Los Altos Auto Repair

Cayenne here and yes you can teach an old dog, i mean an old car new tricks,                                                                                                                                                                                                         The government mandates a lot of equipment on cars in Los Altos CA: emission devices and control computers, safety equipment like airbags and crash worthiness requirements. All of this is great for the Los Altos CA motoring public, but it does add quite a bit to the price of a new car.

Because new cars are more expensive, people in the Los Altos area are driving their old cars longer. The average car is now over nine years old. Two thirds of vehicles on the road in Los Altos have more than 75,000 miles. As cars age, their performance drops, they have difficulty idling for long periods and are more sensitive to weather extremes. Fortunately today's cars are up to the challenge – but they need a little help to keep on goin'.

Give Allied Auto Works a call to schedule your next maintenance.
2073 Grant Road & 1540 Miramonte Ave.
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227(Grant) 650.947.7228 (Miramonte)

Some owner's manuals don't specify service requirements at higher mileage. That doesn't mean it doesn't have to be done. In fact, it's more important than ever to stay on top of routine maintenance for cars with more than 75,000 miles.

First, just extend regular service intervals out: for instance a service that's recommended every 15,000 miles should be performed at 15,000, 30,000, 45,000 and 60,000 miles, and so on. Because of the additional stress older engines experience, the severe service maintenance schedule is more appropriate than the regular schedule – ask your service advisor. Watch for leaks – seals and gaskets dry out over time and don't hold the fluids as well as they used to.

It's also time to make sure you have a good Los Altos CA technician. There are some services and replacements that are scheduled after you put on some clicks, like timing belts, valve train adjustments, suspension, anti-lock brake service, air bags, etc. And unexpected repairs down the road are just par for the course. Check for unusual sounds, smells or the way your car feels. These could be hints that trouble's brewing. Better to catch it early before it turns into a costly repair.

And a regular wash and wax will help maintain your car's appearance. One of the things you can do to really help your high mileage vehicle is to begin using high mileage formulation fluids. There are special engine oils, coolants, and transmission and power steering fluids that are formulated for cars that have a few clicks on the old odometer.

High mileage oil is designed to condition seals and gaskets, reduce wear and avoid premature burn off. Older engines are dirtier inside – and dirty engines contaminate their oil faster. High mileage oil has special additives that clean the engine, removing sludge deposits over time. The result is less stress on the engine, better fuel economy and excellent wear protection.

Studies have even shown that using high mileage fluids early will actually prevent some of the problems of high mileage vehicles. So once you hit around 50,000 miles, consider stepping up to high mileage formulations. High mileage fluids cost a bit more than standard fluids because of the additional additives, but they can be worth their weight in gold in terms of preventing repair costs down the road. It does cost more to properly maintain a higher mileage vehicle – but it's way cheaper than a new car payment!

Til next week, this is Cayenne!

Good Day, Cayenne again and when I was a pup in Los Altos, my dad always made sure he took the cars in for Spring and Fall checkups. I was telling a friend that it's about time to get into Allied Auto Works for my checkup and he said that he read on the internet that modern cars don't need seasonal service.

My friend is (technically) right about some things, but from a practical standpoint, a seasonal check up still makes sense.

Back when my dad was teaching me about how to take care of the family sedan, most cars used a different weight of oil in the winter and in the summer. But most of today's modern engines run the same oil year round. High-tech engines and high-tech motor oils are better able to handle the seasonal changes.

Your owner's manual or Los Altos service advisor at Allied Auto Works can tell you the right oil to use.

Of course, you're concerned about the coolant or antifreeze. You don't want to overheat in the CA summer or freeze up in the winter. Your engine cooling system protects against both of these things. And modern coolant, or as it's sometimes called; 'antifreeze', is up to doing both very well. It's designed to last for more miles than most people drive in a year or two.

So how does a Spring and Fall check-up fit in? Let's start with Spring. Summer is coming. That means heat, more miles driven and road trips. It just makes sense to check your fluid levels and do a visual inspection to see that everything is up to snuff.

You may not be scheduled to drain and replace the coolant for some time, but you need to make sure you have enough coolant, and that you don't have any leaks or hoses that are about to fail.

That's pretty practical; a check-up to see if there are any problems or emerging conditions that could later become a problem, like a cracked belt.

And the same principle applies for getting ready for winter. Cold weather means lots of failed batteries. It takes more power to crank up a cold engine, and cold also decreases the available cranking power the battery has available.

So a battery test in the Fall could tell you if you've got a battery that is running on its last legs. And of course, if you live where winter temperatures get below 45 degrees or you have ice and snow, you'll want to consider changing to winter tires.

So Spring and Fall auto checkups at Allied Auto Works are practical reminders to get ready for the demands of the hot and cold seasons to come.

And odds are that you have one or more routine services that are due anyway. Like a transmission service, brake or power steering fluid, differential service – stuff like that. Are your wiper blades still good? Are your headlamps starting to dim?

So Spring and Fall: change your clocks, replace the batteries in your smoke detectors – and get a check-up for your cars.

See, dad was right again.

Come and see us at Allied Auto Works for your Spring and Fall automotive checkup.
Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road & 1540 Miramonte Ave
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227(Grant) 650.947.7228 (Miramonte)

Till next week, this is

Cayenne's Weekly Blog

Cayenne

 

Hi Cayenne here, today it is all about our techicians and their education and training.

Your car is important to you and keeping it running properly is vital to your Los Altos lifestyle. That's why you're smart to have it serviced regularly at Allied Auto Works in Los Altos. And even though it may just be routine maintenance, you want it done right by automotive professionals.

It's also very important to your Los Altos service center to keep you happy and on the road. You might be surprised at the amount of money our Los Altos auto service center spends annually to make sure our personal and trust service specialists are properly trained.

  Allied Auto Works offers a variety of automotive services for many kinds of vehicles. We need to be current on the latest techniques and parts so that we can give you quality service. Our Los Altos centers subscribe to data services that list the high quality parts and fluids recommended by your manufacturer.

And each service has a checklist of standard procedures. Allied Auto Works technicians follow these procedures so they can safely deliver a consistent level of high-quality service.

Some services at Allied Auto Works require the use of specialized equipment. Allied Auto Works technicians are trained extensively on this equipment so that they can service your car quickly and efficiently.

Classroom, video and hands-on training is provided by the company and outside trainers. It's not only important that personal and trust service specialists be able to perform a given task, they also need to be thoroughly trained in inspection and diagnostic techniques. One of the great services they perform is to detect potential problems before they become serious (and pricey).

The automotive service industry has standards for classifying and communicating problems to auto owners. For example, it's one thing to learn that your manufacturer recommends that you change your serpentine belt every 30,000 miles and another to learn that the belt is on the verge of failure. These standards help you understand the urgency of recommendations, letting you make better automotive service decisions.

CA folks may be interested to know that service technicians (including those at Allied Auto Works) are trained in compliance with federal and local Los Altos laws and regulations, including environmental regulations regarding the disposal of used parts and fluids.

It's the goal of Allied Auto Works to provide fast, courteous service. You should feel free to ask your personal and trusttechnician or one of the managers about your service or for more information about their recommendations.

At Allied Auto Works, well-trained service providers, established procedures, industry standards, and, of course, AutoNetTV, combine to give you the best auto service in Los Altos.

Good day to all, Cayenne here and today we’re going to be talking about serpentine belts for our Los Altos, CA customers. Let’s start by talking about the accessories that are driven by the serpentine belt. First is the alternator. That’s the key device that makes electricity to power the sedan and recharge the battery. Then there’s the air conditioning compressor that makes cool air for you while you're driving around CA in the summer.

The power steering and power brake pumps are driven by the serpentine belt in most Los Altos motorists' vehicles. Those pumps provide vital pressure that assists your steering and braking.

In many sedans, the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. The water pump is what circulates the coolant that protects your engine. In some cars around Los Altos, CA, the water pump is driven by the timing belt.

The radiator cooling fans on some sedans are also driven by the serpentine belt. Some have separate electric motors. That’s really a lot of vital work for one belt.

But modern engine design has a single belt that snakes around the front of the engine and drives most if not all of these accessories. Serpentine belts do a lot of key work, but they’re tough and can last Los Altos car owners for thousands of miles.

Just how long will they last? That’ll vary for each individual car in the Los Altos, CA area. Your vehicle manufacturer will have a recommendation for when it should be changed, but it could need it sooner. The good news is that a visual inspection at Allied Auto Works can detect a belt that’s getting close to failing.

Your personal and trust Allied Auto Works service specialist can look at the belt: if it has more than three or four cracks per inch, it needs to be replaced. A deep crack that’s more than half the depth of the belt - replace. Frayed, missing pieces, a shiny glazed look? Toss it.

What’s involved in replacing the belt at Allied Auto Works? First the old belt is removed. Then a new one is fitted around all the pulleys for the accessories and the drive. There’s a special pulley called a tensioner.

This pulley is mounted to the engine block with a spring loaded arm. Its essential job is to apply the correct amount of tension to the belt to keep it from getting loose and maybe slipping off. Because the spring in the tensioner pulley wears out, AutoNetTV and the automotive professionals at Allied Auto Works recommend Los Altos auto owners replace them at the same time as the belt. It just makes sense.

What are the warning signs that there’s a problem with the serpentine belt? You may hear a squealing sound from under the hood when accelerating around our Los Altos streets. A loose belt might give you a slow, slapping sound.

What do you do if your belt breaks? If you’ve actually had that happen on a busy Los Altos expressway, it can be a little scary. The first thing Los Altos car owners usually notice is that they have no power steering or power brakes. Don’t panic – you can still steer and brake, but you’ll have to do the work. It’ll be harder to steer and you’ll need more time and effort to stop, so plan accordingly.

Your dashboard will light up will all kinds of warnings. You’ll see a warning about your cooling system if you have a water pump that’s driven by the serpentine belt. This is critical because without your cooling system working, your engine will overheat. If you don’t stop you’ll have massive engine damage, maybe to the point that you need a new engine. Open your windows and turn the heater on full blast to provide a little engine cooling. Pull over as quickly as you safely can!

The battery light will come on because the alternator isn’t working. If your car’s water pump isn’t driven by the serpentine belt, you’re not in danger of overheating so you can drive a little further if necessary. But the battery will run down to the point where the car will just shut off. You don’t want that to happen while you’re driving in our local Los Altos, CA traffic.

Remember, Los Altos car owners can avoid this stressful scenario if they replace their sedan serpentine belt on schedule. Ask your personal and trust Allied Auto Works tech to check your belts and hoses from time to time so you can take care of them if they need to be replaced prematurely.

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road & 1540 Miramonte Ave
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227-Grant Rd.  650.968.7228-Miramonte

Cayenne here and people in Los Altos have been hearing a lot about higher oil change intervals these days. Maybe you're wondering: What are the key issues?

Some new vehicle manufacturers in Los Altos are now recommending much higher oil change intervals than they have in the past. As much as 5,000 to 8,000 miles or more. This practice came under scrutiny when four of the largest new car manufacturers announced that owners like those in Los Altos were experiencing engine damage resulting from these higher oil change intervals.

The manufacturers' standard oil drain service for particular vehicles was scheduled at around 7,500 miles. People following these recommendations were experiencing engine damage. It turns out that oil sludge was building up. This caused small oil passages to clog and engine parts to fail.

What causes oil sludge? It's a factor of time and mileage. There are hot spots in every engine that cause oil burn off that leads to sludge. Also, water from normal condensation can build up in the oil. This water also creates sludge. Severe driving conditions lead to more rapid sludge formation.

Visit Allied Auto Works in Los Altos, CA 94024

Severe driving around Los Altos includes short trips under four miles or trips under ten miles in freezing conditions. The engine just doesn't get warm enough for the water in the oil to evaporate.

Severe conditions are at the heart of the problem. Stop-and-go driving, towing, dusty conditions, heavy loads, very hot or very cold temperatures, a car top carrier – these are all conditions that would suggest that the severe service schedule should be considered.

The severe service schedule has much shorter oil change intervals. People in Los Altos just need to honestly evaluate how they drive to determine if they should change their oil closer to the severe service schedule, or to the standard schedule.

Some types of sedan will give oil change reminders. But it's important to know how that reminder is determined. For some, the reminder simply comes when the standard mileage interval has rolled around. Others use a computer algorithm that takes into consideration the number of cold starts, trip length, engine temperature and so on. It's programmed to approximate where on the standard/severe service spectrum you fall. Some more expensive vehicles actually have sensors that test the cleanliness and effectiveness of the oil.

For the rest of us, better safe than sorry should be the guiding principle. Talk with your Los Altos service advisor at Allied Auto Works and work it out together. Find out what kind of oil the factory sends out in your vehicle. Sometimes it's a premium grade that costs more than standard oil – but it may be what's needed to meet a higher factory recommended interval.

If you're realistically conservative, standard grades of oil will take care of you year after year. If you want to push the limits, ask for a premium grade oil to give you extra protection.

So, what happened with those manufacturers with the problems from higher oil change intervals? They ended up extending the engine warranty for parts that were affected by oil sludge. But they had a stipulation – they lowered the oil change interval and the vehicle owner had to provide proof of oil changes at the new lower interval to keep the extended warranty.

Til next week this is Cayenne.

Every Los Altos car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter's dirty.

Hi it is Cayenne again and we are talking dirty, I mean air filter dirty.

Here’s what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your sedan owner’s manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your Los Altos technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed.

So between your owner’s manual and your Los Altos technician’s inspection there’s really no guesswork involved for Los Altos car owners.

Now, most air filters purchased in Los Altos, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, or Mt. View don’t cost a lot to replace. It’s just that CA people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Allied Auto Works can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in Los Altos.

Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Los Altos home. When it’s all clogged up, enough clean air can’t get through. In your sedan, that means that your engine can’t get as much air as it needs to burn the fuel efficiently. So it makes do with less air and has to use more pricey CA gas to move your vehicle around Los Altos roads.

Your sedan actually needs about 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of gas it burns. Engine air filters don’t cost much in Los Altos at Allied Auto Works. When it’s time to change yours, just get it done. You’ll get better gas mileage, have better performance and protect your sedan engine.

This is Cayenne educating you the consumer.

Cayenne here with myths from the bone pile,

Sometimes we hear Los Altos auto owners say, "What's up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don't break down." While it is true that today's cars and trucks are extremely reliable, they are also becoming increasingly complicated and use more exotic materials than ever before. All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most Los Altos auto owners don't realize how high tech automotive fluids have become. Fluids like, engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.

Did you know that a modern engine would not run for more than a few months using motor oil formulas from 30 years ago? Today's automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle's components from premature wear and corrosion. Time and miles march on for all of our cars. Please don't think we're using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance - but here are some personal stories from AutoNetTV staff members to emphasize and show how critical it is to get things done when they are due. Names are withheld to avoid embarrassment to those who should know better. Even though they should know better, it usually comes down to real life: time and income. But they are tales of a stitch in time saves nine.

The first comes from a staffer who bought a used pick-up truck for his son. The oil was clean and all the fluids were topped off. A short time later, the truck overheated on a highway in CA and shut down. The repair shop diagnosed the problem: the radiator pan was corroded and dumped the coolant. Even though the coolant level was correct, it was clear that the coolant had never been completely replaced - just topped off from time to time. While this kept the engine cool, all of the anti-corrosion additives had worn out; the coolant became acidic and ate through the radiator pan. The cost: hundred of dollars and four days in the shop. This demonstrates the need to get your coolant exchanged on schedule.

Another story involves the true cost of skipping an annual inspection. Our staffer took his SUV in for the CA safety inspection to renew his registration. At the Los Altos inspection station, he learned that the law had changed and that his newer rig only required an inspection every two years. He was very happy to save the money. The problem was, his rear brake pads were very worn. Two months later, it was bad enough that he could hear the grind - over the radio, DVD player and the kids. He took it in to get the bad news. Both of the rear brake rotors were damaged. The left one could be resurfaced. The right had to be replaced. So saving a little money on his safety inspection turned into an extra $500 over what brake pad replacement would have been. Moral of the story for Los Altos car owners: don't skip your vital annual inspections. The irony is that many Los Altos service centers would have done a brake inspection for free.

Next: a teenage daughter and a curb. Daddy's little princess smacked a curb when she turned into a shopping center and popped the tire. The problem came when Dad didn't get an alignment. The impact was hard enough to ruin the tire - so it was powerful enough wreck the alignment. But instead of an alignment after the first tire, Papa ended up buying a second tire a few months later - and then an alignment.

Situation: son and wife with cars from the same auto manufacturer with essentially the same engine. Our staffer checked the son's maintenance schedule and saw that it needed a timing belt replacement at 90,000 miles/145,000 km. He had it done - it cost several hundred dollars. His wife's car had about 60,000 miles/97,000 km, so it should be ok for a while. Right? Wrong. The problem was that the wife had the turbo charged version. Its belt was scheduled for replacement at 60,000 mi/97,000 km. At 63,000 mi./101,000 km, the belt snapped on the interstate. The valves all crashed down into the cylinders at high speed and the entire head was shredded and had to be replaced. The cost: several thousand dollars. Does he wish he had checked the auto maker's maintenance schedule? You bet he does - every time he passes a big-screen TV.

The team at Allied Auto Works in Los Altos recommends taking care of little things before they become big things. And when you take care of the little things, you can make your car run better and is more economical to operate in CA. Remember to save those maintenance records. It'll show potential buyers that you've taken care of your vehicle and it will help you get a better price. Or when you buy a used car, check those records. If there aren't any, assume that the maintenance hasn't been done and take it to your Sunnyvale or Mt. View service center or Allied Auto Works in Los Altos for an inspection. Take care of unperformed critical routine maintenance sooner rather than later.

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road & 1540 Miramonte Ave.
Los Altos, CA 94024
650.968.7227 & 650.947.7228

and this is no myth.......Cayenne

It's Cayenne and we are talking my favorite subject:  FOOD!

So what is the most distracting food to have in the car while driving around Los Altos?

Is it:

1. A Hamburger;
2. Coffee;
3. A Soft Drink
4. Gummy Bears or a
5. Nice juicey Steak Bone?

Well, you may be surprised to learn that all but the gummy bears and my favorite, the steak bone are in the top ten most distracting foods when you are driving, but if you chose 'coffee', then give yourself an extra two points; coffee is the number one food distraction for drivers in Los Altos and around the country.

Food distractions cause 25 percent of all car accidents; over a million and a half each year!

You'll notice that all of the top ten distracting food items are messy. Messy foods are the type of food you might spill (very distracting!), then try to clean up (a safe-driving impossibility!). If you gotta eat on the run, take five-then drive. You'll thank yourself later for two reasons, one being that you can actually relax for just a moment in our fast-paced world, and the other is that you won't have to worry about getting that cinnamon roll frosting out of your dashboard after that near miss.

Keep drinks in spill-proof containers, too, so you can keep your eyes on the Los Altos road without worrying about where that spill is headed.

So; taking a food break… Or filling out accident reports. We don't have to ask you which you prefer: It's a no brainer.

Allied Auto Works, along with Cayenne , wants you to keep both eyes on the road. Please eat safely and keep your eyes on the road.

Allied Auto Works
2073 Grant Road or 1540 Miramonte Ave.
Los Altos, CA 94024
Give us a call at: 650.968.7227 or 650.947.7228

Now where did I bury that Steakbone?    

 Cayenne here again and today we are talking about breathing, your car I mean.

This is something really amazing: For every gallon of gas your Los Altos car burns, it uses 12,000 gallons of air. All of that air has to be filtered to keep your engine clean.

That’s like a hundred gallons of air every block! The engine air filter is just another example of a very inexpensive part that has to do a tremendous amount of work. And when it works, everything goes well. But, when it doesn’t, well, it can lead to costly problems. Of course, your manufacturer recommends intervals for changing your air filter. But like most service intervals, where and how you drive your car affects when your filter needs to be changed.

Dusty conditions in and around Los Altos or polluted city driving means you’ll need to change your filter more often. Your Allied Auto Works technician can check your filter for you. In fact, it’s often a routine part of an oil change.

When you think about it, a clogged air filter won’t allow as much air through as a clean filter. Your car needs this air to efficiently burn its fuel, giving you better fuel economy and performance.

Dirtier filters don’t work as well as clean ones. A filter can only hold so much, after that, it allows dirt to pass right into your engine. Air filters come in all shapes and sizes. They also come in different grades. There are high performance air filters available for most cars. These high performance filters cost a little more, but they increase horsepower and may improve fuel economy to boot.

So have your air filter checked. If it needs replacing, it doesn’t cost very much and it should easily pay for itself in better fuel economy before your next oil change.

Stop by Allied Auto Works at 2073 Grant Road or 1540 Miramonte Ave, Los Altos, CA 94024, and we'll take a look at your air filter for you. Feel free to give us a call at 650.968.7227 (Grant Rd.) or 650.947.7228 (Miramonte) to make an appointment and tell them Cayenne sent you.

Hi from Cayenne and Allied Auto Works,

If you aren’t currently using synthetic motor oil in your Los Altos vehicle, maybe now’s the time to consider it. Need more information? Well, synthetic motor oil is a substitute for petroleum based oil says Cayenne.

Cayenne knows synthetic oil doesn’t gel or gum-up like petroleum based oil and it doesn’t vaporize as easily. "It protects better in severe driving conditions like stop and go driving around Los Altos, as well as in very hot or very cold conditions. More and more new vehicles are being delivered with full synthetic motor oil; with the recommendation to use synthetic for the life of the vehicle." says Cayenne.

Why is this asks Cayenne? Synthetic motor oil maximizes engine power and fuel economy. To see why; we’d need a microscope, so we’ll have to settle for using our imaginations.

The molecules of conventional motor oil are long hydrocarbon chains. Synthetic motor oil, on the other hand, has uniform, round molecules. Which is more slippery, a pile of pencils or a pile of marbles? How about bones?   Hmmm I'll have to look into that says Cayenne.

Synthetic motor oil lubricates better because there’s less friction. That means better wear protection, cooler operating temperatures, more power and better fuel economy. And synthetic oil doesn’t sludge up like conventional oil, so it prevents those small oil passages from clogging up.

Some manufacturers are extending oil change intervals. The added protection of synthetic oil covers you for these longer intervals. Talk with your service advisor about how you drive and see if he thinks you can benefit from synthetic oil. Also ask about the appropriate oil change interval for synthetic, because it may very well be longer than for conventional oil.

Most of us here in Los Altos have a busy life taking care of us dogs and might occasionally miss an oil change; go ahead admit it. Since we’re not perfect, doesn’t it make sense to use a motor oil that’s got your back?

Now synthetic oil costs more. But it lasts longer, protects better and increases fuel economy. You’ll likely save money in the long run. If you’re serious about making your car last longer, start using synthetic motor oil right away.

Give us a call at 650.968.7227 to schedule an oil change, or visit us at our Allied Auto Works website and tell them Cayenne sent you.

Till next time,

Cayenne