Rockville Auto Repair

During an inspection at Auto Clinic Care in Rockville, your friendly and knowledgeable automotive service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts. Here's a quick rundown of suspension system components: There are the springs which hold the weight of your vehicle. There are several varieties of springs. Springs are heavy duty parts that rarely break or wear out. Shock absorbers work in conjunction with springs to smooth out the ride and help keep the tires on the road. Good shocks are essential for handling performance and ride comfort. You've probably heard of struts. They combine a shock absorber and a coil spring in one unit. Shocks and struts will wear out over time. If your tires develop a cupped wear pattern, your shocks or struts may be wearing out. This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly. You may notice a floaty or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your vehicle dives excessively when stopping ... read more

  All Rockville drivers have blind spots – and no, I'm not talking about the fact that you really don't sing like Adele. I mean the areas of the road that you can't see when you're driving around Rockville.First let's talk about our own blinds spots, and then we can talk about others...To begin, we can greatly reduce blind spots by properly adjusting our mirrors to give the widest coverage possible. Make the adjustments in your vehicle before you start to drive.First, Rockville drivers should adjust their rear view mirrors to give the best possible view directly to the rear of their vehicle. Rockville folks don't need it to get a better view of either side of the car, the kids in the back seat or their dazzling smile. It's pretty obvious, the rear view mirror should reflect the rear.Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver's side window. Adjust your side mirror so that you can just barely see the side of your car. Now, lean your head to the middle of ... read more

At Auto Clinic Care we hear from a lot of people who are excited about the new diesel engines that will soon be available in passenger cars and SUV's. But our MD friends are often curious about the preventive maintenance requirements. People may not know that diesel engines have long been used extensively in Europe and Asia. In fact, in some markets, there're nearly as many diesel powered passenger cars as there are gasoline.Here's who's announced or is expected to announce new diesels for North America: BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Subaru. Of course, the US auto makers will be expanding their diesel offerings as well. Diesels will become a very big deal here in MD.You may ask, why has it taken so long getting to MD and North America? There are a bunch of reasons like fuel tax policies and such, but the biggest hurtle was that MD diesel fuel had a high sulfur content – too high for the latest generation of highly refined diesel engines. Rec ... read more

Your cooling system is very important. It circulates coolant through the radiator and your engine to protect your vehicle from overheating. There are five main components to the cooling system: the radiator the radiator cap the hoses the thermostat the water pump The water pump's like the heart of your cooling system, circulating the fluid throughout your vehicle. It's a small pump that's driven by the engine; usually by belt, but sometimes by a chain or gear.The water pump only operates when the engine's running. Water pump failure is pretty routine. We see it often at Auto Clinic Care. Some start failing at around 40,000 miles/64,000 km, but most fail by 100,000 miles/160,000 km. Consult your owner's manual or friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at Auto Clinic Care to see what's recommended.Since a water pump either works or it doesn't, you need to change it when it fails. Water pumps fail in one of two ways: the bearings fail or they be ... read more

Every vehicle on MD roads has a differential, and it is important to the proper operation of the vehicle.  But most Rockville residents don't have a clue what it is.The differential compensates for differing wheel speeds. For example, when you turn, the inside tire on the turn travels a much shorter distance than the outside wheel. So the inside wheel of the vehicle must move at a slower speed than the outside wheel. Without a differential, the wheels would hop and scrape while turning.Have you ever seen the large bulge in the middle of the rear axle of a truck? That's the differential. In a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the differential is located on the back axle. Four-wheel drive vehicles and SUV's have differentials on both the front and the rear axle.You might expect that the differential is located on the front axle of a front-wheel drive vehicle. You'd be right. But the differential is called a transaxle on a front-wheel drive v ... read more

When all of your vehicle's wheels are lined up exactly with each other, your wheels are in alignment. Hitting a road hazard or even just the normal bumps and bounces of everyday driving in Rockville can cause your vehicle's wheels to be out of alignment.Driving for an extended time around Rockville when your wheels are out of alignment results in uneven tire wear. This is dangerous … and expensive. Worst case scenario, you have a blowout on a crowded MD highway. It can also cause premature wear to your suspension system, which can be really expensive to repair. At the very least, you may have to replace your tires years too early. The ideal alignment for your vehicle was designed by its engineers. Alignment service at Auto Clinic Care starts with an inspection of the steering and suspension – to see if anything's bent or broken. Then your friendly and knowledgeable Auto Clinic Care technician will look at tire condition.From there, the vehi ... read more

Everyone in Rockville, MD, knows we are advised to go to our Rockville dentist twice a year.  Oral-conscious Rockville residents have a teeth-cleaning and examination. Once a year, we get x-rays to look for problems that can't be seen with the naked eye. When our dentist is done, he/she tells us what was found – "Everything's fine, see you in six months." Or "You've got a small cavity starting, let's schedule an appointment to take care of it." By the time you leave, you have a plan for addressing any necessary issues.This system works so much better than waiting for a painful problem before going into the dentist. Small problems are fixed before they turn into big problems. And you avoid those huge bills.If Rockville folks understand the wisdom of using this system for handling dental care, why do many resist when facing the same system for our vehicle maintenance? Following the vehicle manufacturer's recommended intervals can be confusing. First ... read more

No matter how well they're made, vehicles in Rockville, MD, will have design or manufacturing problems. And when the government thinks a problem is really serious for people in Rockville, MD, they require the manufacturer to issue a recall notice and fix the vehicle  free of charge. The manufacturer then tries to contact everyone in MD who owns that type of vehicle to get the recall work done. Perhaps you have received a postcard notifying you of a recall. The government has links on its websites, or just visit AutoNetTV for links. There are many websites with free recall information and searches. There's CarFax, AutoByTel and the DMV.Recalls are serious but not all that common. Sometimes there are fewer issues, and for these, manufacturers issue a Technical Service Bulletin, or TSB, that tells service centers like Auto Clinic Care how to repair a frequent or difficult problem.The pros get updated information throug ... read more

People in Rockville have been hearing a lot about higher oil change intervals these days. Maybe you're wondering: What are the key issues?Some new vehicle manufacturers are now recommending much higher oil change intervals than they have in the past. As much as 5,000 to 8,000 miles (8,000 km to 13,000 km) or more. This practice came under scrutiny when four of the largest new vehicle manufacturers announced that owners like those in Rockville were experiencing engine damage resulting from these higher oil change intervals.The manufacturers' standard oil drain service for particular vehicles was scheduled at around 7,500 miles/12,000 km. People following these recommendations were experiencing engine damage. It turns out that oil sludge was building up. This caused small oil passages to clog and engine parts to fail.What causes oil sludge? It's a factor of time and mileage. There are hot spots in every engine that cause oil burn off that leads to sludge ... read more

Modern vehicles in and around Rockville run on 12 volt electrical systems. 12 volts is enough to get the job done for Rockville drivers without having so much power that there is danger of electrocution. But today's vehicles have more electrical components and do-dads than ever before. This really strains your electrical system, making it hard for the battery to keep up. Think about it: electric seats, seat heaters, power locks windows and sun roofs. And then us MD drivers have all the power outlets for our cell phones, computers and DVD players.We also have navigation systems and powerful stereos. Plus there are all the engine and transmission computers, traction control, stability control, anti-lock brakes, sensors and on and on. Even the security system is running off the battery while the car is turned off.Fortunately, battery technology has given Rockville drivers resilient batteries that are able to meet these strenuous requirements. But the fact is, batteries just wear out ... read more