Find out tomorrow morning at 6:45 A.M. on Today’s THV Morning Show Chanell 11. The Auto guy Mike Davidson will be live to answer this and other car related questions.
Archive for October, 2011
SHOULD YOU WARM UP YOUR CAR?
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Clean Fuel Makes a Happy Engine In Little Rock Arkansas
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
If the fuel system in your truck is dirty, you will be wasting gas and losing performance as you drive around Little Rock Arkansas.
Unless you drive a vintage car, you have fuel injectors. They need to be properly maintained. That is why your owner’s manual has a schedule for cleaning your fuel injectors and other parts of your fuel system.
Your service technician at Parkway Automotive has the tools and chemicals to do the job right. Parkway Automotive uses a process that gives your car a deep, professional fuel system cleaning. The particles, gum and varnish that build up in your fuel system are removed so that it can run cleanly and efficiently.
After a professional fuel system cleaning, you’ll notice more power, better gas mileage and reduced exhaust emissions. AutoNetTV strongly recommends you follow your manufacturer’s fuel system cleaning service recommendations to keep your vehicle running strong.
It’s expensive to replace a fuel injector that’s been damaged by neglect. Check with your service technician at Parkway Automotive and see when your car is scheduled for a fuel system cleaning.
Shocks and Struts For Little Rock Bumps and Bounces
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
If you’re like most of us in Little Rock, you want your car to handle well. That’s the job of your suspension system.
There are different types of suspension systems, but they all work on the same basic principles. First, there are the springs, which bear the weight of the car. The most common springs are coil or leaf – although we see air springs and torsion bars more often. The springs do most of the work.
Visit our Little Rock location for an inspection of your suspension.
Parkway Automotive
708 Kirk Road
Little Rock, Arkansas 72223
501-821-6111
But if all you had were springs, your vehicle would be bouncing around like a bobble head. That’s where the shocks come in. They control the rebound of the springs and smooth out the up and down motions. They also keep the tires on the road, and you in control. Some trucks use struts. Struts are a combination of shocks and springs, together in a more compact system.
Shocks wear out slowly over time, so it’s hard to notice when they get badly worn. One way to tell is to look for an uneven, cupping wear on your tires. If the shock or strut is leaking fluid, it needs to be replaced. If your car feels floaty in turns or if the front end dips a lot when you stop, it is time to get your shocks checked. Your owners’ manual will tell you when your shocks should be changed – it’s usually between 15,000 and 30,000 miles or 24,000 and 50,000 kilometers .
When you replace a shock, be sure to replace all four. Then your car will have an even suspension and will handle much better. Talk with your service advisor about how you drive. No, not your traffic violations, but how often you carry heavy loads, tow a trailer or drive in rough terrain. If you do a bunch of that, you’ll need a heavy duty shock.
Regular shocks use hydraulic fluid and air as their dampening system. Premium quality shocks and struts use compressed nitrogen gas instead of air. Gas shocks don’t get air bubbles that affect the performance of regular shocks. If you do a lot of high performance driving, off-roading or just want added comfort and control, think about getting premium gas shocks or struts.
Replacing your struts may take your car out of alignment, so be sure to get an alignment at the same time. So, to smooth out the bumps on the road of life, change your shocks and struts when they need it.
Finding Vehicle Recall Information In Little Rock Arkansas
Thursday, October 13th, 2011
No matter how well they’re made, cars in Little Rock Arkansas will have design or manufacturing problems.
And when the government thinks a problem is really serious for people in Little Rock Arkansas, they require the manufacturer to issue a recall notice and fix the car free of charge. The manufacturer then tries to contact everyone in Little Rock Arkansas who owns that type of car to get the recall work done.
These recalls always affect safety, so take them seriously. It’s easy to see if a vehicle’s being recalled.
The government has links on its websites, or just visit AutoNetTV for links.
There are many websites with free recall information and searches. There’s CarFax, AutoByTel and the DMV.
Recalls are serious, but not all that common. But sometimes there are less significant issues, and for these, manufacturers issue a Technical Service Bulletin, or TSB, that tells service centers like Parkway Automotive how to repair a frequent or difficult problem.
The pros get updated information through subscription plans, also available in consumer versions for a reasonable cost.
So when vehicle recalls occur, get the work done, and keep you and yours safe.
Deep Clean Your Fuel System At Parkway Automotive
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
Having trouble with your fuel system? Bring your truck into Parkway Automotive for a check up.
708 Kirk Road
Little Rock, Arkansas 72223
501-821-6111
Today we’re talking about fuel system cleaning. The first thing to know is how important it is to have a clean fuel system. You need fuel to go, and the cleaner your fuel system, the more efficiently the fuel will burn. That means more power and better fuel economy.
A clean fuel system saves money at the pump. We guess you could say, it all starts and ends at the pump. One of the most important things you can do to keep your fuel system clean is to buy good quality gas. Major brands have detergents that keep gum and varnish from rapidly building up in the fuel system.
So buying cheaper gas can actually cost you in the long run. Now, most cars on the road are more than five or six years old. That means they’ve had time for some dirt and rust to start accumulating in the fuel tank. This junk needs to be filtered out of the fuel before it hits your engine. That’s the fuel filter’s job.
When the fuel filter is clogged, the dirty fuel will bypass the filter and go on up to the engine where it can clog fuel injectors and get into the cylinders. That could do some damage. So you should have your fuel filter changed when recommended. Check your owner’s manual or ask your service advisor if your fuel filter is due for replacement.
The fuel then goes up into the throttle body. This is another area where varnish and gum can accumulate. A professional fuel system cleaning will use a combination of special cleaning chemicals and old fashioned swabbing to clean out the throttle body. Now, the fuel injectors are the last stop in the fuel delivery system.
It’s real important to keep those fuel injectors clean. The fuel injectors need to deliver a precise amount of fuel, at exactly the right time, in a particular spray pattern. They just can’t do that if they’re dirty. Dirty fuel injectors really rob power and waste fuel.
It is important for the fuel system proper, but there are a couple other things that will help keep your engine clean as well. Of course, air is mixed with the fuel before it’s burned. Dirty air means dirt gets into your engine, so you need to replace your engine air filter when it’s dirty.
The PCV value routes unburned fuel that escapes into the lower engine back up into the intake system to be burned. A sticky PCV valve needs to be replaced to make sure that system is working properly and the breather filter needs to be replaced if it’s dirty as well.
Do all these things and your engine’s air and fuel will be as clean as possible. You’ll get much better fuel economy and better power
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