Wilmot Auto Repair

Here's a part of your vehicle you probably don't think about much: lug nuts.  They're what fasten your wheels onto your axles.  Pretty important, right? In order to take the wheels off your vehicle to service the brakes, rotate the tires, etc., the lug nuts have to be in good shape so a wrench will grip them tightly.  Because lug nuts are on your wheels, they are exposed to all the elements of the road (salt, water, grime) and really take a beating. Unfortunately, some manufacturers have made them out of two different metals.  Underneath is the working part of the lug nut, made of steel.  On top is the decorative (the "good looking") part, made out of chrome, stainless steel or aluminum.  After a while, the steel part begins to corrode and expands.  That changes the shape of the outer cap, sometimes rounding off the hexagonal edges and making it hard (if not impossible) to either loosen or tighten the lug nuts since the wrench won't fit any more.  ... read more

You may have noticed sometimes on a hot and humid day, vapor will come out of your vehicle's vents when you have the air conditioning on.  Is that something to be concerned about? Well, it depends. Sometimes that steam or vapor can be caused by water accumulating in the vent system after it has condensed.  And sometimes water can pool at the bottom of a vent.  When you turn on the blower mower, the air hits the water and may create steam or vapor that you can see in the cabin. One thing to check is if that vapor smells like anything.  If it doesn't, that's a good sign. You may be able to run the fan for a while and the issue may just go away when things dry out.  But moisture collecting in the ventilation hoses in a hot vehicle may be a breeding ground for mold, and that can have health consequences. There's another possibility. Ventilation systems often have drains to get rid of any accumulated water, and debris can sometimes clog them.  A technician can ... read more

As you know, today’s vehicles rely on a lot of computers in them to keep them running clean and efficiently.  Those computers depend on information delivered by several sensors throughout the engine and exhaust system.  And one of the most important is the oxygen sensor.   Known as the O2 sensor for short, it looks for too much unburned oxygen that has made it into the exhaust. That signals something isn’t right with the engine’s air-fuel mixture.  The sensor sends signals to the engine’s computers, which can then make adjustments to make sure the engine is running as it was designed to. Some vehicles can have several O2 sensors, and since they can measure oxygen at various points in the combustion/exhaust process, the computers can pinpoint where the problems lie.  For example, an O2 sensor can detect how much oxygen is coming out of the engine’s combustion chamber, and another one can measure oxygen coming out of the catalytic co ... read more

A clean connection is a wonderful thing.  Think of a good cell phone signal or an airline connection with ample time and short distance to the next gate. Good connections are also important for your vehicle’s battery, and one secret to that is to make sure it’s periodically cleaned. If it’s been a while since you have had any service to your battery, bring it in so we can inspect it for any corrosion that might have formed.  Corrosion on the battery terminals will affect the connection between the battery and your vehicle’s electrical system. The amount of corrosion you can expect can be influenced by such things as the kind of climate you live in (dry or humid, warm or cold), if there’s lots of salt on the roads and how old your battery is.   We have tools and chemicals to safely remove the corrosion for an optimal electrical connection. In order to reduce the amount of corrosion re-forming on the battery, we’ll apply a special protec ... read more

Few of us ever drive somewhere without encountering some pretty rough roads, and it's amazing how well our vehicles are able to smooth out the ride. Thank your shocks and struts. The two parts are similar.  Some cars have shocks in the rear, and struts in the front.  Others have struts all around.  A shock absorber uses a cylinder filled with gas or liquid that's connected to your vehicle's frame and axle.  When your vehicle encounters an imperfection in the road, the shock dampens the motion.  A strut is essentially a shock absorber mounted inside a spring and can support more weight than a shock by itself. Shocks and struts take a lot of punishment and wear out.  When they do, your tires are not contacting the road as much as they should, and that can result in a bumpy, unstable ride. Worn-out shocks and struts also transfer the impacts of road imperfections directly to your vehicle's body which can cause further damage to other parts. You can tell when ... read more

You climb inside your vehicle, start the ignition, and reach for the fan control for the heating or air conditioning.  But when you try to crank it up, no air comes out of the vents. It can make for a very uncomfortable trip, whether it’s hot or cold outside. It’s important for the comfort of you and your passengers to regulate the temperature in your vehicle’s cabin.  Not having air coming through the vents can also be a safety issue when you’re trying to defrost the windshield and front windows when they fog up and your visibility is affected.   There can be many reasons why the air isn’t blowing through your vents.  The blower motor may have failed or the switch that controls it wore out.  It could be as simple as a blown fuse, or perhaps an electrical component that regulates the fan speed may have stopped working. One of the ducts that direct the air from the outside to the cabin may have broken.  Or the air intake where ... read more

The internal combustion engine in your vehicle counts on two things that mix together to be burned in the engine for power: fuel and air.  Both are important, of course.  If you run out of fuel, your engine won’t run at all.  Since there’s plenty of air around, you won’t run out of air, but you could feel your vehicle’s performance suffer if the engine air filter starts to get clogged.  It's important that the air that enters your engine be free of dirt, dust, and debris to prevent damage to internal components.  That’s where the engine air filter comes in.  It prevents those particles from entering the engine, an important job that most people just take for granted. After a while, your air filter will get dirty, which results in less air reaching the engine.  Modern fuel injected engines can adjust the amount of gas to mix with the air that is getting in, so your fuel economy won’t change significantly.  What ... read more

Engine air filters may not seem like a big deal, but when they’re clogged up with dirt, dust, and insects, your engine could wind up choking for air and not delivering you the power and performance it was designed to give. There are actually a couple of air filters in your vehicle.  One filters the air going into the cabin (the cabin air filter), and the other filters air going into the engine.  That engine filter is the one we’re talking about. After several months and long distances traveled, your engine air filter accumulates the junk it’s preventing from getting into your engine. You may notice your engine misfiring, your acceleration may not be what it used to be, it may make strange noises, and the Check Engine light may come on. When you notice any of those signs, it’s time to bring in your vehicle to have us figure out what’s going on. We’ll visually inspect your air filter.  Keep in mind that your vehicle’s manufacturer ... read more

What's the dif? To an automotive technician, it's the differential, a part of your vehicle that helps direct power from the engine to the wheels.  The differential is a gearbox that enables the drive wheels to turn at different speeds (they do that when you turn).   Inside the differential is a fluid that makes sure those gears and other parts are lubricated since there are a lot of metal moving parts in there.  (Your vehicle may have more than one differential in it depending on the drivetrain.)  As you can imagine, it's important that the lubricant in those differentials do its job.  Otherwise, the gears may be damaged by heat and friction. The more you drive your vehicle, the more likely it is for that lubricating fluid to break down. So, it's important to have the differential fluid exchanged every so often.  Your vehicle's manufacturer recommends how often your model should have that done, but a common interval is every 30,000-60,000 miles/50,000 km ... read more

Steering a vehicle these days doesn't take much effort, but if you got behind the wheel back before power steering was invented, you'd need to practically have the strength of Hercules to turn the wheel.    The first power steering systems widely available changed everything.  Chrysler introduced its Hydraguide power system in 1951. The "hydra" was for a hydraulic pump. It pressurized fluid that multiplied the force applied to the steering wheel so it was easier to turn the wheels on the ground. That pump got power from a belt attached to the engine, but unfortunately it wasted a lot of energy in the process. Plus, the system of hoses and pumps required a fair amount of maintenance and repair. Some say this system provides the most "natural" steering experience of power systems. Recently, automakers have turned to electric power steering.  It gets its power from the car's electrical battery and charging system and uses an electric motor to turn the wheels.  Sin ... read more