Ft. Collins Auto Repair

Of all the parts on a car or truck, the ones most closely connected to the safety of the driver are, in my mind, the brakes. The braking system is what we rely on to not only stop the vehicle, but slow it down as well. The two basic types of brake systems are the pad and rotor, and the shoe and drum styles. The older of the two is the drum and shoe which employs a shoe which fits inside of a round drum and is pressed against the inside of the drum by a hydraulic component known as a wheel cylinder. The wheel cylinder is operated by the master cylinder inside the engine compartment which sends pressure by way of brake (hydraulic) fluid to the wheel cylinder pressing the shoe into the drum. The pad and rotor system is the newer of the two and consists of a set of pads which are pinched into both sides of a metal plate we call a rotor. The pinching is performed by a caliper in which the pads are mounted and which like the wheel cylinder is operated by hydraulic pressure from the master cy ... read more

There are two cooling systems in a car or truck. One has to do with the driver and we call that one air conditioning. The other is to keep the engine cool and that is the one that is the topic of this post. The Engine Cooling System consists of the the radiator up front behind the grille, the hoses from the radiator to and from the engine, the hoses to and from the radiator to the heater (known as the heater core) inside the car, and other items including the thermostat. The thermostat sits between the radiator and the engine, most often on the engine and regulates the flow of coolant through the system. It opens and closes by means of a spring which expands and contracts from the heat of the coolant. The typical coolant temperature of most vehicles is around 180 degrees F. Boiling is around 200 degrees. Since the system is sealed by a radiator cap that allows the system to become pressurized

I am often asked what type or make of car/truck would I recommend, and my answers are not always the same. Much of the decision rests with who it will be driving the vehicle, for what purpose the vehicle will be used, and of course, how much money will be spent and how much is available to make repairs and keep the vehicle serviced. Many inquiries are for what people want to get for their newly driving youngsters. That category needs a car to get to and from school, events such as sporting and shopping. Most of the driving is done around town by pretty inexperienced people so I recommend a mid sized vehicle which offers a bit more safety than the smallest cars. I also suggest something that can be dinged or dented a bit in the school parking lot or around town without it becoming a major family event. Unless the family is well to do, I recommend against European vehicles as they tend to come with the most expensive repair histories. Everything else is pretty much in play, though I sugg ... read more

Air Conditioning Alert: I recently found out that the cost of freon 134a has doubled since last year. Nobody really knows why, other than the fact that the industry has a history of raising prices without good reasons. Rarely do we see a price decrease for oil, antifreeze, and other petroleum based products in the automotive repair and maintenance industry. Meanwhile, the older freon, R

On Thursday I testified before the Colo House of Reps committee on Health and Environment on behalf of emissions testing along the north Front Range. In case you have never btdt, it is mostly a crock. They have a hearing where they pretend to care what you say, attack the people who they don’t agree with, and shuck and grin with those they do like. It is politics at its absolute worst. Their minds are made up in advance and deliberation is instantaneous. I learned something new, the chair of the Weld County Board of Commissioners stated that the ozone threatening the north Front Range is not created by us, oh no, it comes here FROM CHINA. OH YEAH. China. I guess that sort of thinking comes from inhaling all those sweet smelling feed lot fumes they get over there in Weld. You know the ones, Fort Collins: they come here on a southeasterly wind from time to time. So they proposed killing the emissions program that has been running for two months on July 1, 2011 and then maybe bringi ... read more