Auto Repair Tempe

How Do I Know If My Mechanic is Honest?     Considering there are some 800,000 auto mechanics in the US, about one for every 316 cars, it makes sense that most drivers don’t know much about cars. Unfortunately, dishonest mechanics might exploit that inexperience, overcharging for auto repairs or suggesting unnecessary and expensive services, to name a few. How do you know if your mechanic is being honest? How Dishonest Mechanics Work Dishonest mechanics may exploit the unaware by hyping up a service, with confusing technobabble, or suggesting “shotgun” repairs. If you hear, “Your car is going to (explode, burn, die) if you don’t do this,” be wary and get a second opinion. Rarely is a repair such a dire emergency. Dishonest mechanics and hack mechanics might suggest shotgun repairs. There’s almost no chance that your no-start problem will need a starter, battery, and alternator to fix. Similarly, there’s almost zero chance t ... read more

How to Do A Brake Job the Right Way Why do we need another article on doing a brake job? This article will give you the know-how and numerous tips to help you solve common braking issues on today’s vehicles. In this article, I will give you professional advice and technician-accredited tips that we’ve been using at our shop for years. Hopefully, whether you’re a driver, do-it-yourselfer, or technician, these steps and tips will help you make the right decisions when it comes to addressing brake repairs on whatever vehicle you’re driving or working on. One of the first things you need to start with is why your vehicle needs brake repairs in the first place. At the risk of minimizing your technical expertise, no matter what level you are at, I believe it’s important to first nail down the reason behind the brake job. On the one hand, if you know you need brake repairs because you’ve done a brake inspection and have verified that brake pad thickness ... read more

Automatic overdrive systems are a form of transmission system offering significant performance enhancements and can also increase the efficiency of your car. When people hear the term 'overdrive' they may think it's all about speed, but that's not the focus of the feature. Overdrive can help a car to go faster, but it's really focused on allowing the engine to run at a lower RPM while maintaining the vehicle's current cruising speed. When To Use Overdrive Overdrive is an incredibly useful feature, and it's one you should use the vast majority of the time. The only time you'd likely need to turn overdrive off is if your vehicle is climbing a very steep hill or carrying/towing something incredibly heavy. In those situations, it's beneficial to be able to rev the engine a bit more. It's also useful to be able to go into lower gears if you're going down very steep hills. Many modern engines have 'smart' transmissions, w ... read more

When my check engine light comes on, I'm torn between utter panic and just wanting to ignore it and hope it goes away. How about you? How does it make you feel just thinking about it? It's understandable of course, because that same check engine light could be coming on for anything, from serious damage to your transmission all the way down to just a loose gas cap. "A loose gas cap?" you say. "There's a trouble code for that, seriously?" That's a really good question. There's a very common misconception that the trouble codes stored in your engine computer when your check engine light comes on will specifically identify a problem. It's really more like pointing to the symptoms of a problem. Take your temperature, for instance. Say it's 101 degrees. Your heat sensor, the thermometer, tells you your temperature is out of the norm ... read more

Brakes that work properly are essential to your safety. So of course, you want to carefully maintain your brakes. In vehicles equipped with drum brakes, the brake components are housed inside a drum that rotates with the wheel. When you step on the brake pedal, brake shoes push out against the inside of the drum, slowing the wheel. Now, brake shoes just wear away by rubbing on the drum when you brake. When it's time to replace brake shoes, it's a straightforward repair. If you hear squealing or grinding when braking, have your service advisor here at Elite Auto Repair in Tempe check them out. He'll have a service technician perform a thorough brake inspection to see what needs to be done. He'll check for signs of brake problems and go over other brake components to see that they're working properly. He can tell you if it's time to replace the shoes or if there are other brake i ... read more

Seeing where you're going while driving at night is crucial. Yet many drivers suffer with less than adequate light from their headlamps or headlights, and there's no good reason to let that happen. 40% of traffic fatalities take place at night, even though there’s 60% less traffic, which serves to demonstrate how important proper visibility is to nighttime driving. Obviously, a clean windshield is important and so are good wiper blades, but what role do your headlights play? The answer is, a big one! There are two main concerns. One is with the headlamp/headlight, or bulb, the other is with the lens. The fact of the matter is, headlamps go dim over time. You just need to replace them. Some vehicles come with a standard bulb, which you can replace, or you can upgrade to a halogen bulb that is much brighter. Halogen costs a little bit more, but you'd be amazed at the difference. Ma ... read more

If your car's air conditioning goes out on a hot summer day, your commute to work and to run errands is going to be miserable. There's nothing quite like being stuck in a hot car in the middle of a traffic jam. If your air conditioning isn't blowing cold air, there are a few different things that could be wrong with it. Here are some of the most common issues and what you can do to fix them. It Needs Recharging The most common cause of an air conditioner not getting cold enough is that it needs to be recharged. You can recharge your refrigerant by yourself, but if you're not comfortable doing it, one of our ASE Certified mechanics are standing by and should be able to get your cold air flowing again pretty quickly. There's a Freon Leak Freon is the chemical that cools the air, so if there's a le ... read more