Auto Repair in Camarillo

In very simple terms, a fuel injector is a valve that squirts fuel into your SUV 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 Camarillo , Somis, and Ventura County roads. Most fuel injectors for gas engines are known in the Thousand Oaks 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. Although more complicated, direct injection technology promises greater power with improved fuel economy for gas-poor Camarillo , Somis, and Ventura County commuters. CA motorists can expect to see more of it in the future. High temperatures ... read more

Have you ever gone to Thousand Oaks to listen to an orchestra? The musicians take the stage early and tune their instruments. Each individual instrument must be in tune, but the critical thing is for the entire orchestra to be in tune with each other. That's why they tune up together. Now this is no surprise; I'm going to relate the orchestra to your car. Your engine has many component systems that each need to be working properly. And the components need to be working in sync, all timed up together in order for the engine to work efficiently. We call this, (ta-da) a tune-up. When an orchestra's out of tune you get a bad concert. When your vehicle's out of tune you get bad performance and bad fuel economy. So check your owner's manual for recommended tune-up intervals. Or ask your Camarillo service advisor at Camarillo Car Care Center what he thinks. …Just be careful not to say you ... read more

There's not much we can do about the price of gas in Camarillo CA, but we do quite a bit about how much we use as we're driving on our Camarillo streets. Our driving habits can dramatically affect our fuel economy. The first thing we can do is watch the ‘go-pedal'. Hard acceleration just sucks the gas. Gently leave stop lights and plan lane changes so you don't need to floor it. That can save you hundreds of dollars a year. Go a little slower on the freeway to Thousand Oaks. Once you're going more than sixty-five miles an hour your fuel economy starts to drop dramatically. Leave early so you don't need to rush to be on time. And cruise control is your friend - steady speed uses less gas. Plan errands ahead. Make fewer trips by combining errands. Hey at current gas prices, a lead-foot might as well be a gold foot

With high fuel prices in Camarillo CA comes lots of gas saving advice. Some of it, like what you hear on AutoNetTV, is really great. Some is myth. And some is just designed to prey on Camarillo CA people desperate to save some money on gas. When you get one of those e-mails that's going around telling you how to save gas, try to think it through. Does it really make sense? Does it defy the laws of physics? Do some research on the internet or ask your Camarillo CA service advisor at Camarillo Car Care Center. There aren't any magic pills you can drop in your gas tank and the government hasn't suppressed a device you can clamp on your fuel line to make your car run on air. Not even in Camarillo! So next time you get one of those e-mails, check it out with an automotive professional. You'll get more bang for your buck with an oil change or ... read more

No matter how well they're made, cars in Camarillo CA will have design or manufacturing problems. And when the government thinks a problem is really serious for people in Camarillo CA, they require the manufacturer to issue a recall notice and fix the car free of charge. The manufacturer then tries to contact everyone in Camarillo CA who owns that type of car to get the recall work done. These recalls always affect safety, so take them seriously. It's easy to see if a vehicle's being recalled. The government has links on its websites, or just visit AutoNetTV for links. There are many websites with free recall information and searches. There's CarFax, AutoByTel and the DMV. Recalls are serious, but not all ... read more

A question for our Camarillo CA motorists: How long have you been enjoying the romantic glow of your check engine light? Hey, it's not there to create ambiance; it's a warning that something's wrong. When your check engine light comes on get it checked at a capable Camarillo CA service station. Many conditions that cause the check engine light to come on affect fuel economy. Some very dramatically. Always make sure you tighten your gas cap until it clicks. A loose gas cap can cause a false sensor reading that'll make the check engine light come on. If your date's eyes are smoldering in the reflected glow of the check engine light, try to think of all the gas money you'll save by getting it fixed. Give us a call when you are ready

object> Let's talk about alternative fuel vehicles. In their quest to reduce the use of fossil fuels and harmful exhaust emissions to our Camarillo environment, automakers will have a number of alternatives for us very soon. For instance, Flex Fuel vehicles are already available in the Thousand Oaks area. Flex Fuel vehicles can run on gasoline or on E85 fuel. E85 is a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The ethanol is made from corn. The benefits are in using less petroleum and reduced pollution. The drawbacks are that E85 gets lower fuel economy and that when gas prices are low, E85 can be more expensive than straight gasoline. You should only use E85 if you have a Flex Fuel compatible engine. Flex Fuel vehicles have special seals and gaskets that can stand up to the high alcohol content of E85. Using E85 in a regular engine can lead to gas leaks and fires. Diesel engines have been around the Thousand ... read more

The function of the fuel filter is pretty self-explanatory. It filters your fuel. The fuel filter is in the fuel line somewhere in between the fuel tank and the engine. Both gas and diesel vehicles around Camarillo CA use fuel filters. Generally speaking there's not a lot of dirt in our Camarillo CA auto fuel supply, but there is enough that you want to screen it out. The problem actually gets worse the older your vehicle becomes. That's because dirt, rust and other contaminants will settle out of the fuel and onto the bottom of the fuel tank. After your SUV is five years or older, it can actually have a fair amount of sediment built up. That just means that the fuel filter has to work harder as your SUV ages. It'll get clogged sooner and need to be replaced more often. A symptom of a clogged fuel filter is that the engine sputters at highway speeds or under hard acceleration. That's because enough fuel is getting through ... read more

A lot of gas is wasted in the Somis area by dirty fuel delivery systems. Let's start at the tank. The gas tank gathers dirt, rust and sediment over the years. That's why there's a fuel filter to clean the fuel after it leaves the tank. A dirty filter will rob the engine of the clean gas it needs to run efficiently. The fuel intake components get coated with gum and varnish over time. This results in fuel being delivered inefficiently and some of that gunk getting into the engine. A fuel system service at Camarillo Car Care Center will leave your intake as clean as a whistle. The big fuel thief is dirty fuel injectors. They deliver fuel to the engine at a specified pressure and in a particular spray pattern. When they're clogged, the fuel doesn't get atomized the way it's supposed to and doesn't get burned as efficiently. See your owner's manual or ask your Somis ser ... read more

For those of you in Camarillo CA who pay attention to these things, you may have been hearing about the new direct injection engines and want to learn more about them. Some deliver the power of a V8 with the economy of a V6. For example, in one family of engines the conventional V6 makes about 250 horsepower. The direct injection version of the same engine makes over 300 horsepower and gets essentially the same gas mileage. The turbocharged version makes over 350 horsepower. So what are the differences from a conventional engine? The core difference is in the fuel injection system. The system most vehicles use now is called a port injection system. The fuel injector squirts fuel into a port just outside the cylinder where it's then drawn into the engine with the air. With a direct injection system, the injector squirts the fuel directly into the cylinder. The gain in power and econ ... read more