Albany Auto Repair

How To Get Your Car Ready For Back-To-School   It’s that time of the year again. School shopping, getting your kid signed up for classes, and getting everyone ready for another school year.    You don’t want to deal with car trouble too! Sometimes breakdowns happen, but there are a few things we can do to help keep that to a minimum.   Getting your car ready for the extra Back-to-School duties is important. The miles that usually come with school duties, or a new teen driver can put stress on your automobile.    You can start by washing your car. Not only will it be nice to have a clean, fresh car to start the school year off with, but it can help you identify issues you may not have noticed.    Along with washing it, you can replace wiper blades and fill the windshield washer fluid. You also want to make sure that you have a good roadside emergency kit and a good spare tire with the proper air pressure.   The rest of ... read more

Do you ever get into a car on a hot summer day, turn on your A/C just to be met with an awful smell? Yeah, it’s no fun. I'm sure we have all experienced that, but what causes the smell? (This is a dirty A/C Evaporator from a 2012 Ford F-450 that was used on a farm. just goes to show how filthy they can get)   The A/C and Heating system circulate air throughout your car or truck much like the A/C used in your house. Also like your house, most automobiles have filters in the A/C and Heating System (these are called cabin air filters).   Cabin air filters trap a lot of smells and allergens. Regular maintenance of replacing your cabin air filter can keep odors at bay. For automobiles that don’t have cabin air filters the heater and cooling elements, and the vents, can collect dirt and allergens that a filter would stop. So cleaning those elements and vents are required.   BG Services steps up again with their Frigi-Fresh Service, It cleans and disinfect ... read more

What Can I Do to Remove Engine Oil Sludge? What is engine oil sludge? Oil sludge, or buildup, happens when proper maintenance is not done or in extreme conditions.    There are some engine issues that can cause oil sludging, but regardless we have the ability to clean it up no matter the cause.   Our partner, Northwest BG,  also provides us with a combination of chemicals to deep clean your engine and keep it clean afterwards.    The BG Engine Performance Service cleans the deposits, prevents future deposits from forming, and helps restore fuel economy and performance. This service is great for an automobile that has been neglected from proper oil changes, poor quality oil used, or severe use conditions.    It is also a great service to add to your regular maintenance, because it helps prevent buildup from the start.   Think of it like this, when you buy a new-to-you vehicle you would like for it to be clean. Your engine likes to b ... read more

Transmission Slip is a big problem. It’s not the only thing that can go wrong in a transmission but it’s one of the common ones. It is also a problem that can usually be prevented with proper maintenance. What is Transmisson Slip? It’s something you will feel more than hear, going down the road you press on the gas, the engine revs up but your car doesn’t move any faster. That is transmission slip! There are internal parts that use a combination of fluid and friction to move you down the road and they need clean fluid to keep working properly. Poor maintenance or abuse makes your transmission more prone to slipage.    We offer BG Transmission Services, which uses special cleaning fluid and a machine to circulate the clean and fresh fluid into your transmission. Not all, but most, transmissions have a filter which we replace.    So by draining your old fluid, flushing the entire transmission, replacing the filter and then refilling with a ... read more

Fuel system cleaners are more important than ever before with how complex modern fuel systems are these days.   That’s why we teamed up with BG Services to bring you the best chemicals to service your automobile!    Today we are going to talk about their Fuel System and Intake Services. The reason these services are needed is because carbon can build up in the upper part of the engine because most engines have the fuel injected directly into the engine cylinder vs fuel being injected into the upper intake like they used to be. Even then carbon would build up but not as quickly. When carbon builds up your engine can start to run rough, get poor mileage, and even loose power. Also the fuel we use matters. Some fuel can be pretty dirty and also build up junk in the fuel system.   The Platinum Fuel Service is designed to take care of this issue. By dissolving these build ups and deposits and burning them though the engine. This service is great for breathing ... read more

Diesel, mostly found in trucks and some cars in the United States. It is the most energy dense fuel with widespread use today. In most other countries, diesel engines are in nearly all makes and models of cars and trucks.   These engines require specialized equipment and knowledge to repair and maintain. That's why we use the best tooling and equipment possible and employ the best in the industry. In addition, we continue the education of our team for new and emerging technologies in the automotive industry.     We are starting to see more diesel engines being used in smaller trucks here in the Untied States, and more European cars coming to the US with diesel options. There are some shops that don’t work on diesels, but we look forward to working with any diesel powered car or truck!   At Crabtree Automotive, we work on all makes and models, even European.  From Honda to Audi and everything in between! So give us a call or schedule an appointme ... read more

Being able to go and stop are important, but what about turning? Yes, also very vital!   Modern vehicles have made driving a fun and easy thing to do. One of the many improvements is the steering system. Not that long ago, power steering was only an option and didn’t come with every vehicle.   Power steering allows you to turn the wheel with little to no effort. If you have ever tried to turn your steering wheel with the vehicle off, then you know what it's like to not have power steering.   The steering rack is the part that takes your motions with the steering wheel and turns the wheels from side to side. These parts typically last a very long time, so when this customer came in with steering issues we had to put their truck on the lift and take a deeper look.   The customer had a complaint of the steering wheel sometimes getting stiff or stuck when turning. Our team checked the ball joints and tie rods on the front suspension and they didn&rsquo ... read more

Has anyone seen the fuel prices lately? We need all the help we can get with saving money! One place you could save some money is improving your vehicle's fuel economy. There are several components that contribute to your fuel economy.  Keeping up on the normal maintenance, making sure there is not a Check Engine Light on, and your car running smoothly are all factors that contribute to the fuel economy.. Also, a proper alignment is helpful so the car isn’t pulling to one side or the other driving down the road. Something as simple as tire pressure can also make a massive difference in MPG (mile per gallon). And make your tires last longer!   Maintenance on your vehicle includes oil change with an oil filter, air filter and fuel filter replacements. Also, transmission and differential fluid exchange, spark plugs and spark plug wire replacement.   Another contributor is the body of your vehicle. If you have damage that can affect airflow around the body, it ... read more

Why does my car get hot?   Summertime, Bring on the fun and the sun! Some of the best things about summer can give your car the most trouble.   Heat! As we come into the summer months, the warmer temperatures can wreak havoc on your car or truck. It’s already getting warm out there; Texas is melting as we speak! With higher temps, your car's cooling system has to work harder than ever to keep the engine cool and keep you cool inside.    We have gone over the cooling system before, but with summer here now, it's a good time to go over a few things. When your car starts to warm up, your cooling fan will engage, the thermostat opens up, and your water pump may increase its speed.   Usually, that’s enough to keep things under control. But if you have a coolant leak and don’t have enough coolant in your car, then all those things won’t be enough. Or if your fan fails to turn on, the radiator is clogged, or your thermostat gets ... read more

Why Does My Car Shake When I Brake? Usually that's caused by an issue in the brake system, which we discussed earlier in THIS BLOG. Warped brake rotors are usually the cause for a shake while braking. The reason a brake rotor becomes warped can be a few things. Holding your foot on the brakes for long periods of time, pushing very hard on your brakes, or even overloading your car or truck's weight rating can all cause excessive heat in your brake pads and rotors, which in turn warp your steel rotors.  What does warped mean? Normally a brake rotor is a nice flat surface that allows your brake pad to clamp down smoothly when braking. When excessive heat builds up on the rotor, the flat surface starts to form waves. Those waves are what we refer to when we say, “warped” rotors. Now when you step on the brake, the pads and rotors start to shake because the surface isn’t flat anymore.&n ... read more