Albany Auto Repair

How Do You Drive Safe in Winter?   We have discussed getting your car ready for winter, snow chains, ensuring the heat works, and general maintenance. What about driving in that snow, ice, or heavy rain? The first step is having your vehicle inspected and resolving any issues we may find. Next is driving in the cold temperatures with all of the other drivers on the road!   We can’t help anyone's driving habits, but we can help you be prepared for issues you may encounter.   No matter what time of the year or what the temperature is outside, you should have a quality roadside emergency kit. In winter, adding an extra jacket, a warm blanket, and some heavier footwear is a good idea. You may end up stopping for a long time due to an accident, breakdown, or bad weather; especially, if you are traveling somewhere without a lot of traffic. Most importantly, an ice scraper, snow brush, and keeping your fuel tank as full as possible during winter is essential ... read more

How Do I Get My Diesel Ready For Winter? Diesel engines are known for being more powerful and effective than their gasoline counterparts. An unfortunate thing they are known for is being harder to start in the winter. This is different for modern diesel engines. Because of the way older diesel engines operate, if they have not been very well maintained, there may be some trouble starting when the weather cools down for the winter.   Like modern gasoline engines, diesels have grown in complexity to enable them to produce more power and less emissions at the same time.    Diesel engines use glow plugs or intake heaters to warm the inside of the engine upon starting to help burn the diesel fuel. Since diesels don’t use spark plugs, but instead use heat and pressure to ignite the fuel. On a cold day, the engine needs to be warmed to help them start faster.   That is why in winter, especially on really cold days, you will see big semi trucks and even pickup t ... read more

Why Is My Tire Light On, But I Don’t Have A Flat Tire?   New cars with all their technology are great, but a light on the dash can be annoying if it looks like nothing is wrong. Although, there might be a good reason it’s on. As the temperatures outside start to drop every year, we have increased calls and visits from people with a low tire light on the dash. Without getting too “sciencey”, hot or warm air expands, and cool or cold air contracts. So for a tire, that means the pressure can increase and decrease based on temperature.   The monitoring system in automobiles has a range of pressures it considers safe, so during normal day-to-day conditions, your warning light isn't going to go on and off. A tire that was checked or filled in the middle of summer to the correct pressure on a cold winter day could be just low enough to set the warning light. Nothing is wrong, it just needs to be topped off.   When summer comes back around, you ... read more