Chesapeake Auto Repair

Timing Belt Replacement in Chesapeake   Today we want to talk about timing belts. They’re something that many Chesapeake drivers don’t know much about and yet your vehicle won’t run if it’s broken – and it could cause many thousands of dollars damage if it does break. A broken timing belt is usually a tale of woe. Even though timing belt replacement is scheduled in the owner’s manual, it’s not the kind of thing that most Chesapeake car owners remember because it’s not well understood. Let’s review what a timing belt does. As you know, the engine’s power is generated in the cylinders. A piston rides up and down in the cylinder. During the first down stroke, an intake valve at the top of the cylinder opens and air and fuel is drawn into the cylinder. Then the piston returns to the top, compressing the fuel and air mix. At the top, the spark plug fires, igniting the fuel pushing the piston down in the power stroke. A ... read more

Chesapeake Air Conditioning Service   Working up a sweat is a great thing to do in a gym around Chesapeake, but not in your car. When your car’s AC System has a problem, you’ll often feel it right away. The question is, how long do you put up with it? You know, the old comfort versus cost dilemma. But a more comfortable drive around Chesapeake has a lot of benefits, and keeping the AC System well maintained can help prevent expensive repairs. A common cause for AC failure is water and air in the system. The system does not work as well with air in it. And water can cause rust that leads to damage of the A/C components. Also refrigerant, the stuff that makes the air cold, can leak out, reducing the efficiency of the system, making it work harder to try to cool the air. That is why periodically evacuating the air conditioning system and recharging it keeps the proper amount of clean refrigerant in the system so it cools better and lasts longer. You should also run th ... read more

Keeping Your ‘Old Faithful’ Auto Running   At West Service Center, Inc. we’ve had a lot of Chesapeake, Portsmouth, and Suffolk clients asking how they can make their vehicles last longer. These questions are actually a reflection of a trend that’s been building for several years. The median age of personal vehicles is now over nine years. And 33 percent of all vehicles on the road have over 75,000 miles on them. It looks like it’s going to keep heading in that direction for a while. With high fuel prices a lot of Chesapeake folks are putting off buying a new car. Thanks to AutoNetTV, we can provide you with a video answer to this critical question. So let’s say you’re one of the average people in the Chesapeake area; you’ve got a nine year old car with 80,000 miles on the odometer. What can you to do make it last another year or two? Let’s start with the premise that there’s no reason that a modern car ... read more

Breathe Deep With Your Cabin Air Filter   Bad air quality while you’re driving around Portsmouth is nothing to sneeze at. But seriously, more and more vehicles these days come equipped with a cabin air filter. Since they’re fairly new on the scene, a lot of folks don’t know about them yet. These filters clean the air in the passenger compartment, or cabin, of your car or truck. They do the same job as the furnace filter you have at home. They can filter out particles as small as thee microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns. So your cabin air filer can clean out dust, pollution, pollen and spores, to keep the air in your car nice and clean. And just like your furnace filter, they need to be replaced when they get dirty. Check your owner’s manual, but they typically need to be replaced at around twelve to fifteen thousand miles. The filter is usually either under the h ... read more

Are There Blind Spots In Chesapeake Virginia?   Everyone in Chesapeake Virginia has blind spots – and no, I’m not talking about the fact that you really don’t sing like Jessica Simpson. I mean the areas of the road that you can’t see when you’re driving around Chesapeake. First let’s talk about our own blinds spots, and then we can talk about others… To begin, we can greatly reduce our blind spots by properly adjusting our mirrors to give the widest coverage possible. Make the adjustments in your van before you start to drive. First, adjust your rear view mirror to give the best possible view directly to the rear of your car. You don’t need it to get a better view of either side of the car, the kids in the back seat or your dazzling smile. The rear view mirror should look to the rear. Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver’s side window. Adjust your side mirror so that you can just barely see the side of ... read more