Today Atlantic Car Care is talking about the proper fluids for your vehicle. It’s become more complicated with changes in automotive design and manufacturing. It’s not that people in North Carolina are confused as much as they don’t realize how much things have changed in recent years.

If you have questions about the fluids in your vehicle, please don’t hesitate to stop by Atlantic Car Care. You can find us on 21 New Bern Street in Wilmington, North Carolina 28403.
Just give us a call at 9107941390

Let’s take engine oil. Twenty or thirty years ago, there were just a handful of different weights of oil. The weight of an oil is a scientific measure of its properties, particularly its viscosity or thickness.

It was common in those days to use a lighter weight oil in the winter when it’s cold outside. That way the oil would be able to splash around inside the engine and protect the parts before it was fully warmed up. And a heavier weight oil would be used in the summer. The thicker oil wouldn’t thin out too much in the summer heat and vaporize in the engine.

Modern valve trains have become very complicated with more moving parts and small passages than ever before. The valve train is in the top of the engine, so when the car has been turned off for a while, the oil tends to run down to lower areas and the valve train parts are vulnerable at start-up, before the oil starts circulating.

So new weights of oil have been introduced to meet the engineering specifications of these newer engines.

Manufacturers are recommending specific weights of oil. The recommendation is often printed on the oil fill cap. It’s certainly in the owner’s manual. Of course, your Wilmington North Carolina auto service center can look it up for you.

It’s more important than ever to have the correct weight of oil. The wrong weight could actually harm the engine.

Other fluids are also becoming more sophisticated. In the last few years new types of transmission, power brake fluid and coolant have all been introduced for some of the same reasons as for engine oil.

In addition, vehicle manufacturers are now using a wider variety of materials in these systems. Looking at the cooling system as an example, it used to be that the parts were all made out of steel or iron and the hoses were rubber. Now, some parts are plastic, aluminum or other materials.

So the anti-corrosion additives contained in the coolant, or anti-freeze, need to be different in order to protect the different materials used to make the cooling system. If you use the wrong coolant that wasn’t formulated to protect your plastic cooling system parts, they could become corroded and fail. And if you’re using the wrong coolant, your cooling system won’t be covered under warrantee. So it’s important to use the right coolant and to not mix different types.

Your owner’s manual or your Wilmington North Carolina service advisor at Atlantic Car Care can make sure you’re using the right type. You may have heard of universal coolant. Universal, or global, coolant can be added to other types without harmful reactions. That’s OK for an emergency top off, but following your manufacturer’s recommendation for your sedans or other auto type is always a safe bet.

In the area of brake fluid, there are a couple of new formulations. It’s important to remember that the new ones aren’t better than the old ones. They’re just different formulations for different vehicles. So if your vehicle calls for DOT 3, using DOT 4 or DOT 5 is not an upgrade. Use the recommended formula.

There are fluid formulations for vehicles with higher mileage. These are special engine oil, transmission fluid, and so on that contain additives to condition and restore seals and gaskets in older engines.

They’re fine to use as long as they’re a variant of the proper fluid. In other words you can use a high mileage engine oil as long as it’s also the correct weight recommended by the manufacturer. Same goes for transmission fluid; as long as it’s the right type for your transmission.

Fuel Saving Tips   

Millions of dollars in fuel are wasted. One of the leading causes to lower fuel mileage is over look auto maintenance, due to the (fast food style) quick lube maintenance preformed every day.

• Dirty Air Filters: The engine can use more than 10,000 gallons of air for every one gallon of fuel burned, you easily see the importance of a clean air filter. The air filter should be checked at every oil change and changed every 12,000 to 18,000 mile depending on driving conditions.    MPG Penalty: Up to 2 MPG
• Dirty Engine Oil: Dirty engine oil causes friction in internal engine parts, reducing fuel efficiency and eventually leading to serious engine damage.   MPG Penalty: Up to 1 MPG
• Worn Spark Plugs: When a spark plug becomes worn it can cause inefficient combustion, resulting in wasted fuel. We recommend referring the your cars owners manual for mileage intervals of spark plug replacement.  MPG Penalty: Up to 2 MPG
• Fuel Filter: Dirty fuel filters allow dirt, rust and even water into the fuel system, causing not only loss of fuel mileage the need of major fuel injection repairs.   MPG Penalty: Up to 2 MPG
• Tire Inflation: Low air pressure increases the roll resistance and cause a loss of fuel mileage. It also greatly reduces the tire life mileage, your air pressure should be check on a weekly bases to maximize the tire life and fuel mileage.  MPG Penalty: 1 to 2 MPG
• Fuel Cap: Missing, damaged or loose fuel tank caps cause over 147 million gallons of fuel to evaporate in to the air each year. Not only is that bad for our environment it does not help our fuel mileage.  MPG Penalty: Up to 2 MPG
• Worn Oxygen Sensors: A failed oxygen sensor is unable to adjust and/or maintain proper air to fuel ratios. Incorrect fuel mixture not only lead to poor fuel mileage, it also cause emission components to fail.  MPG Penalty: Up to 4 MPG
• Wheel Alignment: Proper wheel alignments are very important to maintain on your vehicle, miss aligned wheel increase the roll resistance and wear tires . This would be equal to driving with 1 foot on the gas and 1 foot on the brake.  MPG Penalty: 1.5 to 2 MPG

So, now you can see why low fuel cost starts with great auto maintenance not searching all over town for the lowest price at the pump.

Now it’s time to do you and your automobile a favor and have one of  our ASE Master Techs preform a Auto Health Inspection today.

Call Jackie at 910-794-1390 to schedule your appointment today.

Here at Atlantic Car Care we really care about our customers.  We make it convenient for you to have your vehicle serviced and repaired by providing courtesy rides (and in some cases a loaner car when needed).   We have a focused training program designed to make sure that our technicians are the best in the industry.  Having knowledgeable technicians saves you money because they know what they are doing and they know your car.  We give you the best warranty in the industry at 2 years or 24,000 miles, which provides you with peace-of-mind.  We can do this because we know our technicians are the best. 

But most importantly, I will be here to make sure that everything is done correctly and when promised, and to make sure that all your questions are answered.

Click here to scheule your next service. or Call 910-794-1390

Buying A New Car

What are we thinking when we buy a new automobile. More than likely we are using our egos to make our buying decisions. Its the things like horsepower, color, flashy wheels, GPS, automatic climate control, convertible tops, power windows, high end sound systems. When in fact we should be looking at our automobile purchase as a 15 year 300,000 mile investment (or no less than 10 year 200,000 miles) and most of all does it fit my needs.

When buy that next car try and take a new way of deciding what is best for you, your family and our environment. Most of the things that make our egos feel better cost a lot of money, not just to purchase. but also to maintain over time. What I’m talking about is the replacement and/or repair cost. The cost doesn’t just end there, what about the impact on our environment. These items have an impact on our environment to make them and disposal of them.

Just a few small examples to think about. First, power windows must of them lead solider, cooper, relays, switch, plastics, computer controlled modules ects…..must I say more. Yes I think so, how long do they last before we start repairs on these parts, 75,000 to 100,000 miles.  This means more money, finding rides to work,  parts and labor cost are not cheap and where are we going to keep piling all this waste up , we can’t keep adding to our landfills. Manual windows cost less and last longer, in many case they will out last our cars leaving us with less waste and lower repair cost. 2nd example wheels and tires, they are expensive. Take a look at the replacement cost of these flashy wheels. Most of the larger wheels sporty tires cost between $500 to over $1,000. Standard tires sizes replacement cost for a set of 4 $250 to $500 and they last longer. Lets think about safety, money is tight these days. so, when faced with the higher replacement cost of these tires, do we sometimes put replacing them off a little to long placing our loved ones in danger. It doesn’t end there the larger tires and wheels take more rubber to make, rubbers are made from oils. Then we get back to disposal of these tires.

Please don’t take this article wrong I’m not pointing the finger at you, It’s pointing back at me. I have made all these ego base buying decisions and more. This blog is just meant to be food for taught. Maybe one day I will be able to practice what I preach. LOL………

“Buy Smarter and Live Better”