Pleasanton Auto Repair

Tires do a lot of work. They transfer engine power and braking forces to the road; they handle steering control; and they cushion all those bumps and jolts. They also support the entire weight of the vehicle, including you and your passengers. With such critical work to do, you want your tires to do their job well. And since replacing tires is fairly expensive, you want them to last as long as possible. There are three keys to long, even tire wear: The front tires on a car take the brunt of the steering forces. As they push through turns, the shoulders of the front tires wear down more quickly than the rear tires. Rotating front and rear tires allows them to all wear at about the same rate. That’s especially true of front wheel drive vehicles whose front tires steer, and put the power to the road. SUVs and pick-ups, especially four wheel drives, also tend to wear their tires more uneven ... read more

Hey Pleasanton, are your tires worn out? What is the standard for our California streets? How can you tell on your Honda, Acura, Toyota or Lexus? While there may be legal requirements for the Pleasanton area, there are safety concerns that go beyond meeting minimum replacement mandates. 2/32 is the depth of the tire tread wear indicator bars that US law has required to be molded across all tires since August 1, 1968. When tires are worn so that this bar is visible, there's just 2/32 of an inch – 1.6 millimeters – of tread left. It's that level of wear that's been called into question recently. We're referring to the Consumer Reports call to consider replacing tires when tread reaches 4/32 of an inch, or 3.2 millimeters. And the recommendation is backed by some very compelling studies. The issue is braking on wet surfaces ... read more

People from Pleasanton California love their cars. And nothing goes with cars better than a California road trip. Freedom from daily schedules, new sights and the open road – it's great! But there's nothing like car trouble to bring the fun to a grinding halt. Now you can't always avoid problems, but you can take steps to reduce the probability of getting sidelined on your trip. Let's look at some of the auto maintenance related problems you might encounter on a road trip and what you might do to avoid them. It all starts with a thorough trip inspection by your Pleasanton California service professionals at Precision Auto Repair. Let's talk about some of the items on the trip inspection checklist. The most common vehicle component to fail is the tires. Of course, you can't always avoid a road hazard that leads to a flat, but you may be able to head off some maintenance-connected tire problems. A g ... read more

You know, at Precision Auto Repair we get a lot of people asking about how to prepare their car for a trip. That’s a big deal. You could be driving through mountains and deserts in some pretty lonely areas outside of Pleasanton so you may be anxious to know that the car is up to the task and won’t leave you stranded. You really do need to plan ahead for a major road trip – there are a lot of things to get ready. Where should you start? You could start with the tires. Look them over for tread wear and check to see that they are properly inflated. Take a quick test drive around Pleasanton to see if you can feel any vibrations: are the wheels are in balance? Is the car tracking straight? Is the alignment ok? The next thing is a full service oil change to make sure all of your fluids are topped off and you have fresh oil for the trip. And if your car has over 75,000 miles, you may consider putting in the high-mileage formu ... read more

Getting enough fuel to your engine is very important for performance, fuel economy and safety. In order to accomplish this, your fuel system needs to be clean. Today’s production cars have fuel injectors, rather than a carburetor. The injectors need to be cleaned from time to time in order to deliver the fuel with the correct pressure, spray pattern and volume. You can buy fuel system cleaners that you just pour into your gas tank that can help maintain an already clean fuel system, but can’t do a major cleaning. For that, you need to see Precision Auto Repair. They have the tools and chemicals to do the job right. Precision Auto Repair can remove particles, gum and varnish from your fuel system and get those injectors running cleanly and efficiently. You’ll enjoy more power, better gas mileage and reduced exhaust emissions ... read more