Ft. Collins Auto Repair

From time to time we see vehicles at the side of the road resting on the steering and suspension with a wheel missing. It looks terrible, but in most cases it is not as bad as it looks. Wheels can come off for a number of reasons, but the most common is that the lug nuts holding the wheel in place are not properly tightened. Those lug nuts have a specified tightness, called a torque specification, to which they are to be tightened. Most of us use a special wrench (torque wrench) which measures how tight the nut has been placed to hold the wheel. Some people use what is known as a torque stick that fits on the end of a wrench and accomplishes the same thing. Either way, it is important that whenever a wheel is removed for any reason, it should be torqued down rather than being just randomly having the lug nuts wrenched on. There are a number of reasons a car or truck should have the lug nuts torqued. Most important, is safety. If the nuts are not tight enough, they can come unscrewed an ... read more

Hello Winter! But what about our trusty steeds? I have some tips that you may find helpful in this really cold weather. When starting a really cold car or truck, turn on the defroster right away and let it gradually heat up the windshield as the engine warms the coolant. This will prevent small chips and dings from becoming huge cracks. Make sure the antifreeze in your vehicle is good to -37F which is the equivalent of a 50/50 mixture of antifreeze and water. You can purchase a 50/50 mix these days at all places that sell antifreeze, from NAPA, Carquest, to The Zone (Autozone), O’Reilly Auto Parts (Formerly Checker), Kmart, Target or Walmart. Be careful when adding that antifreeze to a hot engine, do it slowly. Keeping your tank filled or with a substantial amount of gasoline will prevent gas line freeze ups by keeping small amounts of water that accumulate in the tank on the bottom of the tank. Make sure your spark plugs are clean or new so that you will get a full spark on the ... read more

In Colorado, the seller of a used car or truck is responsible for the emissions test required in the licensing to the new owner. If you buy a used car from a private party and the vehicle fails the emissions test, the seller is required by Department of Revenue rules to repair the car or truck to pass, or refund the purchase price. However, to enforce the rule, it may be necessary to sue the seller who does not want to comply and that is a big pain in the butt. If you buy from a new or used car dealer, the same holds true when the dealer has not had the vehicle tested. Only, the dealer is allowed to provide you with a voucher to have the test run, with the same rule about failures as the private party. My advice: have the vehicle emissions tested before you buy it and save some potential brain and financial damage

We used to charge a fee on nearly every invoice of 5% with a max of $10. Then it was brought to my attention that this is not always necessary or appropriate, and after I thought about it, YEAH, it’s not! I decided that charging some sort of random indescriminate fee was not right and we dropped it out completely several years ago. My cost for uniforms, towels, tp, water, and the like are not billed as “supplies&rdquo

Every fall we offer a package that includes an oil change and inspection to find out if there are any areas of your vehicle that need attention. The cooling system (engine cooling, that is) takes precedence for most of us here in Colorado. We get some pretty cold temps here on the front range, though not as bad as the folks back east imagine. But many of us also ski and ride in the mountains every winter and we need to know that we will not have a frozen engine block as a result. In addition to checking the condition of the antifreeze in the car or truck, we check for the condition of the hoses and belts to be sure they do not fail. We do that by pressurizing the cooling system and looking for leaks in the hoses, radiator, heater core or connections. We look over the belts to see if cracking or separation has occurred and will lead to failure. Our inspection also includes steering and suspension, starting and charging systems, brakes, battery, tires and all fluids. So, if you don&rsquo ... read more