Vehicle Maintenance
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9 Signs Your Vehicle Needs a Tune-Up
Sluggish. Squealing. Unreliable. Vibrating. If any of these descriptors fit your vehicle’s recent behavior, it just might be trying to tell you something – like it’s time for a tune-up.
Today’s vehicles differ significantly from their decades-old brethren that required a tune-up every 10,000 or 20,000 miles. With newer vehicles, it’s increasingly common for manufacturer-recommended service intervals to stretch to 100,000 miles before certain maintenance items, such as replacing the spark plugs, should be completed.
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All Your Fuel System Questions Answered
Your car’s fuel system works with the rest of the engine control system to deliver the best performance with the lowest emissions. Check your car’s fuel system regularly or immediately if you smell gas or suspect a problem.
What does it do? - The fuel system transfers fuel from the fuel tank and passes it through a fuel filter for straining before it arrives at the injectors. A pressure regulator controls fuel pressure to ensure good engine performance under a variety of speed and load conditions. Fuel injectors, when activated, spray a metered amount of fuel into the engine. Some vehicles use a return line system to return unused fuel back to the tank.
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Balancing, mounting, and what you need to know about both.
There are a few things that matter when mounting new tires on your vehicle. First, you want it done right. Second, you want it done fast. For both, Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL has you covered.
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Coolant Flushing to prepare for the cold weather
Whether you drive a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche (some exclusions apply), Subaru, or other performance automobiles, your car has a cooling system. With winter right around the corner, at Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire we want to make sure your cooling system is ready for the cold.
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Could That Noise Be Your Suspension Bushings?
At Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL, we understand how frustrating it is when your vehicle makes mysterious noises that it shouldn’t be making. Here’s a rundown on suspension bushings, to help you figure out what that sound is you keep hearing.
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Disconnecting a Battery from A Vehicle
If you’re ever in a situation where you must remove the battery from your vehicle, it’s important to know what you’re doing. It seems pretty straight forward, and it is. However, there are some important things to remember when disconnecting the battery in your car, truck, or SUV. Here are some tips on disconnecting a car battery, from Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL.
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Do You Know How Your AC Works?
When you get in your car, truck, SUV, or minivan to drive and the A/C does not work what could be wrong? Here at Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire, we have some simple answers to help you understand how your vehicle A/C system works. The first question we are asked is "Why isn't my air conditioner blowing cold air?" Let's talk about what could be happening.
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Do You Smell One Of These Smells? It's Time To Bring Your Car In.
If you’ve owned a vehicle long, particularly one with a few miles on it, you have probably encountered a peculiar smell that grabbed your attention. Scents that you encounter while driving (emanating from your vehicle, not the horse farm down the road) are indicators of your vehicle's health and often the first warning that something may be wrong. Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort has assembled this list to prepare for you for the next time you smell something odd, so you’ll know what’s going on next time you notice a funny smell.
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Fuel System Cleaning - What's In It For Me?
Obviously, the dirtier your fuel system is, the bigger the improvement you will see in performance and fuel economy after a fuel system cleaning. But it is important not to wait until your system is running poorly. If you do, by the time you get a cleaning, you’ve wasted hundreds of dollars in gas or even possibly damaged your fuel injectors and catalytic converter.
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Get a Grip on Tire Conditions
What condition are your tires in? At Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL, we want to make sure you can tell. A simple visual inspection is all you need - it’s easy if you know what to look for.
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How Do I Fix My Manual Transmission Problem?
Manual transmissions are generally more reliable than automatic transmissions. They don’t have as many parts, aren’t as complex, and can take a lot more abuse. However, if an issue is allowed to persist, more and more damage to surrounding components on your manual transmission will occur. Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL can help you take care of your car as soon as you notice a problem.
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How Do You Maintain Your Engine?
No matter what type of car, truck, or SUV you drive, maintenance is the key to giving your engine a long life. At Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL, we focus on keeping your engine running strong.
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How is the Air Quality in Your Vehicle?
When driving around town, your vehicle's engine needs clean air to burn the fuel – and it needs a lot. In fact, a typical vehicle needs about 216,000 gallons of air for every tank of gas. All that air passes through a filter that catches the dust and dirt. Eventually, the filter gets completely full, and because the filter can only hold so much, dirt starts getting through. At Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, we want to help you get the best air quality in your vehicle, but first, we want to explain the process of where this dirty air is going.
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How To Retain Your Car’s Resale Value
If you drive a performance or luxury vehicle, there are important points to remember in preserving not only your car or SUV, but it's resale value as well. Luxury and performance vehicles depreciate more quickly than other cars. Many who own these cars like to have the newest and the best of the best. In that way, the odds are stacked against you when trying to get a good price for your car. Fortunately, Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire has some steps you can take to ensure you get the most for your car when it’s time to sell.
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How to Use Your Jumper Cables
At some point or another, it’ll happen to you. You leave your headlights on, your battery finally fails, or for some other reason, you don’t have enough juice to start your car. Don’t call a tow truck just yet, though...Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort has the info you need to properly jump start your car.
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Identifying driveway spots: how to determine what is leaking under your car
If you drive a vehicle with more than a few miles on it, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed an occasional drip underneath it that leaves spots wherever you park. Identifying what is leaking from your car will help you determine whether or not it’s a cause for concern, and what to do about it.
There are seven liquids a car can possibly drip: oil, gas, brake fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil, water, and coolant. How do you tell the difference? This article aims to help your know-how.
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Is it a bad brake master cylinder or something else
The time to know if your brakes are going bad is NOT when you go to stop at that red light or on the parkway when someone suddenly swerves in front of you. It's not always "just" brake pads either, your brake master cylinder could be an issue. How do you recognize the signs that you have a real problem with your brake master cylinder and just what is it? Here atAndrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL we not only have the answers, but we also put together a service schedule for you and keep an eye on issues based on your driving habits, vehicle type and your description of issues you are having. We treat your car, truck or SUV as if it were ours keeping you informed of issues we find so you can get them fixed "before" there are larger repair bills so you can keep your vehicle Newer - Longer! Below is everything you need to look for and tips on your brake master cylinder.
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Is it necessary to warm up your car?
If you drive a performance car or SUV, you want to take every measure possible to ensure it stays in good shape and running well. For many drivers of precision-engineered vehicles like BMW, Audi, Porsche, Subaru, etc., warming up the engine is a part of taking care of your vehicle. But is it necessary?
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Is it ok to idle?
With temperatures dropping around the country, it’s understandably tempting to let your car or SUV idle to stay warm. At Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL, one of our goals is to keep you informed on how to best care for your performance and luxury vehicles.
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Is It Time For A Rear Wheel Alignment?
If you've been driving for any amount of time, you’re probably aware that your car, truck, or SUV needs a wheel alignment on occasion. However, did you know that depending on what you drive, your rear wheels may also require attention? Here’s what you need to know about rear wheel alignments, from Andrew's Diesel, Heavy Equipment, Auto & Tire in Spanish Fort, AL.
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