Vehicle Maintenance / Repairs Services

Your vehicles spark plugs ignite the fuel that creates the explosion inside your engine which pushes your piston down and essentially makes your car go down the road. They come with a specific spark plug gap from the manufacturer. Over time this gap becomes larger as the spark plug wears down.

Another reason the spark plugs may need changing is when they become fouled out from excessive oil being burned or a problem causing your vehicle to run too rich (too much fuel being added by the fuel injector).

In more serious situations the spark plug can be fouled out by coolant getting onto the spark plug from a head gasket that has gone bad and is leaking into the engine combustion chamber. These problems can cause poor acceleration, worsened fuel milage, engine shivering when idling and in bad cases causes a check engine light.

This is a service that is not frequently needed, depending on the car, so it does get easily ignored.

Spark plugs are one of those parts that I like making sure are fresh because it plays a huge roll in the functioning of your engine. I change spark plugs at the exact millage suggested by the manufacturer often.

Most of the time they are wore down far beyond what they should be because all driving habits are different, all diving conditions are different, and all engines are different.

All of these play a large roll in how quickly the spark plugs wear down and that is why I always suggest changing them earlier than the manufacture recommends. That number is just a guide and not an exact science.

A faulty o2 sensor will usually trigger the check engine light but not always. This will cause noticeably lower fuel milage and black smoke out of the exhaust from too much fuel being added and its not able to burn it all. This is because the sensor is measuring what is coming out of your exhaust to make sure your engine is running as it should be. Once the sensor goes bad it then sends wrong information back to the engine’s computer which in turn the computer starts adding more fuel when it really should not.

This is one of the most important sensors in your vehicle for your fuel milage and the environment.

The catalytic converter or “cat” takes your exhaust gases from your engine and converts them into less harmful emissions being released into the environment.  With the cracking down on the allowed emissions to be created by vehicles every year, this component is a very vital part to your vehicle these days.  As many know this can be a very costly repair so there are many things to keep up with that will extend the life of the “cat”. 

• Using correct fuel that your car recommends being used is very important for longevity of your vehicle’s “cat”.
• Clogged or malfunctioning fuel injectors can cause damage to the “cat” because this causes an abnormal situation with the air/fuel ratio which then causes that “cat” to have to work harder to clean the air coming out of the exhaust pipe. This also pertains to the 02 sensors. 
• When the 02 sensor becomes faulty it then causes abnormal amounts of fuel to be sprayed out of the fuel injectors and overworks the “cat”. It also causes rapid buildup of soot in the “cat” which in the end restricts flow of exhaust and eventually becomes clogged.  In this case severe engine damage is inevitable.  This is why when you get a check engine light that is related to the catalytic converter it is very important to get it taken care of quickly.

Dirty fuel filters are another part that really gets overlooked because it does not really tell you something is wrong until extreme cases of it becoming clogged.  Therefore, it is a good idea to keep up with this inexpensive maintenance item.  Some vehicles do not have a serviceable fuel filter and its part of the fuel pump assembly.  In that case when the fuel pump gets replaced that gets changed too.  Vehicles with serviceable fuel filters should be changed every couple of years or every 20,000-40,000 miles depending on what your vehicle recommends.  When the fuel filter becomes dirty it puts added strain on the fuel system. 

If neglected it can cause hard starting and premature part failures like the fuel pump.

Fuel injectors are responsible for precisely delivering your fuel into the engine where it then ignited by the spark plug.  They have extremely small holes that allow the fuel to be sprayed into the engine in a very specific way.  That being said these holes can become clogged or disrupted with the smallest amount of debris.  Weather you regularly fill up with poor quality gas or you have a dirty fuel filter that is allowing small particles by, these both will cause eventual suffering of fuel milage and engine performance.  If left untreated this will lead to the injectors needing to be replaced.  What I recommend is a fuel system treatment every other oil change depending the oil change interval of your vehicle.  This clears out any little bits of debris and keeps it clear for maximum performance and life of the fuel injectors. Not all fuel system cleaners are created equally either.  There are big price differences for a reason.  I only use BG products that are more expensive, but they work.