Venice Auto Repair

Why Is My Car Shaking When Idle?    Have you ever experienced a rough idle or lots of shaking while you are stopped at a stop light or maybe you are slowing down, and it just starts to shake out of nowhere? There could be a variety of different reasons for this, it's not something you want to ignore as it may be a big underlying issue!   We recently had a BMW X2 in the shop that was experiencing this symptom. Upon doing a full diagnosis to the vehicle, our technician found that this was coming from the Motor Mounts. After asking my Service Manager about this issue, he stated that Motor Mounts can have many names, and can be different depending on make and model of vehicle. For instance, trucks usually have Engine Mounts that are metal and rubber, whereas other vehicles like this BMW X2 have mounts that have rubber with liquid inside of them, also known as hydraulic fluid. For this vehicle, Chris our ASE Certified Master Import & Eur ... read more

What is Carbon Build-up? How Does it Affect my Engine?  Carbon build-up can be found inside the engine. Over time carbon builds up inside the engine from exhaust and fuel combustion. As the engine burns fuel, the layers of carbon build up causing the valves to stick. This can impede the valves sealing correctly when disposing of exhaust or intaking air into the cylinder.  Carbon can also plug up your fuel injector nozzles resulting in poor fuel delivery.  For example, when there is a fire in the chimney you can see soot start to build up on the inside walls. This is exactly what is happening inside the engine!  Oil travels a long road before it winds up in your vehicle. Gasoline from oil refiners such as Shell, Chevron, etc. mix their gasoline with their own kind of detergents. These detergents are formulated to remove or prevent the carbon build up in the fuel injectors and intake valves. This may differ though with a direct injec ... read more

Why Is My Car Hard To Steer? Why Is My Car Not Driving Straight? Why Is My Car Making A Strange Noise When Turning?    The answer to this question may be the result of a bad Tie Rod. The Tie Rod connects the Steering Gear or Power Steering Rack to the wheel of your vehicle. Over time, the pivoting joint of the tie rod can wear out, causing your tire to no longer stay in alignment. When you are turning your wheel a little bit and the steering feels loose, or the vehicle isn't responding to the way you are turning your steering wheel, this would be the reason. Other symptoms include: No steering at all or unusual steering  High pitched squealing noise (especially around turns) Uneven wear on tires Wheel alignment off             Our mechanics routinely check your tie rods when your vehicle comes in for service. To safely inspect ... read more

What Happens When An A/C Actuator Goes Bad?   You might be thinking to yourself, what is an Actuator? We have had a few vehicles come in with this issue, that can range from a quite difficult job, to one not so intricate. Depending on your vehicle make and model this might be an extensive repair, in other cases, it could be a quick fix.    An Actuator or Blend Door Actuator, is a small electric motor in your vehicle that runs in forward and reverse motion to move the Blend Door/ Air Mix Door between fresh air and re-circulation modes, hot and cold air flow, and floor/defrost modes. The Actuator is what actually went out with one of these vehicles. So, the Blend Door was not swinging back and forth, causing the hot/cold airflow to be minimal. In another vehicle, we diagnosed a similar issue but the Actuator was working correctly. The ... read more

  Why is my Car A/C Not Blowing Enough Air? Why is my Car Air Conditioning Air Flow Weak?   Recently, we discussed what might be the cause of your vehicle's A/C not blowing cool air. But, let us talk about what the cause might be from your vehicle not blowing enough air!    One of our client's recently came in with this complaint. One that could be coming from a multitude of places of the Air Conditioning system. This problem happened to be coming from the A/C Evaporator. The A/C Evaporator is commonly called a "mini radiator". The Evaporator is part of the Air Conditioning system in your vehicle that works alongside with the blower fan and compressor. A dirty Evaporator is a common cause for weak air flow into your vehicle.    In this case you should run the A/C on recirculation, so it is not inhaling the air from the outside. If you live or work in a more agricultural area, th ... read more