FALCONER AUTO REPAIR

Falconer auto owners may know that most automotive failures in Falconer, New York, are tire related, but do you know the second most common cause of vehicle failure? Nope, it's not teenagers. It is the coolant system. But if you take good care of your vehicle coolant system, it will take good care of you.A vehicle's engine creates a lot of heat - so much heat, that if it is not properly cooled, the engine can lock up, resulting in massive damage and repair bills. But when everything is working right, your vehicle engine operates at the proper temperature and all is well. Without antifreeze in your cooling system, the water could freeze and cause vehicle engine damage. This could be very expensive, not to mention inconvenient.The right mix of water and antifreeze protects the engine against damage from freezing and overheating. Antifreeze also protects the coolant system against corrosion that could cause the system to fail. The thing to remember is this: coolant system failure is ... read more

Service to a vehicle's power steering system is part of preventive maintenance for  Falconer auto owners. This system provides power to the steering wheel so you can turn it with ease. Without power steering, all of the power to turn your vehicle's wheels would have to come from you.The central element of most power steering systems is a pump. The pump pressurizes the power steering fluid, and it is this pressure that provides auxiliary steering power. A belt connected to the engine usually powers the pump, although some systems use an electric pump. Some newer vehicles have an electric motor that directly provides the power steering boost.Pressurized fluid moves from the pump to the steering gear through a high-pressure hose. A low-pressure hose returns fluid to the pump. Power steering fluid cleans, cools and lubricates the system.Falconer drivers should remember that fluid levels in the power steering system should be checked at every oil ... read more

There are a lot of new features, both optional and standard, on Falconer drivers' vehicles these days. One you may not have heard of is called a cabin air filter. Simply put, its job is to keep the air in the passenger compartment of your car nice and clean.A cabin air filter is similar to the filter you use on your furnace at home in Falconer. Cabin air filters can catch particles down to three microns. By comparison, a grain of sand is 200 microns. So cabin air filters are effective against dust, dirt, pollen, mold spores and most pollutants in our Falconer area atmosphere. Good news if you suffer from any types of allergies, or if you live in an area in New York prone to air pollution.Cabin air filters are generally located in the engine compartment or under the dashboard. They can be tricky to access and replace, so you'll probably want to go to your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at I-86 Truck Repa ... read more

When Falconer drivers think about preventive maintenance, what usually comes to mind is oil, fluids and brakes. We don't generally think about our shocks or struts, but these auto parts keep our tires on the road.Falconer drivers don't think about shocks as often as oil changes because shocks and struts last a long time and wear out slowly. They don't need to be checked as often as our brake pads or air filters. By the time your shocks have 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) on them, their performance will have noticeable degraded. If you want to restore the handling and ride designed for your vehicle, try replacing your shocks and struts.Of course, if you drive off-road around Falconer, carry heavy loads, tow a trailer or put in a lot of mileage on poor driving surfaces, your shocks or struts will wear out more quickly. You'll need to replace them more often or upgrade to better shocks.Your suspension system uses springs and shocks to absorb the “shocks” and ... read more

Some of us Falconer drivers just love tires. All those little rubber hairs on new tires and the smell is wonderful. We live in a great time for tires. No matter how you drive around New York, where you want to go or the look you're after; there is a tire for you.The same is true about wheels. The hardest part is choosing from the thousands of wheels available at New York tire shops.The team at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service can help you get some things in mind before you make a purchase. Let's start with function and think about how you drive.For example, maybe you have a large SUV but you don't drive off-road around New York, so an off-road tread isn't important. Also, because you are not out bouncing over rocks in the New York backcountry, you don't need a high profile tire to protect your rims. So that means you can probably go with the low-wide look.If you have a winter season with rain and snow or if you find you need better ice and snow performance, they make great, high-p ... read more

Sometimes busy Falconer residents dream about going back to the “simpler” days of our grandparents. But if you could travel back in time and take a road trip around New York in a Model T, you might change your mind. The improved designs and quality of today's automobiles have significantly reduced the amount of time Falconer residents spend at the side of the road during breakdowns. With proper maintenance, today's vehicles can stay on the road longer than ever before.Some of those improvements, however, have led to higher repair costs. For example, older cars often broke down from vapor lock. Gas vaporized while traveling from the gas tank to the fuel pump. No gas, no power. The car quits going. The solution was simple — you just sat by the road until the car would start up again. Today's Falconer drivers would hardly tolerate that kind of inconvenience, and it's likely that yesterday's Falconer drivers didn't care much for it, either. So on today's vehicles, th ... read more

All Falconer service advisors know that without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles. The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering and power brakes. And on many vehicles, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant through the engine to keep it within normal operating temperatures. (On some vehicles, the water pump is powered by the timing belt instead of the serpentine belt.) So you can see the serpentine belt does a lot of work. And it if breaks, it affects a lot of systems. That's why your vehicle manufacturer and your service advisor at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service have recommended that it be changed every so often so that it doesn't fail.Your friendly and knowledgeable I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service service advisor can perform a visual inspection of the belt to see if it has any cracks that signal the belt could f ... read more

New York service centers have a menu board that lists the services they provide. Some Falconer drivers may not be familiar with all of the items on the board so here is a quick description of some of the typical services that might be listed.I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service fuel system cleaning: Over time, the vehicle fuel system gets gum and varnish built up. A fuel system cleaning gets rid of that and cleans out the fuel injectors. Saves gas, by the way.I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service headlamp replacement: Halogen and standard headlamps gradually fade. It's usually good to change them every year or so.I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service inspections: Falconer drivers get inspections for many reasons. Maybe they're going on a trip or just want to make sure their vehicle's ready for a New York summer or winter. Maybe they just bought a used vehicle and want to give it the once over. An inspection may revea ... read more

We live in such a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. In the old days, New York folks were real sticklers about taking care of their things. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough - they had to do without. Most Falconer drivers couldn't afford new vehicles very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could.It's a good thing that vehicles are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us New York penny pinchers is that a modern vehicle can easily go 200,000 miles/320,000 km with proper care. The engineering and the manufacturing quality is tremendous. The missing ingredient is us Falconer vehicle owners making sure we follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules.Every time you go a little farther between recommended oil changes, you have created an opportunity for sludge to be formed and ... read more

Many Falconer drivers have found themselves in the following situation: They go to get their oil changed and their friendly service advisor at I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service recommends a new engine air filter. They say yes, but don't know what an air filter is or what it does.If this has happened to you, rest assured that you did the right thing by getting a new one. But you should never be too embarrassed to ask your I-86 Truck Repair & Auto Service service advisor for more information. It's your vehicle and you have a right to understand what you're paying for.Let's review: "What does an air filter do?"Air is the focus of this discussion. What is the air like outside in Falconer right now? Can you see any smog? Is it full of pollen? How about dust? Anyone in New York with hay fever can tell you that there's plenty in the air that you can't see. Well, the engine air filter's job is to clean that air before it goes into your vehicle engine, to mix w ... read more