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

Do I Have to Replace my Timing Belt?    The simple answer is yes. Some vehicles have a Timing Belt, and others have a timing chain. These are necessary to keep the engine working properly and "in time". A Timing Belt is what keeps the engine valves and pistons "in time" with each other so that they don't collide. It is part of the internal engine system that creates a synchrony of movement between the Camshaft and Crankshaft to ensure that these engine valves open and close in unison during the Cylinder's in/out strokes.    The Timing Belt is rubber, so it does not last forever. In most cases, your manufacturer will recommend replacing as part of routine maintenance. This is about 70,000 miles, but every manufacturer is different. You can consult your owner's manual or come to our shop with trained professionals to ensure you are ... 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

Why do you have to change your Oil?Why does Oil need to be changed?  After discussing what regular maintenance your vehicle needs, and the recommended amount of time in between each. We can now dive into the importance of changing your vehicles oil regularly, and what effects it has on your vehicle’s engine. Here at our shop, we call it anL-O-F service, or Lube, Oil, Filter.  Changing your vehicle’s oil filter is equally important as changing the oil, in fact you most always do both together, otherwise it defeats the purpose of putting in clean oil.  The filter is what collects those dirt particles from entering the engine unit. We have two filter examples we use at our shop. Both do the same job; just depends on what kind your vehicle needs.    There are a lot of components to ensuring you stay on top of your vehicle’s maintenance, oil change ranging to be one of the tops, and most importa ... read more