Rockville Auto Repair

Have you checked out the price of new vehicles at Rockville car dealers? Ouch! Add financing and insurance and a new ride may not seem so attractive. A lot of Rockville, MD, folks are hoping to make their cars last a lot longer.Fortunately, with the current state of automotive engineering and manufacturing, there's no reason a modern vehicle can't be made to last for a 150,000 miles (250,000 kilometers) or more for smart Rockville drivers.The old adage: 'a stitch in time saves nine' is really true for Rockville residents when it comes to car maintenance. A great example is coolant service.Over time, coolant becomes corrosive and actually starts to damage your radiator and other parts. Smart Rockville drivers have their cooling system service taken care of right on schedule at Auto Clinic Care.Ditto for your power steering system, brake fluid, air conditioning system, differential and transmission. Of course, oil changes should be done right on schedule to avoid the build-up ... read more

Most Rockville auto owners want to save on gas and seek our advice on improving economy. At Auto Clinic Care, we are frequently asked, however, if it is really worth the extra effort. Just how much money can Rockville drivers actually save?In today's Auto Clinic Care article, we're focusing on the things you can do to improve your vehicle’s economydriving around MD. We'll tell you the potential savings per gallon of gas at $3.50, and we'll show a chart that also shows the savings at $3.00 and $4.00.   DOLLARS PER GALLON $3.00 / $3.50 / $4.00 TUNE UP 4%.12.14.16 The next item is replacing a clogged engine air filter. Your engine needs enough air to burn fuel efficiently for the best mileage. A clean air filter means you get plenty of air. The fact that the air's clean protects your engine. That can save you up to 10 percent or 35 cents a gallon.   DOLLARS PER GALLON$3.00 / $3 ... read more

Rockville drivers rely on their vehicle's coolant system to keep their engine cool. Coolant (also called antifreeze) mixed with water flows through your vehicle engine and absorbs heat. The mixture then flows out to the radiator where it's cooled by air flowing over the radiator. From there the coolant/water mix circulates back through the engine to absorb more heat.There's a reason we mix coolant and water. Water alone actually does a good job transferring heat from the engine. The problem is that water boils at a temperature that's easily reached inside your vehicle's engine, so it can turn to steam which does not conduct heat as well and is harder to contain.Also, if it's freezing outside in Rockville, the water in your engine could freeze while your vehicle is sitting out in the MD cold.So, if you remember your high school chemistry, you'll know that a mixture has both a higher boiling point and a lower freezing point than ei ... read more

In very simple terms, a fuel injector is a valve that squirts fuel into your vehicle engine. Your engine control computer tells the fuel injector how much fuel to deliver as well as the precise time it should be delivered. Of course this happens thousands of times a minute in every single fuel-injected vehicle driving down Rockville roads.Most fuel injectors for gas engines are known in the Rockville automotive community as port fuel injectors because they deliver the fuel to a port just outside the cylinder. The fuel pump provides pressure needed to squirt the right amount of fuel into the engine. A few have recently introduced gas direct injection systems on some engines. They are now available at some MD dealerships. These systems inject the gas directly into the cylinders under very high pressure – many times the pressure of port injection systems. Although more complicated, direct in ... read more

Your car might have an alignment problem if: it drifts or pulls to one side, your steering wheel is off center, you have uneven tire wear or your car doesn't feel like it handles right. When all of a vehicle's wheels are lined up exactly with each other, your wheels are in alignment. Running into potholes around Rockville and smacking a curb or other object are great ways to knock your car out of alignment. Then, one or more of your wheels starts pulling in a slightly different direction and the problems begin.There are several things involved in an alignment check at Auto Clinic Care. First, there's an inspection of the steering and suspension systems - their components should be checked to see if anything's bent or broken. Then the tire condition needs to be inspected. From there, the vehicle is put on an alignment rack and an initial alignment reading is taken. If all four wheels are adjustable, they are lined up perfectly parallel with the vehicle's center line. If the ba ... read more