State-of-the-Art Expertise / Personal Neighborhood Service

All vehicle manufacturers publish a schedule of recommended maintenance procedures to maximize the service life and utility of your vehicle through 120,000 to 150,000 miles. In addition, the automotive service industry has developed a similar maintenance strategy that can extend the useful life of your vehicle to 200,000 miles and beyond. These schedules consider your driving style and driving environment in establishing the timing and type of maintenance tasks that are required.  

Lubricant and Filter Service
Brakes and Brake Fluid Service
Tire/ Wheel Rotation
"Tune-Up"
Steering Systems Service
Suspension Systems Service
Battery Service
Cooling System Service
Timing Belt Service

Many late model vehicles have the ability to illuminate a reminder "lamp" when serviceable lubricants are nearing the end of their useful life.  This is a terrific feature.  Prompt responses to these reminders will assure long and reliable service-life for your vehicle.

Fully functional brakes are the most important safety consideration on any vehicle.  Modern brakes are designed to give many miles of trouble free service.  Regular inspections and services can insure that your brakes will go the distance.  Depending on driving habits and environment, your front and rear brake friction material will need renewal at 40,000 to 100,000 miles.  Periodic inspections in conjunction with each tire rotation is recommended, to preclude an inadvertent loss of braking effectiveness.    Brake fluid and brake components will, over time, react adversely with moisture in the air and result in degradation of the braking performance and damage to the brake system components.  For this reason, brake fluid should be tested regularly for moisture contamination, and should be completely replaced every 24 months.  For maximum service life, it is recommended that disc brake caliper slides be serviced yearly to renew anti-seize material that degrades over time.

Friction Material /Linings	Inspect /6000mi
Hydraulic Fluid	Renew /24mo
Caliper Slides	Service /12mo

        

Front wheel drive cars provide a difficult challenge for tires.  The front wheels typically provide 70% or more of the braking force and 100% of the acceleration and steering forces.  If not rotated on a regular basis, these tires will wear unevenly, causing; traction, vibration, and handling safety concerns.  Rear wheel drive vehicles also benefit from regular wheel rotation.  Tire pressure is the most important factor effecting tire wear and traction performance.  Tires tend to loose a small amount of pressure over time, additionally seasonal temperature variations can cause a reduction in tire pressure.  It is recommended that tire inflation pressure be verified and adjusted on a weekly basis.

Wheel /Tire Rotation FWD	Inspect, Rotate /6000mi
Wheel /Tire Rotation RWD /AWD	Inspect, Rotate /7500mi
Tire Inflation Pressure	Verify /1week

Vehicles with a full size spare, stored externally on a decorative rim (Jeep Wrangler, etc.) should have all 5 tires rotated every 10000mi.

A modern tune-up is considerably more complicated than in years past.  Changing spark plugs and filters are only a small parts of today's maintenance tune-up.  A typical late model vehicle with computer controlled fuel injection has a number of new systems to consider:  

1)  Fuel injection systems are sensitive to the cleanliness of the fuel.  A clean fuel filter is essential to efficient operation of your vehicle's power train.  Here in S.E. Wisconsin, abundant air born dirt will infiltrate your vehicle's fuel tank and clog a fuel filter in a few short years.  Your vehicle manufacturer's recommend fuel filter replacement interval should be strictly followed.    
2)  Oxygen sensors have become commonplace on all vehicles manufactured from 1996 on.  Many vehicles operate with as many as four oxygen sensors.  These sensors, located in your vehicle's exhaust plumbing,  allow the fuel injection system to constantly adjust  itself for optimum emissions and fuel economy.  They will degrade over time, causing poor drivability concerns and poor fuel economy.  In addition oxygen sensors can be seriously damaged by poor fuel quality, or defective engine seals.
3)  Fuel injectors are critical to a modern engine's health.  On higher mileage engines these injectors can be partially obstructed with gumy deposits caused by poor fuel or fuel impurities.  These deposits can make the injector stick causing a misfire.  Deposits can also degrade the normally fine fuel spray pattern, causing poor running and increased emissions.  Periodic "in-car" cleaning of these injectors will insure optimum performance.
4)  Intake system plumbing can accumulate deposits over time.  These deposits are a result of a modern emissions control strategy that recirculates a portion of the exhaust back into the engine.  Soot and carbon from this hot exhaust gas can accumulate, obstructing critical passages and causing drivability concerns, sticking throttle,  and poor emissions.  Periodic cleaning of these intake passages is recommended to insure smooth running.
5)  Each computer controlled vehicle comes with control software.  As vehicle control strategies evolve and improvements are developed, manufacturers will make software 'upgrades' available to correct manufacturing deficiencies and improve the functionality of your vehicle.  When performing tune-up related services, it is recommended that your vehicle be updated with the latest control software release.

6)  Ignition systems on late model vehicles operate with secondary voltages as high as 80,000 V.  In order to cope with theses high voltages, ignition wires are insulated with a new type of silicon.  While providing high initial performance,  wires insulated with this material will break down with high usage and cause ignition misfires when the wires have reached the end of their useful life.  It is important that all causes of ignition misfire be promptly addressed, as not only does it cause poor drivability and fuel economy, but severe and expensive damage can be done to the catalytic converter as well.  

Your vehicle's steering system includes a power steering pump and associated hydraulics, and a system of mechanical linkages and joints which transmit the rotations of the steering wheel into directional changes of the front wheels.  Needless to say proper maintenance of these components is extremely important to vehicle safety.  Power steering hydraulic fluid is extremely robust and need not be frequently changed.  The fluid condition should be periodically inspected for contamination, and the entire system should be periodically inspected for corrosion and leaks, especially on older cars.  Mechanical linkages and joints are subjected to high levels of wear-and-tear.  Items like ball joints and tie rod ends on late model vehicles usually have a service life of approximately 130,000 miles.  Some of these components are fitted with service fittings for periodic lubrication.  It has been our experience, that lubable fittings when properly serviced will last indefinitely.  When steering linkages wear appreciably, handling can become  seriously degraded and tire wear is greatly accelerated.  If these components wear to the point of failure, a life threatening condition will result.  Periodic inspections and services of these components are inexpensive, and can save costly repairs later in a vehicle's life.