FALCONER AUTO REPAIR

Road trip, anyone? Nothing spoils a great vacation faster than ending up stranded on the side of the road or spending a week in a rundown motel while our vehicle sits in the shop. Long days on the road can bring out the worst in your vehicle, so before you leave, prepare it for the journey by getting a trip inspection at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service in Falconer. After all, you wouldn't travel without clean socks, why ask your vehicle to travel with a load of dirty oil?The first step in a trip inspection at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service is to look at your travel plans. What kinds of roads will you be driving on? Will you be in the New York back country or on the freeway? Will you be crossing mountains? Off-roading? What will the weather be like? How far away from Falconer will you be traveling? How much are you hauling? Will you be towing a trailer or lugging a rooftop carrier? Will you encounter dust, mud, snow or sea salt? All of these questions can help determine wh ... read more

There's a reason we use the word “diagnose” when we talk about fixing cars in Falconer. 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 Falconer 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 o ... read more

  Your vehicle alternator doesn't get enough credit. Though your battery gets your engine started, after that – it's all about the alternator.  Driving around Falconer is a lot of work for your alternator, and as upgrades such as heated steering wheels, cooled seats, stability control and lane departure warning become more common, it will have to work even harder. Eventually this workhorse just wears out. When it does you have no choice but to order an alternator replacement because your vehicle won't run without one. Come see your friendly and professional service advisor at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service to learn more. I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service1739 Lindquist DriveFalconer, New York 1473371

You may have had a friend whose vehicle was the victim of hungry rodents.  After all, mice, rats and squirrels—even rabbits—have been known to gnaw on wires in engine compartments, causing vehicle electrical systems to go haywire.  They can disable a vehicle completely and be very expensive to fix. In 2017, some drivers noticed their vehicle's wiring was being chewed and found out the automaker was using a relatively new material for covering their wires: soy.  Many of the repairs to their new vehicles weren't covered under warranty by the manufacturer when it was discovered rodents were eating the wiring.  So the owners filed a class action suit, saying the soy covering was essentially baiting the critters.  The automakers tell a different story, saying mice, rats and squirrels have been chewing through wire insulation long before it was made out of soy.  Regardless of what the insulation is made of, vehicle owners should make sure rodents are ... read more

Have you ever noticed that your vehicle has a schedule in your owner's manual for what is called “severe service” maintenance? Let's define what severe driving conditions aren't: The easiest driving a vehicle experiences is traveling on the interstate for 20 miles (32 kilometers) or more at a constant rate of 65 miles per hour (105 kilometers per hour) in 75°F (24°C) weather with only passengers on board. Change any one of those parameters and you are adding stress to your engine. Change them significantly and you are driving under severe conditions.Let's look at the parameters one a time. First, the length of the trip. Short trips around Falconer are harder on an engine than longer ones. As your engine cools down, water in the air condenses onto the engine. When you heat the engine again, the water evaporates off. This is healthy. But on short trips, the engine doesn't stay hot enough long enough for all of the water to evaporate. So it start ... read more

With high fuel prices in Falconer, New York, comes lots of gas saving advice. Some of it, like what you hear on   is great.  When you get one of those e-mails that's going around telling you how to save gas, try to think it through.Does it really make sense? Does it defy the laws of physics?Do some research on the internet or ask your Falconer, New York, service advisor at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service.There aren't any magic pills you can drop in your gas tank, and the government hasn't suppressed a device you can clamp on your fuel line to make your vehicle run on air. Not even in Falconer!So next time you get one of those e-mails, check it out with an automotive professional. You'll get more bang for your buck with an oil change or an engine air filter replacement.We're here for you at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service, so give us a call at 716-665-2501 for good honest advice about your vehicle. I-86 Truck Repai ... read more

There is a clear and vocal demand in Falconer and nationally for a reduction in air pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels. This is what is driving the New York market for alternative fuel vehicles. There are a number of these vehicles on Falconer area roads today, and many more being developed. Yet each of these vehicles has its own advantages and disadvantages. Falconer auto owners should learn what these advantages and disadvantages are before running out and purchasing one of these alternative fuel vehicles at your nearest Falconer dealership.Falconer drivers should carefully research the vehicle care before buying an alternative fuel vehicle, as it may or may not coincide with the standards for gasoline vehicles. You should look at costs as well; these vehicles may help save our environment here in Falconer, but that might not represent a savings to your wallet. You'll need to decide what you can afford and what will wor ... read more

Sometimes we hear people in say, "What's up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don't break down." While it is true that today's vehicles are extremely reliable, they are also becoming more complicated than ever before. All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most drivers don't realize how high-tech automotive fluids have become - fluids such as engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.Today's automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle's components from premature wear and corrosion.  Please don't think we're using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance - but here are some personal stories we've heard to emphasize and show how important it is to get things done when they are due. Names are withheld to avoid embarrassment to those who should know better. Even though they should know better, it usually come ... read more

Many Falconer drivers probably don't think of their shock absorbers as an important safety system; but that's just what shocks and struts are. They're all about ride control – keeping your vehicle tires in contact with the road and managing body motion.Every time you hit a bump or pothole on a Falconer road, your tire wants to bounce up. The bigger the bump, the higher the bounce. Your shocks or struts push down on the tire to maintain the traction you need to start, stop and turn.If you've ever ridden in a vehicle with bad shocks, you know how it wallows on corners. The front end dives when you hit the brakes and the rear end squats when you accelerate. It's not only uncomfortable, it is difficult to handle.You may have heard vehicles described as having “flat cornering." That means that when you take a corner, the body doesn't roll very much. When shocks start to get worn, your vehicle will roll more on corners. The weight of your vehicle's ... read more

A lot of us Falconer drivers like our vehicles to reflect our personalities. We're picky about color and body style. We'll customize anything from floor mats to window tints to license plates. One popular way for New York motorists to customize a vehicle is to get new wheels.Wheels come in thousands of designs. Custom wheels can add personality, style or sass to a vehicle. Many of these customizations involve getting a bigger wheel.Fifteen or 16-inch wheels used to be the factory standard, but today, because a lot of Falconer drivers like the look of larger wheels, many vehicles are available with 17 or 18-inch wheels. Optional wheel packages of 20 inches or more are also available in Falconer.If you want to upsize the wheels on your current vehicle, however, you should know it's not a do-it-yourself project. There are factors involved in ensuring your wheel change doesn't jeopardize the safety of your vehicle.First of all, you need to understand rolling diameter. The r ... read more