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Are Your Brakes Squealing?

Brake squeals are a noise that always comes around…it can aggravate you and be embarrassing. Yes, you can take your car to the mechanic, or you can spend your Sunday afternoon putting brake pads on to save some money. Then Monday comes around and they are squealing so badly in the morning you wake up the neighbor’s dog. Well, do not feel bad, you are not alone. Our technicians have this problem with our cars too.

One of the biggest problems is those hot days and cold nights. As your brakes cool off at night, they tend to glaze over and slightly harden. So, when you leave in the morning, the first one to five times you brake, it squeals badly, and then not again the rest of the day. Secondly, modern vehicles are aerodynamic and move air over the vehicle and not under it. This keeps your brakes hotter than a pick-up truck or an SUV. In my experience, trucks and SUVs rarely have brake noise compared to smaller cars.

Lastly, and probably the most important reason, is brake pad composition. In the past, they used asbestos as a brake lining. And it was the best at durability and heat dissipation. Unfortunately, the dust can kill you. There are so many different brake pad brands out there and each brand has at least three distinct levels of brake pad material. You have organic, which is low life, and extremely low noise. Then you can choose from semi-metallic or ceramic-based lining. Ceramic brakes are your best chance at long life and low noise. The price has an effect also… cheap pads ($30.00 to $40.00) will make a lot of noise. You have mid-grade pads ($40.00 to $60.00) which are good for most vehicles on the road. The higher grade ($70.00 to $150.00) is most used in sports cars and big trucks.

The bottom line is do not put the cheapest pads on. Most people are not happy with that. If you have a noise problem, go with a good middle-grade ceramic pad, and make sure the hardware and shims are replaced also. Just remember to have your brakes checked at every oil change and if your brakes do squeal, let the shop know. Most shops want you to be happy and will be glad to try a different pad brand or grade to help your aggravating noise disappear. We would love to help you at White’s Automotive Center! Please come see us!

Fall Is Here – Is Your Car Ready?

It is about time we had some cooler weather days so Fall must be coming. With the cooler nights, usually, the first thing we notice in the morning is the TMPS light is on. The system is telling you your tire pressure is too low in one or more tires. On warm days, tire pressure is good, but when it gets cold at night, it drops one or two pounds, and the light comes on. The tire may not leak – it just fell below that low-pressure threshold and turned the light on.

If you have a car that tells you the individual tire’s pressure, just look and see if they are about the same and drive to a place like White’s Automotive Center to adjust the pressure. If your car does not tell you each tire’s pressure, then look at all your tires. If they look the same, then drive it in and have it checked.

There are also a couple of maintenance items I recommend getting checked in the fall so your car will be ready for winter. One, of course, is the tire pressure. Another would be the Anti-freeze level in your coolant. That way you have no surprises when the first freeze comes in. Wiper blades are another good one. With hot days and cool mornings, you have the persistent morning dew on the windshield.

I would also recommend a tune-up. If it has been over 50,000 to 70,000 miles since your last tune-up, your car needs to be checked. During colder temperatures, your vehicle has a little bit harder time to start and get moving. If your spark plugs are worn out, it is putting much more stress on the battery, starter, and your patience. Please do not forget the battery. It is one of the most important things of all. You won’t be going anywhere with a dead battery.

Please come see us at White’s Automotive Center and we’ll be happy to help you stay safe on the road this fall!

Diagnosing Car Issues Begins With You

We have customers who come in all the time saying, “My car didn’t start this morning.” Or they’ll say it didn’t start one time last week. Of course, we get in it, look at the vehicle, and we cannot get the vehicle seems fine. These problems are the worst kind to have. You, as an owner of the vehicle, now can’t trust it and we can’t get it to duplicate the problem to run an accurate test.

What most people don’t realize is that all tests we perform are only good if the problem is currently happening. Also, for this example, some multiple components and wires can cause a car not to start. Now I bet you’re wondering what to do in this situation. Well, the best thing you can do is pay attention; is it first thing in the morning, at lunch, or did you go to the gas station, buy a drink, and try to leave? Write down or remember as many details as you can and let us know so we can have a better chance to duplicate the problem and get it repaired.

This also applies to other systems in the vehicle. If you hear a noise, did you go over a speed bump or road construction bumps, when taking a right turn? All these symptoms can help diagnose your problem. Is your car running poorly when you’re on the highway, in town, at a drive-thru?

So, when a problem is “Ghosting” you, just get as much information as you can so we can duplicate the issue. If we can duplicate it several times, we can find it and repair it and then give it back to you with confidence that your vehicle is repaired properly. Come see us at White’s Automotive Center.

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When Does My Car Need an Alignment?

We have had so many people come into my shop stating that they need an alignment. When I ask them why, most of the time they state they have a vibration. The only way an alignment could cause a vibration is if it were severely out. It is usually caused by an accident that bent something. In that case, it’s part failure. In the last 35 years of working on cars, I have never seen a vibration caused by an alignment.

The two most common failures are tires and brakes. Tires can cause multiple different types of vibrations. Highway speed vibrations that start around fifty-five mph are usually a balancing problem. Another type is a low-speed vibration or a shake in the steering wheel or seat wobble. A low-speed vibration is most commonly a bad tire. A broken belt causing a bubble or knot can cause a vibration. This particular problem is dangerous because this will cause a blowout and possibly an accident. You can also have a low-speed vibration with a bent rim or an out-of-round tire.

The second most common vibration is the brake system or more specifically the brake rotors. In the past, vehicles were less aerodynamic than they are today. This allowed more air into the brakes which kept them cooler, and the rotors were thicker. Nowadays, with manufacturers having to increase fuel economy, they are trying to reduce weight so rotors are thinner. Less air gets to the rotors, so brakes are running at higher temperatures. When you add these two things together you have a lot of brake rotors that get warped. So, every time you apply the brakes the steering wheel shakes.

So, when should you get an alignment? Textbooks say every 6 months. If that is not reasonable, then at a minimum every time you buy new tires. Also, if you notice driving problems…for example pulling to one side drifting, crooked steering wheel, or tires wearing unevenly. Also, if you hit a large pothole and now the car drives differently then you need to get one done because something could be bent or broken. Keep in mind if you get an alignment for a pulling problem, make sure you have tires rotated or replaced.

The alignment wears the tires at an angle and the tires then cause the car to pull or drift to one side. So, if you get an alignment but do not correct the tires then you will still have a pull even if the alignment is correct. Come see us at White’s Automotive if you have any questions!

Keeping You and Your Car Cool in the Summer Heat

Well, summer is here by date and temperature! We get several calls at White’s Automotive Center with customers saying their A.C. is not cooling well enough. When they come in to have their vehicle tested, many times we find nothing wrong and the A.C. is working perfectly. So you may ask, “What’s wrong then?”

Most of the time, the vehicle is in the sun with the windows closed and the interior can get up to between 120 and 160 degrees. In our area, most people drive to and from work or maybe to lunch and they’re only in their cars for about fifteen minutes. It takes a perfectly working A.C. about 15-30 minutes to cool the car off. If your drive is less than fifteen minutes, you may not be comfortable in your vehicle at all before you get out. Another thing to note…vans and SUVs are bigger and take longer to cool off. The best way to tell if your A.C. is working is to put the back of your hand to the vent and if it’s cold, it’s working.

There are a couple of things you can do to help your A.C. cool off your car more quickly. The cheapest thing you can do is leave your windows cracked about half an inch. This allows the hot air to have a way out while it’s parked. If you’re worried about a rainy afternoon, there won’t be enough water coming inside your car to harm anything. You can buy rainguards to put on the doors to help. Secondly, you can roll down the windows for a minute or two to get the hot air out quickly. Another tip is if you usually grip the top of the steering wheel when you drive, turn it upside down when you park so the sun doesn’t get that part too hot. The easiest thing to do is to get sunscreen and put it on the inside of your windshield. Crack the windows too – it’s the best combination to reduce heat in your car. Last tip for a cooler car – park in the shade! And if you’re still having trouble with your A.C., please come see us at White’s Automotive Center and we’ll be happy to help you!