Orlando Auto Repair

Bad air quality while you're driving around Orlando is nothing to sneeze at. But seriously, more and more vehicles these days come equipped with a cabin air filter. Since they're fairly new on the scene, a lot of folks don't know about them yet. These filters clean the air in the passenger compartment, or cabin, of your car or truck. They do the same job as the furnace filter you have at home. They can filter out particles as small as thee microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns. So your cabin air filer can clean out dust, pollution, pollen and spores, to keep the air in your car nice and clean. And just like your furnace filter, they need to be replaced when they get dirty. Check your owner's manual or ask your service advisor at Honest-1 Auto Care, but they typically need to be replaced at around twelve to fifteen thousand miles. The filter is usually either under the hood or under the dashboard. Some are a little tricky to get to, so you'll ... read more

Hey Orlando - this is something really amazing: For every gallon of gas your vehicle burns, it uses 12,000 gallons of air. All of that air has to be filtered to keep your engine clean. That's like a hundred gallons of air every block! The engine air filter is just another example of a very important but inexpensive part that has to do a tremendous amount of work. And when it works, everything goes well. But, when it doesn't, well, it can lead to problems. Of course, your vehicle manufacturer recommends how often to change your air filter. But like most service intervals, where and how you drive your car in FL affects when your filter needs to be changed. Dusty conditions around Orlando or polluted city driving means you'll need to change your filter more often. Our trained professionals at Honest-1 Auto Care can check your filter for you. In fact, it's often a routine part of an oil change. When you think about it, a clogged air filter won't allow as much ... read more

At Honest-1 Auto Care, we occasionally see severe tire damage that could have been prevented with proper wheel alignment. During a Honest-1 Auto Care alignment service, your vehicle is put on an alignment rack where the tires, steering and suspension parts 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 car 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 Orlando auto service center look it over. Of course, if you've been in an accident, you should get y ... read more

People near Orlando, FL often ask Honest-1 Auto Care how often they should have a particular service done. It's a great thing to ask. You can look at your owner's manual, or have your Orlando, FL service advisor at Honest-1 Auto Care look up your vehicle in a service database. What you find is often a surprise to people – there are actually two service schedules. One is the regular schedule and the other is the severe service schedule. Service intervals are shorter on the severe service schedule. When asked, most folks in Orlando will say that their driving is normal and that the 'regular' schedule probably applies to them. 'Severe service' sounds pretty extreme – 'I don't drive like that'. Well, here is what the manufacturers say constitutes severe driving conditions; you can draw your own conclusions. Most of your trips are less than four miles. Most of your trips are less than ten miles and outside temperature ... read more

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some Orlando 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 Orlando 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 Honest-1 Auto Care to get it checked out. Some more information on how the Check Engine Light works may be helpful for Orlando drivers. Most of your engine functions are ... read more

Everyone in Orlando, FL eventually replaces their tires, whether it's because they're worn out or they're just looking for something different. There are so many great tire choices in Orlando, it can be difficult to sort them out. Let's group the broad spectrum into several categories that will help in the selection process. One category is often referred to as "summer tires". Summer tires are designed to be driven on the road when temperatures are generally above 45 degrees. Their tread design is optimized for traction on dry roads around FL and they're also able to effectively displace water on rainy roads. So if you live where its summer all year round, these tires will work well for you. If you like maximum performance in warm weather, but still live where it gets cold and snowy, you'll want to change your summer tires for winter tires as the weather starts to change. There's a range of tires within the winter tire category. If you live wher ... read more

In very simple terms, a fuel injector is a valve that squirts fuel into your vehicle engine. Your engine control computer tells the fuel injector how much fuel to deliver as well as the precise time it should be delivered. Of course this happens thousands of times a minute in every single fuel-injected car driving down Orlando roads. Most fuel injectors for gas engines are known in the Orlando automotive community as port fuel injectors because they deliver the fuel to a port just outside the cylinder. The fuel pump provides pressure needed to squirt the right amount of fuel into the engine. A few have recently introduced gas direct injection systems on some engines. They are now available at some FL dealerships. These systems inject the gas directly into the cylinders under very high pressure – many times the pressure of port injection systems. Although more complicated ... read more

The cooling system in an engine has five components: the radiator, the radiator cap, the hoses, the thermostat and the water pump. The water is literally the heart of the system. Just as your own heart keeps your blood circulating through your body, the water pump keeps coolant circulating through your engine. The water pump is driven by a belt, chain or gear and only operates while the engine is running. It has a limited life span and sooner or later will have to be replaced. You can check your owner's manual to find out how long your water pump should last. Some can fail at only 40,000 miles, but almost all of them fail by 100,000 miles. Water pumps don't gradually wear out; they fail. In other words, they're either working or they're not. A failed water pump has to be replaced. Water pumps can fail in two ways: they can spring a leak or their bearings fail. Leaks can come from a cracked pump, but usually develop at the gasket where the p ... read more

So you take your vehicle in for maintenance and the pro at Honest-1 Auto Care tells you that you ought to change your oil more often. What? You followed the maintenance schedule – but you take a second look at that “severe service” schedule and see some of the following: Most of your trips around Orlando are less than four miles. Most of your trips are less than ten miles when outside FL temperatures are below freezing. You don't do a lot of FL freeway driving, so you drive at low speeds most of the time. You drive in an area with a lot of pollution, dust, dirt, mud or slush. You frequently tow a trailer, haul heavy loads around Orlando or use a car-top carrier. The weather in your area can get very hot or very cold. Surprising, isn't it? Severe driving isn't quite what you'd envisioned. Ask yourself: "Which auto service schedule should I follow?" For some of us, it's obvious. But for most of us, it's not an either/or qu ... read more

What type of technology do you use? Do you prefer an 8-track tape or an iPod? When it comes to winter tires, much of Daytona Beach driver's perception dates back to when 8-track was the best way to listen to the Bee Gees. Twenty years ago in FL, winter tires differed from highway tires only in their tread design. FL drivers called them snow tires back then and they had big, knobby lugs that were designed to give good traction in deep snow. They had the same rubber compound as regular tires and they weren't very good on ice, packed snow or wet FL roads. They were not even very good on dry roads. They really helped in deep or loose snow, but they did a poor job the rest of the time. They were loud and rode hard. People couldn't wait to get them off in the spring. Then all-season tires started to appear in Orlando tire shops. All-season tires are really a compromise between summer and winter performance. They have acceptable hot weather ride and tread life, and can get FL dr ... read more