Ft. Collins Auto Repair

Smoke got you down? Just wait until your car or truck start to react to the smoke and ash. There is one and maybe even a second air filter in your vehicle. The first and most critical is the air filter which removes dust, dirt and ASH that is in the air the engine breathes. The other (and sometimes there are two) are called cabin air filters which filter the air that comes into the cabin of the car and with which we air condition and breathe. Make sure you have these critical air filters checked to ensure your car and your lungs can operate at full capacity. The last big forest fire we had here in northern Colorado we pulled out lots of really dirty, black filters and expect to see more soon. For top performance, you need all the air you can get into your engine and not have it restricted by smoke and ash residue. Same for your lungs

A customer came with us complaining that a headlight in his 2001 Lexus IS300 was out. He stated that he had replaced the bulb (retail cost $100.00!) without success. We determined that the ballast that fires up that pricey bulb was the problem and when contacting Toyota (maker of Lexus) we were informed that the whole headlamp assembly would need to be purchased for $1,000.00. Fortunately, we were able to locate a new ballast and when installed including labor the cost was a more affordable, yet very expensive $570, half part and half labor to remove the headlight assembly, replace the ballast and reinstall the assembly. The moral is that when you see a fancy new headlight or taillight assembly, it sure looks great, but if you should bump a pillar or pole in a parking lot and break one of these, you will be singing the blues. Progress? I think not

“It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything because the product you bought was incapable of doing the job it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it cannot be done. If you deal with lower price, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.” —- John Ruskin For every product made or service rendered, there is a person who will make that product or sell it a little cheaper. For every consumer, there is one searching for a little cheaper buy

We are made of water. Arthur Guyton ‘s Textbook of Medical Physiology states that “the total amount of water in a man of average weight (70 kilograms) is approximately 40 litres, averaging 60 percent of his total body weight. In a newborn infant, this may be as high as 75 percent of the body weight, but it progressively decreases from birth to old age, most of the decrease occurring during the first 10 years of life. Also, obesity decreases the percentage of water in the body, sometimes to as low as 45 percent”. (Guyton, Arthur C. (1991). Textbook of Medical Physiology (8th ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders. p

It happened to me recently. I noticed a bounce and clunk when shifting into reverse. Hmmm. I also noticed the noise when dropping into a lower gear for fast acceleration