AUTONET TV

The AutoChoice Service Center Inc. Guide to Caring for Your Transmission

Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Bloomington drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Bloomington. You started out in a lower gear and shifted to higher gears as you went faster. Down shift for hills, stuff like that. Think of your legs as the engine – there's an ideal speed you can pedal and you change gears to leverage the work you're doing.

Lower gears for power on hills or for starting out. Higher gears for more speed. That's what the automatic transmission does – it automatically starts in lower gears and shifts up to higher gears to go faster on Indiana roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Bloomington hills, pass or start up again.

Vehicle automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds, five is very common.

At AutoChoice Service Center Inc., we routinely service transmissions with six speeds and several have seven or even eight speeds. As you can imagine, this means more parts. Any they all have to fit into roughly the same space.

Transmissions are computer controlled these days, with some high end transmissions having two or three computers. Transmissions are engineered to last. But they are also engineered to tighter tolerances. If a portion of the transmission is starved for lubrication, it can lead to failure.

Not enough fluid can starve the transmission, or dirty transmission fluid can clog small passages in the transmission. Then the lubricant is blocked and can't get to all the parts to protect them, so they wear out prematurely. The technicians at AutoChoice Service Center Inc. see far too many transmissions that needlessly failed due to neglect.

And, as you can imagine, repairing one of these new transmissions at any Bloomington service center can be quite costly. That's why owner’s manuals have a schedule for how often you should change the fluid and what type of fluid to use.

It's really important for Bloomington area drivers to carefully follow the manufacturer's transmission service schedule.

At AutoChoice Service Center Inc. in Bloomington, we hope you never become shiftless in Bloomington because you didn't take care of your transmission.

AutoChoice Service Center Inc.
2009 S. Yost Ave.
Bloomington, Indiana 47403
812-339-9898

Why Is My Check Engine Light On?

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some Bloomington drivers, and is totally ignored by just as many. Just what it means is a mystery to most people.

Let's get the urgency issues out of the way first. If your Check Engine light is flashing, that means that something is wrong that could cause engine damage. Naturally, you need to get that taken care of right away. If your check engine light is flashing, you shouldn't drive at high speeds, tow or haul heavy loads. Take it easy all the way to your Bloomington service center.

If the light is glowing steadily, you should keep an eye on it for a day or two. If the light doesn't go off, schedule an appointment with your friendly and knowledgeable pros at AutoChoice Service Center Inc. to get it checked out.

Some more information on how the Check Engine light works may be helpful for Bloomington drivers. Most of your engine functions are controlled by a computer, not surprisingly, called an engine control computer. The computer is able to adjust many engine parameters for environmental conditions, engine condition and even the way you drive.

In order to make these adjustments, the computer relies on a network of sensors to provide data. The computer knows the proper operating range for each sensor. When a sensor reading is out of range, the computer runs some tests and may turn on the vehicle's Check Engine light.

A simple example is a loose or missing gas cap. This may cause one of the sensors to read out of range. The computer doesn't know if it's a serious condition that caused the reading or just a loose gas cap, so it stores a trouble code and turns on the Check Engine light.

Now when you tighten up the gas cap, the sensor readings will be in the correct range. The computer will keep checking on the report for a day or two. Since a bad reading didn't come up again, it turns off the Check Engine light. The computer will also try to make adjustments to compensate for some readings. If it can do so, it'll then turn off the Check Engine light.

If the problem can't be resolved then the light will remain on, and you should get your vehicle looked at. Your friendly and knowledgeable pros at AutoChoice Service Center Inc. will plug a scanner into the on-board diagnostic port and read the trouble code stored in the computer. The trouble code will give the technician a starting place as he diagnoses the cause of the problem.

AutoChoice Service Center Inc.
2009 S. Yost Ave.
Bloomington, Indiana 47403
812-339-9898

Getting the Right Tires and Wheels in Bloomington

A lot of people get custom wheels in Bloomington. When you do this yourself (over the internet . . .) you could run into trouble if you're not careful. Sometimes, once they're mounted, they just don't fit right. The tires rub in turns or on bumps. You don't want that.

Consulting your AutoChoice Service Center Inc. tire professional can ensure you get the right fit. First he'll ask you a series of questions about your Bloomington driving needs and what you want in your new wheels. Now, not every wheel can go on every car. Care must be taken so that tires and wheels are not too large or that the wheel is centered too far towards the outside or the inside so the tires rub.

If you don't want to make any modifications to your vehicle, you would need to focus on the wheels that would fit. With trucks, some people in Bloomington like much bigger tires so they need a suspension lift.

Also, most Bloomington drivers don't realize that you need to keep the rolling diameter of your new tires – the overall height of the tire – very close to what came from the factory in order for your vehicle's anti-lock brakes and stability control systems to work properly.

The computers that control these systems are calibrated to a certain size tire. When you go bigger or smaller, the computer doesn't know what changes you made so it can't tell how fast you're going. This, of course, means it sends commands to the brakes and traction control that are based on the wrong speed. If you go with a different rolling diameter, your vehicle engine control computer can be reprogrammed for the new tire size.

Either way, there are hundreds of wheel and tire choices to choose from in Indiana . You can pick the style of wheel you want and then talk with your friendly and knowledgeable AutoChoice Service Center Inc. tire professional about how big the wheel should be – and how to select the right tire for your vehicle. Your AutoChoice Service Center Inc. service advisor will help you find the best tire to meet your style, performance, ride and handling needs in Bloomington.

AutoChoice Service Center Inc.
2009 S. Yost Ave.
Bloomington, Indiana 47403
812-339-9898

Automotive Detective Work in Bloomington

There's a reason we use the word “diagnose” when we talk about fixing cars in Bloomington. Figuring out what's wrong with your vehicle has a lot of similarities to figuring out what's wrong with someone who is ill. Vehicles are a mass of complex systems that can produce a variety of symptoms when something goes wrong. As with human diagnoses, a specific symptom may be indicative of a number of problems, and figuring out the specific cause takes training and experience.

Sometimes the diagnosis of your vehicle's trouble comes down to a matter of trial-and-error. This can be frustrating for Bloomington drivers because time and money are on the line. You may feel you should only be paying for repair work. Of course, you only want to pay for the right repair – and a proper diagnosis is part of getting it right. Like at the doctor's office — some of what you pay for is the doctor's time and effort to figure out what's wrong with you, not for the actual cure.

The good news is that Bloomington drivers can do a lot to help out their friendly and knowledgeable service advisors at AutoChoice Service Center Inc. in figuring out what's wrong with their vehicle. Again, the medical office is a good analogy. The more information you can give your doctor about where it hurts, when it hurts and how it hurts, the more quickly he will be able to help you. In the same way, the more you can tell your AutoChoice Service Center Inc. service technician about when the problem occurs, what is sounds like, how often it occurs, where it occurs, etc., the more efficiently he will be able to get you back on the road.

Good preventive maintenance goes a long way to keeping your car out of a Bloomington repair shop, but if you need to get it , good communication will get you back on the road quickly.

AutoChoice Service Center Inc.
2009 S. Yost Ave.
Bloomington, Indiana 47403
812-339-9898