Memphis Auto Repair

The biggest issue for Memphis area drivers is always safety. When your vehicle wheels are out of alignment, the vehicle will pull to one side, which could lead to an accident. When you're vehicle is out of alignment, you should have it taken care of right away at Allen's Automotive Center in Memphis. When undergoing an alignment service at Allen's Automotive Center, your vehicle is put on an alignment rack where the tires, steering and suspension parts are checked for damage. Then the alignment is charted and checked against the factory settings.Precision adjustments are made to bring the wheels back into alignment. This gets all four wheels going in exactly the same direction.Memphis drivers should be aware of the signs of alignment problems. These include the car pulling to one side. Also, the steering wheel may not be centered when you're going straight. If you see the edges of one or more tires ... read more

Hello, welcome to Allen's Automotive Center. Today's focus is batteries. It seems like everything in Memphis runs on batteries. Of course, the batteries we're most concerned with here at Allen's Automotive Center are those in our customer's vehicles. Just like the batteries in our smoke detectors or TV remote, they wear out and need to be replaced . This can be thought of as the power output used to start a cold vehicle engine. The number of cold cranking amps you need depends on your vehicle and where you live in Tennessee, specifically how cold it is. (Many Memphis drivers have first-hand experience trying to start their car on a cold winter morning.) The two factors are that the colder your vehicle's engine is, the more power it takes to turn the engine over to get it started. It has all that cold, sluggish oil to contend with.The other factor is that the chemical reaction in the battery that creates electrical energy is less efficient when the temperatu ... read more

Recalls are pretty serious for Memphis residents and don't happen all that often. But sometimes cars have less serious problems that Memphis residents still might want to know about. For these less serious cases, the vehicle manufacturer issues what is known as a Technical Service Bulletin – or TSB. These bulletins tell Memphis service centers (including Allen's Automotive Center) how to repair a problem that occurs frequently or is especially difficult.Your Memphis service center receives updated information through subscription plans, which are sometimes available in consumer versions too.Whatever your source, pay attention to Memphis vehicle recalls to keep you and your passengers safe. No matter how well they're made, vehicles are bound to have problems with their design or manufacturing. Think of all the moving parts. When the government thinks a problem is really serious, they require the vehicle manufacturer to issue recall notices to Memphi ... read more

Your engine is like a finely choreographed dance. All the parts have to work together. If the timing is off at the ballet, dancers crash into each other and fall down. It the timing is off in your engine, it may not run at all. One of the most intricate dances in your engine has to do with the combustion cycle.Your vehicle engine has cylinders in which a piston travels up and down. At the top of the cylinders are valves that open to bring in the air and fuel. And there are valves that open to let out the exhaust after the fuel has been burned. Call Allen's Automotive Center at 901-332-3279 for answers about your timing belt, or drop by our Memphis, Tennessee, service center on 1195 WINFIELD AVE.. It's critical that the values be timed to open and close at precisely the right time in the combustion cycle, or the engine will run poorly or not at all.The timing belt is responsible for rotati ... read more

Why are wheel bearings for Memphis vehicles important? It's simple: your wheel bearings keep the wheels on your vehicle. In today's Allen's Automotive Center post, we'll discuss more about wheel bearings and how you can make sure they can do their very job while you drive around Memphis, Tennessee. Wheel bearings are pretty simple parts. They're made of high quality steel and are engineered to last 100,000 miles (160,000)  or more if properly cared for. The bearings do two jobs: First, they allow the wheel to freely rotate with as little friction as possible. Second, they support the weight of the vehicle. For example, if your car weighs 3,600 pounds (1600 kilogram), each wheel has to support approximately 900 pounds (400 kilograms). That's a lot of heavy lifting over those long distances.Even though wheel bearings are pretty straightforward, they need to be in near perfect condition to do their job for Memphis vehicles. The bearings are packed with heavy grease t ... read more

Having trouble with your fuel system? Bring your vehicle into Allen's Automotive Center for a check up.In today's Allen's Automotive Center auto post,we're talking about fuel system cleaning. The first thing to know is how important it is to have a clean fuel system. Memphis residents need fuel to go, and the cleaner the fuel system, the more efficiently the fuel will burn. That means more power and better mileage .A clean fuel system saves money for Memphis drivers at Tennessee gas stations. We guess you could say it all starts and ends at the pump. One of the most important things Memphis residents can do to keep their vehicle fuel system clean is to buy good quality gas. Major brands have detergents that keep gum and varnish from rapidly building up in the fuel system.So buying cheaper gas in Tennessee can actually be more expensive for Memphis drivers in the long run. Now, most cars on Tennessee roads are more than five or six years old. That means they've had ... read more

With front-wheel drive being so common these days in Memphis, Tennessee, the differential is just taken care of during a transmission service, so most Memphis drivers don't even have to think about it. And rear-wheel drive differentials don't need to be serviced for years, so it's understandable that it's not something on the top of Memphis customers' minds. It's not uncommon for drivers to not know they have a differential let alone know that it needs service. Call Allen's Automotive Center in Memphis at 901-332-3279 for information about differential service, or stop by our Memphis, Tennessee, auto center at 1195 WINFIELD AVE., 38116. To better understand what a differential does, think about our local Memphis high school track. There are lanes marked off on the track. For the longer distance races, the starting lines are staggered. The starting lines for the outside lanes are ahead of the starting lines for the inside lanes. Tha ... read more

A lot of fuel is wasted in the Memphis area by dirty fuel delivery systems in vehicles.Let's start at the tank. The gas tank gathers dirt, rust and sediment over the years. That's why there's a fuel filter to clean the fuel after it leaves the tank. A dirty filter will rob the engine of the clean gas it needs to run efficiently.The fuel intake components get coated with gum and varnish over time. This results in fuel being delivered inefficiently and some of that gunk getting into the engine. A fuel system service at Allen's Automotive Center will leave your intake components as clean as a whistle.The big fuel thief is dirty fuel injectors. They deliver fuel to the engine at a specified pressure and in a particular spray pattern. When they're clogged, the fuel doesn't get atomized the way it's supposed to and doesn't get burned as efficiently.See your owner's manual or ask your Memphis service advisor at Allen's Automotive Center when a fuel system cle ... read more

If you've walked through the automotive fluids section of an auto parts store in Memphis, you'll know how overwhelming the sheer number of products available can be. How do you know what's right for your vehicle?As you know, these fluids all serve a function in making your car run as you drive around the Memphis area. Your vehicle manufacturer has specified a particular type of fluid for every system from the motor, to the cooling system, brake fluid and so on. When you realize that not every variation is applicable to your vehicle, the task becomes more manageable.First let's talk about why there are so many varieties. Starting with motor oil, we see that manufacturers match the properties of a particular weight or type of oil with the design needs of the engine. For example, engines with sophisticated valve trains often require a thinner weight of oil.Some vehicles around Memphis come from the factory filled with synthetic oil and the ... read more

One Memphis automotive service issue that doesn't get much attention is driveline service. Drivelines don't get talked about very much around Memphis, but they're very important. First let's define what the driveline is:Taking a small step back, the power plant is comprised of the engine and transmission. The driveline starts there and includes all of the components that transfer power from the transmission to the wheels.That's not really a lot of components, but they handle the full force of the engine. Without the driveline you're not moving. So Memphis residents need to take good care of it. The driveline components differ depending on whether your vehicle has front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive or four wheel drive. For purposes of our discussion, we're going to have to oversimplify a bit. If you are ready to have your drive train looked at, give us a call at 901-332-3279. Let's start with front wheel drive. The point where the tran ... read more