Posts by dakotaridgeauto

Let’s talk about your transmission. Transmissions are heavy duty pieces of equipment that are designed to last a long time for most Littleton drivers. But like any other machine, they’ll eventually wear out and need repair. So let’s focus on what you can do to push that day off as far as possible. The first…

The days when you changed your spark plugs every couple of years has ended.  Back in the day, spark plugs really did wear out that often.  A couple of things are different now.  First, spark plugs are made of better materials that last longer and they’re designed better.  The second reason that plugs used to…

Question My name is Landon.  A bought a new minivan and it started smoking out the tail pipe.  They said my head gasket went out.  What can I do to prevent this from happening again? Answer The head gasket fits between the top of the engine and the cylinder head.  Its job is to seal…

Your axles are the last link in transferring power from the engine to your wheels.  They’re strong parts that last a long time – but they can run into trouble. Axles just wear out over time and need to be replaced.  And sometimes axle seals leak, causing the axle to wear out prematurely.  Lubricant leaks…

You may have wondered where the warm air in your passenger compartment comes from. Well, as your engine starts to warm up, it also warms the coolant/antifreeze that circulates around the engine and through the radiator. There is also a hose that carries coolant/antifreeze from the engine to the heater core and another that takes…

Littleton drivers push a few buttons or turn some knobs, and voila! They have air blowing on their feet or cool air chilling their face. But how does all that happen? Well, it’s all thanks to the air blend box. This box lives behind your dash and helps direct the right temperature of air where…

Brakes that work properly are essential to your safety as you drive and stop on our Littleton streets. You want to carefully maintain your brakes. In vehicles equipped with drum brakes, the brake components are housed inside a drum that rotates with the wheel. When you step on the brake pedal, brake shoes push out…

You probably have a cabinet in your kitchen filled with pots and pans. Your vehicle has one very important pan in it as well. It’s the pan that holds oil for your engine called, naturally, an oil pan. The oil pan is a very important, though simple, component of your engine’s lubrication system.  The oil…

Maintaining your car or truck will make it more efficient.  It works the way it was designed to and that means it uses less fuel:  And you save money. To help organize our discussion, let’s think of things that rob us of fuel economy in two ways: increased friction and inefficient fuel combustion. Friction.  Anything…

Question I was told I need to have my transfer case serviced.  What is that? Answer On a four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle, power needs to be transferred to both the front and rear axles.  The transfer case is the mechanism that makes that happen.  There are many drivetrain configurations out there, so we’ll just talk in…