Automotive Industry News & Information - Jake's Auto Garage

As cars become more technologically advanced, the importance of your vehicle’s battery becomes more important. In the old days, a car battery essentially worked, or it didn’t; if it was good enough to start the car, it was good enough. Modern vehicles are a different story. A faulty battery can cause a variety of issues, including engine codes, sensor failures, irregular transmission behavior, and the list goes on.

Battery failure often causes issues that are commonly misdiagnosed, and in the hands of the wrong auto repair shop, a mechanic may spend hundreds of your hard-earned dollars chasing problems that don’t exist. At Jake's Auto Garage in Harper, TX, our mechanics are familiar with modern vehicles and the problems that accompany them.

Your transmission suddenly isn’t shifting right. So what’s wrong with it? Do you need your transmission rebuilt? Good question. Unfortunately, the answer is: No one knows. At least, not yet. To find out what’s causing your transmission problem, a technician is going to have to perform a series of tests. Basically, these tests are designed to answer the simple question: “Is it inside or outside?” That is, is the problem inside the transmission, or in one of the many control systems that operate the transmission?

At Jake's Auto Garage in Harper, TX, our mechanics have diagnosed and repaired every transmission problem in the book. We’d like to pass some of our knowledge along to you, in order to help you understand your transmission a little better. Here, we discuss the synchronizers in your manual transmission, and how to know if one of yours is faulty.

At Jake's Auto Garage in Harper, TX, we know that the life of a transmission is solely dependent on the quality of repair and maintenance it receives.

Your vehicle configuration determines how it should be properly towed to avoid transmission damage. Specifically, it matters if your vehicle is front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive and whether it’s an automatic or a manual. From the professionals at Jake's Auto Garage in Harper, TX, here’s how to tow your vehicle:

Your drive belts are simple but integral components to the function of your car, truck, or SUV. At Jake's Auto Garage in Harper, TX, belts are one of the first things we assess when looking over a vehicle, as they alone are in charge of operating your AC, water pump, alternator, and power steering.

Getting into the habit of saving on fuel now will mean you’ll be ready when prices start rising again. You don’t have to buy a new, fuel-efficient car, either. No one wants to trade a fuel bill for a car payment, so take a look at our top 5 ways to save on fuel and you may just be able to pocket a little extra money at the end of the month.

Obviously, the dirtier your fuel system is, the bigger the improvement you will see in performance and fuel economy after a fuel system cleaning. But it is important not to wait until your system is running poorly. If you do, by the time you get a cleaning, you’ve wasted hundreds of dollars in gas or even possibly damaged your fuel injectors and catalytic converter.