Chesapeake Auto Repair

Cool Running In Chesapeake Unless you live in Death Valley, you really don’t hear much any more about cars overheating. That’s because cooling systems in vehicles have been much improved. That doesn’t mean you can’t overheat your van engine, though. Without proper preventive maintenance, you could still find yourself on the side of the expressway in Chesapeake waiting for your van engine to cool down. When you service your cooling system at West Service Center, Inc., your technician will check the condition of the coolant. It can become corrosive over time, which can damage a radiator — leading to an overheated engine. Changing the coolant periodically is good car care. Your van owner’s manual can give you guidelines on how often to replace it. If your engine overheated, your honest tech will also check your coolant system for leaks. Check the va ... read more

What is That? Check Engine Light Service At West Service Center, Inc. Okay. You went to your local Chesapeake car wash and while your van was under the dryer, the check engine light started flashing. Panic! What did you just do? Something is seriously wrong with the van! You head for the nearest Chesapeake service station, but on the way, the check engine light stops flashing, and just glows red. Hmm. Maybe things aren’t as bad as they seem. You decide to wait until payday to take your van in to get serviced. In the meantime, the check engine light goes off. What? You decide the light must be faulty, or that when it comes on it doesn’t mean anything, or that it’s just in your van as some sort of scam to get you to pay for unnecessary costly repairs. You’re glad you didn’t take your car to the Chesapeake repair shop and resolve to ignore that engine light in the future.   Whoa! Let’s look at what really happened. Your van was under an air ... read more

The West Service Center, Inc. Guide To Vehicle Diagnosis   Modern Chesapeake vehicles have several computers on board that control all kinds of things like engine functions, transmission shifts, traction control, anti-lock brakes, stability control, emissions – and on some vehicles, even steering, braking and the throttle. Think about that for a minute – things that used to be controlled by simple mechanical connections now have electronic controls that rely on computers, software and sensors. It’s no wonder that when something goes wrong with their van it can be pretty complicated for Chesapeake car owners to track down the source of the problem. To help your West Service Center, Inc. tech figure out what’s wrong, your van is equipped with on-board diagnostics. The Check Engine Light comes on to tell you there’s a problem and the engine manageme ... read more

West Service Center, Inc. Engine Air Filter Replacement When your experienced West Service Center, Inc. service advisor technician changes your oil, he will also inspect your air filter. You shouldn’t need a new filter at every oil change, but you will need to change it regularly. Heed your service specialist’s auto advice if they tell you to change your filter. It’s not expensive, and it makes a big difference to your van. An air filter does what its name implies: it filters stuff out of the air. Air is drawn into your engine through the filter because your engine needs air to burn fuel. If the filter weren’t there, a lot of dust and debris would come into the van engine with the air. That dust and debris would get hot, burn, and produce all kinds of ash and gumminess that would eventually clog up your engine. But air filters themselves get clogged up with all the junk they clean out of the Chesapeake air. This doesn ... read more

Nighttime Visibility In Chesapeake   There are a number of factors that contribute to the high nighttime accident rate in the greater Chesapeake area, things like drowsy driving and a higher rate of impaired driving. Without a doubt, visibility is a major contributor. Let’s focus on visibility… It’s said that 90 percent of our driving decisions are based on what we see. Nighttime driving has the effect of reducing 20/20 vision to the equivalent of 20/50 vision. What you could clearly see at 50 feet in daylight can’t be seen until you are just 20 feet away at night. Too make sure your headlights are giving you the greatest visibility, visit us at West Service Center, Inc.. you’ll find us located on 904 Cavalier Blvd, Chesapeake, Virginia 23323. Please give us a call to make an appointment: 757-487-4420. Accident avoidance is dependent on reaction time. Reaction time deteriorates measurably in low light ... read more