Joe's Tech Tips
Greetings to our circle of customers, friends, and family! By now, you have probably reached into your closets and dug out your sweaters, coats, and long johns. Amazing, isn't it? ... Where else but in the Sonoran Desert do you go from 100-degree blistering heat to 40-degree chilling cold, in such a short period of time?
But, on to more important matters...
Our business is progressing quite well. The summer months brought in a smorgasbord of air conditioning concerns and a wide array of cooling system complaints. Now we find ourselves replacing radiators and water pumps, and addressing other cooling and heating problems. Because today's vehicles are being produced with lower total weight, materials that are manufactured with different composites tend to react with sudden changes in the weather. Hence, seals contract and various metals expand, thus creating improper sealing characteristics. While you cannot completely prevent these problems from occurring, you can take preventative steps to help keep these conditions from progressing to more expensive and time-consuming repairs. One of the more over-looked items is changing your engine's coolant/anti-freeze on an annual basis. Electrolysis does harmful damage to gaskets and seals, and it leads to major repairs such as cylinder head gasket replacement and even erosion of aluminum intake manifold coolant passages. Be sure and have all of your fluid levels and fluid condition checked when having your oil and filter changed. Ask your tech to check the drive-belt tension and belt tensioner for proper adjustment. Finally, don't forget to have the tires inflated to their proper specification and inspected for weather-cracked or uneven tread wear.
- R.H. ‘Joe’ Lopez
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