San Diego Auto Repair

If you've ever heard a squealing sound under your hood, chances are it was your serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that's driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems in your sedan. Let's go over them. First, the serpentine belt drives your air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in San Diego.Next, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that's used by your sedan's electrical systems and also charges your car battery. Without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles. The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering (some are electric) and power brakes (some use vacuum boost). And, on most sedans, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant through the engine to ke ... read more

Today's Convoy Auto Repair auto maintenance article focuses on your serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that’s driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems. Let’s go over them. First, the serpentine belt drives your sedan air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in San Diego. Next, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that’s used by your sedan’s electrical systems and also charges your car battery. All drivers know that without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles. The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering and power brakes. And, on many sedans, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant through the engine to keep it wi ... read more

Life's full of surprises in San Diego, some of which cost money. A leaky roof, a broken tooth, or an unexpected car repair. Here's - how we can budget for proper vehicle care. Everyone does our best to budget for scheduled vehicle maintenance. What's hard is unexpected repairs. The truth is that our vehicles can stay on the road longer than ever before with proper maintenance. That's because of improved vehicle design and manufacturing quality. But some of those same improvements also lead to higher repairs costs. Let's take the fuel pump. Previous generations were often stranded by the side of the road by vapor lock. This occurred when the gas vaporized between the gas tank and the fuel pump. Fuel just stopped flowing. You had to sit and wait until the car would start again. To alleviate the problem, fuel pumps are now located inside the gas tank. This is a great solution, but when the fuel pump fails, it's a much more expensive proposition to replace ... read more

For advice on how to make your sedan last longer, visit us at Convoy Auto Repair 3909 Convoy St. San Diego, CA 92111 These days many people in the San Diego area are really committed to making their cars last a long time. First thing: you've got to start with what you've got. It'd be ideal if people started with a brand new car, never missed a scheduled service item, paid attention to the severe service maintenance schedule and had regular inspections. But if you've had the vehicle for a while, or bought it used, its maintenance history is what it is; and that's where you start. Go through the maintenance schedule for your sedan and see what's been done and when. Have your San Diego service advisor at Convoy Auto Repair do an inspection and come up with a list of stuff that needs to be done. Review the list and prioritize the work, talk about budget and make a plan to get caught up. Making a plan is so important. Suppose you go in for an ... read more

Car Care and the College Student Understanding the basics of auto care and auto repair is essential for any car owner to ensure they get the most out of their vehicle. For new college students, on their own for the first time and away from home, basic car maintenance skills and being able to recognize a serious problem in their vehicle can save both time and money. When it comes to maintenance, parents need to provide their fledgling car owner with information about how to check tire pressure and oil levels as well as issues relating to tire wear. Knowing When Service is Needed Students also need to know when they can’t fix a problem on their own. Make sure the car has its owner’s manual and that your young driver knows when it needs to be taken in for service and it is good idea to find a body shop that located near campus that can be used for both regular maintena ... read more

Buying a new car in San Diego is always a big financial decision. The allure of that new car smell is powerful, to be sure. But what if your current car is still in good shape? How do you decide?People in San Diego who've been used to driving a new car every three to five years may be having second thoughts in this economy. For many, the question is, how does the certainty of a new car payment stack up against uncertain repairs for a car that may be out of warranty?For purposes of our discussion, let's assume you live right here in San Diego and have a five year old vehicle. It's now paid off. If you keep it, you fear that there'll be some repairs over the next five years, but you really don't know what to expect. For help we turned to Edmunds.com.Edmunds.com has compiled maintenance and repair information for cars and trucks. With this data, they project likely service and repair ... read more

Every San Diego car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter's dirty. Here's what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your sedan owner's manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your San Diego technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed. Now, most air filters purchased in Tierrasanta, Kearny Mesa, or Mission Valley don't cost a lot to replace. It's just that CA people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Convoy Auto Repair can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in San Diego. Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Kearny Mesa home. When it's all clogged up, enough clean air can't get through. In your sedan, that means that your engine can't get as much air as it needs to b ... read more

For any vehicle owner, the distinction between auto maintenance and auto repair is critical to ensuring a long and healthy life for their preferred method of transportation. Both are essential in the smooth operation of a vehicle, but the terms are often confused for one another, which can lead some owners to pay more than they should over time. Auto maintenance is a broad term that covers regular and preventative actions taken to help keep a car that is running properly stay running. This maintenance can include things such as oil changes, transmission flushes, as well as annual inspections and tire rotations. All of these services help to keep a car that is running smoothly stay that way, and help prevent the need for auto repair. Auto repair is what is necessary when a vehicle has a failure of some kind - be it a broken fan belt, failed spark plugs, steering issues or braking problems. In these cases, it is necessar ... read more

Myths passed around our San Diego community start with a grain of evidence and are then built up with a lot of imagination and very elastic logic. And the internet is a breeding ground for automotive myths. Some bloggers recall the sedans of yesteryear and declare their modern decedents to be virtually maintenance free and that anyone who says otherwise is out to rip you off.Let's examine a couple of the more popular rants and look at the truth behind them. The first one is that the chassis no longer needs lubrication for suspension, steering and the driveline. They declare that anyone who has charged you for lubrication is a charlatan. The truth on which this myth is based is that many new cars come from the factory with sealed joints and cannot be greased. However, there are still some grease points on many cars around San Diego. A grease fitting may have been installed in conjunction with a repair. And most trucks and truck-based SUVs driving in Sa ... read more

No matter how well they’re made, cars are bound to have problems with their design or manufacturing. When the government thinks a problem is really serious, they require the manufacturer to issue a recall notice to residents and to fix the car free of charge. The manufacturer then tries to contact everyone who owns that type of car in San Diego and elsewhere until the work is done. These recalls always affect safety, so you need to take them seriously. It’s really easy to find out if a vehicle is being recalled. Other website include: carfax.com; autobytel.com; and dmv.org. All of these sites have free recall searches. Recalls are pretty serious and don’t happen all that often. But sometimes cars have less serious problems that you still might want to know about. In this case, manufacturers issue what is known as a Tech ... read more