Chico Auto Repair

Sometimes you may notice a little steam or vapor coming out of your vehicle's vents when running the air conditioning or heater.  Is this something about which you need to worry? The answer is it may or may not be troublesome. Sometimes it can be caused by water accumulating in the vent system after it condenses.  That water can wind up at the bottom of a vent, and when you turn on the blower motor, it can cause what looks like steam or vapor to come out of the vents.  It may go away on its own when the system dries out after you've run the fan for a while.  Of course, moisture sitting around for more than a short time in a hot vehicle is the perfect breeding ground for mold to develop, and you don’t want your vehicle to smell like musty mold. Sometimes the moisture can build up because a drain is clogged.  A technician can clean that out and get things draining again. If the vapor coming out of the vents has a sweet, syrupy smell, it could be ... read more

Question:When should I replace my windshield wipers? D AND E AUTO REPAIR Answer: Well, most CHICO drivers wait until they fail. The problem with that is that you find out they have failed when you actually need them most – a little too late. Wiper blades are really a safety system for CHICO drivers. As you can imagine, 90% of our driving decisions are based on what we see. If you can't see well because your wipers can't clear your windshield, your ability to drive safely is significantly impaired. So the simple answer: of course, CHICO drivers should change wipers if they don't work well. But replace them before they go bad so they are always ready when that storm hits. For some CHICO drivers, once a year may be enough. For others – those who drive a lot, whose wipers are exposed to a lot of sun or use their wipers more – replacing the blades ... read more

When the weather gets cooler, you want the cabin of your vehicle to stay warm.  When you switch on the heat, you may find the air that comes out of the vents just isn't hot.  The problem could be a part in the heating system that not that many people understand.  It's called the coolant vacuum valve switch or thermostat vacuum switch.  Here's what it does. When you don't need heat in your vehicle, you don't need hot coolant from your radiator to go through the heater core in your vehicle.  (The heater core is like a small radiator that exchanges heat between the coolant and your cabin air.)  When you turn on the switch for heat or defrost, it signals the coolant vacuum valve switch to open.  That should send hot coolant to the heater core which heats your cabin air or defroster air.  If the coolant vacuum valve switch isn't working, you don't get warm air to either. Sometimes the coolant vacuum valve switch can crac ... read more

When driving around CHICO, your vehicle engine needs clean air to burn the fuel – and it needs a lot. In fact, a typical vehicle needs about 216,000 gallons (820,000 liters) 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. Because the filter can only hold so much, dirt starts getting through. This dirty air passes through the mass airflow sensor and starts to accumulate on the delicate sensor element. The mass air flow sensor measures how much air is getting into your engine. When the airflow reading is incorrect, your vehicle engine doesn't get the proper amount of fuel. It runs rough and doesn't perform as well as it should. Eventually, the sensor is so damaged it needs to be replaced – which is pricy. In fact you could buy a case or two of air filters for the cost of a sensor replacement. Of course, that dirty air keeps on going through to your vehicle engine where it ... read more

Wiper blades may not be the most exciting topic – but they are pretty important.  Most of us have had an experience when a sudden snow or rainstorm hits while we’re driving; then when we turn on the wipers – nothing but streaks.  This can be especially disconcerting at night when the glare of on-coming headlights distorts your vision. Simple answer: change your wiper blades before they fail.  Check them out every couple of months just to see how they are working.  Of course, the more you use your wipers, the sooner they’ll wear out.  People living with lots of storms or those who drive a lot where there are bugs and road grime will use their blades more. But even when you’re not using your blades, they are exposed to sunlight, ozone, soap, and extreme hot and cold temperatures which lead to deterioration.  Your blades can just rot away and fall apart before you need them.  Of course, using your wipers when the blades ar ... read more

Question How can I tell when my tires are worn so much that they need to be replaced? Answer That is a very important question.  As we discuss the matter, keep in mind that one of the most important jobs of your tire tread is to move water. The channels in the tread act as passages for water to escape from underneath the tire.  The deeper the tread, the deeper the channel – and the more water that can be evacuated.  When enough water can’t be moved from underneath the tire, the tire can ride on the water – often called hydroplaning.  The tire is literally not contacting the road but rather is “floating” on the water so there is little traction and the vehicle can slide. So somewhere between a brand-new tire and a bald tire lies the point at which the tire should be replaced.  Some governmental jurisdictions have minimum tread depth requirements others do not.  So, check the laws where you live to learn the legal minimum ... read more

Batteries are a huge part of modern life.  I mean, how many battery chargers do you have? Of course, our purpose here is to talk about your car battery.  When people come into our service center and need a new battery, they’re not that happy about having to spend the money.  But the fact is that 70% of batteries don’t make it for 4 years. There are some things that you can do to extend the life of your battery.  First, keep it clean.  If you see it getting dirty or greasy, let us know and we can clean it off.  A dirty battery runs hotter and that shortens its life.  If your battery terminals are corroded, let us look at that too.  We can clean them, and if the corrosion has gotten into the battery cables, we can replace them. Also running your battery way down is bad for it. Things like running the headlights or watching a DVD player with the car turned off can deeply deplete your battery.  The typical battery can only take ab ... read more

If you've been paying attention, you've noticed that CA vehicles are getting more and more powerful and at the same time are getting better and better fuel economy . Much of that's because of better transmissions. To get a understanding of why that is, let's turn to gear experts – CHICO bicyclists. A cyclist's cadence is the number of times per minute he or she pedals. Their ideal pedal speed is the zone where they can most efficiently generate power over a sustained period of time. The experienced cyclist uses his gears to keep his pedal speed in the ideal zone whether he's climbing a steep CHICO hill, cruising on a flat stretch or killing a downhill. Look at how it works: if you have a 1-speed bike, you really have to pump hard to get up to speed. And your top speed is limited by how fast as you can pedal. And if you've got a hill to climb – forget about it. Now let's add a couple of gears: one lower and another one higher. With the lowe ... read more

A lot of  service and repair customers in CHICO are a little tentative when they talk with their automotive advisors. They want to ask questions but don't want to be embarrassed or to seem pushy. Cars are very complicated and there's more to know about them than most of us CHICO drivers have the time to learn. At D AND E AUTO REPAIR, we think automotive service customers have a right to ask any question they need to understand what is wrong with their vehicle and what it will take to fix it. They need to feel free to ask the cost and benefits of recommended services. And they certainly have a right to understand the financial end of the transaction. It's all about the communication. What are some of the barriers to communication? Well, most D AND E AUTO REPAIR service advisors are very busy trying to service and fix cars to get CHICO drivers back on the road. So, just ask when you feel you need more information. Finan ... read more

Each time we fuel up our vehicles, we get a little whiff of gasoline, so the smell is very familiar. There shouldn’t be any gasoline smell in or around your vehicle when you are away from the gas station. When you do smell gasoline away from the gas pump, the cause ranges from something simple to something that can be very dangerous. Let's start with the simple causes.  It could be a loose or faulty gas cap, or you might be missing one entirely. You may also have a leak in the fuel tank vent hose. These are relatively straightforward things to repair.  By the way, because your vehicle has fans that draw in outside air, you may be able to smell these outside fuel leaks inside the cabin. Here are some other possible sources of a gasoline smell.  You may have a leak in your fuel tank, and these are more common than you might think.  Fuel tanks can rot or get punctured by road debris.  The tank can be fixed or replaced.  The fuel lines can also de ... read more