Wheel Alignment

Wheel alignment is an important system to the safe operation and handling of your vehicle. Furthermore wheel misalignment can lead to premature tire degradation and leave your wallet light. Luckily for drivers in Phoenix Arizona, Mikes Auto Repair is here to take care of your wheel alignment and save you a whole wad of cash.

It is important to pay attention to the drift or pull of your vehicle, if you are drifting too much to the left or right then it is a good indication that your wheels have fallen out of alignment. Another way to check is to see if your tires are wearing down in any specific or isolated places.

A lot of folk’s mistake wheel alignment for wheel balancing, which has more to do with evenly distributing the weight of the wheels to get a proper spin. Wheel Alignment is the positioning of the wheels so they sit perpendicular to the road. One thing to remember, if your wheels remain out of alignment for an extended period of time then the wear pattern of your tires will become firmly established and you may also have damage done to your suspension.

There are three levels on which the proper alignment of wheels is measured, camber, castor and toe. Camber is the degree to which the wheel sits perpendicular to the road. If you have severe camber misalignment you may be able to see an extreme tilt of your wheels pointing inward or outward when viewing the car from the front. Camber issues can lead to premature tire wear and suspension problems in the future.

Caster is the position of the wheel originating from the axis. Caster will dictate if the vehicle is at the proper height at the front and back. If your suspension springs are worn out it may greatly affect your caster slowly allowing it to settle into the positive or negative. Positive or Negative caster will make your car pull to the right or left.

Finally, Toe measures what degree your wheels point inwards or outwards. Almost all cars have a slight degree of toe; this enables your wheels to rotate parallel to one another. However, if the toe becomes unaligned even slightly, drivers will notice a vibration coursing through the vehicle while driving. Toe inequalities will also cause your tires to wear down in a “feathered” pattern.

Drivers in Phoenix Arizona would do well to take their car in to Mikes Auto Repair the moment they can feel their car pulling to one side; we will take care of your alignment issues and treat you with the honesty and respect you deserve.

Oil Change - Phoenix

Convenient Oil Change Service in Central Phoenix AZ at Mike Auto Repair. Oil is the lifeblood of your car, and we all know that regular oil changes are paramount to the health and longevity of your engine. When it comes to your engine, taking care of the simple things will make your life much less complicated. This simple procedure if left undone for too long can cause pre-mature engine wear, and lead to complete motor failure.

Let the professionals at Mikes Auto Repair help give you peace of mind and ensure the long life of your vehicles engine. Taking your car in for your routine oil change will also give us the opportunity to perform a courtesy check for other issues which may surface in the future, if the problem goes unchecked. Fortunately for Drivers in Phoenix AZ, Mikes Auto Repair is here to make sure that you don’t have to.

We all know that oil is one of the most important things to maintaining your engines health, so cruise on in today, and let us save you the hassle. Most people know that you should have your oil changed about every 3,000 miles, and delaying your routine oil change can cause very costly problems down the road.

If you want to do the procedure yourself here is a step by step guide to help you through the process.

1. Take your car out for a drive, this will warm up the oil and allow it to drain easier
2. Park your car in a flat spot, keep it in gear and set the emergency brakes, you may also want to put blocks behind your wheels as another safety measure
3. Use a jack to lift up the front end of the car and place jack stands to make sure the vehicle is stable
4. Find the oil pan and loosen the nut on the bottom of the pan, if you loosen it too much you will spill oil all over yourself and the ground.
5. Place a drain pan under the oil pan and then take off the nut you loosened, be patient it will take a moment for the oil to drain.
6. Find the oil filter and take it off with the oil filter wrench, take care, the oil inside the filter will be quite hot.
7. Take the oil cap off from under the hood. If you have the time, let all the old oil drain out of your car, this should take about 30 minutes.
8. Coat the seal of the new oil filter with new oil and put it on the car. Place a new seal on the drain plug and place it back into the oil pan. Remove the drip pan and dispose of the old oil properly.
9. Use a funnel to put new oil back into your car. Replace the oil cap and start the engine. Use your dipstick to make sure the oil is at the proper level for your vehicle

Ultimately we believe it is more economically sound for you to bring us your car for your oil change for a number of reasons. Not dealing with the headache of properly disposing of the old oil will make your life a little less complicated. Second, changing oil is a procedure we do every day and our mechanics will take care of every detail quickly - allowing you to save your time for other things that matter. Finally the short trip to Mikes in Central Phoenix for an oil change will give us the opportunity to check the health of your vehicle as a whole and can save you a multitude of unpleasant surprises.

Driveline and Differential Repair

Many drivers are not aware of the complexity of the systems required to make their cars move. Two of the most important pieces of the automobile are the Driveline and Differential. Without these two systems the power of the engine would not make it to the wheels and the car simply wouldn’t drive. Fortunately for drivers in Phoenix, Mikes Auto Repair is more than qualified to handle any and all driveline problems that may arise. For those of you who need a driveline or differential repair or replacement, we will tow your car to our shop FREE.

A differentials main purpose is to enable wheels to spin at different speeds while generating the same amount of torque. Without this system your vehicle would be difficult and unpredictable to handle. The differential can be configured a number of different ways depending if the vehicle is front or rear wheel drive or four wheel drive. Here are a few indications that there may be something wrong with your differential.

• If you can hear a clunking or banging every few feet, you may have a broken ring or pinion gear.
• Worn carrier bearing will create a whirring sound when you accelerate past 20 mph, the sound may change when turning.
• If you hear a howl or whine during quick acceleration your pinion gears may be worn, your gears may also be improperly set up
• A vibration that increases with acceleration is an indication of an off balance drive shaft or worn out u-joints

As you can see a differential is complex component and should only be serviced by an expert.

The driveline is a little simpler but still requires a qualified technician to be serviced. The driveline consists of multiple components precisely attached to each other to serve a very specific need. The driveline includes a driveshaft with two universal joints, one at each end. The engine turns the drive shaft around very quickly and transfers the torque into the differential where it is turned at a 90 degree angle to power the wheels and make the car move.

With this information you can see how vital the driveline and differential are to the drivability of your vehicle. If you are experiencing trouble with your driveline and differential then cruise on over to Phoenix and let the professionals at Mikes Auto Repair get your car rolling at optimum performance.