Wilmot Auto Repair

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

Your vehicle's engine is probably the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a power plant.  But it has another power source that is vital as well: the alternator. The alternator is what puts out the electricity that powers such things as your lights, power windows, sound system, and navigation.  Maybe you've started seeing those electrical components behaving in strange ways.  Maybe your power windows are going up and down a little bit more slowly than they used to.  Or perhaps your engine doesn't start as easily or is misfiring.   Other signs of a failing alternator are headlights that are either brighter or dimmer than usual.  If your battery keeps going dead, it could be that the alternator isn't recharging it.   The alternator has to get its power from somewhere, and in vehicles with internal combustion engines, that power comes from a drive belt powered by the engine.  Sometimes that belt can fail.  If you hear a whining soun ... read more

When you are pointing your vehicle straight down the street, it should go straight.  That’s pretty straightforward, right? Sometimes, though, you may notice you have to keep adjusting the steering wheel to keep going straight.  While that could be caused by many different issues, one possibility is that you have a failing or bent control arm. Another sign is that when you brake, your vehicle pulls to one side or the other.  Sometimes your suspension may sound noisy, especially when you’re traveling on rough surfaces.  A damaged control arm may also make it almost impossible for you to get a good wheel alignment.  The control arms are part of your suspension, and some vehicles have upper control arms and lower control arms.  Not all have the same number of control arms, but one thing is important: If you have worn bushings on your control arms or a worn-out ball joint, the control arm on the other side should also be replaced.  The rubber b ... read more

While many components of your vehicle are complex and composed of lots of mechanical and electrical parts, there's one that isn't complicated but still important.  It's your engine air filter. (And, we should point out, the engine air filter isn't to be confused with the cabin air filter.  The cabin air filter cleans air that goes into the passenger compartment while the engine air filter cleans air that goes into the engine itself.) Why does your engine need a filter? Think of all the stuff–dirt, dust, and debris in the air¬–that gets kicked up on the road.  If that were to go unfiltered into your engine, it could damage other components. There are many different materials used in an engine air filter, including paper, cloth (frequently cotton), and other synthetic fabrics.  The material is usually folded tightly to maximize the filtering capability over a relatively small surface.   Before computers were employed to determine the proper mix of ... read more

No, ERG isn’t the sound a pirate makes.  It’s a part in your vehicle that recirculates exhaust gas to reduce certain gases and pollutants in the atmosphere.  In fact, ERG stands for “Exhaust Gas Recirculation.” One gas our vehicles may make when they burn fuel is nitric oxide, which can play a big role in creating smog and acid rain.  It’s better for our planet if our vehicles aren’t spewing that into the air.   One inventive way of reducing it is by taking the exhaust and channeling it back to the vehicle’s air intake system. When it travels through the engine again, its composition is changed, and it comes out cleaner.  It also helps the engine be more efficient. The EGR valve can fail after a while, and some signs you may notice are the engine is miss firing, it may suddenly lose power or your Check Engine light may come on.  You may also see your fuel economy decrease or hear your engine knock. A bad EGR valve ... read more