Greenwood Village Auto Repair

Don't you hate it when you hear that squeal from under the hood when you're zipping down a busy Centennial road? It usually means there is a problem with the serpentine belt. The serpentine belt powers a lot of engine accessories. It runs the alternator - which charges the battery; the water pump - which cools the engine; the air conditioning and the power steering pump. All are pretty important parts. It is called a serpentine belt because it snakes around a bunch of engine components. Serpentine belts are amazingly tough. They can last for years and go long distances. Like all moving parts, however, they eventually wear out. If your belt breaks while you are driving around Centennial, everything will come to a halt within minutes. You need to stop the vehicle immediately or it will overheat, potentially causing engine damage. You can be sure that it won't happen at a convenient time or place. (As if there was a convenient time or place!) You might even need to get yo ... read more

  Today we're going to be talking about serpentine belts for our Centennial, Colorado, customers. Let's start by talking about the accessories that are driven by the serpentine belt. First is the alternator. That's the device that makes electricity to power the vehicle and recharge the battery. Then there's the air conditioning compressor that makes cool air for you while you're driving around Colorado in the summer.The power steering and power brake pumps are driven by the serpentine belt in most Centennial residents' vehicles. Those pumps provide pressure that assists your steering and braking.In many vehicles, the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. The water pump is what circulates the coolant that protects your engine. In some cars around Centennial, Colorado, the water pump is driven by the timing belt.The radiator cooling fans on some vehicles are also driven by the serpentine belt. Some have separate electric motors. That's really a lot ... read more

Having trouble with your fuel system? Bring your vehicle into Davis Automotive Repair for a check up.In today's Davis Automotive Repair auto post,we're talking about fuel system cleaning. The first thing to know is how important it is to have a clean fuel system. Centennial residents need fuel to go, and the cleaner the fuel system, the more efficiently the fuel will burn. That means more power and better mileage .A clean fuel system saves money for Centennial drivers at Colorado gas stations. We guess you could say it all starts and ends at the pump. One of the most important things Centennial residents can do to keep their vehicle fuel system clean is to buy good quality gas. Major brands have detergents that keep gum and varnish from rapidly building up in the fuel system.So buying cheaper gas in Colorado can actually be more expensive for Centennial drivers in the long run. Now, most cars on Colorado roads are more than five or six years old. That means they'v ... read more

Sometimes we hear people in Centennial say, "What's up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don't break down." While it is true that today's vehicles are extremely reliable, they are also becoming increasingly complicated and use more exotic materials than ever before. All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most Centennial drivers don't realize how high tech automotive fluids have become,  fluids such as engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.Did you know that a modern engine would not run for more than a few months using motor oil formulas from 30 years ago? Today's automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle's components from premature wear and corrosion. Time and distances march on for all of our cars. Please don't think we're using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance - but here are some personal stories we've heard ... read more

All Colorado pilots have checklists for every aspect of flying. They always use their checklists even if they only have two steps on them. They do this simply because a checklist is a great way to not forget steps. It is also how they can assure a predictable outcome. That is why Centennial automotive service centers including Davis Automotive Repair have procedural standards for each service they perform. Davis Automotive Repair technicians are trained step by step. And they perform the procedures step by step, the same way each time. By training to procedural standards, Colorado service centers can assure a quality outcome. The job is done right every time and Centennial customers leave happy with how their vehicle performs. Each company trains its technicians to standards. The Colorado automotive industry as a whole is very committed to standards of excellence and encourages individual Colorado service center operators to apply them to every vehicle they ... read more

Like everything in the Colorado automotive market, there have been great strides in headlight technology in recent years. Colorado drivers can be safer at night because of it. Good headlights improve visibility on Centennial roads, enabling you to see farther. They also improve your peripheral vision, helping you to see the sides more clearly. The more you can see, the more quickly you can react to road conditions. This is because nearly half of traffic fatalities take place at night. And as Centennial resident population ages, everything that helps older eyes is welcome.Most new vehicles sold in Colorado come with halogen headlamps. A decade ago, halogens were exotic and expensive. Now that they are standard equipment, the price has come way down. Many luxury cars are equipped with high intensity discharge, or HID, headlamps. You have probably seen them on some Centennial roads; they're very bright and have a bluish tint.From behind the wheel, there is no do ... read more

Today, we are talking about your PCV valve. Unburnt fuel is forced into the crankcase as your engine runs.  The PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) valve vents this unburnt fuel and oil vapors from the crankcase and sends it back into the air intake system to be burned in the engine.  A clogged PCV will not allow these vapors to escape. This can dilute and contaminate the oil, leading to damaging engine oil sludge. It can also cause vehicle engine corrosion, something we see occasionally at Davis Automotive Repair. At high speeds on Colorado freeways, the pressure can build up to the point that gaskets and seals start to leak. Back in the old days, vehicles were simply installed with a hose that vented these gases out into the atmosphere. But starting in the 1964 model year, environmental protection laws required that these gases be recycled back into the air intake system to be mixed with fuel and burned in the vehicle's engine.This is much better for ... read more

Let's talk about transmission service. It can be easy for Centennial drivers to forget about getting their transmission serviced because it doesn't need it very often. It's easier for people in Colorado to remember to change the engine oil - you know, every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers. But proper transmission servicing keeps your vehicle running smoothly and helps you avoid repairs down the road.The transmission undergoes a lot of stress. The grit you can see in used transmission fluid is actually bits of metal that wear off the gears in the transmission. In addition to that, the transmission operates at very high temperatures. Usually, it's much higher than engine temperatures. Those high temperatures eventually cause the transmission fluid to start to break down and lose efficiency.As the fluid gets older, it gets gritty and doesn't lubricate and cool the vehicle transmission as well - leading to even more wear. The fluid can actually get sludgy and plug up the maze of ... read more

Pop quiz: What is a cabin air filter? A. A filter for your Centennial house?B. A fresh, piney scent?C. A filter for the passenger compartment of your car? Clever you, it's C.A cabin air filter cleans the outside air before it comes into the passenger compartment of your vehicle. It filters out common Colorado air particles like dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, pollutants, exhaust gas, odors and even sparrows.These high tech filters can block particles larger than 3 microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns.Not all Centennial vehicles have cabin air filters. They are fairly new on the scene in Colorado. Last check, about 40 percent of new vehicles sold in Centennial come with cabin air filters, but the number is growing every year. Cabin air filters make driving a lot more pleasant for people in Centennial. Your vehicle can be a haven during our Colorado allergy season with very little dust and pollen getting into the cabin. Of course, like all filters, the cab ... read more

Today we want to talk to Centennial drivers about timing belts. They're something that many drivers don't know much about and yet your vehicle won't run if it's broken – and it could cause many thousands of dollars damage if it does break. A broken timing belt is usually a tale of woe. Even though timing belt replacement is scheduled in the owner's manual, it's not the kind of thing that most Centennial area auto owners remember because it's not well understood.Let's review what a timing belt does. As most know, the engine's power is generated in the cylinders. A piston rides up and down in the cylinder. During the first down stroke, an intake valve at the top of the cylinder opens and air and fuel is drawn into the cylinder. Then the piston returns to the top, compressing the fuel and air mix. At the top, the spark plug fires, igniting the fuel, pushing the piston down in the power stroke. As the piston once again returns up in the final stroke of the cycle, an exhaust valve ope ... read more