find the low-side valve and with a gauge, check the PSI level. DO NOT use anything else to poke in the valve, as this is ILLEGAL. It is called venting.

Start the car, turn on the AC and look under the hood. The AC compressor is generally a pump-like thing off to one side with large rubber and steel hoses going to it. Often, it has one or two things that look like valve stems from a bike tire on it. The pulley on the front of the compressor exists as an outer pulley and an inner hub which turns when an electric clutch is engaged. If the AC is on and the blower is on, but the pulley is not turning, then the compressor’s clutch is not engaging. A few examples of causes for this would be: a bad fuse, a wiring problem, broken AC switch in the dash, system could be low on refrigerant, or a possibility of other issues.

If the system cools, but not very much, it could be low pressure and you can top off with refrigerant. Most auto-supply stores will have a kit you can buy to refill a system , complete with instructions. Be sure not to overfill! Adding more than recommended will actually decrease performance and not increase performance.

Again, this article is just a brief overview to help you understand the components of the a/c unit in your automobile and possibilities of why it may not work properly. If you have any questions, please make an appointment or stop in at your auto repair shop. I hope this helps you feel more comfortable speaking with your shop about any work that you may need done to your system. You can always give us a call as well to answer any questions you may have.

 

Moore’s Automotive
1246 Hartford Turnpike
Vernon, CT 06066
Ph: (860) 872-2024
www.mooresautomotive.com

Rust Is Like Cancer

Since I am the newest member and the female of the Moore’s team, I thought I would share something that I learned yesterday for those of you that may not be as conscious as I am on cars. My car has two bubbles of paint, one near each headlight. It also has missing paint on the front nose down to the bare metal that has now rusted. The rust from the nose has been caused from something hitting it, so very minor damage. I mentioned this to my body shop manager and the first words out of his mouth were “Rust is like cancer”. I had never heard this saying before and didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say. Later that day, he looked at my car and explained. The two bubbles by the headlights were also rusting. This is a known problem for Chrysler’s paint apparently. These two spots show no obvious signs of any damage or paint coming off yet, just that it is bubbled. It was explained to me, that if it wasn’t taken care of soon, it would spread and only get worse and be harder to fix. Now the statement “Rust Is Like Cancer” makes sense to me.

In order to fix this the right way, the body shop would need to take off the whole hood and sand the areas correctly, primer, and repaint. They would also check to see if these are the only spots that are like this and fix any other necessary areas. Of course this is not a permanent fix, rust is never going to go away completely.  I would however get another 4 years or so out of it, as my car is a 2004 and in great shape with low miles and I was planning on keeping it.

Here are some tips to help you if you ever encounter this horrible disease on your car. And if you ever are unsure of anything, please come see Randy at Moore’s, he can help you like he did me! 860-872-2024

I recommend washing your vehicle at least once a week, especially in the winter months with all the salt and sand on the roads. All that salt and dirt and grime builds up and tends to hold the moisture in and that leaves a perfect environment for rust to begin. It often will set up in a place that has been dented or the paint has chipped. Exam your car often for small spots of rust. It is much easier to  repair the rusted area when it is just a small spot.