AUTONET TV

Helping Your Engine Breathe Easier

You may have heard someone tell you it’s time to replace your vehicle’s engine air filter and thought, “It’s OK.  I’ll do it in a while.”  While it’s tempting to put that off, keep in mind that having your engine air filter replaced is one of the easiest ways to maintain your vehicle’s performance and efficiency.  Here’s why.

Your engine needs the air that comes in to be clean because a proper fuel/oxygen mixture is necessary for good combustion.  If you wait too long to have the filter replaced, dust, dirt, air pollutants and debris from the road hamper the engine’s ability to get enough air.  That can lead to poor acceleration, lower fuel economy and strain on other engine parts.

The reason a dirty engine air filter reduces your fuel economy is that the engine’s computers have to compensate for lowered air intake by supplying more fuel to produce the same power. Over time, you’ll notice a significant difference. It’s important that you protect your engine from contaminants in the air. If dirt and dust aren’t filtered out before they get to the engine, that can cause premature wear on cylinders, pistons and other engine parts. In the long run, it may lead to costly repairs that are a lot more expensive than the cost of a filter.

If you value keeping our planet’s air clean, a fresh filter will improve the performance of your vehicle’s emission system, helping it run cleaner and reducing its impact on the environment

Think about it.  Getting a new engine air filter is quick, inexpensive and pays off with big benefits. Consider what it delivers for your engine’s performance, its long-term health and your fuel costs.  You and your engine will both breathe easier.

Long Hill Auto Service
1905 Long Hill Rd
Millington, NJ 07946
(908) 647-7984
www.longhillautonj.com

Let’s Shift Gears (Transmission Fluid Replacement)

If you have a vehicle with an automatic transmission, you probably never think about gear shifting.  When motor vehicles were invented, all of them had to be shifted manually.  But that wonderful self-shifting transmission, referred to these days as simply an “automatic,” changed everything.

Automatic transmissions have a lot of moving parts, and they are bathed in a fluid that keeps them lubricated and cool. That fluid also is vital to the whole gear shifting process. 

As you might imagine, the longer that fluid does its job, the more chance it has to pick up some contaminants.  Sometimes a leak will spring up in an automatic transmission.  Dirty transmission fluid or not enough of it will both create problems. It may cause your Check Engine light to come on, or your transmission may run rough and make strange noises.

The best strategy is not to let it get to this point.  That means you should have your transmission fluid replaced at regular intervals. Your vehicle’s manufacturer recommends how often you should have your transmission fluid changed. You should also have the fluid checked at regular intervals to detect if any problems crop up before that recommended interval. They’ll check not only the level but also inspect its condition.

Keep in mind that most automatic transmission problems are caused by overheating. You can reduce your chances of transmission failure by making sure your transmission—and its fluid—is regularly inspected and the fluid is replaced when it needs to be.

Long Hill Auto Service
1905 Long Hill Rd
Millington, NJ 07946
(908) 647-7984
www.longhillautonj.com

Rumble from Down Under (Muffler Replacement)

We’ve all noticed them at one time or another on the street: a car or truck that drives by and the deep roar from their exhaust system sounds like a drag racer on the line.  But what happens when that rumble is coming from under YOUR vehicle? Well, it could be a sign your muffler needs attention.

You may notice other signs if your muffler needs to be replaced.  Your fuel economy may have plummeted, the smell of exhaust is blowing into your cabin, or your engine isn’t running in its usually smooth manner.  Or you may notice your vehicle’s temperature gauge is showing it’s running hotter than usual.

Mufflers sit under your vehicle, so they are exposed to all sorts of nasty things every day, and every season.  It may be dirt or salt from the road that gets kicked up on it, or you may rough it up with the potholes and speed bumps on the road.  Also, moisture from rain and snow combined with chemicals and brine can literally dissolve your muffler and other components of your exhaust system.

When you start to notice one or more of these signs, it’s time to head on over to have one of our technicians look at your exhaust system.  Under normal conditions, mufflers may last anywhere from five to seven years.  But when they start to go, to ensure your vehicle runs the way it should, you should have your muffler (and the rest of the components in the exhaust system) inspected and replaced if necessary.

Ideally, it makes sense to have your muffler and exhaust system inspected regularly when you have other routine maintenance done to your vehicle, such as oil changes and tire rotations.  That way, you can know sooner rather than later that your muffler is on its last legs before your (noisy) vehicle begins to draw the wrong kind of attention from other drivers.

Long Hill Auto Service
1905 Long Hill Rd
Millington, NJ 07946
(908) 647-7984
www.longhillautonj.com

Making Sense of the O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor Replacement)

As you know, today’s vehicles rely on a lot of computers in them to keep them running clean and efficiently.  Those computers depend on information delivered by several sensors throughout the engine and exhaust system.  And one of the most important is the oxygen sensor.  

Known as the O2 sensor for short, it looks for too much unburned oxygen that has made it into the exhaust. That signals something isn’t right with the engine’s air-fuel mixture.  The sensor sends signals to the engine’s computers, which can then make adjustments to make sure the engine is running as it was designed to.

Some vehicles can have several O2 sensors, and since they can measure oxygen at various points in the combustion/exhaust process, the computers can pinpoint where the problems lie.  For example, an O2 sensor can detect how much oxygen is coming out of the engine’s combustion chamber, and another one can measure oxygen coming out of the catalytic converter.

As you can see, it’s important that those O2 sensors are working correctly.  If they’re not, the computer is getting bad information.  Garbage in, garbage out. That can result in lousy fuel economy and excess pollution coming out of your tailpipe. It can also affect your vehicle’s performance.  Sometimes your Check Engine light will illuminate when one of your O2 sensors goes bad.  Or you may notice your engine misfiring or idling roughly. 

If you notice any of these symptoms, bring your vehicle on in, and a technician will pinpoint the trouble spot.  

Long Hill Auto Service
1905 Long Hill Rd
Millington, NJ 07946
(908) 647-7984
www.longhillautonj.com