Ft. Collins Auto Repair

The day your car won’t start isn’t the best time to shop for a new car battery. As vehicle technology continues to evolve, cars today need more electric power to operate features such as stop / start technology, safety and convenience features, and to charge all of our devices. If you’ve had to replace a car battery in the past few years, you’ve probably noticed that they’ve become more expensive. Prices have been rising over the past decade, and the situation has worsened during COVID. Car batteries typically last 3 to 5 years. Over their lifespan they gradually deteriorate and lose charging capacity until there’s not enough energy to start the engine. They degrade for lots of reasons, including vibration from rough roads, loose hardware, a malfunctioning charging system, how frequently vehicles are driven, and extreme temperatures and humidity. A dead battery can cause a real hassle, particularly if you can’t find your jumper cables o ... read more

The moment you realize your car needs to stop, nothing is more important! Reducing your car to its basic functions, they are: start, run, go, stop. Many advanced features are layered on top, but at the time you need each of these basic functions there is really nothing more important. Brakes, by definition, are consumable items. Using hydraulic pressure and friction to stop your vehicle, they create a lot of heat in the process. Brakes wear thin over time, and we expect to replace them. Quality brakes cost money, and we don’t want to replace them too soon. That is where brake inspections come in. A proper brake inspection checks many items. It begins with a test drive to experience what you experience. We listen for noises, and we pay attention to vibrations or pulls. We check brake pedal operation, and verify that the brake lights illuminate. We remove each wheel to inspect and measure the components underneath: pad or shoe thickness, rotor or drum wear. We inspect calipe ... read more

“Vehicle diagnostics have become a necessary service to get to the root of what is going on. Here are a few things you can do to lower your costs low and keep your vehicle functioning well.” We of a certain age may have fond memories of grandpa, uncle, or dad beneath a shade tree with the hood propped open. Sleeves rolled up, rag stuffed in pocket, oil can resting on the fender on a Saturday afternoon. Have you been under your hood lately? Gone are the big carburetors and valve covers. Gone too are the up-front pulleys, fan blades, and shiny radiator caps. Likely you see a large plastic covering 90% of the engine bay. You may not even have an engine oil dipstick, and have to rely on the computer system to report oil level! The message is clear – DIY-ers, you’re not welcome here. Vehicle power plants and comfort features have become increasingly functional, and increasingly complex. Power, comfort, and fuel economy used to be mutually exclusive; now they a ... read more

“Why Change Your Oil?” If you drive a car, there is no doubt you have heard that you need to change your oil every 3,000 to 5,000 miles. But do you know why? Cars today are absolute engineering marvels. In recent years we have learned to squeeze more and more performance from engines by utilizing technologies such as variable valve timing and lift, cylinder deactivation, direct fuel injection and turbochargers. As consumers we have demanded more performance and more fuel economy for our dollar. Parts inside the engine move incredibly fast, generating friction and heat. Engine oil provides lubrication and cooling, allowing the parts to work together smoothly without overheating or seizing. Additionally, advanced engine technologies such as variable valve timing, employ oil pressure to activate, providing fuel economy when you want it and engine power when you need it! Driving too long between oil changes can be risky business. Fast-moving parts break dow ... read more

This week we found ourselves with a little time on our hands; decided to go after the valve cover gasket leak on our 1993 Toyota Pickup. This thing has been our shop truck since 2015, and it's a great little runner! Four wheel drive, manual transmission - fun to drive and extremely capable.  As it sometimes goes with automotive repairs, once we got under the hood we found a few other things. The power steering pump was leaking, and needed to be replaced. The engine thermostat housing was also leaking and we decided as long as we were there, why not?  We thought we were going to be done here, but while our technician had the timing cover peeled back, he noticed large cracks in the timing belt! I guess we shouldn't be surprised, given the truck is 1993 and has 137,xxx on the clock. Original timing belt, needed to be replaced.  Anyway, long story short - we're confident this list of repairs has given our beloved shop truck a new lease on life. And quite possi ... read more