Maumee Auto Repair

OH service centers have a menu board that lists the services they provide. Some Maumee drivers may not be familiar with all of the items on the board so here is a quick description of some of the typical services that might be listed.Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. fuel system cleaning: Over time, the vehicle fuel system gets gum and varnish built up. A fuel system cleaning gets rid of that and cleans out the fuel injectors. Saves gas, by the way.Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. headlamp replacement: Halogen and standard headlamps gradually fade. It's usually good to change them every year or so.Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. inspections: Maumee drivers get inspections for many reasons. Maybe they're going on a trip or just want to make sure their vehicle's ready for a OH summer or winter. Maybe they just bought a used vehicle and want to give it the once over. An inspection may reveal some things that are broken or are gettin ... read more

Hey Maumee - this is something really amazing: Your vehicle uses 12,000 times as much air as fuel when you drive it. All of that air has to be filtered to keep your engine clean.That's like 100 gallons (380 liters) of air every block! The engine air filter is just another example of a very important but inexpensive part that has to do a tremendous amount of work. And when it works, everything goes well. But, when it doesn't, well, it can lead to problems. Of course, your vehicle manufacturer recommends how often to change your air filter. But like most service intervals, where and how you drive your vehicle in OH affects when your filter needs to be changed.Dusty conditions around Maumee or polluted city driving means you'll need to change your filter more often. Our trained professionals at Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. can check your filter for you. In fact, it's often a routine part of an oil change.When you think about it, a clogged air filter w ... read more

At Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. we've had a lot of Maumee customers asking how they can make their vehicles last longer. These questions are actually a reflection of a trend that's been building for several years in OH. The median age of personal vehicles is now over nine years. And 33 percent of all vehicles on the road have over 75,000 miles (120,000 km) on them. It looks like it's going to keep heading in that direction for a while. With high fuel prices, a lot of OH folks are putting off buying a new car. So let's say you're one of the average in the Maumee area; you've got a nine-year-old car with 80,000 miles (130,000 km) on the odometer. What can you do to make it last another year or two?Let's start with the premise that there's no reason that a modern car can't run for 200,000 miles (320,000 km) with proper care in Maumee. The engineering and manufacturing quality is there.Of course, some parts will wear out along the way, but there's no reason for a cata ... read more

People in Maumee have been hearing a lot about higher oil change intervals these days. Maybe you're wondering: What are the key issues?Some new vehicle manufacturers are now recommending much higher oil change intervals than they have in the past. As much as 5,000 to 8,000 miles (8,000 km to 13,000 km) or more. This practice came under scrutiny when four of the largest new vehicle manufacturers announced that owners like those in Maumee were experiencing engine damage resulting from these higher oil change intervals.The manufacturers' standard oil drain service for particular vehicles was scheduled at around 7,500 miles/12,000 km. People following these recommendations were experiencing engine damage. It turns out that oil sludge was building up. This caused small oil passages to clog and engine parts to fail.What causes oil sludge? It's a factor of time and mileage. There are hot spots in every engine that cause oil burn off that leads to sludge. Also ... read more

If you are a driver in Maumee and you aren't currently using synthetic motor oil in your vehicle, maybe now's the time to consider it. Need more information? Well, synthetic motor oil is a substitute for petroleum based oil. Synthetic oil doesn't gel or gum-up like petroleum based oil and it doesn't vaporize as easily. It protects better in severe driving conditions like stop and go driving around Maumee, as well as in very hot or very cold conditions. More and more new vehicles are being delivered with full synthetic motor oil, with the recommendation to use synthetic for the life of the vehicle. Why is this? Synthetic motor oil maximizes engine power and fuel economy. To see why, we'd need a microscope, so we'll have to settle for using our imaginations. The molecules of conventional motor oil are long hydrocarbon chains. Synthetic motor oil, on the other hand, has uniform, round molecules. Which is more slippery, a pile of pencils or a p ... read more

  Which item is most often stolen from vehicles in Maumee?Is it: Stereo Wheels Air Bag DVD System Well, if you said stereo – you used to be right. But airbags have now surpassed stereos as the biggest target for theft in OH – approximately 50,000 a year are stolen across the country. New airbags cost about $1,000, but go for $50 to $200 on the black market in OH.Stolen airbags are making their way back into cars that have been in an accident. Of course, the danger to the consumer of having a stolen airbag installed is that you can never be sure what may have previously affected them and if they will work right when you need them. Contact us at Lange`s Auto Care, Inc. for more information about where to get your airbags checked or replaced.Find us at 825 Ford St Suite A, Maumee, OH 43537You can reach us by phone at: 419-897-9988 There are reports that 1 in 25 airbag replacements are stolen ... read more

As Maumee consumers, we live in a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away.New stuff comes out so fast in OH, and much of it is fairly cheap, so we just toss the old and move on. It seems like when we were kids our parents were real sticklers about taking care of our stuff - especially parents who grew up in the Depression. You know, hang up your clothes, polish your shoes, put away your toys. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough; we had to do without.  We couldn't afford new cars very often, so we tried to make them last as long as we could. It's a good thing that cars are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us Maumee penny pinchers is that a modern car can easily go 200,000 miles (320,000 km) with proper care. The engineering's there and so is the manufacturing quality. The missing ingredient is us making sure we follow the vehicle manufacturer's maintenance schedules.Is it really that bad for Maum ... read more

  Today we're going to be talking about serpentine belts for our Maumee, OH, customers. Let's start by talking about the accessories that are driven by the serpentine belt. First is the alternator. That's the device that makes electricity to power the vehicle and recharge the battery. Then there's the air conditioning compressor that makes cool air for you while you're driving around OH in the summer.The power steering and power brake pumps are driven by the serpentine belt in most Maumee residents' vehicles. Those pumps provide pressure that assists your steering and braking.In many vehicles, the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. The water pump is what circulates the coolant that protects your engine. In some cars around Maumee, OH, the water pump is driven by the timing belt.The radiator cooling fans on some vehicles are also driven by the serpentine belt. Some have separate electric motors. That's really a lot of work for one belt.But moder ... 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 Maumee residents and to fix the car free of charge. The manufacturer then tries to contact everyone who owns that type of car in Maumee 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. For links to government sites, look in the AutoNetTV website. Other website include: carfax.com; autobytel.com; and dmv.org. All of these sites have free recall searches. Recalls are pretty seri ... read more

Buying a new car in Maumee 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 Maumee 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 Maumee 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 maintenance and repair information for cars and trucks. With this data, they project likely service and repair costs for a particular make and model. They're able to use manufacturer's maintenance sch ... read more