Greenwood Village Auto Repair

Scratching your head? Don’t worry, if you don’t know what a differential is – you will in a moment. That fact is that if you drive a car anywhere in Centennial, Colorado, you have a differential. Whether your vehicle is front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, you have a differential. Some Centennial auto owners might even have two or three. Not surprisingly, a differential’s job is to compensate for differences. Specifically the differences in wheel speed when turning. For instance, imagine taking a corner near your Centennial, Colorado home. Your inside wheel has a shorter distance to travel than the outside wheel as you turn the corner. That means that your outside wheel has to turn faster to keep pace with the inside wheel. The differential allows the wheels to turn at different speeds while still providing power to your vehicle. Without a differential, Centennial motorists’ tires would scrub and hop along the pave ... read more

Every truck on Colorado freeways has a differential, and it is important to the proper operation of the vehicle, but most Centennial drivers don’t have a clue what it is. The differential compensates for differing wheel speeds. For example, when you turn, the inside tire on the turn travels a much shorter distance than the outside wheel. So the inside wheel of the truck must move at a slower speed than the outside wheel. Without a differential, the wheels would hop and scrape while turning. Have you ever seen the large bugle-shaped object in the middle of the rear axle of a truck? That’s the differential. In a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the differential is located on the back axle. Four-wheel drive vehicles and SUV’s have differentials on both the front and the rear axle. You might expect that the differential is located on the front axle of a front-wheel drive vehicle. You’d be right. But the differential is c ... read more

Hello Centennial car owners. Have you ever had your check engine light come on? Did you panic? Or just scowl and ignore it? What should you do? Pull to the side of the road and call a tow truck? Or just keep driving? What does that little light really mean for Centennial auto owners? First of all, the Check Engine or Service Engine light does indicate that something is wrong. That’s why it is called a warning light. But the something that is wrong might be a loose gas cap, or it might be serious truck engine trouble. That’s why Denver drivers often don’t know how to respond to it. The check engine light has two modes: it flashes or it stays on. A flashing light is serious. You need to get your vehicle to Davis Repair in Centennial ASAP. No, you don’t need to call a tow truck, but, yes, you can’t wait to get your car serviced. If your check engine light is on and flashing, you should not tow trailers ... read more

Hello Centennial drivers, let’s talk about batteries. Car batteries are just like any rechargeable battery; they will eventually wear out and die. If you are shopping for a new battery for your vehicle, here’s some auto advice to help you. There are two measurements to consider when purchasing a new battery: cold cranking amps and reserve capacity. The power required to start a cold engine is measured in cold cranking amps. The number you need is determined by what kind of vehicle you drive and where you live. In general, higher-cylinder engines require more cold cranking amps than lower-cylinder engines. In other words, an eight-cylinder engine needs more cold cranking amps than a six-cylinder one. Also, diesel engines require more cold cranking amps than gasoline engines. The Denver weather also determines the number of cold cranking amps you need. The colder the truck engine, the more power it takes to get it started ... read more

In honor of earth day we at Davis Repair are thinking of the ways we protect our mother earth. In the last year our photovoltaic solar panels have generated 29,529 kWh of electricity. We recently installed a waste oil heater to use the waste oil generated by fluid exchanges such as oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, drivetrain fluids, and brake fluid. We planted two trees on the east side of our building. We recycle all of the used metal parts we remove from the vehicles we work on. At Davis Repair we are always looking for ways to conserve and recycle

A vehicle's suspension system is tough. It can last for years and tens of thousands of miles for Centennial drivers. But it can be damaged quickly by hitting a pothole, curb or rock, and it can wear more quickly if you frequently drive off-road or on bumpy roads. A workhorse vehicle — one that hauls heavy loads — is also going to be hard on its suspension system. Because the useful life of your suspension system contains these elements of unpredictability, it is important for Centennial car owners to have them inspected periodically. Worn, broken and missing parts can be identified during an inspection. An ineffective suspension system will lessen the driver’s control over a vehicle, so when it is damaged it frequently leads to the worst kind of vehicular damage — dangerous and expensive accidents. The suspension system is composed of springs and shock absorbers (or shocks). Springs suspend the weight of the vehicle above its axles. They ... read more

Everyone in Centennial Colorado eventually replaces their tires, whether it’s because they’re worn out or they’re just looking for something different. There are so many great tire choices in the Denver Metro area, it can be difficult to sort them out. Let’s group the broad spectrum into several categories that will help in the selection process. One category is often referred to as “summer tires.” Summer tires are designed to be driven on the road when temperatures are generally above 45 degrees. Their tread design is optimized for traction on dry roads in Colorado and they’re also able to effectively displace water on rainy roads. The rubber compound on these summer tires gets a little hard and stiff as temperatures drop below 45 degrees as it often does here in the Greater Denver area. And the tread which handles dry roads so well, can get packed with snow or mud – which provides very little traction in those conditions ... read more

Hi Centennial auto owners. Let’s talk fuel injectors. A fuel injector is a valve that delivers fuel to a vehicle’s engine. It has to deliver the precise amount of fuel, to precisely the right place, precisely when the engine needs it. The fuel also has to be mixed with air before it can burn in the engine. Fuel injectors are engineered to spray fuel in a specific pattern into the engine. (The pattern varies by engine type and design.) In order to achieve these spray patterns, the fuel must be pressurized. The pressure in a fuel injection system varies depending on its type. Many gasoline truck engines use port injection systems, which operate with a pressure of 60 pounds per square inch. Newer direct injection systems operate at 10 to 30 times that pressure. Some diesel passenger vehicles have fuel injectors that operate at 30,000 pounds or more per square inch. Vehicles have one fuel injector for each cylinder in the engine. Your vehicle’s cont ... read more

Most cars and trucks have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Greenwood Village car owners only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike around your neighborhood. 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 Colorado freeways. And automatically shifts back down to climb Greenwood Village hills, to pass, or to start up again. Truck automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds and five is ve ... read more

Taking care of our tires is a vital part of car care for Denver area drivers. We know they have to be replaced when they wear out, but tires also require some important preventive maintenance. This maintenance will improve fuel efficiency and extend the life of your tires, so it’s well worth the effort and expense get it done. Tire maintenance includes keeping tires properly inflated, rotating tires, and balancing wheels. The recommended tire pressure for a vehicle’s tires is printed on a sticker on the inside of the driver’s side doorjamb. A lot of engineering goes into calculating the correct pressure, so it’s a key number for drivers to know. Not following this recommendation can throw off your suspension system and can lead to expensive tire damage. Underinflated tires wear out more quickly than properly inflated tires. Vehicles also get better traction, handling, and fuel economy on properly inflated tires. Check your tire pressure at least once a week and add air if ... read more