Pleasanton Auto Repair

Sometimes the unthinkable happens in Pleasanton California. A terrible accident and those involved aren't able to provide rescuers with emergency contact information. You have people in the Pleasanton California area who you'll want to be contacted to arrange help, give consent to treatment, and inform paramedics of medical conditions, allergies or medications. Too often, our California police and rescue workers must sift through pockets, glove compartments, wallets, purses and cell phone directories for clues – often wasting precious time. A brilliantly simple solution is now spreading around the globe: ICE. ICE – standing for In Case of Emergency, is a way to identify emergency contacts in your cell phone directory. Simply put 'ICE' before a contact name in your cell phone, like 'ICE – Dad', 'ICE – Nancy', or 'ICE – Doctor Roberts'. Rescuers will be able to quickly identify your emergency contacts, saving valua ... read more

Let's talk about transmission service. It can be easy to forget about getting your transmission serviced because it doesn't need it very often. It's easy to remember to change the engine oil - you know, every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers. But proper transmission servicing keeps your car running smoothly and helps you avoid costly repairs down the road. The transmission undergoes a lot of stress. The grit you see in used transmission fluid is actually bits of metal that wear off the gears in the transmission. In addition to that, the transmission operates at very high temperatures. Usually it's 100 to 150 degrees higher than engine temperatures. Those high temperatures eventually cause the transmission fluid to start to break down and loose efficiency. As the fluid gets older, it gets gritty and doesn't lubricate and cool the transmission as well - leading to even more wear. The fluid can actually get sludgy and plug up the maze of fluid passages i ... read more

So you have some exciting plans for the California weekend. You’re going to take some of your Pleasanton, California friends out on the boat for some water skiing. Of course, you’ve gotten the boat all ready. And you haven’t forgotten about your tow vehicle. You’ve gassed it up and even vacuumed it out. But you want to make sure that your Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus maintenance is up to date. Think about it – heavy traffic on the way out of Pleasanton. There’s hilly terrain as you get to the lake. Some dirt roads – and its going to be pretty hot in Pleasanton this weekend. And all the time you’ll be towing around several thousand extra pounds. That all adds up a lot of severe strain on your engine, brakes and transmission. Let’s just consider the transmission. It’s going to be working overtime, spending more time in lower gears. The internal transmission temperature is going to be much higher than normal. What’s a fu ... read more

In our auto video today we'll be talking with Alan Peterson about myths surrounding automotive maintenance. You can lump these myths into the statement that "modern cars are so reliable, they are virtually maintenance free". Any good myth has some elements of truth. No offense to Pleasanton Bigfoot fans, but this maintenance-free myth has more evidence than most. If we look at some isolated areas of auto maintenance, we could conclude that maintenance isn't so important. But other areas would just as easily lead you to believe that maintenance is more important than ever. Here are some examples for our friends in Pleasanton. -Chalk one up for the myth. On the other side, some vehicles come with sophisticated variable valve timing. A lot of complicated parts up in the valve train that didn't even exist not that many years ago. These parts are very vulnerable to oil sludge. -A point to maintenance. -Myth gets a point. -Point for m ... read more

Today at Precision Auto Repair we want to talk with you about a very important safety issue. This automotive safety warning is coming from a very unusual source: fire fighting experts. You’ve probably heard of E-85 gasoline being offered in the Pleasanton area. Some newer vehicle models are specifically built to run on E-85 – the rest are not. E-85 gasoline has been developed to fight air pollution and reduce oil consumption. E-85 fuel is a mix of 85% ethanol, a grain-base alcohol, and 15% gasoline. So-called Flex-Fuel vehicles are designed to use either normal gasoline or E-85 gas. The result is lower harmful exhaust emissions to our local Pleasanton community. All gas engines can run with up to 10% ethanol and in fact a lot of gasoline sold in the Pleasanton California area does contain some ethanol. The problem comes when well meaning people without Flex Fuel certified vehicles put E-85 into the t ... read more

Our cars have to operate in a wide range of Pleasanton, California temperatures and our engine coolant must be able to perform 'no matter what'. Think for a moment about the environment where the coolant works. Very hot, high pressure, corrosive... And all the while, it has to protect the components of the cooling system from corrosion. These components are made from steel and aluminum, plastics and rubber. The coolant has to be formulated to protect against corrosion for all of these different materials. That’s why different manufacturers recommend different types of anti-freeze for our Pleasanton, California vehicles. There are several different 'families' of anti-freeze available to us here in Pleasanton, California. Your owners’ manual will tell you what kind you should use. Of course, Precision Auto Repair will know what to put in your car. It’s important to stay on top of this because coolant system failure is the most common mechanical proble ... read more

Wheel alignment is often overlooked by busy San Ramon and Dublin car owners until serious tire damage has been done. One wheel can be knocked out of alignment from the rest by hitting a curb or pothole on Pleasanton roads. When a vehicle’s out of alignment, one or more of the wheels does not track true and pulls against the others. The tires will wear out very quickly and will need to be replaced prematurely. It could also lead to Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus suspension damage. At Precision Auto Repair, your vehicle is put on an alignment rack where the tires, steering and suspension parts are checked for damage. Then the alignment is charted and checked against the factory settings. Adjustments are made to bring the wheels back into alignment. This gets all four wheels going in precisely the same direction. Signs of alignment problems are: Your car pulls ... read more

Suspension systems will continue to operate effectively for many years and tens of thousands of miles. Eventually Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive in San Ramon . As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth California 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, Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus 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 Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus manufacturer recommends periodic inspections. During an inspection at Precision Auto Repair, your Friendly and Experienced San Ramon service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts. Let ... read more

So, everyone in the Pleasanton California area knows how great helium is – you know, party balloons, squeaky voices. But a lot of people around Pleasanton still haven't heard about the benefits of nitrogen in your tires, and how it can help your tires. Here's some great advice from AutoNetTV, brought to you by Precision Auto Repair. Nitrogen has actually been around for a long time in the Pleasanton California commercial sector, but it's just starting to catch on for private vehicles in the 94566 zip code area. Why nitrogen in your tires? Air is air, right? Actually, it turns out there is a difference. The heart of the matter is maintaining proper tire inflation. When your tires are properly inflated, they last longer, handle better and more safely, and save you money at the gas pump. The problem is that tires filled in Pleasanton with regular air can lose a pound and a half of air pressure every month. This just happens as the oxy ... read more

We all know that under inflated tires wear out more quickly. Under-inflation is also a major cause of tire failure. More flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances are all results of under-inflated tires. It's hard to tell when a radial tire is under-inflated. If your manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your tire is considered significantly under inflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds. Uncle Sam to the rescue! A new federal law requires manufacturers to include a Tire Pressure Monitoring System - or TPMS system - in all vehicles by the 2008 model year. Some 2006 and 2007 models already have TPMS. The system is a dashboard mounted warning light that goes off if one or more of the tires falls 25 % below the manufacturer's pressure recommendations. The law covers all passenger cars, SUVs, mini vans and pick up trucks. The system must also indicate if it has a malfunction. This technology ha ... read more