If you are not super knowledgeable about cars here are some terms that when we talk to you, are explained more in-depth for a better understanding of what we are talking about. As always if you don’t understand, ask so we can explain it better.
Commitment or Level of Commitment: when we ask you what’s your level of commitment, we want to know: How attached are you to the car? Is it something that you are going to make run no matter what? OR Are you planning on leaving it at the junk yard the next time it ticks you off? We ask this question a lot when someone comes in for one problem, but we spot 2-3 others that are coming up the pike. Sometimes we will tell a customer what their level of commitment should be because we know it will not pass inspection based on the body/ frame rust, or that the repairs are totally going to exceed the value of the car.
Intermittent- does your concern/ problem only do it some of the time when you are driving. These can sometimes be hard problems to figure out, especially if your car has FOL syndrome (see below). It is when you call for these problems that we will ask you all sorts of questions. How long are you driving, does it happen going uphill or downhill, first start of the morning, or a couple of stops in, what makes it go away. All these questions are asked by us to do our best to recreate the problem. If we can’t recreate the problem, you have two options. You can wait until it gets worse and drive away (depending on the problem it can be deadly), or we can throw parts at it with our best guess and see what works (this method can get expensive). It is in your best interest to help us by answering these questions to the best of your ability.
FOL- Fear of Leon– Sam believes this is a real thing and that some cars when they hit the Troxell’s Auto Repair Driveway will automatically fly right and true. She equals it to going to the doctor’s office and you are only in the waiting room, but you automatically feel better just because you are there. When no questions are answered, and we cannot recreate the problem it will often get diagnosed as FOL.
Immediate concern or safety concern– on our check sheets these are in the red column, Or we may tell you this item should not wait. These are items or repairs that will affect the safety or future of you and your vehicle. We understand that money gets tight, but these are items that should be done as soon as possible.
Future concern– these items can wait and be planned, in fact Sam has started a tracker, if by mileage and state standards, you are going to need it and Sam can find a deal for it you are on a list to make sure when that deal is available, you’re the first person she contacts.
Squealing or screeching– a high pitch continuous noise when one object touches another in an abrasive way. This noise will normally be associated with brakes or belts. On the brakes there is an anti-squeal clip that when it touches the rotor will produce the squeal so that you know you need brakes. On belts usually will start with the first cold start of the morning is letting you know your belt is extremely worn and stretched and needs replacement soon.
Chirping– A more intermittent type of screeching or squealing noise- think baby bird sound” Chirp chirp chirp”
Wheel rotational noise– will normally be associated with wheel bearings, when they start to go bad, they will produce a hummmming noise when going above 60mph or some have called a wa waa wa noise when going 30 to 50mph. Noise tends to come before the play in wheel bearings, but don’t delay, the wheels connect the car to the ground and the wheel bearings connect the wheel to the car. If the wheel bearing go totally what holds the wheel to the car?
Whine– can be in the engine, power steering or transmission systems- a low to high pitch noise that usually corresponds with how much you are stepping on the gas pedal. The harder you press the higher the whine.
Clunking or banging noise– most often this description comes up in the suspension system, or it may come up in the transmission system if you let the whine noise go on for too long. If you are going over bumps and hear clunking, it’s more common to be suspension related, if it happens while shifting more common for the transmission.
Rattle– this concern can be one of the hardest or one of the easiest to address. Most times a rattle in the front may be sway bar links. The sway bar link attached the sway bar to the frame. When they get loose or break, they will produce a rattle noise. You also have sway bar links or bushings in the rear, but you also have the trunk with all its storage and items you put back there. You wouldn’t believe how many times has the spare tire been used recently not put back correctly and caused a rattle.
Brake Pedal Pulsation– You will feel this, sometimes hear it but mostly feel it when stepping lightly on the brakes. It may go away if you step really hard. This comes from overheating of the brake rotors causing them to warp. The fix is to either replace the rotors and pads or to resurface the rotors. Depending on how bad the pulsation and warping is telling us what we can do. IF you drive the car with one foot on the brake and one on the gas, it is a sure-fire way to end up in the garage with a brake pedal pulsation.
Steering wheel pull– Your steering wheel has the ability to return to home or turn back to straight so that you are not yanking and pulling on the wheel when you want to stay straight. If it doesn’t do this on its own, you have a pull. Sometimes can be a underinflated tire, alignment issue, a steering box issue. If you call up for an alignment, we will ask you do you have a pull, this is what we mean.
Stalling out– does your car shut off when you didn’t touch the key? This is known as stalling out.
Running rough– also known as coughing or sputtering- This condition will feel like there is no power. No matter how hard you tamp down on the gas it will not go.
Vibration– can be felt in the steering wheel or the seat. It can feel like a massage, but I can assure you, your car doesn’t love you that much to magically start a massage for you. Get it checked out.
Overheating– Contrary to popular belief- your car doesn’t automatically shut off when it overheats. If you have driven it to the point that it shuts off because of overheating, be prepared to shell out money for an engine. IF your Coolant gauge goes higher than 2/3 or higher than normal, get it looked at. You could have a leak in coolant system, the equivalent of no water in your body’s system and you overheat.
Leaks on ground– if you have any fluid other than the water from the ac system drain leaking on the ground it is something to keep an eye on. If it is actively leaking onto the ground meaning no matter where you park, you can be assured that a dessert plate or bigger diameter of fluid is going to be sitting on the ground than you have a big problem, especially if you don’t know how to tell which fluid is which. See fluid leak conditions below
Slightly seeping– you can tell it’s not totally sealed but it’s barely wet. The start of a leak. At this point it is almost criminal (Leon’s words) to sell you anything that day, we can make you aware of it so that we can keep an eye on it, but most times no action is needed at this time.
Seeping– it does not actively drip onto ground, but does collect the dirt and grime around it, think glitter on glue. Again 9/10 times will not need action at this point but to be aware of it.
Nuisance leak- starting to drip and looks to be a bigger mess than it is, may lose a cup- less than quart of fluid between oil changes. Start asking about cost so you can save up money and not hurt the budget.
Full out leaking– may cause smell if it is dropping onto hot components like exhaust or sitting on a hot engine- when dripping onto exhaust is considered a state inspection item because it could in right conditions catch on fire. Do something as soon as possible.
Half tread tires– these are tires that are at 5/32-6/3/2 depending on tire. The legal depth for state Inspection is 2/32 or where the wear bars are. JUST CAUSE ITS LEGAL DOESN’T MEAN IT’S RIGHT. I will say it louder for the ones in the back. Going through a hard winter with tires at 2/32 means you will be one of the knuckleheads that get stuck up the Blue Mtn, on the Ridge Cup, on Bugsies’ Mountain or the Hometown Hill. We recommend at least half tread to be the safest you can be during winter. They throw tires on rebates from October through the end of year to make sure it’s less painful.
Highway tread tires– these are all season tires; 9/10 times they will get you where you need to go if you stay on the road. If you decide to go mudding, haul hay wagons out of the field, or try to plow snow with these tires all bets are off. For the general everyday person with common sense these will work rather well. And out of most tires types up here you will get the best mileage and traction combination.
Snow tires– these can be studded or not studded. IF they are studded, they will have metal pins inserted to provide more traction on the ice and snow. They cannot be put on before November 15th and must be off by April 15th. If you are in a job position where you need to be at work even in snow emergencies, and the national guard will come and get you if you fail to show, snow tires might be the way to go. Studded are definitely better the further north you are. The further south regular snow tires are just fine. Snow tires have a more rigid sidewall and are a tougher rubber, so driving in the summer with them may not provide the best ride.
All terrain tires– these tires have a more broken up tread. If you like to haul wagons out of a hay field, take a dirt road on a muddy morning, or want to plow moderate snow, these will work and do just fine. You can even do some light mudding. If you think you are going to be able to go mudding like they do in country music videos with these tires, make sure the mud is not too deep.
Mud tires- these tires are like cleats for your truck/car. You will not have the comfort of driving on the road with these like you would on a highway tread. Think of driving a tractor down the road, the up down and jostling of the driver in the tractor seat. That’s not all seat springs cause that. These tires are also the most expensive to have. You can do major off-roading and mudding with these tires, but be honest who really does that?
Inside/ outside tire wear– this is most commonly an alignment issue. We are referring to the outer/inner most tread of your tire. If it is not even with the middle tread, we will tell you about it when you come in. Having that wear means that your tire is prematurely wearing, and you don’t have the tread for traction, so you are not using the whole tire when you can be for stopping power. Imagine only using the heels or toes of your sneakers and skidding to a stop, that’s what you are asking your car to do the same.
Too close to the Sidewall– Sometimes you come in for a tire repair, and a hole may be deemed too close to the side wall to patch. It really sucks when it is a brand-new tire, but if you have a road hazard warranty maybe not so much. If it is too close to the side wall what happens is the patch will not adhere to the sidewall and the bottom part of the tire correctly. It can still result in a leak when trying, not to mention it is illegal and a liability of the shop that chooses to do so. Since it is bound to happen sooner or later the best way to go about it, is plan to buy tires with a Road Hazard warranty tire. There are many brands out there that offer it: Hankook, Falken, Kumho, Nokian just to name a few.
More will be added as I come up with more…
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