Van Nuys Auto Repair & Service Center

If you’ve ever heard a squealing sound under your hood, chances are it was your serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that’s driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems in your sedan. Let’s go over them. First, the serpentine belt drives your air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in Van Nuys.Next, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that’s used by your sedan’s electrical systems and also charges your car battery. Without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles. The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering (some are electric) and power brakes (some use vacuu ... read more

Today's AutoAid & Rescue post focuses on using the proper fluids for your vehicle. Big advances in automotive technology have lead to the development of high-tech fluids to keep pace. Some because of engineering advances and others, advances in the materials used to build sedan automotive systems. A simple example of this is the cooling system. For decades it was primarily made out of iron, steel and rubber hoses. There was one kind of coolant that protected these components from corrosion. Now cooling system components are made with various metal alloys and plastics. These materials require different additives to protect them from corrosion. Since the materials used vary from manufactruer to manufactruer, we now have a number of different kinds of coolant. And it’s important that Sherman Oaks car owners use the right coolant ... read more

High gas prices in Van Nuys have hit most of our budgets. You’ve probably budgeted a certain amount for vehicle related stuff. Increased fuel costs are now consuming a bigger portion of that budget and you may be tempted to skimp in some other areas – like scheduled maintenance.According to news reports and industry studies, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten personal vehicles on the road have at least one maintenance or repair item that hasn’t been done. Some of these items are serious safety concerns. Others are just more likely to affect the cost of operating your vehicle.In this area, we can take a lesson from professional Van Nuys vehicle owners. I’m talking about fleet owners and operators. You know, Van Nuys folks like the trucking companies and delivery services. Because their livelihood depends on it, they have gotten scheduled maintenance down to a science ... read more

Warm weather or cold, Van Nuys drivers still need to think about their sedan’s air conditioning. Most Van Nuys people don’t service their air conditioning until after it fails. At AutoAid & Rescue, we can advise you on your vehicle manufactruer's preventive maintenance schedules for air conditioning service, just as we do for transmission service, oil changes and so on. Maintaining your air conditioning system means that you always have enough refrigerant to properly do the job. Small leaks in the sedan's air conditioning system allow the refrigerant to escape and the system can’t cool the air as well. We see that a lot at AutoAid & Rescue in Van Nuys. The refrigerant also contains a special oil that lubricates air conditioning components, and keeps the seals resilient. Low refrigerant and lubricating oil means that the air conditioning par ... read more

A while back, the Cash for Clunkers program was all over the news. Van Nuys people could trade in their old vehicle for a new one that got better fuel economy and receive a government rebate. A lot of Van Nuys motorists had so-called clunkers that they wanted to keep. They’re good commuters, grocery getters or toy haulers. They enjoy that fact that they’re paid off, or soon will be. They would gladly like to keep their sedans for 200,000 miles or more – as long as it’s economical to do so. There are plenty of Van Nuys drivers whose vehicles are running after 150,000 or 200,000 miles. We can learn from what they’re doing to keep our own sedans on the road in CA. Van Nuys drivers of high-mileage cars often report a common denominator of never skipping an oil change.That may sound a bit unsophisti ... read more

When it comes to their vehicles, some Los Angeles people don’t have a maintenance mindset. They know they need to take care of their cars, but it just seems really hard to get them to remember to do it. Los Angeles drivers generally accept that many things in life require regular maintenance, but just may have not applied it to their sedans. For example: the lawn. You water it and mow it every week. And weed the flower beds and rake the leaves. There are other things that Los Angeles people are good about maintaining. Going to the dentist twice a year. Clothes to the dry cleaner. Flu shots. Taking the kids to your Los Angeles doctor for a checkup before school starts. So Los Angeles people really are maintenance minded. They just have to learn to apply that mindset to cars. I mean, if you never brush your teeth or go to the dentist, you’ll become painfully aware of yo ... read more

Couples Oil Change*For the month of February, we're offering a special two-for-one oil change deal just for couples!  Bring in your car for a lube, and we'll take care of your significant other's ride as well....and if that's not romantic enough, Facebook Fan Contest: Win Dinner for TwoFor the month of February, every new fan on Facebook gets intered to win a romantic dinner for two on us.  Already a fan, you can enter too if you refer a friend.  Visit Autoaid on Facebook for registration and details.*most cars, max. 5 qts oil, synthetic extra

The weather report's in – and it calls for party crazy skies with an unpredictable front moving in from the Pacific! Weather in Southern California, especially recently, seems to be able to swing from one extreme to another with little warning. In other parts of the country it's a little easier to know how to be prepared, in terms of your vehicle – if you're in the north, take cold weather precautions in the winter, and in the south, get ready for hot and steamy summers. Here? If you want to get through our winter months disaster-free, you'll need to be prepared for anything. With that in mind, we've put together a list of tips for “extreme weather” driving – follow these rules of thumb and you'll be prepared to face nearly anything mother natrue throws at you. Hot Weather: Take care of your battery!Steamy hot days can take a lot out of us, but they can take a lot out of your car battery, too. When the temperatrues ris ... read more

Welcome to the AutoAid & Rescue blog. Today, let’s talk about the effect of tire tread depth on braking. When talking about stopping power, most of us Tarzana drivers tend to focus on our brakes. But our tires are where the rubber meets the road. So having good brakes isn’t enough. Safe Tarzana drivers need to have tires with enough traction to translate braking power into stopping power.Let’s focus on stopping in wet Tarzana conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water. That’s called hydroplaning. If it’s really bad, Tarzana drivers can actually spin out of control. At best, you won’t stop as fast. So how does a tire move water? It h ... read more