Written by: Patricia Sanders

Hi, my name is Patty Sanders; I am the Controller at A-1 Auto Tech, Inc. About a year ago I started working on our web page. Everyone has one, so why not us? We now have a pretty nice web page, (even if I say so myself!) but we need people to use it and interact in it. I need your input and what you as our customers would like to see on it. I also need your input as our customers to know what we as a company can do to keep our customers coming and if you are happy with our services.

I have decided to write a newsletter to deal with some of the issues that arise in our industry. I read a lot and visit a lot of web sites regarding the automotive industry. As a woman and not entirely knowledgeable in the automotive field I have learned a lot regarding maintenance, how hard it is to actually work on a automobile and just the service business in general. These are some of the things that you as our customers I feel would like to know more about. I see a lot of automobiles come through our shop, some are here every 4-6 weeks for maintenance because they drive a lot of miles and feel that a well taken care of car will pay in the long run. Some people we see once a year when something is wrong. Regular maintenance is what I am going to speak about today.

Most automobile manufacturers suggest that you change your oil every 3000 miles, which could vary depending on your driving habits. This is required on most new cars to insure that if anything goes wrong that the Manufacturer will honor their warranty. To the consumer this is a cheap way to protect your investment in a very expensive asset. With new car prices in the U.S. averaging well above $10,000.00 money invested in keeping your vehicle in good shape could save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars per year. When you consider the true cost of purchasing your car it is not difficult to justify a few hundred dollars per year in maintenance.

Lets now talk about what happens inside your cars engine. Why is oil necessary and what does it do?

The major environmental conditions that the oil must deal with are friction, intense heat, and contaminants.

Friction comes from hundreds of moving metal parts rubbing against each other. This creates intense heat and pressure and if you had no oil in your engine, (which we have heard of) your engine will be destroyed. The oil’s job is to provide the lubrication between the moving parts of the car’s engine to decrease the friction.

Intense heat: Part of your motor oil function is to carry the heat away from the camshaft, rods, pistons and drivetrain. This is done by circulating the oil through your motor, carrying away the heat to the rest of the oil, which is cooler.

Contaminants build up in your car in the form of soot, ash, acid, and moisture. This results in dirt in the form of sludge, which become baked onto engine parts and interfere with proper performance of your vehicle. The motor oil in your car’s engine has a detergent built into it that disperses the dirt keeping it suspended within the oil until its either filtered or drained away when you change it.

Your oil, after circulating through your motor and encountering all of the abuse listed above will finally breakdown and looses its ability to lubricate your motor. If you think about and engine it is a finely tuned machine, which each part works off of another and when one thing does not work properly it can make your entire automobile not run properly.

At Auto Tech when we do an oil change we also do a 29 point safety inspection. This inspection includes looking at your tires, brakes, fluids, running lights, looking for oil leaks to name a few. This regular inspection of your vehicle along with our recommendations will ensure that you and your automobile will have a long happy life together.

If you have any types of automobile questions you would like to read about, drop us a line and let us know. I will be glad to do the research and write about it in our newsletter.

Till next time,

Patty