Gig Harbor Auto Repair

Good brakes are obviously very important. If you've ever had your brakes go out while you're driving around the area, you'll know how terrifying it can be. Today we'll focus on how to tell when you have a brake problem, and how to make good repair choices. Often, the first indication that something's wrong with the brakes is an unusual sound. It could be a squeal, chatter or grinding sound. Some brake pads have a little piece of metal embedded in them that will make a squeal or chirping sound when the brake pads have been worn down to the point that they need to be replaced. It's an early warning indicator. When you hear that sound, schedule an appointment at soon at 253-851-3307. Now a chattering sound is more urgent. That usually indicates that something is loose. It could be a brake pad or even the brake calipers. If one of those parts falls off, you could have some serious trouble stopping the vehicle. It would be a good ide ... read more

Have you ever had an experience like this in ? You drive through the one of those automatic car washes. When you get to the end, where the dryer is blowing, your check engine light started flashing! You fear the worst, but within a block or two, the light stopped flashing, but stayed on. By the next day, the light was off. You wonder; "What was going on?" Well, it's actually a good lesson in how the Check Engine light works. Your air intake system has a sensor that measures how much air is coming through it. When you went under the high-speed dryer, all that air was blasting past the sensor. Your engine computer was saying, there shouldn't be that much air when the engine is just idling. Something's wrong. Whatever's wrong could cause some serious engine damage. Warning, warning! It flashes the check engine light, to alert you to take immediate action. It stopped flashing because once you were out from under the dryer, the airflow returned to nor ... read more

Today at we want to talk with you about a very important safety issue. This automotive safety warning is coming from a very unusual source: fire fighting experts. You've probably heard of E-85 gasoline being offered in the area. Some newer vehicle models are specifically built to run on E-85 - the rest are not. E-85 gasoline has been developed to fight air pollution and reduce oil consumption. E-85 fuel is a mix of 85% ethanol, a grain-base alcohol, and 15% gasoline. So-called Flex-Fuel vehicles are designed to use either normal gasoline or E-85 gas. The result is lower harmful exhaust emissions to our local community. All gas engines can run with up to 10% ethanol and in fact a lot of gasoline sold in the area does contain some ethanol. The problem comes when well meaning people without Flex Fuel certified vehicles put E-85 into the tank. At a 15% concentration, the potential for problems arises. Because of t ... read more

It's important for car owners to know battery basics. First, let's talk about which is harder on a battery - hot or cold weather. Most car owners think it's cold weather because that's when we call on our batteries to have enough power to start a cold engine. However, heat does more damage to a battery than cold. Truth is, our batteries start to die a little from day one. Keeping a full charge slows the process, which is hard with short trips because the alternator doesn't have time to fully recharge the battery from starting the engine. car owners can top off the charge with a computer controlled battery charger - say, once a month in the summer and every three months during the winter. As far as how long a battery will last, statistics show that 70% have given up the ghost within four years. By that time, they aren't capable of taking a full charge like they used to, and your alternator has to work o ... read more