Memphis Auto Repair

The crankcase is the lower part of the engine where the crankshaft is housed and where the engine oil lives. The crankshaft is connected to the pistons that power the engine. When you are diving around Memphis, fuel is burned in your vehicle engine, it pushes the pistons down and the crankshaft rotates and sends power to the transmission. Some of the explosive gases from combustion squeeze past the pistons and down into the crankcase.Now this gas is about 70% unburned fuel. If it were allowed to remain in the crankcase, it would contaminate the oil and quickly turn it to sludge. Sludge is like Vaseline and clogs passages in the engine, leading to damage. Also, the pressure build up would blow out seals and gaskets. So in the old days, there was just a hose that vented the crankcase out into the air. Obviously, not good for our air quality in Memphis, Tennessee.Enter the PCV valve. It's a small, one-way valve that lets out the gases from the crankcase and routes them back into ... read more

All those automotive fluids can be confusing for Memphis drivers. Recent years have brought new grades of engine oil, types of transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid. The right fluid protects your vehicle and helps it perform at its best. The wrong fluid won't work as well and could even cause damage.In addition to new grades of engine oil, many vehicles now leave the factory with synthetic oil. People in Memphis should always use the grade recommended by their manufacturer. All coolant, also called antifreeze, used to be green. Now there are several other colors of coolant sold at Allen's Automotive Center in Memphis. Each type is designed to protect the cooling system components that are particular to your vehicle. The wrong stuff can void your vehicle cooling system warranty and could even cause engine damage.Most passenger vehicles on Memphis roads today use either DOT 3, DOT 4 or DOT 5 brake fluid. Yo ... read more

  How do Memphis drivers know if an odometer is telling the truth?Well, back in '86, Congress passed the Truth-in-Mileage Act to protect Tennessee consumers against mileage fraud. It says a Tennessee seller must certify the mileage reported is the actual mileage.To have your odometer checked in Memphis, Tennessee, stop by Allen's Automotive Center: Allen's Automotive Center1195 WINFIELD AVE.Memphis, Tennessee 38116   If it isn't, the seller must say why; for example, maybe the odometer is past its mechanical limits. Some older odometers only go to 99,999 and then start over at 0. Or, the odometer has been tampered with, broken or replaced.If the seller tells you the mileage isn't accurate, there's not much chance of putting a good number to it. And there's the unscrupulous seller who claims the reading is true, but it isn't. What can Memphis vehicle owners do?You can go to www.CarFax.com, where, for a smal ... read more

Power steering is standard on nearly every vehicle in Memphis, Tennessee, these days. Now there are some exotic, new types of power steering systems, but for the most part, the general setup is a pump that's driven by a belt powered by the engine. Contact the automotive professionals at Allen's Automotive Center in Memphis for questions about your power steering. The pump generates power that assists drivers as they steer their vehicle around Memphis, Tennessee. Power steering systems use hoses to move pressurized fluid back and forth. These hoses can develop leaks so it's a good idea to have Allen's Automotive Center inspect them at every oil change. A check of the power steering fluid level is on the list for every full service oil change at Allen's Automotive Center because low fluid can damage the power steering pump. And the fluid needs to be compatible with the hoses and seals, so it's important to use the correct type – ju ... read more

A while back, the Cash for Clunkers program was all over the Tennessee news. Memphis people could trade in their old vehicle for a new one that got better gas mileage and receive a government rebate. A lot of Memphis motorists had so-called clunkers that they wanted to keep. They're good commuters, grocery getters or toy haulers. They enjoy that fact that they're paid off, or soon will be. They would gladly like to keep their vehicles for 200,000 miles (320,000 kilometers) or more – as long as it's economical to do so. There are plenty of Memphis drivers whose vehicles are running after 150,000 or 200,000 miles (240,000 or 320,000 kilometers). We can learn from what they're doing to keep our own vehicles on the road in Tennessee.The Memphis drivers of high-mileage cars often report a common denominator of never skipping an oil change. That may sound a bit unsophistica ... read more

Today's report from Allen's Automotive Center is on vehicle batteries, why they die and what we can do to lengthen their life. Most of us have had a dead battery at one time or another. In fact, it would be very unusual if you hadn't. You may be surprised to learn that only 30 percent of Memphis vehicle batteries last for 48 months.Now that's an average. How long a battery lasts depends on many factors. You may not know that one of the biggest factors is the temperature where you live and drive around in Tennessee. You might suppose that cold weather was harder on batteries because it takes more power to crank a cold engine, but the opposite is actually true. For more information on your battery, please visit us:Allen's Automotive Center1195 WINFIELD AVE.Memphis, Tennessee 38116901-332-3279 Batteries in very cold climates have a life expectancy of 51 months as opposed to 30 months in very warm climates. The reason is simple: batte ... read more

Have you ever gone to listen to an orchestra? The musicians take the stage early and tune their instruments. Each individual instrument must be in tune, but the critical thing is for the entire orchestra to be in tune with each other. That's why they tune up together.Now this is no surprise; I'm going to relate the orchestra to your vehicle. Your engine has many component systems that each need to be working properly. And the components need to be working in sync, all timed up together in order for the engine to work efficiently.We call this... (ta-da) a tune-up. When an orchestra's out of tune you get a bad concert. When your vehicle's out of tune you get bad performance and bad fuel economy.So check your owner's manual for recommended tune-up intervals. Or ask your Memphis service advisor at Allen's Automotive Center what he thinks....Just be careful not to say you want to make beautiful music together – that kinda makes us uncomfortable ... read more

So you have some exciting plans for the weekend. You're going to take some of your friends out on the boat for some water skiing. Of course, you've gotten the boat all ready. And you haven't forgotten about your tow vehicle. You've gassed it up and even vacuumed it out. However, there is something even more important than the cleanliness of the interior: you want to make sure that your vehicle maintenance is up to date. Think about it – heavy traffic on the way out of Memphis. There's hilly terrain as you get to the lake. Some dirt roads – and it's going to be pretty hot in Tennessee this weekend. And all the time you'll be towing around a lot of extra weight. That all adds up a lot of severe strain on your engine, brakes and transmission. Let's just consider the transmission. It's going to be working overtime, spending more time in lower gears. The internal transmission temperature is going to be much higher than normal. A fun little blast to the loc ... read more

Underinflated tires waste gas for lots of folks in the Memphis area. Think how hard it is to walk in sand – you just have to work harder because of the resistance. When your tires don't have enough air in them, their rolling resistance is dramatically increased and it simply takes more gas to get from here to there.Always check your tire pressure when you gas up at one of our local Memphis service stations. If they're low – even just a little bit – bring them up to proper pressure. There's a sticker on the inside of your driver's door that gives the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure.And don't rely on your tire pressure monitoring system to alert you to when you need more air. The TPMS system is set to warn you when pressure drops 20 percent below recommendations. That's severely underinflated and you needed more air a long time ago. And if you have a slow leak – get it fixed right away at Allen's Automotive Center ... read more

Some Memphis vehicle owners wonder why Allen's Automotive Center and other Memphis auto repair shops charge a fee for vehicle diagnostics. Receiving a diagnostic charge at Allen's Automotive Center for a tricky automotive problem shouldn't be a surprise. In the Memphis area, automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your vehicle brakes when you slow down in rush-hour traffic on a busy Tennessee road, you pull off at the next off-ramp and take a quick visual check. That is usually enough to know what needs to be done. If you're having an intermittent problem with your vehicle engine, however, a Allen's Automotive Center diagnosis may be much more involved.Much of the Memphis driver's confusion comes when the problem involves the Check Engine light. The Check Engine light comes on when the engine management computer has sensed a problem. There's a common misconception among Tennessee drivers that the trouble code tells the Allen's Automotive Center tech ... read more