Crosse Auto Repair

For many of us, driving without power steering sounds impossible! Having to crank those great big steering wheels… oh my! How did people do it? Well, it was quite a work out that’s for sure! Maintaining Your Power Steering Let’s take a look at how to maintain your vehicle’s power steering, so you don’t have to go without this luxury. Vehicles today have a hydraulic pump, electric pump or an electric motor to help you steer. This pump is powered by your vehicle’s serpentine belt. Just like other parts of our vehicles, pumps and motors will eventually wear out and the hoses will start to leak. It pays to be proactive and have this service completed on your vehicle. Check with your vehicle’s manual and get the advice from your service adviser as to the best schedule for this service. Power Steering Service This service will include replacing the power steering fluid, and lubing the mechanical parts as needed. During a routine oil change, our technicians will also lube any parts as ne ... read more

Corrosion on top of a battery is usually caused by the battery itself leaking acid through a seal and around the post. The corrosion could also have built up due to a bad connection. You should clean up the corrosion. If it comes right back, it is time to replace the battery. Be very careful when handling a corroded battery and take preventive measures. Wear latex or latex-free gloves and safety glasses. Stay safe

A fuel filter is absolutely necessary! It screens out dirt, rust and other foreign particles from the fuel that can damage your vehicle’s fuel injectors. Even the smallest particles can cause considerable wear and tear to an engine. Your vehicle may have been experiencing one or more of the following symptoms: cuts out or loses power driving up an incline, such as a bridge, or was experiencing poor gas mileage. As the filter gets dirty, the fuel pump works much harder. And in some cases, complete engine shutdown. Hope that this was not the scenario for your vehicle! This filter needs to be replaced on a regular basis. It’s best to replace your car’s fuel filter every 2 years or 24,000 miles

TMPS; you’ve heard that term before, but what does it mean? It stands for Tire Pressure Monitoring System. Just like the name suggests; they monitor your tire pressure. Most cars today have one on each tire. Sometimes spare tires will also have a TPMS. When this warning light comes on, do not ignore it! So, I had this light come on for my car. They found a nail in the tire. Non-repair zone… of course. Got 4 new tires because of being 4 wheel drive. The light came on again this weekend!! Now the TPMS sensors will need to be checked and the faulty one(s) replaced. The tech will hook up a special tool that sends a signal to the TPMS and see if a signal is sent back. They will need to check all the sensors because it could be more than one sensor that is bad. “The Car Care Council’s new video about the TPMS system explains the meaning of the symbol on your dashboard and its importance to vehicle safety,” said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council. The new TPMS video from the Car ... read more

The history of A/C for our cars is a very interesting one. Can you imagine not having A/C as option? Me either! The First Patent The first patent for a production automobile was issued In 1886. This is what the vehicle looked like. As you can see it has no windshield, roof, doors or windows. Mother Nature was their air conditioning! The 20’s, 30’s and 40’s By 1921, most cars were enclosed and a small electric fan could be added. These fans circulated the air, but did not cool the air. This was a welcomed addition to many vehicles. In 1930, the “car cooler” became available. It used the evaporation of water to cool the air inside cars. This cooler air was blown in through the open passenger side window. The down-side was that it would only work in areas with very low humidity! However; people were very appreciative of this invention. The 1940 Packard was the first car to offer factory-installed air-conditioning. The cooling system was lo ... read more