Rockville Auto Repair

Getting adequate fuel to your engine is very important for performance, fuel economy and safety. In order to accomplish this, your fuel system needs to be clean.Today's production cars have fuel injectors, rather than a carburetor. The injectors need to be cleaned from time to time in order to deliver the fuel with the correct pressure, spray pattern and volume.Rockville drivers can buy fuel system cleaners that you pour into your gas tank to help maintain an already clean fuel system; however, they can't do a major cleaning. For that, you need to see Auto Clinic Care in Rockville. We have the tools and chemicals to do the job right. Our friendly and knowledgeable team at Auto Clinic Care can remove particles, gum and varnish from your fuel system and get those injectors running cleanly and efficiently. You'll find Auto Clinic Care at 5531 Nicholson Lane in Rockville, MD 20852. Or just give us a call at 301.881.7891 to schedule an appointment. You'll enjoy more power, better fuel econo ... read more

Don't you hate it when you hear that squeal from under the hood when you're zipping down a busy Rockville road? It usually means there is a problem with the serpentine belt. The serpentine belt powers a lot of engine accessories. It runs the alternator - which charges the battery; the water pump - which cools the engine; the air conditioning and the power steering pump. All are pretty important parts. It is called a serpentine belt because it snakes around a bunch of engine components. Serpentine belts are amazingly tough. They can last for years and go long distances. Like all moving parts, however, they eventually wear out. If your belt breaks while you are driving around Rockville, everything will come to a halt within minutes. You need to stop the vehicle immediately or it will overheat, potentially causing engine damage. You can be sure that it won't happen at a convenient time or place. (As if there was a convenient time or place!) You might even need to get your ... read more

All modern Rockville vehicles come with fuel injection systems, so it's a topic Rockville drivers need to know something about. The mighty fuel injector is a valve that delivers the gas or diesel fuel to the right place, in the right amount at the right time—to be mixed with air and burned in the engine.So how many fuel injectors does your vehicle have? There's one for each cylinder. So four, six or eight for most folks in Rockville, MD. Some vehicles have 10 or 12 cylinders. The engine control computer makes adjustments to the fuel injector as it monitors the engine and other sensors. Fuel injectors are a pretty high-tech.Auto Clinic Care can help Rockville drivers with a fuel injector cleaning service. What's the benefit? In order to work right, the fuel injectors have to deliver the fuel at a precise pressure at a very precise time. It's important that the fuel is sprayed in a particular pattern as determined by the engine design.Over time, varnish can st ... read more

One Rockville automotive service issue that doesn't get much attention is driveline service. Drivelines don't get talked about very much around Rockville, but they're very important. First let's define what the driveline is:Taking a small step back, the power plant is comprised of the engine and transmission. The driveline starts there and includes all of the components that transfer power from the transmission to the wheels.That's not really a lot of components, but they handle the full force of the engine. Without the driveline you're not moving. So Rockville residents need to take good care of it. The driveline components differ depending on whether your vehicle has front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive or four wheel drive. For purposes of our discussion, we're going to have to oversimplify a bit. If you are ready to have your drive train looked at, give us a call at 301.881.7891. Let's start with front wheel drive. The point where th ... read more

Power steering is standard on nearly every vehicle in Rockville, MD, these days. Now there are some exotic, new types of power steering systems, but for the most part, the general setup is a pump that's driven by a belt powered by the engine. Contact the automotive professionals at Auto Clinic Care in Rockville for questions about your power steering. The pump generates power that assists drivers as they steer their vehicle around Rockville, MD. Power steering systems use hoses to move pressurized fluid back and forth. These hoses can develop leaks so it's a good idea to have Auto Clinic Care inspect them at every oil change. A check of the power steering fluid level is on the list for every full service oil change at Auto Clinic Care because low fluid can damage the power steering pump. And the fluid needs to be compatible with the hoses and seals, so it's important to use the correct type – just ask your service advisor at Auto ... read more

Your vehicle is important to you, and keeping it running properly is important to your lifestyle. That's why you're smart enough to have it serviced regularly at Auto Clinic Care in Rockville. And even though it may just be routine maintenance, you want it done right by automotive professionals.It's also very important to your Rockville service center to keep you happy and on the road. You might be surprised at the amount of money our Rockville auto service center spends annually to make sure our friendly and knowledgeable technicians are properly trained.Auto Clinic Care offers a variety of automotive services for many kinds of vehicles. We need to be current on the latest techniques and parts so that we can give you quality service. Our Rockville service centers subscribe to data services that list the high quality parts and fluids recommended by your manufacturer.And each service has a checklist of standard procedures. Auto Clinic Care technicians follow these procedures so th ... read more

About 90% of our driving decisions in the Rockville area are based solely on what we see. So having a good pair of windshield wipers is extremely important.Most Rockville drivers have experienced the frustration and fear of not being able to see clearly during a storm, or when our vehicle windshield is just dirty. In fact, it's estimated that 46,000,000 drivers across the nation are driving with wipers that can't adequately clear their windshield in a storm.It seems like our wiper blades are always at their worst when we need them the most. If that sounds like you, you've got plenty of company in the Rockville area. 78% of drivers only change their wiper blades after the blades function so poorly that they become a safety hazard.Rockville drivers need to change their thinking. Instead of blades being something to replace when they fail, we need to consider wiper blades as vehicle safety component. Then we'll stay ahead of the sto ... read more

Flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances can all be the result of driving around Rockville on underinflated tires. Admittedly, it's hard to tell when a radial tire is underinflated. If your vehicle manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your vehicle tires are considered significantly underinflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds.New laws require all vehicles to include a tire pressure monitor system, or TPMS. This technology has been used by race car drivers for years. They are able to head off problems from underinflation by closely monitoring tire pressure on the track. It's up to your vehicle's manufacturer to determine which of many TPMS systems available they'll use to comply with the law.Obviously, all of this doesn't come free for Rockville drivers. Government studies have estimated the net costs. Of course, the TPMS system itself will cost something. Maintaining the ... read more

Here's an interesting statistic for our in Rockville, MD, drivers: Only 30 percent of car batteries make it to 48 months. And the life expectancy varies by where you live. It ranges from 51 months in extremely cold areas to just 30 months in extremely hot climates.Why is that? It turns out that it's our modern cars with all their electric accessories that are to blame. Things like, GPS, DVDs and entertainment computers are keeping vehicle batteries from maintaining a full charge. The longer a battery goes with a low charge, the sooner it'll die.It's clear that you Rockville drivers need to recharge your batteries. This is the job of the alternator. The problem comes when the car's demand for electricity is high and we are driving in stop and go conditions or short trips around Rockville. The alternator just can't keep up.The result is shortened battery life. So what can we do to improve our battery's health?We need to keep the battery as close to a full charge as p ... read more

Like everything in the MD automotive market, there have been great strides in headlight technology in recent years. MD drivers can be safer at night because of it. Good headlights improve visibility on Rockville roads, enabling you to see farther. They also improve your peripheral vision, helping you to see the sides more clearly. The more you can see, the more quickly you can react to road conditions. This is because nearly half of traffic fatalities take place at night. And as Rockville resident population ages, everything that helps older eyes is welcome.Most new vehicles sold in MD come with halogen headlamps. A decade ago, halogens were exotic and expensive. Now that they are standard equipment, the price has come way down. Many luxury cars are equipped with high intensity discharge, or HID, headlamps. You have probably seen them on some Rockville roads; they're very bright and have a bluish tint.From behind the wheel, there is no doubt that HID headlamp ... read more