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1905 Long Hill Rd Millington
NJ 07946

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Archive for January 2018

Millington, NJ Winter Prep Service for Your Auto

Posted January 29, 2018 8:55 AM

When winter approaches in NJ, Millington residents break out the sweaters, coats, boots and mittens. We want to be ready for NJ winter conditions. Your vehicle needs to be ready for winter as well. The last thing Millington residents want is to get stranded out in the cold. You need your vehicle to be safe and reliable. It's a good idea to get caught up on any neglected maintenance items anytime - but the stakes are higher in cold NJ winters.

There are some specific things Millington drivers need to do to have their vehicle ready for winter. The most obvious is having the antifreeze checked. If the antifreeze level is too low, it can't properly protect your engine, radiator and hoses from freezing. If your car does not seem to be making enough heat to keep you warm, your antifreeze level may be low or you could have a thermostat problem. Get it checked out at Long Hill Auto Service in Millington. If you are due for a cooling system service, now is a perfect time to have it done.

In the cold months around Millington we always worry about being able to stop in time when it's slick out. The first thing to remember is to slow down and allow yourself plenty of room to stop. Of course, you want your brakes to be working properly. A thorough brake inspection will reveal if the pads or any other parts need replacing. Check with your friendly and knowledgeable Long Hill Auto Service service advisor to see if it is time to replace your brake fluid. It accumulates water over time which really messes with your stopping power.

It is also a really good idea for Millington residents to have their battery tested. A battery's cranking power really drops with the temperature. If your battery is weak in the fall, it may not be up to a NJ winter. There is nothing like a dead battery in a snow storm.

Which leads us to an emergency kit. You should always have a blanket or something to keep you and your passengers warm if you get stranded on a remote NJ road. If you will be venturing away from civilization, pack more items such as food and water to help you survive. Keeping at least half a tank of gas is a good idea in case you get stuck and need to run the car to keep warm, which will also help keep your gas lines from freezing up.

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

 



Go Big or Go Home: Upsize Your Wheels at Long Hill Auto Service

Posted January 21, 2018 8:27 AM

A lot of us Millington drivers like our vehicles to reflect our personalities. We're picky about color and body style. We'll customize anything from floor mats to window tints to license plates. One popular way for NJ motorists to customize a vehicle is to get new wheels.

Wheels come in thousands of designs. Custom wheels can add personality, style or sass to a vehicle. Many of these customizations involve getting a bigger wheel.

Fifteen or 16-inch wheels used to be the factory standard, but today, because a lot of Millington drivers like the look of larger wheels, many vehicles are available with 17 or 18-inch wheels. Optional wheel packages of 20 inches or more are also available in Millington.

If you want to upsize the wheels on your current vehicle, however, you should know it's not a do-it-yourself project. There are factors involved in ensuring your wheel change doesn't jeopardize the safety of your vehicle.

First of all, you need to understand rolling diameter. The rolling diameter is the overall height of a tire. If you increase the rolling diameter of your tires when you upsize your wheels, you may have to modify your suspension to make sure the larger tires fit in the space and don't rub in turns or over bumps. If that's more work than you're willing to do or pay for, then you need to maintain rolling diameter when you change your wheels.

It's not as hard as it sounds. Imagine a doughnut. That doughnut represents rolling diameter, so you can't make the doughnut bigger. However, you can increase the size of the doughnut hole. That gives you a bigger wheel. Tires with reduced sidewall on larger wheels will preserve your rolling diameter.

Rolling diameter is important because your wheels and tires still need to fit inside the wheel well. Also, your speedometer, odometer and anti-lock brakes are all programmed to work with a specific rolling diameter. You'll throw off the readings on your speedometer and odometer if you change your rolling diameter. And for your anti-lock brakes to work properly, your rolling diameter has to be within 3% of factory recommendations. While some Millington drivers who upsize may not be concerned about meter readings, throwing off the brake system is a serious safety hazard.

Further, many vehicles in Millington are now equipped with electronically controlled suspensions. Changing the rolling diameter will negatively affect this system as well, which can lead to a less smooth ride and lower handling performance as well as safety concerns.

Your friendly and knowledgeable Long Hill Auto Service tire professional may be able to reprogram your vehicle's computer to adjust for a larger (or smaller) rolling diameter.

So to maintain rolling diameter, you'll need tires with a shorter sidewall. These tires will be designed to give the sidewalls the strength they need to maintain ride quality. Consider that doughnut again. As the wheel (the doughnut hole) gets bigger, the sidewall of the tire (the width of remaining doughnut) gets shorter. That means the tire holds less air. The sidewalls have to be made stiffer to compensate for the decreased air capacity.

To improve their strength, the shorter tires will also be slightly wider than your previous tires. But this means you'll have a larger contact patch, or, in other words, a larger area of tire making contact with the road. This can actually increase your handling performance and decrease braking distances. Many NJ auto buffs customize their wheels just for this reason—they want the improved performance rather than looks or style. If you drive a truck or an SUV around Millington, you might be interested in the extra control an upsized wheel can provide.

Now, that larger contact patch still has to fit inside your wheel well without rubbing when cornering or when bouncing over bumps or potholes on Millington roads. This is termed fitment, and you may need a few adjustments so your new wheels will fit properly. You may need spacers so that your brakes will fit inside the new wheels, as well.

Long Hill Auto Service tire professionals are experts at mounting, adjusting and customizing wheels. They can give you a lot of good auto advice about wheels and tires and how they affect driving performance and car care. They can help you select wheels and tires that will suit your driving needs and habits.

For example, if you drive off-road around Millington, you should consider a higher profile tire. This type of tire will protect your rims from damage while you're bouncing over rocks. Or, if you tow a trailer or haul heavy loads around NJ, you'll want a tire with a load rating equal to your demands. Your friendly and knowledgeable Long Hill Auto Service tire professional can help you with these types of concerns.

Once you've got your new wheels, have your service advisor at Long Hill Auto Service see if you need an alignment. You don't want those new wheels and your higher performance compromised by poor alignment. Get the most out of your investment by getting the work done right at Long Hill Auto Service in Millington.

Last but not least, remember tire pressure. With larger wheels, your new tires will hold less air and they'll need slightly higher pressure. You'll need to stay on top of preventive maintenance and keep them properly inflated. Be sure to check their pressure at least once a week. If you don't keep your tires at their correct pressure, they will wear out really fast. It will also affect your braking and handling performance.

So smile and show off your vehicle around NJ. Make it all yours. Bumper stickers, vanity license plates, custom wheels — strut your stuff!

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



Easy Miles ? Do Millington Driving Conditions Affect Service Intervals?

Posted January 15, 2018 7:33 AM

Have you ever noticed that your vehicle has a schedule in your owner's manual for what is called “severe service” maintenance? Let's define what severe driving conditions aren't: The easiest driving a vehicle experiences is traveling on the interstate for 20 miles (32 kilometers) or more at a constant rate of 65 miles per hour (105 kilometers per hour) in 75°F (24°C) weather with only passengers on board. Change any one of those parameters and you are adding stress to your engine. Change them significantly and you are driving under severe conditions.

Let's look at the parameters one a time. First, the length of the trip. Short trips around Millington are harder on an engine than longer ones. As your engine cools down, water in the air condenses onto the engine. When you heat the engine again, the water evaporates off. This is healthy. But on short trips, the engine doesn't stay hot enough long enough for all of the water to evaporate. So it starts to build up in the engine oil leading to sludge, which can clog up your engine and lead to serious engine damage. If most or all of your trips around the Millington area are less than four miles, you should be using the severe service maintenance schedule. Changing your oil more frequently at Long Hill Auto Service in Millington will help prevent the formation of sludge.

Most of us Millington drivers think of severe NJ weather conditions when we think of severe driving conditions. And we're right. Cold NJ weather takes its toll on the oil in your vehicle. Remember how water has to evaporate out of the oil to keep your engine healthy? It can take up to ten miles of driving for an engine to get hot enough to get rid of moisture in the oil when the weather is cold.

Hot Millington weather is also bad for vehicles. When an engine runs, it gets hot. The longer it runs, the hotter it gets. If it gets too hot, it breaks down. So it has to be constantly cooled to keep running. Hot NJ weather means your cooling system has to work harder to keep your engine from getting too hot.

So, in the end, most of us Millington auto owners drive under severe conditions some of the time. Smart Millington residents will ask themselves the question: "Should I follow the severe service maintenance schedule?" An honest evaluation of our driving habits is the best way to determine which schedule to follow.

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

 



The Long Hill Auto Service Guide to Caring for Your Transmission

Posted January 7, 2018 3:45 AM

Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Millington drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Millington. You started out in a lower gear and shifted to higher gears as you went faster. Down shift for hills, stuff like that. Think of your legs as the engine – there's an ideal speed you can pedal and you change gears to leverage the work you're doing.

Lower gears for power on hills or for starting out. Higher gears for more speed. That's what the automatic transmission does – it automatically starts in lower gears and shifts up to higher gears to go faster on NJ roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Millington hills, pass or start up again.

Vehicle automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds, five is very common.

At Long Hill Auto Service, we routinely service transmissions with six speeds and several have seven or even eight speeds. As you can imagine, this means more parts. Any they all have to fit into roughly the same space.

Transmissions are computer controlled these days, with some high end transmissions having two or three computers. Transmissions are engineered to last. But they are also engineered to tighter tolerances. If a portion of the transmission is starved for lubrication, it can lead to failure.

Not enough fluid can starve the transmission, or dirty transmission fluid can clog small passages in the transmission. Then the lubricant is blocked and can't get to all the parts to protect them, so they wear out prematurely. The technicians at Long Hill Auto Service see far too many transmissions that needlessly failed due to neglect.

And, as you can imagine, repairing one of these new transmissions at any Millington service center can be quite costly. That's why owner’s manuals have a schedule for how often you should change the fluid and what type of fluid to use.

It's really important for Millington area drivers to carefully follow the manufacturer's transmission service schedule.

At Long Hill Auto Service in Millington, we hope you never become shiftless in Millington because you didn't take care of your transmission.

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

 



Coolant/Antifreeze Service at Long Hill Auto Service

Posted January 3, 2018 7:57 AM

Anyone who drives a car in Millington knows that engines get hot when they run. But did you know that engines need to be cooled to keep running? Heat inside an engine can cause the metal parts to expand, which can seize up an engine and make it stop running. It can even ruin the entire engine! Good vehicle care requires keeping its cooling system in good condition.

A vehicle's cooling system circulates water and antifreeze (coolant) through the engine where it absorbs heat. It then flows to the radiator where the water and antifreeze are cooled by the air that flows over the radiator. Then it circulates back into the vehicle's engine to absorb more heat.

Why shouldn't Millington auto owners just use water? Because water boils at temperatures that are often reached inside of an engine. Steam won't cool your vehicle engine and is hard to contain within the cooling system. The antifreeze keeps the water from boiling.

So why do we call it antifreeze? Shouldn't it be antiboil? Truth is, the antifreeze performs another critical task. Water freezes in cold NJ weather. That would spell disaster for your vehicle's engine. So antifreeze also keeps the water in your cooling system from freezing in all but the most extreme cold. Pretty neat stuff!

Taking care of your cooling system is part of good preventive maintenance for your vehicle. Millington area drivers should check coolant level often and regularly inspect your cooling system for leaks.

That is just good auto advice. Your vehicle's manufacturer has maintenance requirements for draining and replacing engine coolant. Consult your owner's manual or ask your friendly and knowledgeable Long Hill Auto Service service advisor for these recommendations, as they vary widely among vehicles.


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



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Reviews

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A few weeks back my wife was driving from PA to NYC by herself and started to have some car trouble. She called me from route 78 and I advised her to get off at the next exit and head to the closest repair shop. Thankfully it was Longhill Auto. At the end of their business day they got right on checking the car out, and were gracious with my wife who was having a very stressful experience. They were in touch with me every step of the way. Ultimately performed the necessary repairs and thoroughly test drove the car to give us peace of mind it was in good shape before making the hour plus drive out to pick it up. Would definitely recommend them and even going out of your way to work with them as it isn’t always easy to find a good shop with great people.

, 03/13/2024

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, 02/16/2024

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Long Hill Auto is the best auto service shop in the area, hands down. The staff is well trained and highly knowledgeable. Their facility is well organized and cared for, which shows how important it is for them to pay attention to details. Bob runs a great shop that can handle all of your automobile needs. They are friendly, affordable, and have a fast turnaround on their jobs. I don't think it can get much better than that.

, 01/25/2024

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