The average vehicle lasts no more than 200,000 miles. But what if there is a way to supersede this number? There is! The average car owner changes their oil every 5-10 thousand miles. The manufacturers recommend every 3 thousand. This alone can shorten the life of your vehicle. There are plenty of things that need to be changed and taken care of that many people neglect causing the life of their cars to be shortened dramatically. Here are some things that your Franklin vehicle needs to be repaired and changed regularly. Read More
Auto maintenance is a vital part of keeping your vehicle running. If you maintain that car or truck sitting out in your parking lot regularly, you’ll enjoy smoother operation and fewer problems down the road. If you ignore important maintenance tasks, you’ll spend far more money on repairs to keep the vehicle running. Do yourself a favor and make sure you have money set aside for basic maintenance tasks and service appointments so you don’t have to spend a small fortune on repairs later on.
Start Saving Money Now for Franklin Auto Maintenance
Even if your vehicle is running perfectly and you don’t have many maintenance tasks to take care of immediately, do yourself a favor and start saving for maintenance anyway. Put a small amount of money into a savings account each month, say $50 to $100 and you’ll be in a much better position to maintain your vehicle when the need arises. Most people spend between $1000 and $2000 on automotive maintenance annually depending on the type of vehicle they have and its age. Setting aside a monthly chunk of that will help you prepare for the big costs as they come.
Schedule Service Appointments
Now that you are actively budgeting your money for auto maintenance, you should start planning that maintenance as well. Schedule your first service appointment with your local dealership and plan follow up services as well. With the money you’ve set aside, you should be able to cover the cost of at least one service appointment a year, and you’ll feel better knowing that you are taking care of your vehicle.
Enjoy a Reliable Vehicle
As long as you stick to your manufacturer’s recommended service intervals, you should enjoy a pretty reliable vehicle over time. Sure there will be some unexpected repairs needed eventually, but as long as you’re budgeting for automotive expenses you’ll be ready for those as well. Owning a vehicle costs money, and it’s good practice to plan for those costs rather than ignoring them.
The worst thing you can do is avoid saving money and then have to resort to credit cards or avoid maintenance entirely instead of having the work done when it’s needed. Do the right thing, save money for auto care and you’ll be ready to pay the costs the next time you have a problem with your vehicle.
When you’re in need of Franklin auto maintenance, speak with the mechanics at the Auto Clinic of Franklin. Set up an appointment to get your vehicle looked at.
Greasing Franklin suspension components is an important part of good auto maintenance. Many modern suspension components rely on grease to function properly, and to prevent wear. While much of a car’s suspension is sealed with grease today and made so that you can’t properly grease it yourself, there are still some areas of a vehicle’s suspension that benefit from regular grease application. Vehicle owners looking to get the most out of their cars, trucks and SUVs should purchase a grease gun and regularly fill grease fittings with fresh grease, or they should hire a mechanic to keep up with regular maintenance, including filling those grease fittings.
Extend the Life of Franklin Suspension Components
Franklin suspension components are constantly in motion and they come up with other components. Grease is necessary to slow down wear and to keep the different joints and sockets of the vehicle functioning properly. If grease fittings are allowed to get dry, your suspension components will wear out very quickly, leaving you with a rough riding vehicle and parts that require replacing.
Add Grease Yourself
Adding grease to a grease fitting isn’t that difficult, you simply attach a compatible grease gun and pump the fitting full of grease until you notice grease emerging from a different section of the component, or until you simply can’t add more grease to the fitting. By doing this regularly you’ll know for sure that your components are in good working order. A grease gun is affordable and replacement grease can be purchased regularly, but you need to be willing to take the time to do the job, and to check on the components of the vehicle regularly to keep it in good shape over time.
Get a Mechanic to do the Job
If you don’t want to mess with greasing up the fittings on your own vehicle, you can have a mechanic do the job for you. Many mechanics throw this type of job in along with regular maintenance, but it’s important that you ask whether or not it’s included, and that you find out if the mechanic can add in greasing your components during a service date if he wasn’t going to originally. It may cost you a bit more than the standard service, but you’ll be protecting and preserving your vehicle in the process.
Greasing up a vehicle is important maintenance and something that needs to be prioritized. If you own a vehicle with grease fittings it’s vital that you have the components serviced regularly and that you keep up with grease needs of the vehicle before excess wear occurs. Speak with the auto clinic of Franklin to find out how we can get your vehicle in the best shape possible.
Franklin towing maintenance
As a truck owner that tows regularly, you have more maintenance concerns than the average vehicle owner. You’re putting more strain on your vehicle than most people are after all. That means you have to stay on top of important maintenance tasks and take care of many maintenance tasks more often. Below is a breakdown of common maintenance considerations that you need to make as a regular hauler for Franklin towing services.
Stay on Top of Oil Changes
Your engine is working very hard as you tow trailers or anything else down the road. For that reason, it’s vital to change the oil at the recommended intervals or a bit sooner. Poor quality oil will force your engine to work even harder and can lead to premature engine failure or all sorts of other problems that you don’t want to do deal with.
Transmission Fluid in Franklin Towing
It’s vital that you stay on top of your transmission fluid as well. There are recommended transmission fluid intervals, but you should check the quality of the fluid before your suggested interval to be sure that it’s still decent quality. Get this fluid changed as needed and never let it go past the change interval if you can help it.
Braking
The brake system is arguably the most important system of a vehicle, and it’s up to you to keep it in tip-top shape. You can do this by swapping warn brake pads before they are down too low and keeping the brake fluid topped up. Also, make sure that you bleed your brakes after changing them to keep the braking nice and firm. Franklin towing is serious.
Tires
It’s important to rotate your tires regularly, but that’s not all you should be worried about when driving your vehicle around. You want to make sure your tire pressure is at the proper levels and that you aren’t driving with too little tread. A blowout while towing is a very real danger, and all the added weight of the trailer is hard on your tires. Make sure that you don’t run into a serious problem out on the road by staying on top of your tires.
As the owner of a truck or SUV that’s used to tow regularly, it’s up to you to make sure all the proper maintenance is performed. You’re counting on your vehicle for more than just carrying you from place to place, and you have to take special care of it to keep things running smoothly for your Franklin towing vehicle.
Contact the Franklin Auto Clinic to set up your regular auto maintenance on your towing vehicle.
One of the best ways that you can extend the life of your vehicle is to maintain it properly. Not only will you keep your car running longer if you do things like changing the oil and swapping out the air filter once and awhile, but you’ll also improve its resale value and you might even sleep better at night knowing that your vehicle is in excellent shape. Unfortunately, there are many different maintenance tasks for you to stay on top of, and it can be a bit overwhelming trying to remember everything that needs to be done. Of course you can solve this problem by bringing your car in for services, but if you want to do everything yourself you’ll have to remember the important maintenance tasks yourself.
The Top Maintenance Tasks to Remember
- Tire rotation
- Oil change
- Spark plugs
- Spark plug wires
- Fluid inspections
- Air filter replacements
- Transmission fluid
- Timing belt replacement
The above list is most of the common replacements that you’ll need to remember and keep in mind while driving your vehicle. It’s important to keep an eye on the mileage of your vehicle and make replacements as specific by your owner’s manual.
There are some replacements that need to be made regularly, like an oil change and tire rotation, and there are others that aren’t needed nearly as often, such as the transmission fluid. Learning the intervals yourself will ensure that the work is always done on time. Take the time to become familiar with your vehicle’s maintenance schedule and you can double check that the shop is doing the right work, or you can do the work yourself.
Consider Getting Your Vehicle Serviced
Even if you know the maintenance schedule for your vehicle, that doesn’t mean that you have to handle the maintenance yourself. Instead, you can work with a local garage and have your vehicle serviced regularly. You’ll have the major maintenance tasks taken care of for you, and the only thing you’ll have to do is enjoy your vehicle and how smoothly it performs.
By spending a bit of money maintaining your vehicle, you’ll avoid serious problems and expensive repairs. It’s a decent trade-off that most people are more than happy to make. Talk with a local garage about maintaining your vehicle, or look into doing all the work yourself. Just make sure that maintenance is performed or you’ll suffer from major repairs later on and wish that you did the work earlier.
Contact the Auto Clinic of Franklin to get an appointment for your service maintenance needs.
There are two different types of ethanol gasoline fuel that you can buy today, one is appropriate for nearly every vehicle and the other is only appropriate for flex-fuel vehicles that are designed to accept it. It’s important to understand what types of fuel you can use in your vehicle and how adding ethanol to your fuel tank can affect maintenance requirements.
What is Ethanol?
It is a refined alcohol that’s around 200 proof. It’s created from corn, wheat, and sugar and burns in fuel tanks just like gasoline, just at lower temperatures. It’s used to fuel many vehicles today and is even used in high-performance race cars to help keep them cooler during extended high-performance operation.
The Two Types of Ethanol Fuel
A common type of gasoline that’s sold today is E10 or gasoline that is made up of 10% ethanol. This mixture works fine in nearly all automobiles today, though many people avoid putting it into their boats when going out onto the water. Ethanol is an efficient fuel and runs just fine when combined with gas at the proper proportions.
The other type of fuel is E85 and this contains approximately 85% ethanol and only 15% gasoline fuel. This runs in special vehicles that are designed to accept the fuel and it’s vital that you make sure your car can take it before you fill up with it. Put E85 into the wrong type of vehicle and you could cause serious engine problems.
Change your Fuel Filter More Frequently
Ethanol is generally good for your fuel system, but it does serve as a solvent that will clear up the gunk in your lines. While this is a positive thing, it means that you’ll have to change your fuel filter soon after making the switch to a blend of fuel that utilized ethanol if you haven’t been using ethanol-infused gasoline up until now. You’ll have cleaner fuel lines and can go back to the regular maintenance cycles for your fuel filter after the initial change, but it’s important to keep this in mind if you’re making the switch after a few years of standard gasoline.
This is a powerful fuel source and a good way to get away from fossil fuels at least partially, but it’s only a positive thing when used properly. Take care to use this fuel according to your manufacturer directions and never put the wrong type of fuel in your vehicle or you’ll risk serious problems.
Speak with the Auto Clinic of Franklin to get more useful tips for the life of your vehicle.
Vehicles are impressive pieces of machinery that achieve transportation remarkably reliably. If you think about it it’s pretty amazing that you can travel across thousands of miles of roadway without ever having to make a repair on your vehicle. Even though cars, trucks and SUVs are all pretty impressive with how well they hold up over time, eventually they’re going to need a little TLC and Franklin tune up to continue running properly.
Even if you don’t suffer from any serious problems that need repair, you’ll still want to get a tune up every once and awhile to make sure your vehicle is in tip-top shape. There are recommended intervals for when each vehicle out on the road should receive a tune up, but if you haven’t been following those guidelines it’s helpful to know the warning signs to look out for that indicate your vehicle needs a tune up. Below are the most common symptoms of a vehicle that needs tuning.
Poor Fuel Efficiency
Today many vehicles come with computers that monitor fuel efficiency levels. That makes it easy to see when your miles per gallon reading starts dipping down to lower levels. If this happens to you it’s time to start thinking about a Franklin tune up. Generally, fuel levels dip down because tires aren’t inflated properly, you need to rotate your tires, the fluids in your vehicle need changing, you need a filter change in your vehicle or one of several other possibilities. Most of these potential problems can all be remedied through a standard tune up, and you’ll be amazed at how much your fuel efficiency levels can be improved by receiving work from an auto professional.
Check Engine Light Woes
The check engine light comes on for serious issues and more routine problems. If that orange light pops on, on your dash, you know it’s time to bring your vehicle in for a Franklin tune up. Often the issue can be resolved through some routine maintenance, but there could be a more serious repair that needs to be performed as well.
Rough Performance
Over time that smooth car that you once had will begin running rough. The engine might stutter, skip or have a choppy noise that it ever had before. The car might take bumps more roughly and your acceleration and braking may not be as nice and smooth as they were originally. These are all signs that you need to tune up your vehicle. If you notice your car isn’t running the way it once was, bring it in for a tune up and get the problem resolved.
Get Your Franklin Tune up
Automobiles run remarkably well for years without much maintenance, but eventually, they are going to need some maintenance work. Do your best to bring your vehicle in for all the manufacturer recommended tune up cycles, but if you can’t meet those recommendations, definitely make sure you have your car checked out with a Franklin tune up when it begins displaying one of these common problems.
Make an appointment for your Franklin tune up with the Auto Clinic of Franklin today!
When you have an issue with your vehicle, it is important to consider every available aspect of having the issue taken care of. This means hiring someone you know, doing it yourself or calling on a Franklin auto care professional. Generally, you will want to save money but what happens when the problem cannot be solved or it is done incorrectly?
This can cause further problems later on down the road. This is why it is always important to consider the benefits that come from hiring a Franklin auto care specialist.
Reasons to Hire a Franklin Auto Care Professional
There are many reasons to hire a Franklin auto care professional. These are just a few of the reasons. More than likely, if you didn’t choose the professional, you probably have a few reasons for choosing one on your own.
- They know what to do when something happens. They’re professionals and knowledgeable in all things car. This is why they’re doing what they do. In order to figure out a problem, someone has to know about the problem.
- They have the necessary tools and equipment needed to fix the issue that the vehicle is having. Oftentimes, certain tools and equipment cannot be found in someone’s garage, which means you need a professional that has them.
- They can check for other issues while they’re working on the main one. This allows you to know everything that is going wrong with the vehicle that they’re working on.
- You never have to worry about the issue being too big to handle or something that they do not understand. They’re mechanics and more than likely, they’ve seen a lot of problems like the one on your vehicle.
- Things will get done right away. You won’t have to wait weeks to get your vehicle fixed. They’re professionals and they want you to be happy with the level of service you receive from them.
- Don’t worry about having to purchase a vehicle part that you’re unsure of. They know what parts are needed and can order them for you. This takes your guessing out of the equation.
- You will always know who to call when something happens with your vehicle. If you liked their work the first time, then you know which mechanic you can trust in the Franklin area to always provide you with auto care.
When the time comes to have your vehicle looked at, make sure to speak with Franklin auto care professionals. Franklin Auto Clinic is there when you need them. They’ve worked on numerous vehicles in the past and can make sure you’re happy with the outcome when it comes to your vehicle. Trust in them and always have a working car, without any bumps along the way. Book your appointment with them today!
Being mindful of the tires on your vehicle is essential. You have to ensure that not only are they at their best, but they have enough traction and tread. This is where you’re going to be able to stay on the road and not have an accident that pulls you off of it. With Franklin tire care, you can ensure that you know how to spot this wear and know what to do about it.
Common Tire Wear Patterns with Franklin Tire Care
Excessive Inner/Outer Wear
This indicates an alignment problem with the vehicle. In order to have a smooth driving vehicle, the wear on the tires should be even. If it is not, speaking with a mechanic about an alignment will fix the problem but those tires will have to be replaced. Alignments are also simple to do, so you shouldn’t expect the process to take hours to get done.
Center Wear
If the center of the tire is worn down more than the rest of the tire, then this is Franklin tire care 101, you have too much air in the tires. Over-inflating the tires can be dangerous, but it also can mean the middle section of the tires are getting more worn down then the rest. Replacing the tires and checking tire pressure often can reduce the chances of having this happen again.
Outer Wear
Wear on the outside edges of the tires can indicate that the tires are not inflated enough. In order to have a smooth ride, while also being able to carry the weight of the vehicle, the tires have to be at a specific inflation spot. When there is outer wear on the edges, the tires might not have enough air in them.
Diagonal Wear/Cupping
This wear is a very serious and dangerous issue to have. It indicates that something is wrong with the suspension of the vehicle. In order to address the problem, speaking with a qualified mechanic that knows Franklin tire care can not only provide the necessary fixes, but also the replacement wheels.
Patchy Wear
When there are patches on the tread of the tires, this signals a problem with the balance of the tires. They may not be well-balanced, which puts the vehicle off, causing this tread pattern. You should have your tires spun and rotated every 5,000 miles to reduce the chances of having something like this happen.
If you have excessive, or any of the above signs of wear on your tires, speak with us here at the Auto Clinic of Franklin. We can provide the Franklin tire care you’re in need of to get you back on the road. Don’t let slips happen, let us replace those older tires for you!
With spring comes spring cleaning, but don’t neglect your vehicle during this time. You might have cleaned it inside and out, but it might need a bit more than that. Franklin car maintenance should also be at the top of your spring cleaning checklist. Not having a properly working car for the spring and summer months can be difficult. Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to the auto maintenance you should be getting each spring time.
Spring Time Franklin Car Maintenance
Oil and Fluids
The oil and filter should be changed out during this time. This will make the vehicle run smoother, while giving it a boost after the long cold winter months. Other fluids should also be checked during this time, such as the brake fluid, windshield wiper fluid and coolant.
Wiper Blades
Spring time can be a bit rainy. Don’t be caught without working windshield wipers. Make sure that you have new ones installed on your vehicle to keep the rain from hitting the windshield and causing further problems. A good quality pair can provide this type of help.
Tires
A lot of people only think about tires when the winter months roll in, but spring time also means new tires. You want some that are not worn down and provide enough traction. As mentioned before, rain is something that comes with spring so making sure you have enough grip on the road is vital. Many quality tire brands are on the market today providing spring time tires that handle great in all types of wet weather.
Belts and Hoses
Franklin car maintenance in the spring months also means checking the belts and hoses throughout the system. In order to have a smooth driving and running vehicle, the belts and hoses have to work properly and be in great shape. If they’re worn out, they’ll need to be replaced.
Lubrication
This is a task that oftentimes goes overlooked. Lubricating the engine, chassis and other parts of the vehicle can help it run smoother, while also being able to easily start up. If these parts are dry and having a hard time due to sand and salt built up on them, it can cause further problems in the spring time. Skip the hassle and make sure to grab the Franklin car maintenance sooner, rather than later.
Since it is spring, it is time to get that Franklin car maintenance done. Schedule an appointment with us here at the Auto Clinic of Franklin or give us a call to learn more. We can make sure your vehicle is ready for the months ahead.
