HOURS: Monday - Saturday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Sunday: Closed
719-630-8729Auto Repair Center3655 Galley Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
719-358-9109
Auto Repair Center
5360 Montebello Ln.
Colorado Springs, Co 80918
The exhaust system on a vehicle is more complex than most Colorado Springs drivers realize. It contains everything from old-fashioned pipes and clamps to sophisticated computers and sensors. All Colorado folks know a properly functioning exhaust system is good for the environment, but sometimes we forget that a damaged exhaust system can be deadly. That’s why preventive maintenance on your exhaust system is so critical. We can help you with that at Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine in Colorado Springs.
The exhaust manifold is the first component in your exhaust system. The manifold is attached to the engine. It collects the gases that are produced by the engine and directs them into the exhaust pipes. At this point, these gases are both hot and chemically dangerous.
One of the gases produced in your engine is carbon monoxide. This gas is colorless and odorless. Breathing it can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and drowsiness. Continue breathing it, and you will die.
To keep this gas, and others, from entering your SUV passenger compartment, the connections from the manifold to the engine and from the manifold to the exhaust pipes are sealed with gaskets. These connections should be routinely inspected at Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine for cracks and to check if they have come loose.
The exhaust pipes can also get damaged, allowing dangerous gases to leak into your passenger compartment. These pipes can rust or be dented or broken by rocks and other Monument roadway debris, so they need to be inspected regularly.
The catalytic converter is the next component in your SUV exhaust system. You can breathe a sigh of relief now, because this is where the dangerous engine gases are converted into carbon dioxide and water, greatly reducing the amount of harmful emissions in your exhaust. You’ll also be happy to know that your catalytic converter doesn’t require maintenance. However, it will wear out. If you fail an emissions inspection because of a faulty catalytic converter, you need to replace it.
The muffler’s job is far less critical, but far more noticeable, than the catalytic converter’s. It dampens or absorbs the noise from the engine. Most Colorado Springs auto owners don’t realize that we can actually customize the noise our car makes with a custom muffler. You can upgrade to a muffler that will make your car sleuth-quiet, or you can advertise your presence in Colorado Springs with a sassy rumble.
Mufflers can also rust or be damaged by road debris. But just because their main function is to dampen out engine noise doesn’t mean they can be ignored. If your muffler is leaking, you need to get it replaced quickly. Exhaust fumes need to exit through your tailpipe, not your muffler.
The exhaust pipe contains at least one oxygen sensor. The sensor monitors the oxygen content of the exhaust, which allows it to adjust the fuel-to-air ratio in the engine. This keeps your SUV engine running smoothly and maintains good gas mileage. So, besides keeping you and the environment healthy, a well-maintained exhaust system also keeps your SUV healthy. The tailpipe itself can rust or get damaged by road debris, so it needs a quick inspection once in a while, too.
The whole exhaust system is mounted on the vehicle with clamps and hangers. These clamps and hangers can come loose, rust or get dinged up by road debris. Remember that the gases in your exhaust system are hot, so the exhaust system itself gets hot. The clamps and hangers keep the exhaust system attached to the SUV, but they also prevent the heated components from touching things they shouldn’t. If you don’t inspect and replace broken, loose or damaged clamps, you may end up with melted wires, hoses or lines. And that can spell some expensive repairs.
You should schedule an exhaust system inspection as recommended in your SUV owner’s manual. Because this system is critical to your health and the health of your car, and because of its sophistication and complexity, you need to have the work done at a qualified service center such as Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine in Colorado Springs.
Maintaining your emissions and exhaust system is not just good auto advice: it’s good health advice for all Colorado Springs motorists and their families.
Most Monument folks worry about running out of gas or having a breakdown on the side of the road. That is why we practice preventive maintenance on our vehicles — that and to keep our repair bills down. But one important part of preventive maintenance that may get overlooked by Colorado Springs auto owners is a periodic alignment inspection.
Poor alignment causes tires to wear rapidly, unevenly or both. This means they will have to be replaced early, and new tires are more costly than an alignment check in Colorado Springs. Bad alignment can also cause damage to suspension and steering systems, which can be expensive to repair in Monument.
Tire wear on misaligned wheels can also lead to blowouts, which are dangerous, can lead to serious accidents, and can seriously damage your SUV. Also, poor alignment itself can be the cause of an accident, since the SUV may not steer properly.
One or more wheels on your SUV can be knocked out of alignment by running over a curb or a pothole on a bumpy Colorado Springs street. An accident, even a minor one, that involves a wheel on your car can lead to misalignment. The small bumps and bangs of everyday Manitou Springs driving can also gradually put your wheels out of alignment.
If you have had wheel damage to your SUV, or if you suspect that your wheels are out of alignment, you should get your alignment checked NOW. Any Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine service specialist will give you that piece of auto advice. But good car care suggests that you also get your alignment inspected on a regular basis. At Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine in Colorado Springs, we can take care of that for you.
Your owner’s manual or Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine service advisor can give you a suggestion on how often your alignment should be checked. If it doesn’t, then once a year is a good rule of thumb. However, if you drive a lot and especially if you drive on rough surfaces a lot, then you may want to consider a diagnostic examination more often. Ask your Professional service professional for a recommendation.
If your SUV is out of alignment, one or more of the wheels is not tracking correctly and will “pull” against the others. Thus, one sign of poor alignment is that your SUV pulls to one side when you drive around Monument. Also, if you are driving a straight path and your steering wheel is off-center, that usually indicates an alignment problem.
Colorado Springs drivers should also check the wear on their tires. If they seem to be wearing out too quickly, or if you notice that a tire is wearing on one side more than the other, you should get your alignment checked.
When you get an automotive analysis, your vehicle will be put on a rack and all the parts of the steering and suspension systems will be inspected for wear or damage. The alignment of the tires will be charted and compared to the original factory settings. If no repairs are needed on the steering or suspension systems, the wheels will then be adjusted to bring them back into alignment.
This may seem like a lot of bother for Widefield car owners, but it’s a lot less trouble than a blowout or an accident. The old adage is good auto advice for all Colorado Springs residents: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
So keep on driving, and keep all four tires on the road.
Remember snow tires? They were basically just regular tires with big, knobby lugs to get them through deep snow. They were loud and rode hard, and Colorado Springs drivers couldn’t wait to get them off the car. Then along came television advertisements for “all-season” radials. Colorado auto owners ran out and bought some and we thought we were done with snow tires forever.
Tires have come a long way since then. Modern winter tires sold in the Monument area are much better designed for the wide range of detrimental conditions that come with Colorado winter weather. They are made with a rubber compound that helps them stay flexible in cold weather. Regular tires become hard and stiff at Colorado Springs temperatures below 45°F, which reduces their traction. That’s an essential concern in winter, especially with snowy or wet Colorado Springs conditions. But it also means that Colorado Springs car owners are better off with winter tires in cold weather even when it’s dry.
The tread design on winter tires has been improved to actually move snow, slush and water. The lugs and grooves actually throw packed snow out of the tread as the tire rotates. This means the tread is open and ready to move more snow when it rolls around again. Summer tires can actually pack up with snow, which makes them more harmful than a bald tire.
Many winter tires use a micro-pore compound that lets the tire bite into ice and snow. They have wider grooves around the tire that help expel snow. They have a rounder casing to better cut into the surface of snow. Modern winter tires available at Colorado tire shops also have sipes, or thin slits cut into the tread. The edges of these sipes can grab ice and snow so that the tire retains traction on almost any surface. The sipes also help to expel water and slush from the tread. In short, a lot of time and engineering has gone into improving winter tires.
The all-season tire that is popular among Monument drivers is actually a compromise between summer and winter performance. This means they give adequate performance for Colorado Springs car owners in either season, but aren’t great in either. Summer tires give great performance in hot weather, but lousy performance in winter. Colorado Springs drivers need to put more thought into their tire choices these days, but that also means they get a lot better performance for their cash.
If you want the performance that new winter tires can give you, you should have them properly installed at your Colorado Springs service center or Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine. It’s best to purchase four snow tires and put them on all the wheels of your vehicle. But if you only want two, you need to put them on the rear of your vehicle, even if you drive a front-wheel drive vehicle. Colorado Springs car owners always want to put the tires with the best traction on the rear of the vehicle.
Imagine this: You take a corner on an icy Monument road and your rear end starts to slide. What happened is that the front end slowed for the turn, but the rear end hasn’t figured that out yet. If you have high-traction tires on the front of your vehicle, that makes the problem worse. You’re slowing the front end faster and harder, which makes the back end fishtail even more.
Putting the higher traction tires on the rear will give Colorado Springs auto owners more control for turns, regardless of the type of vehicle driven. Of course, that makes putting high-traction tires on all of your wheels even smarter. Why not give all of your tires the best traction they can get? Some Colorado Springs assume that four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive vehicles only need winter tires on two wheels. Why? Doesn’t it make sense to give all four wheels the same level of traction and control? Four-wheel or all-wheel drive cannot compensate for poor traction.
Another false assumption held by many Colorado Springs auto owners is that if you have traction control and anti-lock brakes, you won’t need winter tires. Traction is important for good acceleration, steering and stopping. And tires provide traction. Traction control and anti-lock brakes can only improve on that traction. The better the traction, the better the traction control and anti-lock brakes will work. In other words, the better the tires, the better those systems will work for Colorado Springs drivers.
A Canadian law requires all passenger vehicles, rental cars and taxis registered in Quebec to have winter tires on all four wheels from November 15th until April 1st.
If you’re shopping for winter tires and live where there is a lot of snow in Colorado, look for a mountain with a snowflake in it molded into the tire’s sidewall. This symbol means the tire complies with severe snow standards. All-season tires have an M&S stamped on the sidewall. M&S stands for mud and snow.
For more critical auto advice about tires for any Colorado season, meet with your Professional Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine tire professional. They can help you opt for the right tire for your area and for your driving needs. For the best performance from your tires, whatever the season, don’t forget preventive maintenance. Keep your tires up to pressure for best durability, safety and performance, but don’t overinflate them. Remember, good car care provides the safest road for all of us Colorado Springs drivers.
Hello Colorado Springs car owners! Let’s talk about alignment. One of the most important parts of preventive maintenance for your vehicle is keeping the wheels in alignment. Poor alignment causes your tires to wear unevenly, which can significantly reduce their lifespan. This means you will have to replace them more often, which can be costly in Colorado Springs.
It can even damage your suspension system, which is a costly repair. But even more importantly, uneven tread wear can lead to blowouts on the road, a dangerous and potentially deadly safety risk for Colorado Springs drivers and their passengers.
It may not take an accident or bad driving habits to “knock” your tires out of alignment. Tires can go out of alignment with just everyday Colorado driving. Colorado Springs road hazards, pot holes, uneven or gravel roads, even the bumps and bounces of normal Monument freeways and surface streets can gradually put your SUV tires out of alignment.
So it’s good auto advice to have your SUV’s alignment inspected periodically. Your vehicle’s owner’s manual will have recommendations on how often you should get an alignment check: usually every year or two. But if you think your SUV tires might be out of alignment, you should take your SUV into Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine now.
When you take your SUV in for an alignment in Colorado Springs, your Professional Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine technician will start by inspecting the steering and suspension systems. If something is broken or damaged there, it will need to be corrected in order to get good alignment of the wheels.
If all looks good in the steering and suspension departments, the SUV will then be put on an alignment rack where an initial alignment reading is taken. The wheels can then be aligned to the car maker’s specifications. The ideal alignment for any vehicle is set by its engineers and may vary from vehicle to vehicle.
There are three types of essential adjustments that may have to be made to correctly align a vehicle’s tires. The first is called “toe.” This refers to tires that are out of alignment because they point inward or outward at the front of the tire. Think of a person who is pigeon-toed or splay-footed, and you get the idea.
The second adjustment is the camber. This adjustment affects the angle at which the tires meet the road. Think of a solid building in contrast to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The last adjustment is the castor. This adjustment measures the angle of the tire in relation to the front axles. So, a piece of auto advice that just might be good for life as well: keep everything in alignment, and you’ll be able to steer where you want to go in Monument. Drive safely.
About 90% of our driving decisions in Monument are based solely on what we see. So having a good pair of windshield wipers is extremely essential.
Most Colorado Springs car owners have experienced the frustration and fear of not being able to see clearly during a storm, or when our SUV windshield is just dirty. In fact, it’s estimated that 46,000,000 car owners across the nation are driving with wipers that can’t adequately clear their windshield in a storm.
It seems like our wiper blades are always at their worst when we Colorado Springs motorists need them the most. If that sounds like you, you’ve got plenty of company in the Monument area. 78% of motorists only change their wiper blades after the blades function so poorly that they become a safety hazard.
Colorado Springs motorists need to change their thinking. Instead of blades being something to replace when they fail, we need to consider wiper blades as a critical SUV safety component. Then we’ll stay ahead of the storm.
Colorado Springs auto owners really ought to replace wiper blades twice a year; in the spring and the fall. If you live in the colder parts of Colorado, you may even want to get special winter blades in the fall.
Winter blades are made to resist freezing. Speaking of winter and freezing Monument conditions, if your SUV has been sitting for a long time and the windshield becomes frozen, don’t use your wipers to clear off snow and ice. That can shred your blades and may even damage the wiper motor.
Your wiper blades live outside in the freezing cold and blistering Colorado Springs sun. Over time, they become hard and brittle, and then tear. They also lose their flexibility and just don’t clear the SUV windshield effectively. Worn wiper blades aren’t just a safety hazard for Colorado Springs motorists; they can also scratch their windshield. That may require replacing the entire SUV windshield – that’s a costly consequence for neglecting such a small part.
AutoNetTV and Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine recommend Colorado Springs auto owners replace worn blades right away. Your Colorado Springs service center can provide you with a quality replacement blade. At Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine, they cost about the same as they would at the store – but installation is included.
Of course you also need washer fluid to help your blades do their critical work. Even though Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine will top off the washer fluid with a full service oil change, it is a good idea to have some extra fluid at home. Bring it with you if you’re heading out on a road trip.
Always use windshield washer fluid. Plain water, even that fancy French bottled water, just doesn’t cut it. It can freeze in the fluid reservoir or on the windshield itself, making things worse. Besides, water won’t clean your windows as well.
So follow these tips to keep your windshield clear and your eye on the road.
Find us at:
Express Auto Repair in Colorado Springs & Engine
3655 Galley Rd.
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80909
719-630-8729
