Gig Harbor Auto Repair

Your vehicle may be wearing boots right now and you might not even know it.  They're called ball joint boots.  They're actually protective, flexible things that protect parts of your suspension (called ball joints) from all the hazards the road can fling at them.  If one of those ball joint boots fails and you don't get it replaced, the ball joints themselves could wind up failing, a repair that can be even more expensive.  Ball joint boots not only keep things like rocks, salt, water and dirt out of your ball joints, they also help the ball joints keep their lubrication inside and working properly.  To do that, the boots have to be made of a flexible material, sometimes rubber, sometimes a synthetic.  They do take a beating, exposed to temperature extremes and debris, and eventually they can tear or crack just because of their age.  Unless someone is keeping an eye on your ball joint boots, you may never know there's a problem.  That's why when ... read more

When people in GIG HARBOR talk about vehicle safety, they think of tires and brakes. But do we think about our windshields? Isn't the ability to see a prime safety factor when it comes to driving around WA? Yet we often don't even notice our windshields until we can't see through them or our wiper blades fail.It's estimated that around 46 million people are driving with wipers that won't keep their windshields clear during a storm — that's 46 million people with impaired vision during a storm. For safety's sake, GIG HARBOR drivers need to change the way they think about wiper blades. Most of us, 78% in fact, only change our wiper blades after they fail. In other words, we don't get new ones until the old ones become a safety hazard. Instead, we need to make wiper blades part of our preventive maintenance routine.Wiper blades should be changed twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. In WA areas that experience harsh winter weather, special blades are available that prevent i ... read more

Your brake pads are the important parts that rub against the rotor (or disc) to slow and stop your car when driving in GIG HARBOR. They eventually wear down.When your pads are worn too much, they won’t stop your vehicle as well. When the friction material is worn away, metal parts of the pad are exposed and you’ll hear a squeal or grinding sound. That’s when GIG HARBOR drivers should replace their brake pads at Mackert Automotive LLC. Not only will new pads restore your stopping power, but replacing them on time will prevent damage to the rotor.If your brakes are making noise, ask your Mackert Automotive LLC service advisor to inspect your brakes. Addressing problems early will restore your safety and prevent expensive brake damage.Mackert Automotive LLC3416 57 STREET CT NWGIG HARBOR, WA 983352538513307mackertautomotive.com

Some of us GIG HARBOR drivers just love tires. All those little rubber hairs on new tires and the smell is wonderful. We live in a great time for tires. No matter how you drive around WA, where you want to go or the look you're after; there is a tire for you.The same is true about wheels. The hardest part is choosing from the thousands of wheels available at WA tire shops.The team at Mackert Automotive LLC can help you get some things in mind before you make a purchase. Let's start with function and think about how you drive.For example, maybe you have a large SUV but you don't drive off-road around WA, so an off-road tread isn't important. Also, because you are not out bouncing over rocks in the WA backcountry, you don't need a high profile tire to protect your rims. So that means you can probably go with the low-wide look.If you have a winter season with rain and snow or if you find you need better ice and snow performance, they make great, high-performance snow tires that won't ... read more

Sometimes busy GIG HARBOR residents dream about going back to the “simpler” days of our grandparents. But if you could travel back in time and take a road trip around WA in a Model T, you might change your mind. The improved designs and quality of today's automobiles have significantly reduced the amount of time GIG HARBOR residents spend at the side of the road during breakdowns. With proper maintenance, today's vehicles can stay on the road longer than ever before.Some of those improvements, however, have led to higher repair costs. For example, older cars often broke down from vapor lock. Gas vaporized while traveling from the gas tank to the fuel pump. No gas, no power. The car quits going. The solution was simple — you just sat by the road until the car would start up again. Today's GIG HARBOR drivers would hardly tolerate that kind of inconvenience, and it's likely that yesterday's GIG HARBOR drivers didn't care much for it, either. So on today's vehicles ... read more

Hi GIG HARBOR residents. Let's talk fuel injectors. 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.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 also adjusts the fuel injectors accordingly so that they can deliver the proper amount of fuel to the engine. As you can see, fuel injectors are a sophisticated and vital part of your vehicle's engine. Because fuel injectors are such precision instruments, dirt and contaminants are a serious detri ... read more

Screeching tires, crunching metal – it's an accident! If you've ever been in a car accident in GIG HARBOR, even a minor one, you know how upsetting it can be. It's hard to think straight and know what to do.Let's review what GIG HARBOR drivers should do in case of an accident:When an accident occurs, you should always stop. Leaving the scene of an accident in GIG HARBOR is considered a crime - even if it's not your fault. And hit and run penalties are fairly severe, possibly resulting in steep fines, loss of your WA driver's license or even jail time.Your jurisdiction may require that you try to help someone who is injured by calling for help or performing first aid if you are able. Warn other motorists by putting out flares, using your flashers or lifting your hood. Call GIG HARBOR emergency services as soon as possible. Tell the operator if medical or fire help is needed.You should always file a police report. It's tempting to skip this if everything seem ... read more

  All GIG HARBOR drivers have blind spots – and no, I'm not talking about the fact that you really don't sing like Adele. I mean the areas of the road that you can't see when you're driving around GIG HARBOR.First let's talk about our own blinds spots, and then we can talk about others...To begin, we can greatly reduce blind spots by properly adjusting our mirrors to give the widest coverage possible. Make the adjustments in your vehicle before you start to drive.First, GIG HARBOR drivers should adjust their rear view mirrors to give the best possible view directly to the rear of their vehicle. GIG HARBOR folks don't need it to get a better view of either side of the car, the kids in the back seat or their dazzling smile. It's pretty obvious, the rear view mirror should reflect 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 your car. Now, lean your head to the middl ... read more

Ever notice that your tire is covered with writing? It's like some hieroglyphic art form. Of course, GIG HARBOR drivers know that it's not just graffiti, but to most of us, it might as well be. Would you like to know what all those codes on your tire mean? It won't lead you to buried treasure, but it could help you make a better tire purchase at your local GIG HARBOR tire store.Prominently featured on your tire is a set of numbers and letters that looks something like this: 225 50 R 16 92 H. The first number is the width of the tire in millimeters, or the width between the sidewalls of the tire when it is fully inflated and not carrying a load. When GIG HARBOR drivers replace tires, they need to match this width number, or the tires won't fit properly in the wheel wells.The 50 is the aspect ratio of the tire, which is measured by taking the height of the sidewalls and dividing it by the tread width. If you drive off-road around the GIG HARBOR area, it should have a high aspect ratio. F ... read more

Repair or Replace? That’s a question GIG HARBOR drivers ask when they have tire damage. Some punctures cannot be repaired because of their size or location. Punctures larger than a quarter of an inch (6.4 mm) are considered too large to be safely repaired. Punctures in the sidewall or near the shoulders may not be able to be repaired. And sometimes there is internal damage revealed on inspection that indicates the tire should not be repaired. Run flat tires should not be repaired. Repairing high performance tires may make them unsuitable for motorsports. Your friendly and professional Mackert Automotive LLC service advisor can inspect your damaged tire and tell you if it can be safely repaired or if it should be replaced - and then help you get back on the roads around GIG HARBOR.Give us a call.Mackert Automotive LLC3416 57 STREET CT NWGIG HARBOR, WA 983352538513307mackertautomotive.com