Automotive News & Information - Dad's Garage Auto Repair

I've been a fan of this garage since 2003. As far as a garage this gets as good as it can get!!. Small garage operated by one hell of a guy. I have 5 cars all of them are serviced here Doesn't matter if it's a small repair or major overhaul you will not feel you've been overcharge or gotten a bad deal. If job is not done to your satisfaction, Wayne will make it right. You will get an upfront estimate, fair and honest. It's the kind of garage you get to wander about looking at your own car or one of the many others he's servicing. Hours are good and if you want an independent garage, tired of being screwed by dealerships...this is the place to come. - Mike in Las Vegas 5 STARS

Motor oil can be a confusing beast that results in a number of questions. Do I really need synthetic? Does my new car take conventional? Understanding the basics of the different types of oil will help you answer these questions.

Synthetic motor oils are designed to excel at extreme temperatures. Regular motor oils are mineral-based: they come from crude oil that is taken out of the ground and run through a refinery. Synthetics, on the other hand, are man-made in a chemical plant. They tend to be more consistent in viscosity over various temperatures.

While synthetics can improve your engine performance, they don't eliminate the need for regular oil changes. Synthetics can handle heat better than regular motor oil, but additives can only work for so long and the engine will still contaminate the oil.

You see those cryptic combinations of letters and numbers on motor oil bottles everywhere. What do they mean? To decipher them, you have to understand viscosity. Viscosity measures how much the motor oil can resist flow. In other words, if you tip a motor oil bottle over, how fast it spills out indicates its viscosity. The more viscous, the slower it moves.

Octane. You see the word every time you visit the gas station but what does it mean? Octane ratings measure fuel's ability to resist engine knock. Engine knock is caused by fuel being ignited by something other than the spark plug.

Before you buy your next light bulb you should know the ins and outs of halogen bulbs! Most new-model vehicles have halogen headlights because they produce more light than a regular bulb. Be careful: like all halogen lights, touching the glass bulb means that bulb is contaminated with oil that can heat up and cause burnouts more quickly.

This simple barrier of accordion-folded paper may look insignificant but it's responsible for providing clean air to your vehicle's cylinders. This is important because air is just as crucial as fuel in the combustion process that powers the engine. Air is drawn through the engine air filter, then the air intake manifold and into the cylinders. There, it mixes with fuel to create the small explosions that power your vehicle.

A dirty engine air filter can prevent the cylinders from drawing in enough air, which throws off the fuel/air mix. This can result in poor fuel economy.

Once upon a time cars were simple: If the transmission didn’t shift right, you probably had a transmission problem. You took your car to the transmission shop and they fixed it. Simple, right? As with most stories that begin this way, times have changed. Today, when your car’s transmission isn’t shifting right, well, it could be the transmission, but there’s just as good a chance that it’s something else… something seemingly unrelated to the transmission.

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Dad's Garage Auto Repair in Las Vegas, NV is Transgo Tech Certified. Transmission repair has become more "Difficult and Complex" over the past few years! A classic statement, repeated each and every year since the beginning days of our industry. Not to diminish that statement "as it is very real" however these "Difficulties and Complexities" have always been and always will be a part of the transmission repair industry. All things considered the transmission repair industry throughout the years has incured many different changes, especially with the influx of instant internet communication and an industry filled with product advertising hype, which often includes "exaggerated, misleading and or outright false" claims.