Car Care Tips

Belts

Lube City ® Express Oil Change replaces serpentine belts. In most cars today, the serpentine belt is central to the successful operation of several components of your engine including your water pump, alternator, power steering pump and air conditioning. It should be monitored for cracking, splitting, fraying or any signs of separation. These belts should be replaced after 3-4 cracks per inch (25mm). Ask for belts that carry a lifetime warranty. Lube City ® Express Oil Change will replace the existing belt with a top quality serpentine belt which meets or exceeds vehicle manufacturer’s specifications. Remember to make sure you ask for your old belts back. Put them in your trunk. You know they fit your car, they came off your car. If you get stranded on a road trip, it’s a great to have a backup.

Engine Flush

This dissolves and removes contaminates and improves engine cleanliness while promoting a more complete draining of used oil. Recommended when you have exceeded your regular oil change interval, or if you decide to change to a synthetic oil change package. Lube City ® Express Oil Change also recommends this service every 20,000 kms or every fourth oil change.

Fuel System Service

Probably the most misunderstood service today is the fuel system service. We have all heard of the term “Tune-up”. That’s what we used to have to do to our cars when we were growing up.

Today’s cars are much different; they all have computers on board with sensors and electronic parts that adjust and modify the way the car is performing. These technology improvements have allowed car manufacturers to make changes such as fuel injections, long life spark plugs, etc. We call today’s vehicles “smart cars”; they keep you happy by making changes internally or behind the scenes that you don’t see.

You depend on your car’s computer to keep it running smoothly, so when deposits build up in the fuel system or on internal parts such as valves, injectors or combustion chambers, your car’s computer makes the necessary changes. There are not enough detergents in today’s gasoline to prevent build up of these deposits, so your car may actually have to “de-tune” itself to compensate; this means it changes its own engine timing and can even require a higher octane fuel to perform efficiently. The end result – without removing these deposits, you pay for them every time you fill up – in POOR FUEL economy!

Engine Coolants

The coolant and water mix is pumped through the engine by the water pump. The job of the liquid is to pick up the heat and carry it to the radiator so it can be dissipated. The water pump can’t pump foam, so they put anti-foaming agents in the coolant. We know that every car that overheats, does so because of the lack of coolant (because of a leak) or because of a restriction of the flow (closed thermostat, plugged radiator, or a water pump that’s not pumping because of a drive belt that broke or an impeller that’s come loose). The thermostat’s job is to open when the coolant gets too hot and let the coolant travel faster into the radiator. If it senses the coolant is too cold, it closes to slow down the flow to keep the coolant in the engine longer.

Antifreeze needs water to work. You should never use a mixture of more than 60% coolant or antifreeze. You see the ability of the coolant mix to carry heat away is reduced by an over concentration of coolant. So your protection against boil over or freezing actually goes down after 60% coolant, 40% water.

Flush your cooling system once every 1.5 – 2 years or 48,000 kms. The best time is at the beginning of the summer or the beginning of the winter. The anti foaming agents, the rust inhibitors, and the water pump lubricants in your coolant that wear out. The price of plastic tank radiators soaring as is damage related to the deterioration of aluminum timing covers, etc. why not let Lube City ® Express Oil Change help protect your car and your pocket book with Radiator Coolant System Flush?

Transmissions

The rebuilding of an automatic transmission today is a major repair bill. In today’s automatic transmissions, there is often over 3,000 parts. You can’t afford not to service your automatic transmission at least once a year. The fluid is the blood of an automatic transmission. Well maintained automatic transmissions last well over 300,000 kms. Many are replaced or rebuilt with the original fluid still in them. Lube City ® Express Oil Change also offers synthetic transmission oil.

Lube City Recommended Services

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Some more details can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions section