Crosse Auto Repair

A wobbly steering wheel and a clanking sound in the front end…. it sounds like your vehicle may have failed tie rod ends. Did you hit a curb this winter or had to drive through some rough potholes or bumps? Is your vehicle pulling to one side while driving or braking? All these situations could indicate failed tie rod ends. Because the tie rod ends are a major part of your vehicle’s steering mechanism, you will want to call us to verify what is causing the issues with your vehicle and have it repaired. Give us a call at 608

What is the name of this tool? Answer: This is a Spitler Puncture Plug. It was used to repair tires. Early automobile drivers had to deal with bad roads that damaged their tires quite often. The first automobile tires were an extension of bicycle tires. They used high pressurized air. Unfortunately they often failed. The Spitler Puncture Plug Company designed these plugs to quickly seal the inner tube punctures so drivers could get back on the road again. An actual cover to a box of plugs. The actual bottom box for a set of plugs with directions on how to use them. A box of plugs with the tool used to fix a flat inner tube. No doubt about it, fixing a tire in the early 1900s was quite the experience. Sooo glad for the advancements in tire repair today. Makes me like our new tire changer even more! Here is a link for the Spitler Puncture Plug Company: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah

We sure loved those nice warm temps this weekend. Even used our A/C yesterday driving down the interstate. Did you need to use your A/C yet? Here is some information about how well your A/C should be cooling the air in your vehicle. A well maintained A/C system will be able to keep your vehicle about 40-45 degrees cooler than the actual outside temperature. There is a minimum that it will cool to and that is so your compressor isn’t negatively effected by too cold of air. On these upper 90 degree days, your vehicle’s A/C should be getting it COLD to the mid 50s. If you’re not getting nearly that low, a recharge may be needed. Give us a call and we will check to see how cool your vehicle’s A/C is getting. If needed we can get it working better so you can stay COLD on those hot summer days, that will be here before we know it! Stay cool this summer

Warning lights are there for a reason. Well, you know what to do…. stop by our shop and have us take a look. Most likely it will be a faulty water pump. If so, it is critical that this is replaced ASAP! A water pump of course pumps the coolant that cools your engine. When your water pump is broken it can’t pump the coolant and it overheats. You won’t be going any where for long and you don’t want to get stranded. Have you noticed a whining or grinding sound coming from the water pump area? Water pumps and timing belts generally get replaced at the same time. Since our technician would have already gotten things taken apart (for the water pump) and the belt’s likely been contaminated by coolant, it’s best to replace the water pump and the timing belt at the same time. On the positive side, this will save you money in the long run since you won’t be paying labor costs twice. Here is a previous post link about water pumps

While I’d love to say a visual inspection is best…. it’s not. It’s not easy to know the exact condition of belts and hoses by looking at them as most fail from the inside out. With that being said, rubber hoses can become hard and brittle. Which you can see or feel. You really don’t want to wait until this happens as they could fail at any time. According to the Car Care Counsel, nearly one-third of all cars and light trucks have belts or hoses that should be replaced. The following link will give you more information on these