May 10, 2012

Viva la Differential At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center

Filed under: Differential Service — kendrick298 @ 4:48 pm

Viva la Differential At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center

With front-wheel drive being so common in Woodway these days, the differential is just taken care of during a transmission service, so most Woodway folks don’t even have to think about it. And most rear-wheel drive truck differentials don’t need to be serviced for many miles, so it’s understandable that it’s not something on the top of mind. So it’s not uncommon for TX people to not know they have a differential let alone know that it needs service.

To better understand what a differential does, think about a high school track. There are lanes marked off on the track. For the longer distance races, the starting lines are staggered. The starting lines for the outside lanes are ahead of the starting lines for the inside lanes. That’s to compensate for the longer length of the outside lanes. Staggering the starting lines means that each runner has the same distance to run.

The differential compensates for the difference in speeds on drive wheels between the inside wheel and the outside wheel in a turn, because they have to travel together through slightly different distances.

Many truck differentials do a lot of work and require very heavy duty parts. And those parts need protection. The differential fluid lubricates the gears in the differential and keeps them cool. The fluid eventually gets dirty and worn down. Some kinds of differentials require special additives that break down over time. So manufacturers and Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center technicians recommend intervals for replacing your differential fluid.

Your Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center service technician will drain the used fluid and check it out for metal bits, which could be a sign of excessive wear on the gears. He’ll then replace the fluid and install the additives if necessary.

Woodway four wheel drive trucks need special attention to their differentials because they have a differential on both the front and rear axles that work at different times and sometimes under heavy loads – so they may need to be serviced at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center at different intervals.

Your Woodway service advisor can look up the manufacturer’s recommended service interval or you can check your truck owner’s manual.

Give us a call

Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center
254.753.2491
6025 Woodway Drive
Woodway, TX 76712

At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center in Woodway TX (76712) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 254.753.2491. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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May 4, 2012

Car Scent Is Good For TX Drivers?

Filed under: Safety — kendrick298 @ 6:20 pm

Car Scent Is Good For TX Drivers? Here’s a TX travel tip that I’ll bet you didn’t know, and, it might keep you safer:

The average American commuter spends two and a half hours daily in their car.

The government says a hundred thousand auto accidents yearly are caused by drivers who fall asleep at the wheel. Aggressive driving is the number-one traffic safety concern.

So what does this have to do with how your TX car smells?

Well, which scent did you think makes drivers more alert?

Is it:

A. Strawberry
B. New Car
C. Pine
D. Warm Vanilla Breeze

It’s C. Drivers in Woodway are more alert and have less fatigue with pine scent in the car, according to AroMetrics.

And, TX drivers were less angry with overall improved driving performance with strawberry and pine scents.

And you thought they just smelled nice.

At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center in Woodway TX (76712) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 254.753.2491. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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April 27, 2012

Air Conditioning Maintenance At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center In Woodway

Filed under: Air Conditioning — kendrick298 @ 9:16 pm

Air Conditioning Maintenance At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center In Woodway

Most Woodway area car owners don’t service their air conditioning until after it fails. Maintaining your truck air conditioning system means that you always have enough refrigerant to properly do the job. Small leaks in the air conditioning system allow the refrigerant to escape and the system can’t cool the air as well.

Along with the refrigerant, a special oil circulates in the system. The oil lubricates air conditioning components, and keeps the seals resilient. Low refrigerant and lubricating oil means that the air conditioning parts will wear out prematurely, and we all know that air conditioning repairs can be costly in Hewitt.

Air conditioning service at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center in Woodway starts with a visual inspection of the components for signs of damage or leaks. The compressor is driven by a belt from the engine, most often the serpentine belt, so it’s inspected for cracks or wear.

The air conditioning compressor and other components are checked for proper operation by your Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center service advisor. Then comes the leak test. If a leak is detected, often in a hose or connection, it’s repaired and the truck system is retested. Your Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center technician will also perform a temperature drop test.

If needed, the old refrigerant is evacuated and the system is recharged with clean, fresh refrigerant. A final test insures that the air conditioner is working, and you’re on your way.

How often this should be done at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center varies from vehicle to vehicle. Your truck owner’s manual will have the manufacturer’s recommendation and, of course, your friendly Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center service advisor can tell you. It’s typically every two years.

Give us a call

Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center
6025 Woodway Drive
Woodway, TX 76712

At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center in Woodway TX (76712) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 254.753.2491. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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April 17, 2012

Customer Detective Work In Woodway TX 76712

Filed under: Diagnostics — kendrick298 @ 5:26 pm

Customer Detective Work In Woodway TX 76712 One might say the most challenging part of being an automotive service technician in Woodway is diagnosing a problem before it can be fixed.

Cars in Woodway are made up of a bunch of complex systems. There usually could be a number of reasons for any given symptom. So it’s challenging to track down the actual cause of the problem. And it can be frustrating for the Woodway vehicle owner because it can take time and money to get to the bottom of a problem.

If it’s not something obvious, it’s easy for the customer to focus on the fixing and not the diagnosing.

Let us at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center introduce you to something we’ll call ‘Customer Detective Work‘ – that is helping the technician find clues to what’s wrong.

We start with the detective basics: What, Where and When. Play along with me; You come in to Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center and your car is making a funny sound…

  • Where’s the sound? – ‘Around the right front wheel’.
  • What kind of sound? – ‘Kind of a clunk, clunk sound’.
  • When do you hear the sound? – ‘When I turn and accelerate.
  • Right and left? Forwards and back?’

You see where we’re going. You’re gathering additional information to help your Woodway technician at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center know where to start. Based on your car and the tech’s experience, we’ll know where to look on you truck and can start with the obvious suspects.

You can see how that would be more helpful than dropping the car off with a note that says “making a funny noise“.

When you think you need to bring your truck in, make some notes about the problem it’s having. Rather than just saying “it’s leaking”, tell the tech the color of the fluid, and approximately where under the car you see the puddle.

Things like ‘the car is stalling or sputtering’ are often very hard to diagnose because they’re intermittent. They may not happen every time you drive and may not be happening when you actually bring the car in. So, it is a big help for you to describe what’s happening in as much detail as possible.

Your Woodway technician at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center will need to be able to duplicate the problem if possible so he needs to know details, like “It stalls after it’s been driven for about 20 minutes and I go over 50 miles an hour”.

If your Woodway technician at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center can experience the problem personally, he’s better able to make a diagnosis and repair. And, then test to see if the repair solved the problem.

At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center in Woodway TX (76712) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 254.753.2491. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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April 11, 2012

Schedule A Suspension Inspection At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center

Filed under: Suspension — kendrick298 @ 5:12 pm

Today’s Woodway car care article focuses on your suspension system. After many years and tens of thousands of miles, your truck suspension system components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive. As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth Woodway highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads.

Schedule A Suspension Inspection At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair CenterIn addition to just wearing out, Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center customers need to know that suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact – like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road.

Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your truck manufacturer and Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center recommend periodic inspections. During an inspection, your Woodway service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts.

Signs that shocks or struts are wearing out: The tires may have a cupped wear pattern. This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly as you drive around Woodway. You may notice a floaty or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your truck dives excessively when stopping, or rocks back and forth after you stopped, your shocks may be worn out. And if they are leaking fluid, it’s definitely time to replace them.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, come into Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center for a suspension inspection. Same if you’ve been in an accident that involved one of your wheels. Worn or broken shocks can cause premature wear or failure on other truck suspension parts such as ball joints and other steering components as well. If your suspension actually fails, it could lead to a serious accident, so let us take care of your suspension components at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center.

When you replace your shocks, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time. That’ll give you more even handling. Talk with your service advisor at Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center because you don’t want a big difference between the performance of your shocks from wheel to wheel, and replacing all may be the safest bet.

At Kendrick Tire & Auto Repair Center in Woodway TX (76712) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 254.753.2491. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

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