Florissant auto repair

A fuel injector is a valve that delivers fuel to a vehicle's engine. It has to deliver the precise amount of fuel to precisely the right place, precisely when the engine needs it. The fuel also has to be mixed with air before it can burn in the engine.Fuel injectors are engineered to spray fuel in a specific pattern into the engine. (The pattern varies by engine type and design.) In order to achieve these spray patterns, the fuel must be pressurized.The pressure in a fuel injection system varies depending on its type. Many gasoline engines use port injection systems, which operate with a pressure of 60 pounds per square inch. Newer direct injection systems operate at 10 to 30 times that pressure. Some diesel passenger vehicles have fuel injectors that operate at 30,000 pounds or more per square inch.Vehicles have one fuel injector for each cylinder in the engine. Your vehicle's control computer constantly monitors the engine and various sensors in the vehicle.  It ... read more

The price of gas and the uncertain economy are both causing Missouri residents to review their finances. More and more Florissant drivers are opting to keep their vehicles longer and put off purchasing a newer car. It is estimated that two-thirds of the vehicles on the roads of North America today have over 75,000 miles/120,000 km on them. And the average age of vehicles is now over eleven years. That translates to some car care issues that many Florissant men and women haven't dealt with in the past. Older vehicles simply have different maintenance requirements than newer ones. Learning those requirements presents a challenge for people in Florissant because many owner's manuals only publish maintenance schedules up to 60,000 or 90,000 miles (96,000 or 145,000 km). Vehicle owners have to keep good records and be more involved in planning preventive maintenance if they want to keep their vehicles on the road. First of all, any service in your owner's manual that comes ... read more

If you are a driver in Florissant and you aren't currently using synthetic motor oil in your vehicle, maybe now's the time to consider it. Need more information? Well, synthetic motor oil is a substitute for petroleum based oil. 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 Florissant, 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. Why is this? 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 ... read more

  It seems like everywhere you go in the Florissant area you see custom wheels. Big trucks, little cars, mini-vans - it doesn't matter - are expressing themselves with custom wheels. Some Missouri auto owners want smaller tires and wheels - some want larger - and some want them enormous. So where do you start if you want new wheels? At garysautorepair, we suggest you start with your budget. We know, that sounds so practical. But if the look you're after goes beyond just new tires and wheels and enters into the world of suspension modifications, you need to be prepared for the additional cost.Let's start with something easy - you want to give your ride a unique look and the stock wheel size is just right for you. One of the concerns you will have is that the new wheels have the same offset as your vehicle factory wheels.Your tire and wheel professional at garysautorepair in Florissant can help you find the right size wheel or install adapters to make your new wheels fit ... read more

All of us in Florissant know we have to get the oil changed in our vehicles periodically. That's just part of good vehicle care. But when garysautorepair technicians change your oil, they also usually inspect your air filter. That's why they sometimes let you know that your air filter needs to be changed before releasing your vehicle.Don't just chock this up to trying to sell you something else. Florissant area drivers really do need to change their air filter when it gets dirty. You can check your owner's manual to see how often your air filter should need to be changed, but remember, if you live in an area in Missouri with poor air quality, or if you drive a lot or drive under harsh conditions in the Florissant area, you may need to change that filter more often than is recommended.Changing an air filter isn't guesswork. If a filter's dirty, it needs to be replaced. Air filters aren't very expensive ... read more

A lot of people get custom wheels in Florissant. When you do this yourself (over the internet . . .) you could run into trouble if you're not careful. Sometimes, once they're mounted, they just don't fit right. The tires rub in turns or on bumps. You don't want that. Consulting your garysautorepair tire professional can ensure you get the right fit. First he'll ask you a series of questions about your Florissant driving needs and what you want in your new wheels. Now, not every wheel can go on every car. Care must be taken so that tires and wheels are not too large or that the wheel is centered too far towards the outside or the inside so the tires rub.If you don't want to make any modifications to your vehicle, you would need to focus on the wheels that would fit. With trucks, some people in Florissant like much bigger tires so they need a suspension lift.Also, most Florissant drivers don't realize that you need to keep the rolling diameter of ... read more

Hello Florissant! Let's talk about alignment. One of the most important parts of preventive maintenance for your vehicle is keeping the wheels in alignment. Poor alignment causes your tires to wear unevenly, which can significantly reduce their lifespan. This means you will have to replace them more often, which can be costly for drivers in Florissant.It can even damage your suspension system, which is costly to repair. But even more importantly, uneven tread wear can lead to blowouts on the road, a dangerous and potentially deadly safety risk for Florissant drivers and their passengers.It may not take an accident or bad driving habits to “knock” your tires out of alignment. Tires can go out of alignment with just everyday Missouri driving. Florissant road hazards, pot holes, uneven or gravel roads, and even the bumps and bounces of normal Florissant roads and surface streets can gradually put your vehicle tires out of alignment.So it's goo ... read more

Let's talk about air quality in Florissant. It's a global issue, but affects us wherever we are. Many decades ago, Florissant drivers began to become aware of how air pollution negatively affects health. But what about the air inside your vehicle?Now, it's only been in the last few years that cabin air filters have become common in Florissant. You can look in your owner's manual to see if you have one. If you do, there'll be a recommendation for replacing it when it gets dirty. If you live in an area of Missouri where there's a lot of dust, pollen or pollution, you may need to change it more often.You can also ask your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at garysautorepair in Florissant. How hard is it to change an air filter on a car? It depends on your vehicle. Some are quite accessible; others take some doing to get to them. They're usually in the engine compartment or under the dashboard.Because cabin air filters are so new on the scene, some people hav ... read more

Blind spots may be a good thing when it comes to a spouse's annoying habits, but when driving an automobile in Florissant, they are definitely to be avoided. So, while it's not good marital advice, it's good auto advice to minimize your own blind spots and stay out of other Florissant drivers' blind spots, especially when it comes to large, heavy vehicles like trucks and buses.First, minimize your own blind spots. Do this before you pull out of the driveway or parking space. Adjust your rearview mirror so that you see as much of the area behind you as possible. And, no, this doesn't include the passengers in the back seat. The rearview mirror isn't designed to be a baby monitor.Next, lean to the side until your head almost touches the driver's side window. Now adjust the driver's side mirror so that it just catches the side of the vehicle. Then, lean to the middle of the car and adjust the passenger's side mirror in the same wa ... read more

Today's garysautorepair post focuses on using coolant. If you pour in the wrong kind, it won't protect the cooling system and may even void the warranty. Check your vehicle owner's manual. Of course, your garysautorepair service advisor will know the proper coolant for your vehicle.Brake fluid is confusing for some Florissant drivers. Back when we opened garysautorepair, most vehicles used Dot 3 brake fluid. Now we have Dot 4 and Dot 5. Some Florissant residents mistakenly think the higher numbers are an upgrade. You know, if 3 is good then 4 must be better. That's not how it works. They are different formulations to meet the demands of differences in brake systems. Only one of them is designed for your vehicle.Ditto for transmission fluid. For decades there were two basic types of tranny fluid used at garysautorepair: friction modified or not. With the tremendous engineering advances in vehicle automatic transmissions, there have been several new types of fluids developed to pro ... read more