Albany Auto Repair

New automobiles have so much technology in them, that it is very hard to find out what is wrong without needing some special tools. One of the tools commonly used is a scanner. As cars have advanced, so have the tools used to repair them. Before computers and advanced circuitry made its way into cars and trucks, a simple multimeter and a test light took care of most electrical issues in a vehicle.   Those days are long gone! Multimeters and test lights are still valuable tools, but they aren’t going to help with any computer issue. The nice thing about having so many computers in automobiles is when a scanner is used it can help speed up the diagnostic process.    When something goes wrong with the electrical system of a modern car, sometimes it will send an error message to the dash, but sometimes it won’t. That's where a scanner comes in. Scanners will help read error codes, clear error codes, and help a technician pinpoint a faulty sensor, wiring i ... read more

A transmission is what makes your car move down the road. Like the electrical system in modern cars the transmission is very complex, but we can break it down some.   There are a few types of transmissions, the most common is the Automatic transmission, then there is the Manual Transmission. Finally, the CVT transmission is not as common in trucks, but heavily used in powersports like ATVs, snowmobiles, and UTVs.   There are many variations of each type, but we will go over the most popular of each. They all take the power that is produced by the engine and send it to the wheels through gears, fluid, or belts depending on the design of the transmission.   An Automatic Transmission, as the name suggests, automatically shifts the gears in the transmission for you as you travel down the road. You do have to shift the car from park to drive, reverse, or neutral. Once in drive, the transmission will start in the lowest gear and shift up a gear depending on speed and sev ... read more

There are few feelings in this life worse then jumping in your car early in the morning to head to work, turn the key, and CLICK, nothing. Dead battery!   Maybe that is a bit dramatic but it’s not fun at all. Modern car’s and truck’s have so much technology packed into them these days the electrical system is easily the most complicated part of the whole car.   There’s not much in the electrical system that is easly user serviceable, except for batteries, fuses, and some light bulbs. Electronics are involved in nearly every function of a modern automobile. So its safe to say we have invested heavily into our electrical diagnostic equipment and training here at Crabtree Auto.   All that said there are a few key components. Battery, starter, and alternator. When you start your car the battery sends power to your starter which spins the engine and gets it running. Once your engine is running the alternator recharges the battery and supplies the ... read more

Your car may run great, but you have to slow down and stop at some point. That's where brakes come in!   When you step on the brake pedal in your car or truck, you expect your vehicle to slow down and eventually come to a complete stop, but do you know how that process works?    In your car or truck, brakes work off something called hydraulic pressure. Your brake pedal is attached to a booster that takes the pressure you apply to the pedal and amplifies it.    The booster then takes that increased pressure and compresses the fluid in your brake system, which sends that pressure into your brake calipers or drums.   A caliper uses hydraulic pressure to drive a piston that squeezes a brake pad into the rotor to slow it and the wheel down. The brake pads are mounted into the caliper and sit on each side of the rotor so that it can clamp onto both sides evenly.   The rotor is a large disc that sits behind your wheel and is connected to the wh ... read more

Why Do Cars Need Antifreeze in the Summer?   Your vehicle’s cooling system uses a mixture of water and antifreeze to be able to operate in all weather conditions. Antifreeze is also referred to as coolant because of its chemical composition. It allows the water in the cooling system to work below freezing and above boiling temperatures.   Coolant is pumped through your engine and into the radiator, where a fan is used to pull air through the radiator, lowering the temperature of the coolant inside the radiator. It’s the same process used to heat or cool the inside of your car or home just in reverse.   Your cooling system has a few main components: a pump, radiator, thermostat, and the hoses that connect all these components together.    The Thermostat is what keeps the whole system at the correct temperature, too cold and it keeps the coolant from entering the radiator. Too warm and the thermostat opens, sending all the coolant into the rad ... read more

What is an alignment? Well, it's getting your car or truck lined up… but what does that mean exactly.    When we talk about Alignments what we are talking about is getting all 4 wheels pointed in the same direction and rolling smoothly down the road. We talked last week about tires and tire wear. A big factor in tire wear is a bad alignment. Besides improper tire wear a bad alignment will cause your car or truck to pull to one side going down the road. It can also have poor handling in general.   There are a lot of adjustments to be made on a typical modern car, that's why we have a computer and laser system to help make these changes. Pictured is a car on our rack with the sensors on each wheel and the computer screen displaying the desired alignment numbers and current numbers so our technicians know how much adjustment is needed.   Why do alignments need to be checked? Because your alignment involves your car’s suspension, steering, whee ... read more

What happens to tires when the weather warms up?   Warm weather is here, and summer road trips are right around the corner. Tires are THE only part of your car that touches the ground and keeps you going down the road. You could say tires are the most important part of your car or truck. Flat tires are no fun, but another problem is when your tires wear down from normal use, they begin to have less and less traction in rainy or snowy conditions. Luckily we don’t have to worry about snow anytime soon.    Wet slippery roads cause millions of accidents across the county. Many of those are from bald tires. We inspect your whole vehicle when you come to Crabtree, Including tires. There are indicators on tires to let you know when it's time for replacement. We will check this for you.    When you bring your vehicle to Crabtree we will make a maintenance schedule for you that keeps your car and your wallet happy. This, of course, includes tires. We sel ... read more

Which Cummins engine is the best? That is another subjective question. But let's continue with our diesel truck discussion.   Like its Powerstroke counterpart, the Cummins engine found in Ram pickups has undergone many changes. Arguably the most famous light-duty diesel, the 12v Cummins first introduced in a Dodge Ram W250 and W350 in 1989, is still heavily used to this day.   Cummins designated the engine as a 6BT (6-cylinder B-Series Turbocharged), the first version having one exhaust and one intake valve per cylinder (12v) and using a rotary fuel injection pump (VE) Pump.   From there, fuel pump changes, different turbos, better injectors, and eventually electronic controls gets us to modern-day the 6.7 Cummins.   It shares the same displacement as the 6.7 powerstroke but that is where the similarities end. Ford, Ram, and Chevrolet all battle for top horsepower and towing capacity bragging rights. A few years back, Ram was the first in the industry to ... read more

Why does your A/C System keep failing?   Well there is probably a leak! The AC system in modern automobiles can get pretty complex but they all have some of the same fundamental components.    When a leak occurs it can be extremely hard to find. Thankfully we have some special tools to make that easier. On this 1997 Ford F-250 we had a leak that didn't show up with dye and the leak started all the sudden for the customer.   We started by hooking up our AC Servicing Machine to the truck to recover any feon left in the system and then put the system under a vacuum to test for leaks and see how big the leak is.   We were able to detect that there was a leak and it was rather large. But with visual inspection we couldn’t find anything. The customer let us know that nearly the entire system had been replaced last year.    We then filled the AC system with environmentally safe Nitrogen Gas and used soapy water in a spray bottle to cover ... read more

We have a lot going on, just like everyone else  2023 is hectic! So we do several things to help keep the ball rolling and our ducks in a row.   One of the reasons we have become one of the Top Shops in the country is that we set goals and plan to get there!   In the picture are a bunch of magnets and a whiteboard. Nothing too fancy, but it allows us to plan out everyone's day. That way, we can be as efficient as possible with our tech's time and yours!   As always, plans change; for example, if you can't make your appointment after all, that's ok because we can move the jobs around on this board, so there's no wasted time.   Goals are an essential part of our culture as well. We are constantly striving to improve our processes and abilities. Keeping track of where we have been and where we are going allows us to build a roadmap to success.   We also use a few pieces of software to keep track of your repair progress and notify ... read more