Posted on 26 May 2019
You may be driving along and find that suddenly your radio stops working. There are no numbers on the display. Then when you get home, you notice the garage door opener doesn't do a thing when you press the button. Hmm, this was working just fine this morning. Are the two problems somehow related? No, your vehicle doesn't need an exorcism. This has all the signs of an electrical issue, and when you experience symptoms like those, you've probably blown a fuse. Most vehicles have fuses just like most houses have circuit breakers (some houses still have fuses). They cut the power when it reaches a pre-determined threshold that could cause major damage if it was allowed to continue. You might say fuses take one for the team. Most modern automotive fuses are plastic with a thin strip of metal in them designed to melt when a calibrated amount of power passes through. The philosophy is it's better for an inexpensive fuse to be destroyed than your sou ... read more
Posted on 22 May 2019
You might remember a hit TV sitcom that was set in a bar, a place where "everybody knows your name." The idea, of course, is people feel more comfortable where they aren't just another customer among many; they're special because their relationship goes back a few years. That comfortable relationship can extend to professionals you deal with, too. Think of your accountant, your dentist, your doctor. Most people try to stick with the same person or firm in those businesses. They have grown to know their work over the years and they've learned to trust their professionalism, the quality of their work and their track record. Ideally, you should have that same relationship with your automotive service facility, like your friends here at Lighthouse Automotive. You may have tried several facilities over the years until you found one that did good work at a reasonable price. The longer your relationship with your service facility, the better t ... read more
Posted on 05 May 2019
Your vehicle has a way of letting you know when something's wrong. Consider a vibrating steering wheel. It certainly didn't do that when it was new, so that shake is trying to tell you something. There are a few things that can cause your steering wheel to vibrate as you drive down the road. One of the most common is out-of-balance tires. You may not only feel that wobble in your steering wheel, you might also feel it in the tires. Sometimes it's not there when you're driving at lower speeds through residential areas, and sometimes it starts when you hit highway speeds. So what is tire balance anyway? Well, you have a rubber tire that fits around a metal wheel. It should have the same weight all the way around. If it doesn't, it will start getting the shakes. Ever load your washing machine so that all the clothes are at one side of that drum that spins? When it hits the spin cycle, it can throw that washer against the wall. Th ... read more