At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, we understand how important it is to have ice cold AC in your truck on a long, hot day. Whether you drive a Chevy, Ford, or Dodge diesel pickup, chances are you have a lot of cab to cool down, and a subpar AC just won’t cut it.

Failed engine mounts are an irritating issue to live with causing your car or truck to vibrate and you don't know why. At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we can help, no matter what type of car, truck, or SUV you drive and it is an easy issue to detect on a test drive.

There are a few indicators your engine mounts need to be replaced. For one, you can do a visual inspection, if they’re accessible enough - if they looked cracked, smashed, or dry-rotted, it’s probably time for new ones.  If the engine visibly shakes while it’s running, engine mounts are also likely the culprit.  However, if you are like most drivers you simply get in and drive on down the road until something is different or a light comes on!   Then you call our shop for help!

So, you’ve determined your transmission is bad. What next? Choosing what to do can be overwhelming, and you need someone you can trust to help you decide what work needs to be done. Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA is here to help you make the right decision when it comes to your transmission. There are a few things to consider when your transmission goes out. You might feel inclined to just get a new car, but should you? 

There is a reason we check your brake fluid when you come in for a service check.  Maintenance pays big dividends and we want to avoid high repair costs for our Grass Valley drivers.  Did you know that brake service isn't just all about the brake pads, drums & rotors?  That we have found low brake fluid to be the cause of a large percentage of brake issues here at Davis Auto Care?  Seriously, brake fluid is an important part of your braking system and with your service intervals being less frequent on the newer vehicles 5,000-10,000 more miles this has become an issue!  Why?...

Obviously, your brakes are pretty important. Your brake system is made of many components that all have to work correctly for your brakes to operate seamlessly. If one thing needs to be repaired, the whole system is compromised. Brake pads, rotors, hoses, calipers, and metal lines all play a part in stopping your car. At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we’re here to make sure your car, truck, or SUV stops as it should.

When you think about diesel engines, you probably think about large trucks and machinery, and maybe a few oddball cars over the years.  But how long has diesel really been around, and why is it used the way it is today? Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA has the answers you need to become more in-tune with your diesel truck and engine. 

At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we understand that no matter how well something is maintained, everything breaks eventually. Fortunately, our team of expert mechanics can repair just about anything, saving your business a lot of money in the process.

If you’ve owned a vehicle long, particularly one with a few miles on it, you have probably encountered a peculiar smell that grabbed your attention. Scents that you encounter while driving (emanating from your vehicle, not the horse farm down the road) are indicators of your vehicle's health and often the first warning that something may be wrong. Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley has assembled this list to prepare for you for the next time you smell something odd, so you’ll know what’s going on next time you notice a funny smell.

The exhaust on your truck is an important series of components, that work together to insure smooth, reliable operation. At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we also know that exhaust systems are especially susceptible to damage and rust; pipes, mufflers, and other parts are exposed to hazards on the road, and to the environment. This situation, combined with caustic emissions and extreme heat, create a perfect opportunity for problems to arise.

There are many parts and systems outside of the car’s transmission that is equally as important as the parts and systems inside the transmission. Without them, the transmission won’t do much. There’s no way to transfer power from the engine to the shafts, disengage it to shift the gears, or power the differential without them. Just in case you need us, at Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we can help keep your transmission in top shape, but here’s what you need to know.

When you are having trouble with your car or truck starting and you open the hood up to take a peek to see this....you'll see what an overly corroded battery looks like. This happens naturally over time on vehicle battery terminals.  If you are like 99% of normal Grass Valley drivers, you don't check your oil or your battery so you don't keep an eye on the amount of corrosion that's building up on your car or truck battery.  Here at Davis Auto Care, we do and there are solvents that we can use here in the shop during a battery maintenance service that will help slow the corrosion process but nothing that can prevent it 100%. Way before it gets to this point, we will be suggesting you consider replacing the battery. 

At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, a big part of our job is helping you make decisions that are right for you, your car, truck or SUV. When it comes to replacing a transmission there are a lot of options out there, and we’re here to help you make the right choice. Our technicians can help you decide based on your budget, vehicle and lifestyle. We're here to get your car going again and earn your business in the future.

Manual transmissions are generally more reliable than automatic transmissions. They don’t have as many parts, aren’t as complex, and can take a lot more abuse. However, if an issue is allowed to persist, more and more damage to surrounding components on your manual transmission will occur. Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA can help you take care of your car as soon as you notice a problem.

If your car, truck or SUV is experiencing major engine issues, the technicians at Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA have you covered. You hear the engine knocking when it decides to start? Is there smoke pouring from your truck’s exhaust pipe? Whether you’re burning oil, your engine is on it’s last leg or has simply given up altogether, we can help. And if you’re not sure what you need, we can help with that too.

The turbo on your diesel pickup truck is a precision-engineered component. As a result, proper maintenance is essential to keep it going strong, and Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA is the place to do that. At tens or even hundreds of thousands of RPM, keeping everything in good shape is absolutely necessary. Fortunately, turbos don't really require any special maintenance - they just make the maintenance you do all the more important.

Your turbocharger will work in essentially the same way, whether you drive a Powerstroke, Cummins, or Duramax diesel pickup. While there are differences in designs and applications, turbos haven’t changed all that much over the past century. Now that you know what one is made of, we’ll look at how it works.

When driving around town, your vehicle's engine needs clean air to burn the fuel – and it needs a lot. In fact, a typical vehicle needs about 216,000 gallons of air for every tank of gas. All that air passes through a filter that catches the dust and dirt. Eventually, the filter gets completely full, and because the filter can only hold so much, dirt starts getting through. At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, we want to help you get the best air quality in your vehicle, but first, we want to explain the process of where this dirty air is going. 

At Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we know there’s a lot of conflict on when you should maintain certain things on your truck. We also know there are consequences to neglecting maintenance; the difference between a truck that breaks down all the time and a truck that has covered over a million miles virtually trouble-free all boils down to maintenance.

The operation of your transmission depends on your hydraulics. Even if that sounds like a foreign language to you, at Davis Auto Care in Grass Valley, CA, we speak the automotive language. We want you to understand what we're talking about, so here are the basics of the hydraulic functions behind your transmission.

If you drive a vehicle with more than a few miles on it, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed an occasional drip underneath it that leaves spots wherever you park. Identifying what is leaking from your car will help you determine whether or not it’s a cause for concern, and what to do about it.

There are seven liquids a car can possibly drip: oil, gas, brake fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil, water, and coolant. How do you tell the difference? This article aims to help your know-how.