Preventive Maintenance - Brake Fluid Service

Brake fluid is one of the main components that keeps your brakes working and stopping on time.  When you push on the brake pedal, the master cylinder pressurizes the brake fluid, making sure the car stops.  

When your vehicle doesn't have the correct amount of clean brake fluid, it would lessen or possibly eliminate your braking power.  Over time, brake fluid attracts moisture, and because of this becomes corrosive.  This corrosive fluid can eat at the braking system, causing leaks in the system.  Some potential signs of a leak are reduced stopping power, hard pedal or a spongy pedal.  

Since keeping your brake fluid free of corrosive material and of contaminants is vital, we recommend performing a brake fluid exchange every 30,000 miles or two years, whichever comes first.  This will help keep your vehicle's braking system safe and fully operable.

Making sure you have the correct amount of fluid is just as important to keep the system properly pressurized.  At Jerry Noonan's Auto Center, every vehicle that comes in receives a complimentary safety inspection, or as we like to call it, a courtesy check.  Our technicians always inspect the brake fluid condition and level during the courtesy check.  

Not sure if you need to have your brake fluid or brakes serviced?  Give us a call, and we will be able to help you out with any of your brake system questions.

Preventive Maintenance - Coolant Service

The cooling system of your vehicle has the very important role of keeping your engine at the proper operating temperature to run smoothly.  If the engine isn't running at the proper temperature, and overheats, it can cause some serious internal damage to the engine. 

It is important to maintain the cooling system by doing regularly scheduled coolant services.  Coolant, or more commonly called antifreeze, is what circulates through the engine to remove the excess heat and protect the system against corrosion.  The key to keeping your cooling system working properly is to make sure that your coolant is fresh, the correct coolant for the vehicle is being used, and always having the correct amount of fluid in the system.  Over time the coolant can break down and lose its anti-corrosion properties and can actually start eating away at the cooling system parts, resulting in having to replace expensive components sooner than normal.

Here at Jerry Noonan's Auto Center, we recommend that our customers do a coolant service on their vehicles every 30,000 miles or every two years, whichever comes first.  Whenever a customer brings in their vehicle we always do a courtesy visual inspection of the cooling system and check to make sure the coolant is at the correct level and is clean.

Not sure if maintenance needs to be done on your vehicle's cooling system?  Give us a call today, and we will be happy to assist you with any questions you may have.

Preventive Maintenance - Air Filters

An air filter, or sometimes called an engine air filter essentially purifies what air is going into your engine.  It makes sure that the air that is reaching your engine is clean.  Clean air helps your engine to work properly, and helps to get the best fuel economy.  A dirty air filter can lower your fuel economy and may cause damage over time, affecting the combustion chamber and mass air flow sensor.

Your air filter can only hold so much dirt before it can't perform it's job correctly, and start to affect the engine's performance.  We recommend changing your air filter every year or 15,000 miles, whichever comes first.  Depending on where you normally drive, an air filter can become dirty faster due to dust, pollution, or pollen in the air.  The air filter housing, which holds the air filter, can also become a nesting ground for little critters during the colder weather.

Not sure if you need to replace your air filter?  Next service, make sure to ask your service writer.  At Jerry Noonan's Auto Center, checking the air filter is part of our Courtesy Check which every vehicle receives when it comes in for any service or repair.