Ask Eric
As co-owner of Ervine's Auto Repair, and two-time NAPA/ASE Technician of the Year in Grand Rapids, Eric can tell you everything you wanted to know about anything with an engine! Have a question you need answered? Send Eric an e-mail! If you're lucky, we'll even post the question and answer in our blog.
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Everyone in Grand Rapids Michigan eventually replaces their tires, whether it’s because they’re worn out or they’re just looking for something different. There are so many great tire choices in Grand Rapids Michigan, it can be difficult to sort them out. Let’s group the broad spectrum into several categories that will help in the selection process.
One category is often referred to as “summer tires”. Summer tires are designed to be driven on the road when temperatures are generally above 45 degrees. Their tread design is optimized for traction on dry roads in Grand Rapids Michigan and they’re also able to effectively displace water on rainy roads.
Now the rubber compound gets a little hard and stiff as temperatures drop below 45 degrees as it occasionally does here in Grand Rapids Michigan. And the tread which handles dry roads so well, can get packed with snow or mud – which provides very little traction in those conditions.
So if you live where its summer all year round, these tires will work well for you. If you like maximum performance in warm weather, but still live where it gets cold and snowy, you’ll want to change your summer tires for winter tires as the weather starts to change.
Summer tires can be purchased with an emphasis on handling performance, smooth ride or long life. Your Grand Rapids Michigan tire professional at Ervine’s Auto Repair can help you find the right tire for the way you drive.
As you can imagine, winter tires are designed to work very well in snow and ice. Their tread is designed with many channels and grooves that throw the snow out of the tread as the wheel turns. This means the tire is always be able to bite into the snow.
The rubber compound used in winter tires is specially formulated to be flexible at temperatures below 45 degrees. This maximizes cold weather traction. When it gets warmer, the softer rubber will wear faster on warm dry pavement than summer tires, so change them out once the weather has turned.
There’s a range of tires within the winter tire category. If you live where there’s a lot of snow and ice, look for the mountain and snowflake icon that signifies a severe snow rating. If you have milder winters and still want a performance component, they make a winter tire for you as well.
For many people, an all-season tire is the answer. You will give up some of the performance at the extreme ends of the summer tire/ winter tire spectrum, but you will find a long wearing tire that gives both good highway performance and winter traction on our Grand Rapids Michigan roads.
Within the all-season category, there are many choices that you tire advisor can help you evaluate.
Ervine’s Auto Repair
4311 Stafford SW
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49548
(616) 532-6600
Outside of these three main categories, some people in Grand Rapids with trucks and SUVs like a tire that is designed for both on-highway and off-highway use. They can handle the rocks and bumps off-road, but still work well on the street. Again, many options depending on the relative emphasis on on-road verses off-road.
You may want new wheels to go with your new tires – well, there are hundreds and hundreds of styles to choose from. That’s a matter of personal taste. If you want to change the size of your wheels and tires, do get some professional help.
The computers on your vehicle are programmed to the size of wheel and tire combination that comes from the factory. Tire size affects various computer controlled functions like anti-lock brakes, traction and stability controls, speedometer and odometer. Of course, you want these systems to work properly. The computers can be re-programmed for different tire sizes.
And if you want to increase the size of your wheels and tires, you’ll want so help to make sure they’ll fit in the wheel wells of your vehicle without rubbing during turns or over bumps.
Every Grand Rapids car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter’s dirty.
Here’s what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your sedan owner’s manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your Grand Rapids technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed.
So between your owner’s manual and your Grand Rapids technician’s inspection there’s really no guesswork involved.
Now, most air filters purchased in Wyoming, Kentwood, or Byron Center don’t cost a lot to replace. It’s just that Michigan people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Ervine’s Auto Repair can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in Grand Rapids.
Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Kentwood home. When it’s all clogged up, enough clean air can’t get through. In your sedan, that means that your engine can’t get as much air as it needs to burn the fuel efficiently. So it makes do with less air and has to use more expensive Michigan gas to move your vehicle around Grand Rapids roads.
Your sedan actually needs about 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of gas it burns. Engine air filters don’t cost much in Grand Rapids at Ervine’s Auto Repair. When it’s time to change yours, just get it done. You’ll buy less fuel, have better performance and protect your engine.
Suspension systems will continue to operate effectively for many years and tens of thousands of miles. Eventually sedan components do wear out, but how long that takes depends a lot on how you drive in Kentwood.
As you can imagine, if most of your driving is on smooth Michigan highways, your shock absorbers will last a lot longer than if you do most of your driving on bumpy roads or hauling heavy loads. In addition to just wearing out, sedan suspension components can be damaged in an accident or by a hard impact – like a pothole, hitting a curb or a rock in the road. Because the life span of shocks can vary so widely, your sedan manufacturer recommends periodic inspections.
During an inspection at Ervine’s Auto Repair, your honest and efficient Kentwood service technician will check for worn, broken or missing parts. Let me give a rundown of the major suspension components.
First there are the springs. The springs hold the weight of the vehicle. There are several kinds of springs. Springs are obviously heavy duty parts that rarely break or wear out. Shock absorbers work in conjunction with springs to smooth out the ride and help keep the tires on the road. The shocks are key to handling performance and ride comfort.
You’ve probably heard of struts. They combine a shock absorber and a coil spring in one unit. Shocks and struts will wear out over time. There are some signs that shocks or struts are wearing out. The tires may have a cupped wear pattern. This is from the shocks bouncing unevenly. You may notice a floaty or drifting sensation when cornering. If the front of your sedan dives excessively when stopping, or rocks back and forth after you stopped, your shocks may be worn out. And if they are leaking fluid, it’s definitely time to replace them.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, visit Ervine’s Auto Repair for a suspension inspection. Same if you’ve been in an accident that involved one of your wheels. If your sedan suspension actually fails, it could lead to a serious accident, so take care of these things.
When you replace your shocks, it’s usually a good idea to replace all four at the same time. That’ll give you more even handling. Talk with your Ervine’s Auto Repair service advisor because you don’t want a big difference between the performance of your shocks from wheel to wheel, and replacing all may be the safest bet.
There different grades of shocks and struts. You always want to use a replacement shock or strut that equals the one that came as original equipment when your sedan was new. But remember, they were designed to meet the expected needs of the broad range of Kentwood people who buy that particular vehicle. Your needs may be more specialized.
For example if you want increased handling performance for your sedan, your honest and efficient Ervine’s Auto Repair advisor can recommend an upgraded shock or strut to give you what you want. If you haul heavy loads or trailers, you can get a more heavy duty shock absorber.
Here’s a travel tip that’ll I’ll bet you didn’t know, and, it might keep you safer…
The average American commuter in Michigan spends two and a half hours daily in their car.
The government says a hundred thousand auto accidents yearly are caused by drivers who fall asleep at the wheel. (Aggressive driving is the number one traffic safety concern.)
So what does this have to do with how your car smells while you’re driving around Michigan?
Well, which scent did you think makes drivers more alert?
Is it:
- A. Strawberry
- B. New Car
- C. Pine
- D. Warm Vanilla Breeze
It’s C. Drivers are more alert and have less fatigue with pine scent in the car, according to AroMetrics.
And, drivers were less angry with overall improved driving performance with strawberry and pine scents.
And you thought they just smelled nice.
Ervine’s Auto Repair
4311 Stafford SW
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49548
(616) 532-6600
In very simple terms, a fuel injector is a valve that squirts fuel into your sedan engine. Your engine control computer tells the fuel injector how much fuel to deliver as well as the precise time it should be delivered. Of course this happens thousands of times a minute in every single fuel-injected car driving down Wyoming, Kentwood, and Byron Center roads.
Most fuel injectors for gas engines are known in the Grand Rapids auto industry as port fuel injectors because they deliver the fuel to a port just outside the cylinder. The fuel pump provides pressure needed to squirt the right amount of fuel into the engine.
A few auto makers have recently introduced gas direct injection systems on some engines. They are now available at some Grand Rapids dealerships. These systems inject the gas directly into the cylinders under very high pressure – many times the pressure of port injection systems.
Although more complicated, direct injection technology promises greater power with improved fuel economy for gas-poor Wyoming, Kentwood, and Byron Center commuters. Michigan motorists can expect to see more of it in the future.
High temperatures under your sedan hood and variations in Grand Rapids gas quality cause fuel injectors to be fouled with wax, dirt, water, additives and carbon. Injectors can become partially clogged, preventing them from delivering the proper amount of fuel at the correct pressure.
When injectors are dirty, the fuel doesn’t burn as efficiently resulting in poor fuel economy and loss of power. So it’s important for Grand Rapids drivers keep their fuel injectors clean.
Your Grand Rapids Ervine’s Auto Repair service center can perform a fuel system service for you in which the fuel injectors are cleaned so that they operate properly and deliver the right amount of fuel at the right time.
Proper maintenance of your sedan fuel system means that you will spend less on gas, enjoy strong performance and prevent costly Grand Rapids repair bills down the road.