Van Nuys Auto Repair & Service Center

The PCV Valve is a little, inexpensive part that does a big job for Van Nuys drivers. PCV stands for Positive Crankcase Ventilation. The crankcase is the bottom area of the engine that holds the oil. When the sedan engine’s running, fuel is burned to generate power. Most of the exhaust from combustion goes out through the exhaust system. But some exhaust blows by the pistons and goes into the lower engine, or crankcase. These hot gases are about seventy percent unburned fuel.This can dilute and contaminate the oil, leading to damaging engine oil sludge. It can also cause sedan engine corrosion, something we see occasionally at AutoAid & Rescue. At high speeds on Van Nuys freeways, the pressure can build up to the point that gaskets and seals start to leak. Back in the old days, engine makers simply installed a hose that vented these g ... read more

Suspension systems will continue to operate effectively for many years and tens of thousands of miles. Eventually sedan components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive in Encino. As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth CA highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads. In addition to just wearing out, sedan suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact – like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road. Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your sedan manufactruer recommends periodic inspections. During an inspection at AutoAid & Rescue, your family Encino service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts. Let me give a rundown of the major suspension components. First there are the ... read more

Every Van Nuys car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter’s dirty. Here’s what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your sedan owner’s manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your Los Angeles technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed. Now, most air filters purchased in Sherman Oaks, Encino, or Tarzana don’t cost a lot to replace. It’s just that CA people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at AutoAid & Rescue can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in Los Angeles. Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Encino home. When i ... read more

Today's AutoAid & Rescue auto maintenance article focuses on 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. Let’s go over them. First, the serpentine belt drives your sedan air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in Los Angeles. 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. All Los Angeles drivers know that 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 and power brakes ... read more

When your sedan breaks down, or just needs some routine service, you might get a little nervous. Your car’s so important to your life in Encino, you need to back on the road as soon as possible – with the problem fixed right the first time. If you’ve ever checked into some of the technician training AutoAid & Rescue professionals receive, you may be surprised at how much knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern car. Let me give you some perspective. Today there are four cylinder engines that make more power than the V-8’s in luxury cars twenty years ago. I mean a new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket’s Ferrari in a race to sixty. Some cars have several networked computers controlling most of the engine functions and many other vehicle functions as well. Encino motorists take all of this sophistication for granted ... read more

Some Van Nuys motorists are confused by AutoAid & Rescue charges for diagnostic services for a vehicle repair. Many services at AutoAid & Rescue and other Van Nuys automotive repair shops include diagnostic fees. When you take your laptop into a Los Angeles computer repair shop for a problem you’ll likely have to leave a deposit for diagnostics. When we visit our Sherman Oaks doctor for a medical problem, we’re paying him to diagnose our ailment and of course for the tests that go along with it. So receiving a diagnostic charge at AutoAid & Rescue for a tricky automotive problem shouldn’t be a surprise. In the Los Angeles area, automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your sedan brakes when you slow down in rush-hour traffic on a busy CA expressway, you pull off the next off-ramp and take a quick visual check. That is usually ... read more

Most Los Angeles drivers wait for their air conditioning to fail before they service it at AutoAid & Rescue. That’s because many Van Nuys and Encino motorists don't really understand that automotive air conditioners need periodic service. Let me share some of the reasons why they fail. First, like every machine, the sedan air conditioner parts need lubrication. The lubricant is actually mixed in with the refrigerant (that’s the stuff that makes the air cool). So sometimes, even though the air conditioner is still making cool air, the oil that lubricates the parts has just been used up: and unlubricated parts can fail in all CA cars. The air conditioner actually removes some of the moistrue in the air. So if you have trouble with fogging on your windshield during CA winters or during a ra ... read more

Today we're going to talk about power steering service in Van Nuys. If you took an informal poll around Van Nuys you'd probably find that most have never heard of power steering service. That's not surprising. Even though power steering is standard on every vehicle, most people in Van Nuys aren't aware that it needs periodic service. If you're younger than a certain age, you've probably never driven a car or truck without power steering. To get an idea of the difference; if you've ever cut a board with a hand saw, you know it's a lot of work. Using a power saw is easy-peasy by comparison. Without power steering, your arms have to do all the work to steer the wheels, and that's hard, especially around downtown Van Nuys. That's why old cars had such big steering wheels; to get enough leverage to steer. Most vehicles in Van Nuys have a ... read more

Looking at getting some new tires? The choices at Encino tire stores can be a little overwhelming. Suppose you have an SUV and are trying to decide between all season tires or some that are also rated for off-highway. Do you get off the payment on the outskirts of Encino more than most? If so, some additional off-road traction would be nice. Maybe the real reason for wanting those off-highway tires is that they look cool. Well there’s nothing wrong with that. If you make sure that you’ve got your functional needs covered with your selection, then you can have some fun with where you go from there. Let’s suppose you zip around Encino in a sporty car. You may like to run a high-performance summer tire when the weather’s good. When CA weather turns cold, you can put on high-performance winter tires. For the kind of driving you like to do, you want full-on performance tir ... read more

Your engine is like a finely choreographed dance. All the parts have to work together. If the timing is off at the ballet, dancers crash into each other and fall down. It the timing is off in your engine, it may not run at all. One of the most intricate dances in your engine, has to do with the combustion cycle. Your sedan engine has cylinders in which a piston travels up and down. At the top of the cylinders are valves open to bring in the air and fuel. And there are valves that open to let out the exhaust after the fuel has been burned. It's critical that the values be timed to open and close at precisely the right time in the combustion cycle, or the engine will run poorly or not at all. The timing belt is responsible for rotating the shafts that control the valves. It's vital and precision work. Timing belts are made of very tough flexible material. They can last a long time. But they eventua ... read more