Florissant auto repair

Ask any Florissant man or woman if they've taken their vehicle in for preventive maintenance lately, and the answer may well be “no.” Surveys indicate that over 80% of vehicles on the road today are in need of some kind of repair or maintenance. Now, ask that same person why he hasn't taken his car in for care. The answer will probably be that he forgot or that he just didn't think about it. Most Florissant residents seem to have a hard time remembering about scheduled maintenance for their vehicles.Funny, because most of us in Florissant have no trouble remembering to wash our clothes, mow our lawns or brush our teeth. It isn't that we can't remember to take our vehicles for service; it's a matter of making it a priority.When it comes to our vehicles, Florissant drivers like myself, need to be a little more maintenance-minded. The fact is, we can choose to do it, or we might find ourselves being compelled to do it.For example, when we cons ... read more

Car care is part of auto safety in Florissant. But the most important thing we can do to improve safety on Missouri roads is to drive safely.Defensive driving begins with the proper attitude. Have in mind that you won't let anyone take your safety away from you. You'll be aware of your surroundings, road conditions, other vehicles and hazards. And the first person to be concerned with is you: start with your own environment.Don't leave without securing all occupants including children and pets. Watch for loose items that can become projectiles during evasive maneuvers.Driving too fast or too slow increases the chance of an accident.Never drive impaired: Alcohol is a factor in half of all fatal crashes. Never drink and drive.Other impairments include being sleepy, angry, daydreaming or talking. If you suddenly wonder how you got where you are – you're not paying enough attention.Keep your windows clean and uncluttered. No fuzzy dice and stickers.Keep you ... read more

The cooling system keeps Missouri vehicle's engines from overheating while they are driving around Florissant. 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 Florissant drivers 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 vehicle is idling.In some vehicles, 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 vehicle off. The sensor has determined that the engine needs a little help cooling down to a safe temperature.A hose connects the radiator to the water pump. T ... read more

There are a lot of drivers in Florissant who are due for a differential service, but had never heard of a differential before.With front-wheel drive being so common in Missouri these days, the differential is just taken care of during a transmission service, so most Florissant folks don't even have to think about it. And rear-wheel drive differentials don't need to be serviced for years, so it's understandable that it's not something on the top of your mind. It's not uncommon for people in Florissant to not know they have a differential, let alone know that it needs service.To better understand what a differential does, think about a track at any Missouri high school. There are lanes marked off on the track. For the longer distance races, the starting lines are staggered. The starting lines for the outside lanes are ahead of the starting lines for the inside lanes. That's to compensate for the longer length of the outside lanes. Staggering the starting lines means that ... read more

Night driving in Florissant is not as safe as daylight driving as evidenced by the increased accident rate at night. Much of that is simply because it's dark outside.Visibility is important to safe driving. Ninety percent of our driving decisions are based on what we see. And at night, we just can't see as much as we can during the day. In fact, if you have 20/20 vision during the day, your night vision is only 20/50. To translate, that means that an object you can clearly see 50 feet away during daylight, only becomes visible to you at 20 feet at night.Reaction time is also related to visibility. Florissant motorists don't react to a situation until they see it. So at night, we're reacting to situations later just because it takes longer to see them. But we don't have to stop driving at night to stay safe. We just need to practice some preventive maintenance and vehicle care that will maximize our night vision.The most crucial item that helps us ... read more

So you've bought a used vehicle in the Florissant area. Do you know what you're getting? It is hard to know what you're getting because people in the Florissant area sell vehicles for different reasons. Think about why you've sold vehicles. Did you just want something new or were there problems that you wanted to run away from? Maybe it was a little of both.Used vehicles in Missouri with 25,000 to 35,000 miles/40,000 to 55,000 km on them are often lease returns, corporate program cars or rental fleet vehicles. Most Florissant buyers feel pretty confident about these because they're newer and may still be under warranty. But how well have they been maintained?Florissant drivers who are planning to own a vehicle for a long time will keep up on auto maintenance so that they can avoid repairs down the road. But, if you know you're only going to have the vehicle for two or three years, you may not be so committed to maintenance. It would be easy to ... read more

At garysautorepair, we occasionally see severe tire damage that could have been prevented with proper wheel alignment. During a garysautorepair alignment service, your vehicle is put on an alignment rack where the tires,steering and suspensionparts are inspected for problems. Then the alignment is charted and checked against the vehicle factory settings. Adjustments are made to bring the wheels back into alignment. This gets all four wheels moving in precisely the same direction.If you don't remember hitting a pothole, how do you know if your wheels are out? The most obvious sign is that your vehicle pulls to one side. Also, your steering wheel may not be centered when you're going straight. If you're in the habit of checking your tire wear regularly, you may notice the edges of one or more tires rapidly wearing down. You should have your Florissant auto service center look it over. Of course, if you've been in an accident, you sh ... read more

Richard Petty once told AutoNetTV, “You've gotta have good brakes. If you've got good brakes you can keep yourself out of a lotta trouble.”That's why a regular brake inspection is on every Florissant driver's maintenance schedule. An inspection by your service advisor at garysautorepair will check your brake system and let you know if there are any problems.Of course, if you're having trouble with your brakes, get your car into garysautorepair in Florissant right away. Here are some symptoms for Florissant drivers to watch for: Low or spongy brake pedal Hard brake pedal A brake warning light that stays on Constantly squealing or grinding brakes Vibrations or clunking sounds when you apply your brakes If you are experiencing any of these, it's time to get your brakes checked. Talk to your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at garysautorepair .There are two types of brakes: disc and drum. Disc brakes have a rotor that's attached to the axle ... read more

A big part of the service we provide at garysautorepair for our Florissant customers is education. We want you to feel confident with your service decisions. And we're always open to questions from our valued Florissant area customers. Even though we try to be proactive in our garysautorepair automotive education, we sometimes get busy fixing vehicles and need a reminder. Please, just ask. We've found our Florissant customers like the service reminders. They've grown to trust that our recommendations are based on the vehicle manufactures’ published maintenance schedules and that garysautorepair is not just pulling them out of the air. We know that people in Florissant live a busy life with a lot more to think about than wondering if it's time to replace the PCV valve on their vehicle. Part of our garysautorepair service process is checking the vehicle manufacture's schedule to make sure we don't overlook service. We hope Missouri drivers appre ... read more

Some of us Florissant drivers just love tires. All those little rubber hairs on new tires and the smell is wonderful. We live in a great time for tires. No matter how you drive around Missouri, where you want to go or the look you're after; there is a tire for you.The same is true about wheels. The hardest part is choosing from the thousands of wheels available at Missouri tire shops.The team at garysautorepair can help you get some things in mind before you make a purchase. Let's start with function and think about how you drive.For example, maybe you have a large SUV but you don't drive off-road around Missouri, so an off-road tread isn't important. Also, because you are not out bouncing over rocks in the Missouri backcountry, you don't need a high profile tire to protect your rims. So that means you can probably go with the low-wide look.If you have a winter season with rain and snow or if you find you need better ice and snow performance, they make great, high-performance snow ... read more