3 Main Problems with Euro Car Transmissions

European-made cars can offer luxurious transportation. They can also pose more difficult mechanical and maintenance issues, especially with their transmissions. Here are three problems you should look for.

1. Transmission Oil Issues

Many foreign vehicles, particularly Audis, can have issues with transmission oil levels. If you don’t have the condition and level of transmission oil checked regularly, it can lead to serious problems. Most European cars have transmissions that cannot be easily checked. An automotive repair shop that specializes in foreign vehicles can help make sure the oil levels are correct.

2. CVT Transmission Problems

European vehicles often have CVT transmissions. These continuously variable transmissions are used by Mercedes, Audi and other European manufacturers. It is important to take your vehicle to a professional technician to have it checked and serviced regularly.

3. Problems Shifting

If your European vehicle is a manual transmission, then you will notice if a gear is grinding or slipping. You may be able to feel the change and you may also hear a pitch change in your engine. You may also notice your vehicle struggling or feel a loss of power. All of these could be a sign of a transmission issue.

Don’t trust your European-made vehicle to just anyone. Find a shop that employs specially trained technicians to do the work for you. Visit this website for transmission repair in Sunnyvale.

Top Three Maintenance Issues With RVs

If you’ve owned a recreational vehicle for very long, you know how much fun you can have with one. Whether you use it to camp on weekends, put it to work as a guest house or live in it full time, an RV has value above and beyond dollars and cents.  As much fun as it is, though, you might have also noticed that your RV requires a significant amount of maintenance. Read on to learn some of the common issues with RVs.

If your rig is a motorhome, you have all of the systems that are found on a car or truck, plus all of the systems found in a house. Repairs to any of these can end up taking a lot of time and money, so investing in regular maintenance is a wise thing to do. Putting aside the automotive aspect and focusing on the “home” part, the top three maintenance issues are related to moisture.

Starting at the top, one of the roof’s primary functions is to keep out moisture in the form of precipitation. Older RVs have metal roofs, and newer ones are made of rubber. Whichever type you have, roofs on motorhomes and camp trailers tend to develop leaks. Unless you keep your RV parked under cover or have a tarp over it, you’ll need to do routine maintenance to the seals in order to keep moisture out.

Moving down, take a good look at your windows. They may be the old crank-style or newer sliding models. In either case, if the rubber seals around the edges start to crack, moisture will get inside the RV and cause damage to the walls, flooring and furniture. Examine them annually and replace them as needed.

The final type of moisture problem comes from within the RV and has to do with condensation. Depending on the interior and exterior temperatures, a significant amount of moisture can form on the insides of your windows and walls. If left alone, it can cause a lot of damage due to mold, mildew and rot. Preventive measures are considered maintenance and include opening your vents or cracking a window at each end of the RV, keeping cooking pots covered and extractor fans in use and adjusting the temperature inside to reduce humidity.

Maintenance, when performed properly and regularly, will save you money in the long run and allow you to have more fun in your recreational vehicle. Visit this website to learn more about RV repair service in Santa Cruz.

Beach Camping Beats All

 

If you think campgrounds are fun, you’ll love beach camping. Pull your rig up to the shore and hang loose for a day or a week.

How to Take Care of Your Car Body

Your car should be able to function efficiently for quite a while, but it is also important that you keep your vehicle looking great for years to come. You can get professional detailing, but there are steps you can take on your own to keep your car looking absolutely beautiful. A few simple tips should be all that is needed to increase the longevity of your vehicle’s aesthetic.

First, you should be aware of the proper way to clean a car. Before you start washing your vehicle, you should hose it down thoroughly first. This will remove any exterior dust. You should be using lukewarm or cold water from a hose as opposed to using the same used water from a bucket. The dust from the water will simply be transferred back onto your vehicle. You should wash using a soft rag, old t-shirt or sponge. You do not want to run a dry cloth against the exterior of your vehicle because this can scratch the paint. You should also be mindful never to wash your vehicle in the hot sun because the heat emitted by the sun and the cold water can cause the body to contract and ultimately crack.

Although you should do your best to prevent any scratches or dents from developing on your vehicle in the first place, sometimes they are simply unavoidable. One may appear that you have no idea go there. There are plenty of methods available to put a fresh coat of paint on your car, but you need to make sure to prime before you paint. Minor dents can sometimes be flattened out using a rubber plunger. Once suction has been established, you can pull on the plunger to buff the dent out. It may take a couple attempts to get it right. However, it is also possible that some types of damage cannot be removed on your own, and you will require the assistance of professional. There should be plenty of auto body shops near you that can help make your automobile look fantastic once again.

If you notice any problems with your vehicle’s exterior like dings, dents or rust, the important thing to keep in mind is to not panic. A little wear and tear is perfectly normal for a vehicle to experience. Everyone deals with small cosmetic issues from time to time, and there are numerous ways to fix them. For instance, you can look at this website to gather more information related to auto body restoration in North County.

When Is it Time to Replace Your Windshield?

Not every crack or chip that might appear in your windshield results in a need for complete replacement; sometimes a simple repair may be sufficient to restore it to great condition. Some vehicle owners rely too much on repairing and cannot tell when it is time to invest a bit more to go on and buy new. An expert can take a look at your auto glass and tell you what the best approach is – but, it can sometimes prove helpful to know what to expect before getting in touch with a professional. There are a few guidelines you can use to determine on your own whether you should plan for repair services or if it is time to replace.

It can cost less than $100 to have the most common cracks and chips repaired, but size is a major factor that dictates what you should do; a particularly deep or wide crack could prove unrepairable. There are some new technologies which have enabled the repairing of larger breaches than was once possible, but there are still limitations – some auto glass shops are able to fix fissures as much as 18 inches long. As a general rule, you should be prepared to replace the windshield of the damage is more than three inches long or one inch in diameter. It will ultimately be up to the technician you choose to determine if the issue is too big to be repaired.

Location of the flaw can also have a big impact on whether or not it is time for you to get a new windshield – for example, if the damage is to both layers of the glass or over the rain sensor, then repairing might not be an option. Cracks along the edge of the windshield can undermine the integrity of the entire pane, making a total replacement often the safest approach. As well, some repairs made over the driver’s lines of sight may result in reduced visibility, leaving the installation of new glass highly recommended.

Sometimes it is not the size or location of the flaw that is the most important issue, being overruled by what an insurance policy will cover; there have been cases in which a windshield could have been repaired but the financial aspect made replacement the preferred approach. Due to how the cost of fixing a small crack or chip can occasionally compare with a low deductible, some vehicle owners find it more cost-effective to simply replace.

Both repairing and replacement of auto glass can be an easy matter when you choose the right professional for the job. Visit this website to learn more about auto glass repair in Raleigh.

Why It’s Important to Fix That Chip in Your Windshield

That morning the rock from the gravel truck in front of you hit your windshield to leave a little nick in it, you wanted to scream. Your perfect view became a little less clear, and the unsightly blemish made you fume. If you chose to leave that nick unattended, you made a mistake that will affect not only the appearance the car, but the cost of the repair in the long run. Furthermore, while the nick may quickly turn to a full and expensive-to-repair crack, the worst news is that the damage to the windshield may put your life and those of your passengers at serious risk.

Many people allow a nick in their windshield to go without repair. The trouble of making an appointment or the cost seem prohibitive to them, but most nicks might be repaired within an hour and the cost for such a repair will be far less than the necessary expense of replacing an entire cracked or broken windshield.

A lot of people do not realize that the tiniest chip in a windshield can and usually does lead to a very serious crack that might result in a crack that extends from one end of the glass to the other. Such a crack affects the beauty of the vehicle, and many people would have it repaired for just that reason, but most people do not realize how detrimental a crack might be to the safety of everyone in the vehicle and riders they meet along the way.

Visibility is the first danger that a cracked windshield presents. Distracting and obscuring, a crack throughout the glass may affect the driver’s concentration and ability to adequately assess conditions, distances and other factors of the road. The slightest deviation may lead to an accident, and that is one seriously good reason to replace the windshield entirely.

Other dangers may not be so easily recognized by car owners. What many people do not understand is that structural issues depend on the windshield, too. Adding support to the structure of the roof, a seriously damaged windshield may pop out during a collision, collapse to cut the riders, or fail to provide any protection in a rollover accident. This makes windshield maintenance a major concern for anyone driving a car. To learn more about windshield repair in Raleigh, please visit this website.

Style and Protection with a Hoodshield for your Truck

Like most truck owners, the first thing you want to do when you finally buy that rugged pickup you’ve had your eye on is load it up, take it out, show it off, and test its mettle. Before you head off into the sunset for some quality time, there are a few things you should do to protect your shiny new toy.

One of the first things you’ll want to look at is adding a little extra hood protection. Most people don’t look forward to scraping bug carcasses off the hood of their truck, or buying touch-up paint for the damage a couple of small pebbles can do. Hoodshields – also called deflectors or bug deflectors – are easy to install, come in a variety of styles, colors, and finishes, and offer rugged protection from the agony of suicidal insects and runaway gravel. They’re made from high-quality, shatter and scratch-proof acrylics.

Installation is simple, and can usually be done in the time it takes your kids to find their shoes – possibly even less than that, depending on how dedicated your kids are. Most hoodshields snap or clip on to the lip of your hood. Some use high-grade automotive tape to attach or secure them, while others screw through existing holes on the underside of your hood or require minor drilling. Snap-on types are easy to remove if you like to have unimpeded access while washing or waxing. If the type of installation is important to you, check with the distributor before you buy.

Hoodshields can also add style to your ride. Urban warriors may want to flash some chrome, while camo styles appeal to drivers who prefer their adventures off-road. If you’re trying to remain incognito, a clear deflector keeps it subtle, most also come in black or smoke shades to complement your tint or paint. Most brands offer window deflectors that match for all-over protection.

Fit is an important consideration. Some styles hug the hood for a sleek, low-profile, form-fitting finish, while others stand up and away to deflect a little more wind and debris and allow you to wash and wax around and under them. You can find them in one-piece or three-piece styles, depending on the size and shape of your hood. The best are injection-molded for a perfect fit around the contours of your vehicle.

If you’re ready to deflect bugs and defeat bouncing gravel, click here to find out more about aftermarket customization in San Diego, visit this website.