Posted on 3/29/2020
Ever notice a little spot of liquid under your vehicle after you've parked in your driveway or garage? It may have been something as simple as water left from air conditioning condensation. But then again, it could be a sign that there's trouble brewing in one of your vehicle's systems. You can help your service facility diagnose the problem by getting a little sample of the drip. At the same time, you may save yourself a tougher clean up task by preventing the leaky fluid from really messing up the driveway or garage floor. The first thing is to put something under the vehicle. A flattened out cardboard box will do fine. You may also want to slip a little disposable aluminum tray or pan under it to catch a bit of the fluid. Chroma and consistency can help a technician quickly figure out what kind of fluid you're dealing with. You can take your sample with you when you go to your service facility. Also note how much of the substance is there over wha ... read more
Posted on 3/22/2020
Cold weather can present some real challenges when it comes to your vehicle's windshield. Think of it. Your windshield is your window to the world when you're driving, and clear visibility is extraordinarily important for safe travels. So here are 3 tips to ensure that your windshield can do its job during the cold weather. Don't ever pour hot water on a frozen windshield. Let's say you head outside and see your vehicle covered with ice. You think, hey, maybe I can heat up a pot of water on the stove and melt that off fast. Don't do it! You run the risk of shattering the glass the second that hot water hits the frigid glass. Ditto for using a propane torch. Glass does not do well with sudden temperature changes. Instead, turn on your engine and start the defroster, which heats the windshield up gradually. Use a plastic scraper designed for windshields (don't EVER use metal to scrape) and be patient. Don't hammer on the ice to ... read more
Posted on 3/15/2020
Things we don't expect happen to our vehicles. And let's face, no one really wants to spend money on an unexpected repair. But if you are putting off going to your vehicle repair facility because you're dreading bad news, you might just be putting off some good news. There was one minivan driver who'd had the same van for years and never had a problem with the power sliding doors. Then one day, the electrical switches in the door pillars stopped working. The key fob would still open them, but the door switches wouldn't do a thing. Of course, the van driver feared the worst: an electrical problem, a major computer failure, mice chewing up the wires. So, he put off going into the repair facility for a couple of months. One day, it was time for his regular oil change and the service advisor asked him if there was anything else going on with the van. The owner mentioned the door problem but said he didn't want to spend a fortune on it. He waited for his van, a ... read more
Posted on 3/8/2020
Your parents probably taught you to have common sense. When it comes to your vehicle, common scents can also come in handy. Different smells may tell you about some conditions in your vehicle that need attention. For example, you know what rotten eggs smell like. If you smell them around your vehicle, it means sulfur can't be far away. Here's a surprising fact: Gasoline has a little sulfur in it. There's a device in your exhaust system that's supposed to convert it to something that doesn't pollute the atmosphere. That device is a catalytic converter. If you are smelling rotten eggs, maybe your catalytic converter is wearing out. But it could also be a problem with your fuel injectors. Either way, something's rotten that should be repaired. Ever smell something sweet around your vehicle, maybe a little like pancake syrup? If you sniff out a little sweetness just when your engine is warming up or after you shut off your engine, you might be smelling some co ... read more
Posted on 3/1/2020
The brake rotor, or disc, is attached to your wheel. The brake pads rub on the rotor to slow your car when you are driving in Maumee.Rotors can warp, crack or become misaligned. They can also be damaged by worn out brake pads that scratch grooves into the surface. These conditions result in less contact surface for the brake pads, leaving you with reduced braking power.Over time and miles, rotors can also wear down below safe specifications. It is important for Maumee drivers to know that simply replacing brake pads on a wheel with a bad rotor will not solve the problem. Depending on their condition, rotors may be resurfaced or replaced.Brake noise or a pulsation in the brake pedal are signs of potential brake problems that should be addressed right away. If you have any brake concerns, please have your friendly and professional Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. tech perform a thorough inspection.Give us a call.Lange`s Auto Care, Inc.825 Ford St Suite AMaumee, OH 4353741 ... read more
Posted on 2/23/2020
Today's vehicles have some pretty amazing technology in them, including a computerized braking system we all pretty much take for granted these days. Antilock brake systems (ABS) have been around for years but they help drivers stop in much shorter distances reliably than ever before. When you see your ABS warning light come on, it's important to find out what's causing the problem. It's a safety issue. Often the problem when the ABS light comes on is a faulty wheel speed sensor. (In some cases the traction control light will also come on, perhaps because of a non-working wheel speed sensor.) Your vehicle uses the speed sensors to measure the rotational speed at each wheel. That sensor sends the speed data to a computer that can then adjust braking power and prevent your wheels from locking up. If any of the wheel speed sensors isn't working right, the ABS warning light will go on and the vehicle's computer will turn off the antilock brake system. You'll s ... read more
Posted on 2/9/2020
When the temperatures plunge, your vehicle better be ready because it faces a whole new set of challenges. Rubber stiffens, glass fogs, fluids freeze. Just thinking about it can get your heart beating faster. So here are some tips for getting ready for those inevitable colder temperatures. Make sure your tires are in good shape and properly inflated. Traction can be less than ideal on slippery streets, so your tires must have enough tread to grip the road. They should also be inflated properly, and inflation will change as the temperatures go down. One last thing on tires. Do you know how old yours are? They actually have a birthdate printed on them. Old rubber can compromise drivability and handling. Some tires look great but their rubber doesn't handle stresses like it used to. Have your vehicle service facility inspect all of these aspects of your tires so you are riding on tires that are fit to go. Anyone who lives in an area where th ... read more
Posted on 2/2/2020
If you've ever gotten in an unfamiliar vehicle, maybe a rental car, you may have pulled up to the gas pump and wondered, "Which side is the fuel filler on?" Here's a tip for you. There is usually a little arrow on the instrument panel near the fuel gauge that points to the side where the fuel filler is. But why are the fuel fillers not all on the same side, anyway? There are lots of reasons. At one time, many manufacturers tried putting them in an easy-to-reach spot: in the center of the vehicle's rear end. Some even hid them behind a hinged license plate door. Cool place, but it turned out not to be a good idea. When a vehicle with a fuel filler in the rear was hit by another vehicle from behind, it was much more prone to catch fire and explode. Safety regulations now dictate that the fuel filler doors be placed within crumple zones and away from where they can drip fuel on hot exhaust pipes or near electrical connections. But why do manufactu ... read more
Posted on 1/26/2020
The pungent smell of rotten eggs can send people running for the hills. So when that odor is inside your vehicle, yikes! Yolks! The good news is that a trained service technician can search the source of that smell and stanch the stench… that comes from another words that begins with S. Sulfur. Fuel contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, but they're enough to stink up a vehicle when it's not properly burned. You may know that the smell of rotten eggs can often be a sign of a catalytic converter that isn't working the way it should. That could be due to age, damage or an abundance of oil that's clogging it up. If a sensor in charge of managing the fuel has failed, the engine can run with too rich of a fuel mixture. That can overload the catalytic converter and allow some of the byproducts to escape without interruption from the chemical reaction that is supposed to prevent them from going out the tailpipe. There's another possi ... read more
Posted on 1/19/2020
It's chilly outside. You flip on that switch that looks like a picture of a seat with little heat waves rising from it. You expect soon you'll feel that warmth but… wait! It's not getting warmer. Oh no, what's wrong with my seat heater? There could be lots of reasons it's not working, and it could be as simple as a fuse or as major as the heating element itself. But it's something to leave to a pro to diagnose and repair. Let's say it turns out to be a blown fuse. Simply replacing the fuse may not fix it because there was a reason the fuse blew in the first place. It's possible the on-off switch has worn out or corroded. Perhaps the wiring connection isn't completing the circuit (could be corroded or full of dirt) or the voltage reaching the heating element isn't correct. There's a little sensor that keeps track of the seat heater's temperature called the thermistor. When the seat is hot enough, it will stop the juice from heating ... read more