Corpus Christi Auto Repair

You don't have to be a mechanic with special tools and equipment to know when something may be going wrong with your car. You can use your senses of sight and smell to know when there may be an issue with your car. One way is check with your car's "lungs," or exhaust system. Under normal conditions, you can see white vapor come out of your car's exhaust pipe, but this vapor quickly disappears. What happens when it doesn't dissipate quickly, or the color of the smoke coming out of your exhaust pipe is a different color? What issues could the different types of smoke indicate? Reading Your Car's Smoke Signals Smoke from the exhaust system can indicate an internal issue with your vehicle, and the color of smoke can help you pinpoint what that issue is. Smoke usually appears as black, white or blue depending on the root cause. Black Smoke Black smoke can indicate the balance between fuel and air in your engine is off balance. Issues that can cause black sm ... read more

A jump start is a technique used to restart a car that has a drained battery. You jump-start a car by using jumper cables to connect the car directly to a working car or to an alternate power source. By placing the two batteries in parallel, you can provide enough electricity to start the car and recharge the depleted battery at the same time. A drain on your car's battery can occur if it has not been driven for more than two weeks. Jump-starting a car allows the car owner to repair the battery of their own vehicle, so they can start it themselves. Now that you have a basic understanding of what jump-starting is, let's get down to business. Prep Park the cars close to one another but without touching. The bumpers should be out of contact with each other entirely. Turn off both vehicles completely, including lights, radio, and other electrical components. No smoking! Smoking near the battery produces explosive gases that can cause a fire or explosion if ignited by a spark ... read more

You're driving along and press down on your brakes to slow, only to hear a loud squealing noise. Are your brake pads bad? Do they need to be replaced? Well, there are certain key symptoms that can indicate your vehicle needs a brake pad replacement service. Let's take a look at the various signs and how often they may need to be replaced. A typical car has two pads on each wheel, the front, and the rear. The front brake pads usually will wear out more quickly, up to two to three times faster than the pads on the rear wheels because that is where the brakes are most under pressure. This can lead to needing front brake pads sooner. These are typically the pads that need to be replaced most often. Brake pads generally need to be replaced after 50,000 miles or so, but it totally depends on your driving habits, the quality of the brake pads installed, and the make, model, and age of your vehicle. Your car's owner's manual will have more detailed information regarding the b ... read more

All vehicles have timing belts, which is an essential piece of your engine that keeps it running in sync. After many years of use, the timing belt will wear out and need to be replaced. It's important to know when your automaker recommends changing your timing belt because you don't want it to snap or break unexpectedly. If the timing belt gets to that point, it will require lots of expensive repairs later on.   Replacing a timing belt before it is needed is highly important for vehicle owners. Some manufacturers suggest replacing it as early as 60,000, while others say it can go beyond 100K miles. Although the numbers vary slightly between every vehicle's make and model, you can ask your mechanic to check your belt at every service interval.    There are several tell-tale warning signs that suggest your timing belt is over-exhausted. If you notice your car suddenly emits excess exhaust smoke, you should have your engine, exhaust, and timing belt checked ... read more