Albany Auto Repair

Why Is My Car Leaking Oil   Your car leaking stuff on the ground is annoying and can be embarrassing. It can also be a big problem.    Obviously, a vehicle shouldn't leak anything, but with age, these things can develop. There are several fluids and oils in your car, like motor oil, transmission fluid, coolant, gear oil, and fuel. Even EV’s use coolant and gear oil.  Sometimes, when a leak develops, it can be hard to figure out where it is coming from. The wind from driving can blow the fluid everywhere and really make a mess. Small leaks can build up gunk over long periods of time because they may not leak enough to leave a spot on the ground alerting you to an issue.    Other times, a major seal or hose can fail and cause a massive leak right away. It's always a good idea to check your fluid levels often. Some modern automobiles don’t have dipsticks anymore to allow you to check fluid physically, but some do have sensors to chec ... read more

Why Do I Have To Change My Oil?   The reason oil changes are required is pretty simple: friction. An engine is a complex machine with a lot of moving parts. The internal parts of your engine are made of various types of metal, and when metal moves against metal, friction causes issues. As a kid, do you remember rug burns? That's friction. Without oil to lubricate your engine, the bearings, and other moving parts would seize up almost immediately. So now we know what the oil does in an engine: it lubricates and helps keep things cool.   The oil itself breaks down with age and time. Also, even though oil helps lubricate your engine, there is still normal wear that occurs. That wear causes small metal fragments to be deposited into the oil. That is why there is also an oil filter on your engine to catch those fragments before they get into a bearing or other small oil passage.   So, since we know that oil breaks down and engines naturally wear over time, then we s ... read more