Albany Auto Repair

Ever jump in your car, hit the key and nothing happens? Panic sets in, you don’t have time to deal with a dead battery!  Sometimes these things happen, maybe a light got left on, or something in the car failed and drained the battery.    Batteries will start your car or truck time and time again, but once they start to die sometimes getting your vehicle started can get harder. Typically they will die without much warning. That’s why proper battery testing is important during your normal maintenance.    During every service at Crabtree, we inspect all aspects of your vehicle, including the battery and charging/starting system.   A battery test will tell us what condition your battery is in and how much life it has left. We keep batteries in stock for nearly all makes and models. If it’s not in stock we can have it here in a short amount of time.   At Crabtree Automotive, we work on all makes and models, even Diesels. From Hond ... read more

Why Does My Car Shake Going Down The Road?   Have you ever started driving your car and notice its shaking or vibrating as you drive?   There are a few things it could be, but today we will talk about the most common: Tires. Tires play a vital role in your automobile. They are what connect your car to the road.  Tires are made of rubber and filled with air to cushion all the bumps and holes in the road, and to get traction in all sorts of weather and driving conditions. They also have metal wires inside of them to increase their strength and stability (called steel belts). Tires wear with daily use and also can dry out and start cracking from the sun.   Like any part of an automobile, a tire can fail as well. One of those failures can be the steel belts we just mentioned. Sometimes, those can break inside the tire and cause the tire to not be perfectly round anymore causing a serious vibration   Because of how fast a tire has to spin during normal use ... read more

How To Get Your Car Ready For Back-To-School   It’s that time of the year again. School shopping, getting your kid signed up for classes, and getting everyone ready for another school year.    You don’t want to deal with car trouble too! Sometimes breakdowns happen, but there are a few things we can do to help keep that to a minimum.   Getting your car ready for the extra Back-to-School duties is important. The miles that usually come with school duties, or a new teen driver can put stress on your automobile.    You can start by washing your car. Not only will it be nice to have a clean, fresh car to start the school year off with, but it can help you identify issues you may not have noticed.    Along with washing it, you can replace wiper blades and fill the windshield washer fluid. You also want to make sure that you have a good roadside emergency kit and a good spare tire with the proper air pressure.   The rest of ... read more

Do you ever get into a car on a hot summer day, turn on your A/C just to be met with an awful smell? Yeah, it’s no fun. I'm sure we have all experienced that, but what causes the smell? (This is a dirty A/C Evaporator from a 2012 Ford F-450 that was used on a farm. just goes to show how filthy they can get)   The A/C and Heating system circulate air throughout your car or truck much like the A/C used in your house. Also like your house, most automobiles have filters in the A/C and Heating System (these are called cabin air filters).   Cabin air filters trap a lot of smells and allergens. Regular maintenance of replacing your cabin air filter can keep odors at bay. For automobiles that don’t have cabin air filters the heater and cooling elements, and the vents, can collect dirt and allergens that a filter would stop. So cleaning those elements and vents are required.   BG Services steps up again with their Frigi-Fresh Service, It cleans and disinfect ... read more

What Can I Do to Remove Engine Oil Sludge? What is engine oil sludge? Oil sludge, or buildup, happens when proper maintenance is not done or in extreme conditions.    There are some engine issues that can cause oil sludging, but regardless we have the ability to clean it up no matter the cause.   Our partner, Northwest BG,  also provides us with a combination of chemicals to deep clean your engine and keep it clean afterwards.    The BG Engine Performance Service cleans the deposits, prevents future deposits from forming, and helps restore fuel economy and performance. This service is great for an automobile that has been neglected from proper oil changes, poor quality oil used, or severe use conditions.    It is also a great service to add to your regular maintenance, because it helps prevent buildup from the start.   Think of it like this, when you buy a new-to-you vehicle you would like for it to be clean. Your engine likes to b ... read more

Transmission Slip is a big problem. It’s not the only thing that can go wrong in a transmission but it’s one of the common ones. It is also a problem that can usually be prevented with proper maintenance. What is Transmisson Slip? It’s something you will feel more than hear, going down the road you press on the gas, the engine revs up but your car doesn’t move any faster. That is transmission slip! There are internal parts that use a combination of fluid and friction to move you down the road and they need clean fluid to keep working properly. Poor maintenance or abuse makes your transmission more prone to slipage.    We offer BG Transmission Services, which uses special cleaning fluid and a machine to circulate the clean and fresh fluid into your transmission. Not all, but most, transmissions have a filter which we replace.    So by draining your old fluid, flushing the entire transmission, replacing the filter and then refilling with a ... read more