Boulder Auto Repair

The cooling system keeps CO car owners’s engines from overheating while they are driving around Boulder, Boulder and Louisville. Its job is to move heat away from the engine. Let’s talk about the various components of the system and how they make this happen. The radiator is the part most Boulder car owners associate with the cooling system. Coolant flows through the radiator which has fine cooling fins that draw the heat out of the coolant and dissipate it into the air. To make sure there’s enough airflow over the radiator, a fan pulls air over the cooling fins even when the family car is idling. In some family cars, the fan is powered by the serpentine belt. On others, an electric motor runs the fan. Electric fans turn on and off as needed. You may have heard the fan kick on shortly after you turn your family car off. The sensor has determined that the engine needs a little help cooling down to a safe temperature. A hose connects th ... read more

Driving on bald tires is like playing roulette. Though you may be fine today, eventually your luck is going to run out. The Feds don’t have any laws for tread depth, but 42 of the states, and all of Canada, do have regulations. They consider two-thirty-seconds of an inch to be the minimum legal tread depth. Two other states, including California, consider one-thirty-second to be the minimum and six states have no standards at all. Call us at John’s Auto Care; (just call 303.442.2932) to find out what your requirements are in the Boulder, CO area. Since 1968, U.S. law has required that a raised bar be molded across all tires. When tires are worn enough that this bar becomes visible, there’s just 2/32” of tread left. But does that older standard give Boulder auto owners enough safety? Consider this: Consumer Reports recommends tire replacement when tread reaches 4/32”. And the recommendation is backed by ... read more

So you love your job, and your family life is great. Congratulations! You have achieved balance. But can you say the same for your wheels? Boulder motorists can tell if their tires are out of balance by vibrations at higher speeds on CO interstates. If one of the front tires is out, you feel the vibration in the steering wheel. If it’s a back tire, you’ll feel the vibration in your seat. Tires and wheels are pretty heavy. When a tire is mounted on a wheel at John’s Auto Care, it is usually not perfectly balanced. So the service specialist will spin the tire on a machine to determine where it’s too heavy. He will then place weights on the wheels in strategic locations to balance it out. When a tire is out of balance, it actually bounces down the road instead of rolling smoothly. Since the average size tire rotates at about 850 revolutions per minute at 60 MPH, it is actually slamming into the pavement 14 times a second. That’s where you get your vi ... read more

A recent report stated that over 80 percent of the vehicles on our Boulder CO roads have one or more service or repair that’s needed, but hasn’t been taken care of. Now that’s a lot of undone service. That translates into something over 160 million vehicles in the U.S. alone. Some of the neglected items are minor. Others are serious safety concerns. There are several reasons why we hesitate to take care of recommended services; especially services that our Boulder CO automotive advisor recommends when we’re in for something else, like an oil change. The first issue boils down to comfort with car care. We don’t always feel we know enough to make good decisions. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that vehicles are so reliable these days. They almost become an appliance. Of course you love your family car, but if you don’t have to worry about it breaking down all the time, you ... read more

If you’ve ever been in a car accident around Boulder CO, even a minor one, you know how upsetting it can be. It’s hard to think straight and know what to do. Let’s review what you should do in case of an accident in Boulder, CO: When an accident occurs, you should always stop. Leaving the scene of an accident is considered a crime in CO – even if it’s not your fault. And hit-and-run penalties are fairly severe, possibly resulting in steep fines, loss of your driver’s license or even jail time in our local Boulder lockup. Most states, including CO require that you try to help someone who is injured by calling for help or performing first aid if you are able.Warn other Boulder motorists by putting out flares, using your flashers or lifting your hood.Call 911 as soon as possible. Tell the operator if medical or fire help is needed. Always file a police report. It’s tempting to ski ... read more