Rockville Auto Repair

Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Rockville drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Rockville. You started out in a lower gear and shifted to higher gears as you went faster. Down shift for hills, stuff like that. Think of your legs as the engine – there's an ideal speed you can pedal and you change gears to leverage the work you're doing.Lower gears for power on hills or for starting out. Higher gears for more speed. That's what the automatic transmission does – it automatically starts in lower gears and shifts up to higher gears to go faster on MD roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Rockville hills, pass or start up again.Vehicle automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds, five is very common. At Auto Clinic Care ... read more

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some Rockville drivers, and is totally ignored by just as many. Just what it means is a mystery to most people. Let's get the urgency issues out of the way first. If your Check Engine light is flashing, that means that something is wrong that could cause engine damage. Naturally, you need to get that taken care of right away. If your check engine light is flashing, you shouldn't drive at high speeds, tow or haul heavy loads. Take it easy all the way to your Rockville service center. If the light is glowing steadily, you should keep an eye on it for a day or two. If the light doesn't go off, schedule an appointment with your friendly and knowledgeable pros at Auto Clinic Care to get it checked out.Some more information on how the Check Engine light works may be helpful for Rockville dri ... read more

With the recent focus in the Rockville area on improving fuel economy, we've been told how important it is to maintain our tire pressure.Rockville drivers know that tires wear out, but we want to make them last as long as possible because they're not cheap to replace. In addition to saving gas, properly inflated tires last longer. Underinflated tires will wear out more quickly.Some people in Rockville wonder if they should add a few extra pounds of pressure when they fill up their tires. Bad idea. In fact, there are very good reasons not to overinflate your tires. For one, the middle of the tread will wear unevenly because the full tread is not contacting the road properly. That also adversely affects your handling. Stop by Auto Clinic Care to see about tire maintenance for your vehicle. Auto Clinic Care5531 Nicholson LaneRockville, MD 20852301.881.7891http://WWW.autocliniccare.com Every ... read more

A vehicle's suspension system is tough. It can last for years and after lots of driving for Rockville drivers. But it can be damaged quickly by hitting a pothole, curb or rock, and it can wear more quickly if you frequently drive off-road or on bumpy roads. A workhorse vehicle — one that hauls heavy loads — is also going to be hard on its suspension system.Because the useful life of your suspension system contains these elements of unpredictability, it is important for Rockville drivers to have them inspected periodically. Worn, broken and missing parts can be identified during an inspection at Auto Clinic Care . An ineffective suspension system will decrease the driver's control over a vehicle, so when it is damaged it frequently leads to the worst kind of vehicular damage — dangerous accidents.The suspension system is composed of springs and shock absorbers (or shocks). Springs suspend the weight of the vehicle above its axles. They allow the vehicle to &ldquo ... read more

Do you ever shop for shoes in one of our Washington area shoe stores?When buying a running shoe, is quality important?Does durability matter as long as the shoes look fabulous?Would you rather have one pair of long lasting shoes or two pair of lower quality shoes at the same price?Is the warranty important when buying tires?When you choose new tires in Rockville, what's the most important factor for you? Give us a call at Auto Clinic Care at 301.881.7891 for tire recommendations. You know, buying tires in Rockville is a big deal. It's a big ticket item so you know you'll be spending a lot. You're not only concerned about the price, but you want to know that it'll be a long time before you need to buy new tires again.And of course there's the safety aspect as well. The tires do a lot of work – they carry the weight of the vehicle and you and your passengers. They need to be up to the task. You want to be ... read more

Part of the engineering that goes into designing a vehicle is testing the components to ensure that they meet durability and safety standards. Because of this, manufacturers have a good idea as to how long the parts in your vehicle will last under normal driving conditions. For this reason, they give us guidelines to follow regarding how often to inspect the various parts and systems on our vehicles.Vehicular components are required to meet certain standards. The government mandates some of these standards. Others are set by the auto industry. Recommended car maintenance schedules are designed to help Rockville vehicle owners maintain these standards. Disregarding routine maintenance or procrastinating preventive maintenance will result in lowered performance and reduced safety for a vehicle.Maintenance schedules are designed to ensure three areas of automotive performance for Rockville drivers: protection of the vehicle itself, efficiency and safety. Protect ... read more

Engines get hot when they run. This heat can build up and damage vital engine parts, so engines need a cooling system to keep them running. Cooling system failure is the most common mechanical failure in vehicles. This is unfortunate, because these failures are usually easy for Rockville drivers to prevent. The radiator is the best-known and most recognizable part of the cooling system. Hoses filled with coolant (also known as antifreeze) connect the radiator to the engine. The coolant draws heat from the engine and then flows to the radiator. Air passing through cooling fans on the radiator cools the coolant. The coolant then cycles back into the engine to start the process over again. The most critical component of the cooling system, however, is the coolant itself. A mixture of water and coolant/antifreeze helps keep it both from freezing and from boiling away. Either can result in serious engine damage. Different engines require different types of coolant/antifreeze. The owner ... read more

Tires do a lot of work for Rockville drivers. They transfer engine power and braking forces to the road; they handle steering control; and they cushion all those bumps and jolts while driving around Rockville. They also support the entire weight of the vehicle, including you and your passengers. With such important work to do, you want your tires to do their job well. And since replacing tires is fairly pricey, you want them to last as long as possible. There are three keys to long, even tire wear for Rockville driving: Proper tire inflation Proper wheel alignment Regular tire rotation and balancing The front tires on a car take the brunt of the steering forces. As they push through turns, the shoulders of the front tires wear down more quickly than the rear tires. Rotating front and rear tires allows them to all wear at about the same rate. That's especially true of front-wheel-drive vehicles whose front tires steer and put the power to the road.SUVs a ... read more

Today in the Auto Clinic Care auto care blog, we're going to talk to Rockville drivers about oil change intervals. It seems that as engine technology advances, oil change intervals become longer for Auto Clinic Care customers. For example, recently four of the world's largest vehicle manufacturer's shortened the published intervals for several of their engine models. They originally published intervals that extended out to a much as 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers).In real world Rockville driving, the oil started to sludge up before the recommended change interval. Oil sludge is a thick jelly-like substance: quite literally petroleum jelly – like Vaseline. This goop was clogging vehicle small engine passages so the oil wouldn't flow to some parts of the engine. This resulted in engine damage. We see it too often at Auto Clinic Care in Rockville.The vehicle manufacturers began to offer an extended warranty to cover sludge damage. But there was a catch: the vehicle ... read more

The median age for cars in the Rockville, MD area was over nine years. And two-thirds had over 75,000 miles. At Auto Clinic Care we hear reports that those numbers continue to rise. If you have a high-mileage vehicle in the Rockville area, bring it into Auto Clinic Care for high-mileage maintenance.5531 Nicholson LaneRockville, MD 20852301.881.7891 Many people in MD are keeping their vehicles longer. The economy has influenced that, but the fact that modern vehicles are more durable and reliable means that owning a high mileage vehicle doesn't have to be a painful experience.Local car owners in Rockville with over 100,000 miles on their vehicles often ask which service intervals they should follow. Let's start with the special needs of the older vehicle...The reality is that time and mileage will take its toll. The engine and transmission will have more sludge. The fuel, steering and brake systems will have gum and varnish built up. There'll be more di ... read more