Wilmot Auto Repair

Think about this the next time you’re driving.  Your front wheels can steer your vehicle and, at the same time, the wheels can move, even with all the irregularities in the road moving them up, down and in different directions. Pretty amazing engineering, wouldn’t you say? What allows that are parts called ball joints.  Most vehicles have them only in the front, but there are some vehicles that have them in the rear as well.  When you consider all the bumps and turns your wheels are subjected to, it’s not hard to imagine the wear and tear these ball joints endure. After any vehicle has put on many months of road time, these ball joints will start to wear out.  You may find your vehicle’s front wheels clunk when you are on the road, it may not hold the road as well when you go over a bump, or you may feel vibration in your steering wheel and your tires may start to wear unevenly. When you start to notice any of these symptoms, it’s a goo ... read more

When it comes to brakes on your vehicle, we all know how important it is to keep them working well because they are vital safety equipment.  After all, if you can’t slow down and stop, you can’t drive safely.   While many vehicles use what are called disc brakes, there’s another type of brakes that are used on the rear wheels of vehicles that have something called drum brakes.  Drum brakes were the original type that were invented in the early twentieth century.  The term drum comes from the part of the brakes that is a housing connected to your wheel.  Inside there are parts called brake shoes that press against the drum when you step on the pedal, and the friction slows and stops your vehicle.   Signs your brake shoes might need replacing are your rear brakes make noise when you step on the pedal and they vibrate when you brake.  Another sign of bad brake shoes is that your hand brake stops working.  If you notice one or both ... read more

When you push on your brake pedal, you should find your vehicle easy to stop.  But at some point, you might notice stopping takes much more pressure on the pedal than it used to.  When it gets to that point it becomes a safety issue, and you should bring your vehicle in so we can track down what’s not working correctly. Brake pedals that are stiff mean there’s something wrong with one or more components of your entire brake system.  For example, it could be moisture has contaminated your brake fluid, making it harder to push the pedal down. Many vehicles use hydraulics to amplify your pedal pressure to a force strong enough to stop your vehicle.  Certain problems can develop with your hydraulics, such as a faulty master cylinder, a kink in one of your brake lines, or a failed proportioning valve which regulates pressure to your rear brakes. Vacuum leaks can also make your brake pedal hard to push. Another cause could be a problem with your vehicle&rsquo ... read more

Talk about exquisite choreography; it happens under the hood of your vehicle every time you take a drive.  Your engine’s many complex parts must work exactly together.  One key is a part called a timing belt, which enables the synchronizing of two of your engine’s components, the camshaft, and the crankshaft.   The timing belt coordinates the valves in your engine to open and close at the appropriate time to get exhaust out of the engine’s cylinders. Timing belts may also power the water pump and the oil pump.  The belt is made of rubber.  Some engines use a timing chain (made of metal).  Your vehicle’s manufacturer recommends an interval after which you should have your timing belt or chain replaced, and that service should be part of your vehicle’s regular maintenance.  It’s always better to replace it before it breaks rather than after.  After all, if your timing belt breaks while you’re driving down t ... read more

A driver called in to the shop the other day saying his European sports sedan had an odd problem.  He was driving when his car started to slow down.  Applying more throttle didn't help.  He pulled over to the side of the road, shut the engine off and waited a few minutes before starting it up again.  It ran fine… for a couple of minutes.  Then the same thing happened.  He was able to finally get home by stopping and restarting, and he was calling to see if we could take a look at it.  Turned out it was one of his car's fuel filters that choked up with debris so badly that enough fuel couldn't get through it.  When he stopped the car, enough fuel could flow through the unpressurized fuel line to supply enough fuel for a couple of minutes when he restarted his car. But then the pressure would cause things to clog again.   There are other symptoms that point to a failing fuel filter. Perhaps your engine misfires, your vehicle is hard to ... read more

Maybe your vehicle feels like Breaking Bad.  In other words, when you brake, things are bad.  You may find it takes you a longer distance to stop, you feel a vibration, or it’s pulsating when you depress the brake pedal, or perhaps your vehicle pulls to one side. Those can be symptoms of failing brake drums.  While a lot more vehicles these days have disc brakes, many vehicles still have brake drums, almost always in the rear wheels. The drum is a cast iron shallow cylinder that surrounds the other parts, including curved brake shoes that press pads against the drum to slow you down or stop the vehicle. Any time you have things going wrong with your brakes, you should get them fixed soon.  Safely operating any vehicle depends on having the brakes be able to slow and stop you dependably.  It can make the difference between avoiding a collision and having one.  When you bring your vehicle in, a technician will inspect your braking system. Depending on ... read more

Tires are so reliable these days that few drivers pay much attention to them.  But tires wear out.  They have a tough job since they are the only point of contact between your vehicle and the road.  They have to get your vehicle going from a stop, keep it going, make sure it is headed in the direction you want it to go, and –importantly – slow and stop it.   The only time many drivers think about their tires is when there's a problem, such as a flat.  Or, they may lose control when they find their vehicle isn't stopping or steering like it used to.  One major safety organization estimates that 1 out of every 11 crashes is related to a tire issue.   Many of those problems are caused by tire tread wearing out.  The rubber is worn off by friction after hours and hours on roads.  The sidewalls can also be damaged by your tires hitting curbs, potholes, or other debris. Plus, rubber ages as time passes.  We recommend you let us in ... read more

If your vehicle’s power goes to the rear wheels, then you have something called U-joints in the drivetrain. U-joints are connectors that allow the rotating power from your vehicle’s engine to deliver its power through a driveshaft to make the rear wheels rotate.  You need U-joints because the surfaces you drive on aren’t perfectly flat, and the driveshaft has to allow for some flexibility when you are traveling over uneven surfaces. As you can imagine, the U-joints have to move and flex a lot as your vehicle is going down the road.  They have bearings in them to allow that flexibility, and those bearings are lubricated when your vehicle is made.  Some U-joints have lifetime lubrication and are not designed to be serviced.  When they fail, they have to be replaced.  Others have grease fittings on them that need periodic lubricating by a technician at intervals recommended by your vehicle’s manufacturer.  There are signs you can look ... read more

When you start your vehicle’s engine, there’s another motor that makes that whole process possible.  It’s called the starter, and it’s a small electric motor that gets your vehicle running.   As you can imagine, it’s quite a chore for a little electric motor to turn over the big engine that powers your vehicle.  And after hundreds of successful starting missions, after a while, it will start to give out. You’ll know the starter is starting to give up the ghost when it turns too slowly or sometimes doesn’t do anything when you turn on the ignition.  Maybe it makes funny noises like grinding when you try to start your vehicle or maybe there’s just a click. Those are all reasons to get your vehicle over to us so we can see what’s going on.  A technician will make sure the problem is the starter and not in the battery, a switch, or other electrical component or connections.  If all of those are ruled out, y ... read more

Ever wonder how your vehicle’s engine is able to take the 12-volts from its battery and ramp that up to as high as the tens of thousands of volts it takes to fire its spark plugs? The secret is something called an ignition coil.  Most newer vehicles have an ignition coil at each cylinder, but older ones have a coil that serves all of the spark plugs.  There are telltale signs that you have an ignition coil problem.  As you might expect, one symptom is it’s hard to start your engine or it won’t start at all.  If your engine is misfiring or not running smoothly or you see the Check Engine light come on, those all could point to an ignition coil failure. Several things can contribute to ignition coil trouble in addition to normal wear and tear. Moisture and dirt may have gotten inside the coil, plus the heat and vibration of your engine over time can contribute to them going bad.  Bad spark plugs or plug wires can also be a cause.   While ig ... read more