Kent Drivers: Is It Time To Replace Your PCV Valve?

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Improved fuel economy has two benefits for Kent motorists: less fuel is necessary and fewer emissions are released. Kent cars and trucks run cleaner than ever. Kent drivers may not realize that the first federally mandated pollution control device came out almost fifty years ago.

WA car owners that were around in the early 60’s may remember that the PCV Valve came out on 1964 model cars. PCV stand for Positive Crankcase Ventilation. Kent Drivers: Is It Time To Replace Your PCV Valve?The crankcase is the lower part of the engine where the crankshaft is housed and where the engine oil lives. The crankshaft is connected to the pistons that power the engine.

When fuel is burned in the SUV engine, it pushes the pistons down and the crankshaft rotates and sends power to the transmission. Some of the explosive gases from combustion squeeze past the pistons and down into the crankcase.

Now this gas is about 70% unburned fuel. If it were allowed to remain in the crankcase, it would contaminate the oil and quickly turn it to harmful sludge. Sludge is like Vaseline and clogs passages in the engine leading to damage.

Also, the pressure build up would blow out seals and gaskets. So in the old days, there was just a hose that vented the crankcase out into the air. Obviously, not good for our air quality in Kent.

Enter the PCV valve. It’s a small, one-way valve that lets out the dangerous gases from the crankcase, and routes them back into the air intake system where they are re-burned in the engine. Fresh air comes into the crankcase through a breather tube. This makes for good circulation in the crankcase. And that gets the dangerous air out. As you can imagine, however, the valve gets gummed up over time.

Kent drivers that skip oil changes now and then will notice that the PCV valve gets gummed up even faster. If the PCV valve is sticking in your SUV, the gases won’t circulate as well, leading to increased pressure in the crankcase. That, in turn, can lead to oil leaks. Fortunately, the PCV valve is very inexpensive to replace at Central Avenue Automotive in Kent. Some can even be checked by your considerate Central Avenue Automotive advisor.

Your SUV manufacturers usually recommend they be changed somewhere between twenty and fifty thousand miles. Unfortunately, PCV valve replacement is left out of some SUV owner’s manuals, but at Central Avenue Automotive, we will make sure your PVC is replaced if needed.

All of us Kent car owners can do our part for the environment. Watch that lead foot, stay on top of our vital automotive maintenance and don’t forget to replace our PCV valve.

Keeping Your Air Conditioning Cool

Posted by & filed under Air Conditioning.

Hey Kent, WA! Do you hear loud noises under the hood when you turn on your air conditioner? Do you only get sporadic cool air? If so, it’s time to get your air conditioner checked. It’s easy to take your car’s heating and cooling system for granted. Just push the right buttons and out comes refreshing, dry, clean air. But your A/C system needs attention from time to time to help it keep its cool.

Air Conditioner

When most people in the area hear the words “air conditioning problems,” it sends a shiver up their spine. That is because a car’s cooling system is fairly complex. It has a lot of parts, and when it’s broken, it’s expensive to repair.

What things can we do to prevent these sorts of troublesome breakdowns?

Leaks are a common cause of air conditioning failure. Water and air can leak into the system. The system doesn’t work as well with air in it, and water can cause rust that leads to damage of the A/C components. Also, refrigerant — the stuff that makes the air cold — can leak out, reducing the efficiency of the system, making it work harder to cool the air. Periodically evacuating the air conditioning system and recharging it keeps the proper amount of clean refrigerant in the system so it cools better and lasts longer.

You should also run the air conditioner regularly, even during a frosty Kent winter, so that it lubricates itself and keeps the seals from drying out, which can lead to leaks. Your owner’s manual will have recommendations for how often to service your air conditioner. Of course, if it’s not working right, now is the time to get it checked. Central Avenue Automotive can inspect and test your air conditioning and offer evacuation and recharge services. This goes a long way toward not having to bring your air conditioner in for major repairs.

New environmental laws have stopped the manufacture of Freon, a refrigerant that was common in cars made before 1993. There is a very limited supply of Freon, so the price is very steep. It may not be worth its weight in gold, but it probably is worth its weight in silver. If you have an older vehicle that uses Freon, you may want to consider having it retrofitted to use the new R134-A refrigerant. It will pay for itself in the long run. So, if your AC is just a lot of hot air, bring it in to Central Avenue Automotive for an inspection.

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Serpentine Belt Service At Central Avenue Automotive In Kent

Posted by & filed under Maintenance.

If you’ve ever heard a squealing sound under your SUV hood, chances are it was your serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that’s driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems in your SUV. Let’s go over them.

First, the serpentine belt drives your air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in Kent.

Serpentine Belt Service At Central Avenue Automotive In KentMore importantly, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that’s used by your SUV’s electrical systems and also charges your car battery. Without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles.

The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering (some are electric) and power brakes (some use vacuum boost).

And, on most SUVs, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant through the engine to keep it within optimal operating temperatures. On some Kent cars, the water pump is powered by the timing belt instead of the serpentine belt.

When they understand what it does, Kent auto owners realize that if it breaks, it affects a lot of systems. That’s why auto makers outline recommended replacement guidelines in the owners manuals. If this important maintenance component is not included in your owners manual, come see us at Central Avenue Automotive.

At Central Avenue Automotive in Kent, your considerate service specialist can perform a visual inspection of the belt to see if it has any cracks that signal the belt could fail soon. If the belt has more than three or four cracks every inch, has deep cracks that penetrate half the depth of the belt, is frayed, is missing pieces or has a shiny glazed look, it needs to be replaced regardless of age or mileage.

If it has lost a significant amount of thickness, it also needs to be replaced. Talk to your considerate service professional at Central Avenue Automotive. There’s a special spring-loaded pulley attached to the engine called the tensioner pulley. Its job is to make sure there’s a constant tension on the serpentine belt so that it doesn’t slip. The spring can become worn and no longer provide the necessary pressure to keep the belt tight. At Central Avenue Automotive, we recommend Kent drivers that the tensioner be replaced at the same time as the serpentine belt.

As mentioned, a squealing sound could alert you that the serpentine belt needs to be replaced. It may be loose if you hear a slow, slapping sound when idling your SUV.

All in all, the serpentine belt’s is critical to the operation of your SUV. And it’s not that expensive to replace at Central Avenue Automotive – so it’s good to do so before it fails.

When to Replace Your Cabin Air Filter

Posted by & filed under Air Conditioning, Cabin Air Filter.

What is a cabin air filter?

Is it:

  1. A filter for a house in the middle of the woods?
  2. A fresh, piney scent?
  3. A filter for the passenger compartment of your car?

Clever you, it’s selection number 3.

A cabin air filter cleans the outside air before it comes into the passenger compartment. It filters out dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, pollutants, sparrows, exhaust gas, and odors. These high tech filters can block particles larger than 3 microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns, so it’s catching pretty much anything that can get into your car.

Clean Air Filter

Many older vehicles don’t have cabin filters, and some newer cars don’t offer them, either. They are fairly new on the scene. About forty percent of new vehicles come with cabin air filters, but the number is growing every year.

Cabin air filters can make for a very nice driving environment. Your car can be a haven during allergy season with very little dust and pollen getting into the cabin. However, the filter eventually gets too full of debris and pollutants to function properly. When this happens, your heating and air conditioning flow can become restricted. The filter can even get kind of smelly. If you turn on your AC and are met with a “dirty” or otherwise unpleasant smell, it may be due to a dirty filter.

Check your owner’s manual for recommended replacement intervals. Often, the owner’s manual forgets about the cabin air filter, so ask your service technician for a recommendation. It’s usually every year or 12,000 miles/ 19,000 kilometers. Change it sooner if you drive in dusty conditions or if you start to notice an odor from your ventilation system.

It’s always a good idea to keep your cabin air filter clean. It may not help with your brother-in-law in the backseat, but it will make your driving experience more enjoyable.

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Power Steering Service

Posted by & filed under Steering.

For most of us living in the Auburn area, it is hard to remember life without power steering – cranking those great big steering wheels? It was a pretty good workout. Now power steering is standard. The heart of any power steering system is its pump. The pump pressurizes the power steering fluid that provides assist for steering. Most pumps are driven by a belt that is run by the engine – a few are electrically powered. A high-pressure hose passes fluid from the pump to the steering gear. A low pressure hose returns the fluid back to the pump.

These hoses can develop leaks, so it is a good idea to inspect them at every oil change. Low fluid can damage the power steering pump. That is why fluid level is on the checklist for a full-service oil change. The fluid needs to be compatible with the hoses and seals, so check your owners’ manual for the right type – or just ask your service technician at Central Avenue Automotive.

Power Steering Service

The fluid cleans, cools and lubricates the power steering system. It breaks down as the years go by and collects unwanted moisture, so it needs to be replaced from time to time. Many manufacturers specify power steering service intervals. Unfortunately, this important service is sometimes left off the maintenance schedule for many of us in Auburn. So, when in doubt, every 25,000 miles/40,000 km or two years is a good fallback. Your Central Avenue Automotive service center in Auburn will use a detergent to clean the system, flush out the old fluid and replace it with the good stuff.

Here are some warning signs of trouble with your power steering: It’s harder to turn the wheel, there’s erratic power assist, you hear loud whining coming from the pump (which may be difficult to hear over the loud whining coming from the backseat), you have to top-off the fluid frequently, or you hear squealing belts. Remember to never hold the steering wheel to the far right or left for more than a few seconds at a time. That will wear out your power steering pump real fast.

Other steering components can be bent or damaged from wear or hard knocks. Ball-joint, idler-arm, steering-gear, steering-knuckle and tie rod to name a few. Warning signs here are steering play, wandering, uneven tire wear, and off-center steering wheel. An annual alignment check at Central Avenue Automotive will reveal bent or damaged steering components.

Most SUV’s, pick-ups and rear-wheel-drive cars need regular front-wheel-bearing service.

The bearings should be cleaned and inspected. If they are excessively worn, they need to be replaced. The bearings are then repacked in clean grease. It’s also recommend the wheel-seal be replaced when the bearings are serviced. Like everything else, check your owners’ manual maintenance schedule. It’s usually required around every two years or 40,000 miles/64,000 km. If you drive through water in the Auburn area, the bearings will need service more often.

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Why A Trip Inspection Is A Good Idea

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At Central Avenue Automotive we get a lot of Kent motorists asking about car trip preparation. That’s a big deal. You could be driving through mountains and deserts in some pretty lonely areas outside of Kent so it’s important to know that the car is up to the task and won’t leave you stranded.

Smart Auburn car owners plan ahead for a major road trip – there are a lot of things to get ready. Where should you start? You could start with the tires. Look them over for tread wear and check to see that they are properly inflated. Take a quick test drive around Kent to see if you can feel any vibrations: are the wheels in balance? Is the car tracking straight? Is the alignment ok? Come to Central Avenue Automotive for a peace-of-mind trip inspection.

1514 Central Ave S Ste A
Kent, WA 98032
253.854.6762

The next thing is a full service oil change to make sure all of your key fluids are topped off and you have fresh oil for the trip. And if your car has over 75,000 miles, you may consider putting in the high-mileage formulation to clean harmful sludge deposits in the engine. You may also need a new PCV valve and an engine air filter.

How about your transmission and brakes? Have you had your transmission and brakes inspected in the last six months?

How are your wiper blades? There’s nothing like not being able to get rid of the bug juice on a long road trip away from Kent.

Check your owners’ manual for any other essential recommended service and have Central Avenue Automotive in Kent do the multi-point inspection before you head out in WA.

Consider also having the coolant system serviced at Central Avenue Automotive – you want to stay within the automobile manufacturer’s recommendations. If you’re towing a trailer in Kent you’ll want to be keep in mind that you’ll be going a long way under severe conditions.

A lot of Kent folks overlook severe conditions like towing, or Kent summer heat, or driving on dirt roads in WA. Plan ahead for your next road trip – Central Avenue Automotive wants you to get there and back.

Make Your Battery Last

Posted by & filed under Battery.

Today’s report from Central Avenue Automotive is on car batteries, why they die and what we can do to lengthen their life. Most of us have had a dead battery at one time or another. In fact, it would be very unusual if you hadn’t. You may be surprised to learn that only 30 percent of Kent vehicle batteries last for 48 months.

Now that’s an average. How long a battery lasts depends on many factors. You may not know that one of the biggest factors is the temperature where you live and drive around Kent. You might suppose that cold weather was harder on batteries because it takes more power to crank a cold engine, but the opposite is actually true.

For more information on your battery, please visit us:
Central Avenue Automotive
1514 Central Ave S Ste A
Kent, WA 98032
253.854.6762

Batteries in very cold climates have a life expectancy of 51 months as opposed to 30 months in very warm climates. The reason is simple: batteries are chemically more active when they’re hot than when they’re cold.

A car battery will actually start to discharge on its own within 24 hours in hot weather. It takes several days in cold weather. When batteries are left too long in a state of partial discharge, the discharged portion of the battery plates actually, for the lack of a better word, ‘die’. Recharging the battery will not restore the dead part of the battery plate.

One of the big problems for the way most of us drive in the Kent area, is that our batteries are often partially discharged. The biggest job the battery does is to start the car. It takes some time for the alternator to recharge the battery after starting. If you’re driving short distances, especially if there are several starts and stops, your battery may not fully recharge.

Another issue is that vehicles are coming equipped with more and more electricity hungry accessories like navigation systems, DVD players, CD and MP3 players, heated seats, heated steering wheels and so on. And we often plug in cell phones, computers and other gadgets. Combine that with short trips and it’s no wonder that our batteries are partially discharged.

Experts say we can extend our battery life by topping off the charge periodically using a good quality battery charger. You may’ve heard these chargers referred to as ‘trickle chargers’. They’re attached to the battery and plugged into a wall outlet to slowly bring the battery up to full charge.

Now there’s some science involved with how fast a battery should be recharged. If you buy a cheap manual charger, you’ll have to tend it. Frankly a learning curve on how to do it right and requires much attention. A computer controlled charger – or smart charger – monitors the process and determines the appropriate rate of charge. And it even stops charging when it’s fully charged. It costs more than the manual charger, but the automatic model is worth it.

The suggestion is to charge once a month in warm weather and once every three months in cold weather.

Another thing to avoid is deeply discharging your battery. Something like running the headlights and stereo with the engine turned off. That’ll take months off the battery life every time you do it.

Now, as we discussed, heat is hard on a battery. A dirty, greasy battery holds more heat. You can wipe off excess dirt with a paper towel or ask your service advisor at Central Avenue Automotive to clean it for you. Central Avenue Automotive can even test your battery and tell you if it’s time to replace it.

Batteries are fairly expensive, so taking a few steps to make them last longer is well worth it. Of course, the battery will eventually need to be replaced. Always make sure you get a new battery that meets the factory specifications for your vehicle. If you feel you need more battery capacity than what came with your vehicle, talk with your service advisor at Central Avenue Automotive about appropriate upgrades.

If you have a dead battery, be careful to inspect it before you jump start it. If the case is bulging, cracked or leaking, do not jump start it. Damaged batteries can explode or catch fire. And deeply discharged batteries can freeze. Do not jump start a frozen battery.

How to Handle High Mileage Vehicles

Posted by & filed under Maintenance, Older Vehicles.

Nowadays, everyone in Kent, WA is paying more at the gas pump. For some families in the greater Auburn area who commute or drive a lot, that can add up to several hundred dollars every month. That’s got to come out of the budget somewhere. Throughout North America, people are putting off buying a new car and plan on keeping their old vehicle for a year or two longer than before.

Even now, 2/3 of the personal vehicles on our local roads have over 75,000 miles on them. The average age of vehicles is over nine years. Most drivers can’t afford to be stranded or inconvenienced by a breakdown, so following a regular maintenance schedule, like a personal diet and exercise plan for our body, is actually critical for preserving your investment.

High Mileage Vehicles

Knowing what to do for a high mileage vehicle can be challenging because many owners’ manuals don’t publish service intervals after 60,000 miles. It just means that you need to be better at keeping records and planning your preventive maintenance.

You can start by figuring that services with a recommended maintenance schedule should still be performed on that schedule, even after you’re past the tables in your service manual. For example, a service might be recommended every 15,000 miles. Well, just keep doing it every 15,000 miles for as long as you have your car.

High mileage engines operate under more stress than their newer counterparts, which is important to keep in mind. Some experts suggest that a stricter service schedule is more appropriate and that routine service should be performed at shorter intervals. Check with your owners’ manual or service advisor to see if a more frequent service schedule is right for your vehicle.

Keeping up with your full-service oil change schedule is important for a couple of reasons. First, older engines have had more time to build up oil sludge. Skipping an oil change here and there can really compound the problem for your SUV, truck, or car.

The second benefit is that your other fluids are routinely checked and topped off. Power steering fluid, brake fluid, coolant and transmission fluid can be kept at optimal levels even though the older seals and gaskets are leaking more than when they were new.

Speaking of older seals and gaskets, they start to dry out and become more brittle with age. You may want to consider using high mileage formulation oil and fluids. These products contain special additives to condition seals and gaskets to keep them from leaking. The high mileage formulations cost more than standard products, but they are well worth it in terms of preventing serious repair bills down the road.

Older vehicles in the Kent, WA area often require repairs and replacements that newer ones don’t. Things like timing belts, radiator hoses, suspension work, anti-lock brakes, air bags, water pumps, alternators and batteries may need to be replaced. That may seem like a lot of stuff to have done, but it works out to be cheaper than new car payments.

With a high-mileage vehicle, a couple of relationships will become pretty important. The first is with your service advisor at Central Ave Auto. You need someone you trust to take care of your car and be mindful of your needs. Ask for help to develop a plan to keep your vehicle road-worthy that works within your budget, and keeps unique local driving conditions in mind.

The next relationship is with your vehicle itself. We’re not talking about naming your car or tucking it in at night. We just mean that you should pay attention and get to know your vehicle. Notice unusual sounds, smells, vibrations, etc. Then you can describe the changes to your service advisor and help prevent big problems before they start. We can’t do anything about the price of gas, but we can properly maintain your faithful old vehicle to keep in on the roads for many more miles.

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What to Do After Buying a Used Vehicle

Posted by & filed under Older Vehicles, Service Intervals, Service Standards, Warranty.

When you purchase a used vehicle in Kent or other nearby cities, it can be tough to know what you’re getting. Regardless of area, people sell their cars for a lot of different reasons. If you’ve ever sold a car before, think of your reasons. Did you just want something new, or were there problems that you didn’t want to deal with anymore? Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Used cars with 25,000 to 35,000 miles on them are often lease returns, corporate program cars, or vehicles that have done duty in rental fleets. You can feel pretty confident that newer cars are often still under warranty, but how well have they been maintained?

Caring for a Used Car

If someone plans on owning a car for a long time, they know it’s essential to keep up on the maintenance so they can avoid expensive repairs down the road. However, if they know they’re only going to have the car for two or three years, they may not be so committed to maintenance. It would be easy to think that skipping an oil change here and there wouldn’t ruin a brand new engine. After all, it’ll be someone else’s problem when it comes time to pay for the damage later. Following this line of thought, it would be very tempting to skip the 30,000 mile service if you knew you’d be turning in your leased vehicle in a couple of months anyway.

If your new-to-you vehicle didn’t come with maintenance records, you need to assume the worst. It’s very possible that the transmission and coolant systems have never been serviced. The cabin air filter has probably never been changed, and a fuel system cleaning may be in order.

After you purchase your car, you’ll want to bring it in to a trusted auto shop to check the air conditioning, battery, engine air filter, serpentine belt and hoses. If the seller will let you, you may even want to have it done prior to purchase. An inspection at Central Avenue Automotive is well worth the cost.

If your “new” used vehicle has a lot of miles on it, an inspection is even more important. In older vehicles, parts like the timing belt may need replacing before they cause bigger problems for the engine. Check your owner’s manual or talk with your service adviser at Central Avenue Automotive (call 253.854.6762) about what sort of services the car should have had and when.

We’re always happy to help you create a plan to take care of critical services and get the rest caught up. If your budget won’t allow you to take care of everything right away, we can help you prioritize your needs and get it taken care of over the next several months. Always remember to keep your maintenance records for future sellers. They’ll help you get top dollar when it’s time for you to sell.

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Clean Air for Your Engine: Engine Air Filters In Kent

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Every Kent car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter’s dirty.

Here’s what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your SUV owner’s manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your Kent technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed.

Clean Air for Your Engine Kent Engine Air Filter

So between your owner’s manual and your Auburn technician’s inspection there’s really no guesswork involved for Kent auto owners.

Now, most air filters purchased in Kent, Federal Way, Burton, or Kent don’t cost a lot to replace. It’s just that WA people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Central Avenue Automotive can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in Kent.

Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Kent home. When it’s all clogged up, enough clean air can’t get through. In your SUV, that means that your engine can’t get as much air as it needs to burn the fuel efficiently. So it makes do with less air and has to use more costly WA gas to move your vehicle around Auburn roads.

Your SUV actually needs about 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of gas it burns. Engine air filters don’t cost much in Kent at Central Avenue Automotive. When it’s time to change yours, just get it done. You’ll get better fuel economy, have better performance and protect your SUV engine.