Staten Island Auto Repair

Your Check Engine Light Is On...Now What? Posted April 27, 2015 by Bobby GagliniinShare0 Over 8% of drivers on the road today have a check engine light on. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those drivers won’t get it checked out for months. But hey, can you blame them? If everything seems fine, why waste a costly diagnostic to get it checked out? Or, perhaps there’s that desire to avoid the possibility of paying a lot of money to get it fixed? Well, it’s not always so easy to decide what to do. Let’s go through a common example. You’re on the highway, driving home from work and everything with your vehicle is ship shape. Then, your car beeps loudly, and your check engine light is on. Your first thought is probably, “oh no”, and your second is to look for or feel anything different in your car. This is a pretty good idea. See if your engine is overheating, feel if your car is driving strangely, or listen to an ... read more

How Brakes Work Karim Nice Page 2345 A Simple Brake System Before we get into all the parts of an actual car brake system, let's look at a simplified system: You can see that the distance from the pedal to the pivot is four times the distance from the cylinder to the ... read more

How Brakes Work Karim Nice Page 1234 Friction force versus weight Friction Friction is a measure of how hard it is to slide one object over another. Take a look at the figure below. Both of the blocks are made from the same material, but one is heavier. I think we all know w ... read more

How Brakes Work Karim Nice Page 1234 The pedal is designed in such a way that it can multiply the force from your leg several times before any force is even transmitted to the brake fluid. Leverage and Hydraulics In the fi­gure below, a force F is being applied to the le ... read more

How Brakes Work Karim Nice Page 1234 The layout of a typical brake system. See more pictures of brakes. NEXT UP Braking Guide ... read more

Rotate Tires On many cars it is very simple to rotate tires. You just remove them and move them to the appropriate spot (front to back, back to front), then re-install them. In the last few years however this have become a much more difficult job. Most cars these days have what is called a "Tire Pressure Monitoring System" or TPMS. There are also a lot of "all wheel drive" cars on the road. These two things make rotating your cars tires more difficult. It can still be done, but you need much more info and, in some cases, specialized equipment in order to do this job. What is TMPS and How Does it Work? The primary reason that it is becoming harder to rotate tires is because of what is called TPMS or Tire Pressure Monitoring System. This system does just what its name suggests. It monitors the pressure in your tires to be sure that they are prop ... read more

Mechanics: 7 Reasons Why You Should Treat Your Customer Better Posted January 23, 2015 by Bobby GagliniinShare0 The other day I gave 7 reasons why customers should treat mechanics better. Now it’s time to flip it up. Let's go through 7 reasons why mechanics should do the same for their customers. Most mechanics are good people who treat their customers with courtesy and friendliness. But like all businesses, there are some that are extremely defensive, inconveniencing, or rude to their customers. If you think you might be one of them, here are 7 reasons why you should start treating your customers better. 1. Most mad customers have a stereotypical view of repair shops. It’s tough working against a stereotype. Most mechanics are honest and hardworking individuals. The bad apples are few and far between, but that&rsq ... read more

Customers: 7 Reasons Why You Should Treat Your Mechanic Better Posted January 22, 2015 by Bobby GagliniinShare0 While most customers engage their mechanic with courtesy and friendliness, some people insist on treating mechanics badly, whether it’s constantly calling them for an update on your car, or telling them that your uncle’s cousin’s brother-in-law knows the problem better than they do. Regardless of what it is, if you’re one of those people, here are 7 solid reasons why you should treat mechanics better the next time you go to one. 1. They're just trying to make an honest living. The few dishonest mechanics out are the ones that give everyone else a bad reputation. People always want to talk about or review a terrible experience, but not always a good one. When a mechanic gives you a quote, don’t immediately think they’re tying to screw you over. Most are no different from you or me. They get in at 8am, work hard all d ... read more

5"Easy" Car Problems You Should Still Bring To A Mechanic Posted February 10, 2015 by Bobby Gaglini With tons of YouTube videos and online tutorials, it might feel that sometimes you can fix anything wrong with your car. And while studying and hard work might help you accomplish a lot, even one small mistake can cause catastrophic problems with your vehicle. Here are 5 of the “easy” car fixes that many people say you can do yourself, but should probably leave to a professional mechanic. Brake pad changes While the concept of changing brake pads might seem pretty straightforward, if you haven’t done it before with someone who knows what they’re doing, it can end up being dangerous in the long run. There are too many things that could go wrong, like your brake line being compromised or the pads being on backwards that can put your safety at risk. Tire replacements This one might seem like the easiest tas ... read more

Why There Is a Shortage of Skilled Automotive Technicians - Part 2 By Jim Taddei September 11th 2012 While most shops have always had a certain amount of difficulty finding and keeping good quality technicians, the problem seems to be getting worse. It looks like this trend will continue for the foreseeable future. Good quality shops that are committed to providing their technicians with what is needed to repair today’s complex cars and light trucks (tools, training, repair information) along with fair compensation have been able to continue attracting the best and brightest technicians. RepairPal Top Shops are excellent examples of this. These shops tend to have a core group of very experienced technicians who have been working together for many years. Mixed in with this core group are a smaller number of younger technicians (most often these are fairly recent trade school graduates) who are willing and able to ... read more