Archive for March 2017

Trip Inspection at Car Doc On The Island in Venice

Posted March 26, 2017 11:05 AM

Venice area drivers love their vehicles. And one of the most enjoyable things about them is taking a road trip. Freedom from daily schedules, new sights and the open road – it's great! But there's nothing like vehicle trouble to bring the fun to a grinding halt.

Now Venice drivers can't always avoid problems, but you can take steps to reduce the probability of getting sidelined on your trip. The first step is to look at your trip plan from your vehicle's perspective. What kind of roads will you be traveling – winding FL byways? Purple mountain majesties or fruited plains? What weather conditions are you likely to encounter? How far will you travel each day? How much weight will you be hauling – passengers and luggage? Pulling a trailer, roof top carrier or ATVs? Will it be dusty?

Prepared with answers to these questions, you can schedule a trip inspection at Car Doc On The Island in Venice to help you prepare your vehicle for your big adventure. A lot of our Venice customers prefer to go through this exercise with their friendly and knowledgeable service advisor to get their input and make sure they haven't overlooked anything.

A great place for Venice drivers to start is with the tires. Inspect them for tread wear and proper inflation. Is it time to rotate your tires? Replace them? Are they up to the job? You wouldn't want to drive regular highway tires on a muddy off-road adventure on FL rock-crawling trails. 

Shocks and struts play a major role in both driving comfort and safety. If they need to be replaced, you'll really be glad you did once you hit the road. Is it time for a wheel alignment? Fighting a car that's pulling to one side all day can be tiring and dangerous. 

And don't forget your brakes. Any strange noises, grabbing, soft or hard peddle feel? If there is any doubt, get a brake inspection at Car Doc On The Island in Venice before you leave.

Moving under the hood, have a belts and hoses inspection. If something is excessively worn or near failure, the stress of a long road trip might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Talk to your service advisor at Car Doc On The Island.

Your engine air filter will be inspected. Your car's air filter will process 12,000 times as much air as the fuel burned by the engine. If the filter needs to be changed, you'll notice improvements on your trip.

How close are you to your next oil change? Will you be able to complete your trip before it's due? If not, just get it taken care of before you go so that you don't need to interrupt your trip. In fact, a full service oil change at Car Doc On The Island is a great idea because they will top off all your fluids and check to see if any other maintenance items are due, such as transmission or cooling system service.

Do you notice any unusual odors in your vehicle? If so, it could be as harmless as a dirty cabin air filter. But if it's an exhaust leak, it could be fatal for Venice drivers and their passengers on a long trip. Of course you'll want to be comfortable, so get an air conditioning service if you aren't getting the cold air you’re used to. 

Are your wiper blades still working well? If not, that is a quick and inexpensive fix for Venice drivers. Headlamps are often overlooked when planning for a trip. If you haven't changed the bulb in six months or so, replacement bulbs will really light up the night on your trip and provide the necessary after-sundown visibility.

All the items mentioned are part of any good vehicle maintenance plan. These are things that you want to take care of anyway, but they all become more important as you plan for your trip.

They will always save you money in the long run and may prevent inconvenient stops and delays on your trip. After all, you wouldn't want to miss the world's largest ball of string, would you?

Car Doc On The Island
419 South Tamiami Trail
Venice, FL 34285
(941) 786-1595
http://www.cardocontheisland.com



Winter Tires

Posted March 21, 2017 6:20 AM

What type of technology do you use? Do you prefer an 8-track tape or an iPod? When it comes to winter tires, much of Venice driver's perception dates back to when 8-track was the best way to listen to the Bee Gees.

Twenty years ago in FL, winter tires differed from highway tires only in their tread design. FL drivers called them snow tires back then, and they had big, knobby lugs that were designed to give good traction in deep snow. They had the same rubber compound as regular tires and they weren't very good on ice, packed snow or wet FL roads. They were not even very good on dry roads. They really helped in deep or loose snow, but they did a poor job the rest of the time. They were loud and rode hard. People couldn't wait to get them off in the spring.

Then all-season tires started to appear in Venice tire shops. All-season tires are really a compromise between summer and winter performance. They have acceptable hot weather ride and tread life and can get FL drivers through mild winter road conditions OK. But there are some really good reasons to consider winter tires.

Modern winter tires do a terrific job for FL driving in a wide range of winter conditions. First of all, below 45°F/7°C, regular tires become hard and inflexible. That means they don't provide the road grip FL vehicles need. Even if you don't live somewhere in FL with a lot of snow, but it still gets below 45°F/7°C in the winter, you will be safer with winter tires.

In addition, they are specifically designed to more effectively move snow and water. That's the key to traction on ice-packed snow and wet Venice area roads. They use a micropore compound that allows the tire to bite into ice and snow. They also use wider grooves that run around the circumference of the tread to expel snow from the tire better. The lugs and grooves on winter tires have a special shape that throws the packed snow out of the tread as the tire turns. The tread is then open when it comes back in contact with the road and can provide good traction for FL drivers.

Winter tires also have a lot of sipes. Sipes are thin slits in the tread. The edge of the sipes grab ice and packed snow to provide tons of traction and to expel water and slush out of the tread. Winter tires have a rounder casing to cut into the snow's surface. The treads on regular summer tires can actually get packed with snow instead and become very slick. Winter tires offer 25% to 50% more traction for FL drivers than all-season tires. And when it comes to stopping power, all-season tires take 42% longer to stop than winter tires. Sometimes that's the difference between getting home safely and spending the night in a snow bank.

Now back when the 8-track was king, FL drivers just put snow tires on the drive wheels. That worked out OK because the rubber compound was essentially the same. Now, winter tires provide so much more traction than all-season or summer tires, that there's a huge difference between the traction at the front and rear ends of the car if you only put winter tires on the drive wheels.

For example: if you take a corner on an icy road and the rear end starts to slide out, essentially the rear is trying to pass the front because it's going faster. If you have high traction winter tires only on the front, they are going to be much more effective at transferring cornering grip and stopping power to the front wheels. This will actually cause the rear end to whip out even more.

That's why tire manufactures instruct their dealers that they must install winter tires on the rear wheels as well whenever they put winter tires on the front end of any vehicle. It's a major safety concern. It's strongly recommended that winter tires be installed on all four wheels on rear wheel drive vehicles as well. The front tires do most of the steering and braking work - it only makes sense that you provide the front end with the best traction you can.

Venice drivers often assume that if they have four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive they don't need winter tires on all four wheels. Would you intentionally disconnect the four-wheel drive in poor road conditions? Of course you wouldn't, but that's essentially what you do if you only put winter tires on one end. It only makes sense to have the same level of traction and control at all four corners.

The province of Quebec in Canada has issued a law requiring all passenger vehicles, taxis and rental cars with Quebec license plates to install a full set of four winter tires between November 15th and April 1. It's that important.

Many modern cars have traction control and anti-lock brakes so FL drivers may think that they don't need winter tires. But you need traction to accelerate, steer and stop. The tires provide the traction so that the traction control and anti-lock brakes have something to work with.

Look for tires with the symbol of a mountain with a snowflake in it. This means the tire complies with the severe snow standard. All-season tires will have an M&S, for mud and snow, on the sidewall.

So when the Venice temperatures drop below 45°F/7°C, be sure you have a set of four winter tires for maximum performance on snow, packed snow, ice, plus wet and dry roads. Your friendly and knowledgeable Car Doc On The Island tire professional can help you find the right winter tire for your vehicle and driving needs.

Car Doc On The Island
419 South Tamiami Trail
Venice, FL 34285
(941) 786-1595
http://www.cardocontheisland.com



Car Doc On The Island Often Asked About Premium vs. Regular Gas

Posted March 14, 2017 10:14 AM

Venice residents often ask the question: "Will using premium gas make my car run better?" The answer is simple. But first, let's talk about what exactly premium gasoline is.

Different grades of gasoline have different octane ratings. Regular gasoline has the lowest octane rating and premium the highest. Most gas stations around Venice, FL, also carry a mid-grade that falls in between the two. The octane range for the different grades of gas varies by region due to altitude differences.

Engines require different octane ratings because of design differences. For example, turbocharged engines usually require premium gas.

There's a sticker on your gas tank filler lid that tells you the minimum octane rating your vehicle manufacturer recommends.

For help identifying the type of gasoline your engine needs, come by Car Doc On The Island in Venice.

Car Doc On The Island
419 South Tamiami Trail
Venice, FL 34285
(941) 786-1595
http://www.cardocontheisland.com



Keep Your Cool in Venice: Air Conditioning Services

Posted March 5, 2017 12:26 PM

 

Most Venice drivers don't even think about their air conditioner.

Now here's a tip for Venice vehicle owners: Run your air conditioner every so often during FL winters. This circulates the lubricant to help keep the seals from drying out.

The air conditioner actually removes some of the moisture in the air. So if you have trouble with fogging on your vehicle windshield during FL winters or during a rain storm, running the A/C on the defrost setting should help. Now on some Venice cars you can't run the A/C at the same time as the defroster. Don't ask me why, but I suspect lawyers were involved.

Also, air and water can get into the A/C system. That can reduce the efficiency of the system and also lead to corrosion that causes damage. Venice drivers should periodically purge the system and replace the refrigerant to remove the air and water.

FL drivers would be wise to learn the early warning signs of A/C trouble: 1) The air's not as cold as it used to be. 2) It makes unusual noises when the A/C cycles on. Those are signs to get your vehicle into Car Doc On The Island in Venice before the damage gets worse.

By following the recommended service intervals in your vehicle owner's manual, you can help prevent mechanical failure of your air conditioning system. Your A/C system contains some components like the compressor, condenser, dryer, etc. Anything Venice car owners can do to lengthen the life of their A/C is well worth it. 

Car Doc On The Island
419 South Tamiami Trail
Venice, FL 34285
(941) 786-1595
http://www.cardocontheisland.com



Search



Archive

April 2016 (16)
May 2016 (5)
June 2016 (4)
July 2016 (4)
August 2016 (5)
September 2016 (4)
October 2016 (5)
November 2016 (4)
December 2016 (4)
January 2017 (5)
February 2017 (4)
March 2017 (4)
April 2017 (5)
May 2017 (4)
June 2017 (4)
July 2017 (5)
August 2017 (4)
September 2017 (3)
October 2017 (5)
November 2017 (4)
December 2017 (3)
January 2018 (5)
February 2018 (4)
March 2018 (4)
April 2018 (5)
May 2018 (4)
June 2018 (4)
July 2018 (5)
August 2018 (4)
September 2018 (5)
October 2018 (4)
November 2018 (4)
December 2018 (5)
January 2019 (5)
February 2019 (4)
March 2019 (5)
April 2019 (4)
May 2019 (4)
June 2019 (5)
July 2019 (4)
August 2019 (4)
September 2019 (5)
October 2019 (4)
November 2019 (4)
December 2019 (5)
January 2020 (5)
February 2020 (4)
March 2020 (5)
April 2020 (4)
May 2020 (5)
June 2020 (4)
July 2020 (4)
August 2020 (5)
September 2020 (4)
October 2020 (4)
November 2020 (5)
December 2020 (4)
January 2021 (6)
February 2021 (4)
March 2021 (4)
April 2021 (4)
May 2021 (5)
June 2021 (4)
July 2021 (4)
August 2021 (5)
September 2021 (4)
October 2021 (5)
November 2021 (4)
December 2021 (4)
January 2022 (6)
February 2022 (4)
March 2022 (4)
April 2022 (4)
May 2022 (5)
June 2022 (4)
July 2022 (5)
August 2022 (4)
September 2022 (4)
October 2022 (5)
November 2022 (4)
December 2022 (4)
January 2023 (5)
February 2023 (4)
March 2023 (4)
April 2023 (5)
May 2023 (4)
June 2023 (4)
July 2023 (5)
August 2023 (4)
September 2023 (4)
October 2023 (5)
November 2023 (4)
December 2023 (5)
January 2024 (5)
February 2024 (4)
March 2024 (4)

Categories

Air Conditioning (11)Alignment (11)Alternator (4)Auto Safety (6)Automotive News (7)Battery (14)Brake Service (1)Brakes (13)Cabin Air Filter (5)Check Engine Light (3)Cooling System (14)Customer Detective Work (1)Dashboard (3)Diagnostics (4)Diesel Maintenance (1)Differential Service (3)Drive Train (7)Emergency Items (1)Engine Air Filter (2)Exhaust (7)Fluids (16)Fuel Economy (9)Fuel Saving Tip: Slow Down (1)Fuel System (37)Headlamps (2)Inspection (6)Keys to a long lasting vehicle (4)Maintenance (43)Monitoring System (3)Oil Change (4)Older Vehicles (4)Parts (5)Safe Driving (1)Safety (5)Serpentine Belt (6)Service Intervals (9)Service Standards (10)Shocks & Struts (8)Spark Plugs (1)Steering (9)Suspension (3)Timing Belt (6)Tire Rotation and Balancing (3)Tires (6)Tires and Wheels (36)TPMS (2)Transmission (5)Trip Inspection (2)Warranty (1)What Customers Should Know (53)Wheel Bearings (1)Windshield Wipers (8)Winter Prep (4)Winter Tires (1)

Partners

ASE (Automotive Service Excellence)
CARQUEST Canada
IATN (International Automotive Technicians' Network)
Mitchell1
advance
TECH-NET Professional Auto Service - Trans
Car Care Aware

What our clients are saying about us

We have established longterm and stable partnerships with various clients thanks to our excellence in solving their automotive needs!

Service was excellent, staff was awesome and very knowledgeable. My new shop for sure ? quotes-image
, 03/21/2024
reviewicon
Mike, Stacy and Desiree are super helpful, knowledgeable and kind ! My experience couldn’t have been better! They put my mind at ease and took care of the issues that I was experiencing with my car. I’m very happy that I found an honest and caring car mechanic! I highly recommend using them!! ?quotes-image
, 03/20/2024
reviewicon