Los Altos Auto Repair

Hi Cayenne here and you have heard the old saying, "Things aren't always what they seem."  This happens to me all the time when I walk into my master's bedroom and the nightlight casts a shadow on the wall.  I look like this large Direwolf walking into the bedroom but it is just little old me.  If the same with your vehicle. If you drive, you know at some point, something's going to go wrong with your vehicle.  And sometimes, it's pretty easy to figure out what's wrong, like a flat tire.  But sometimes your vehicle's symptoms can be really puzzling.  So today we will bark about what we think see or hear and what we need or should do.  Let's get barkin'!

One driver in CA was heading to work on a hot July day and noticed when he pressed the accelerator, sometimes it wouldn't do anything. He also noticed his cruise control wouldn't work and his traction control light was constantly on, very unusual.

He was trying to figure it out, but none of it made any sense.  His cruise control had always worked perfectly, his traction light never had gone on before and there was never any issue pressing on the accelerator.

It was time to take his car in for a professional diagnosis, and boy, was he surprised that it was a freak accident he'd had the previous WINTER that was the root of his problems.  You see, in January, his car had slipped on ice when he was in reverse and had gently tapped a tree.  That caused a tiny crack in his rear stoplight. 

That crack had gone unnoticed until that July day.  Turns out a summer rain allowed water to seep into the taillight casing, so this time when he drove to work, there was enough moisture inside it to cause his stop light to stick on.

When the stoplight is on, the car's computer is programmed to act as if the driver is pressing the brakes. It also disables the cruise, accelerator, and cruise control when the brakes are on, producing all of the symptoms.  Replacing the stop lamp switch fixed everything.

So, while some things that go wrong with your vehicle are pretty obvious, many seemingly defy all logic. That's when a trained technician can scope things out, replace the right part and get you going again.

“Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.” ~ Phaedrus

Cayenne