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What is a timing belt?
A timing belt is a flat rubber belt with teeth. It synchronizes valve and piston movement inside your engine. Timing belts have replaced timing chains to aid in making today's sophisticated engines possible. They are lighter, quieter, more efficient and more economical than chains. Back to top Where is the timing belt located? The timing belt is inside the engine. You can't see it when you open the hood. To find out if you have one, you can check your owner's manual or ask your service technician. The second choice is your best bet. They can quickly tell you if you have one and when it should be replaced. Back to top
Like any other part on your engine the timing belt eventually wears out. Vehicle manufactures usually recommend timing belt replacement every 60,000-90,000 miles. It is very important to replace the belt before it breaks and possibly causes major engine damage. Back to top What happens if my timing belt breaks? The engine stops DEAD. The bad news. You will need a tow to a repair shop. In addition to inconvenience you will need to have the timing belt replaced. The worse news. If your vehicle has an "interference" engine, your engine may have major internal damage. A broken belt can result in an open valve being struck by a moving piston. This can damage valves, pistons, cylinder heads, and cylinder walls. In addition to the inconvenience and the cost of a tow you may need a new engine. Back to top With progressing technology in lubricants vehicle manufactures are extending the recommended interval between oil changes. However we still recommend every three months or three thousand miles (whichever comes first) to keep the internal protection of your engine at its peak. Dirty or diluted oil can cause premature wear in your engine and can create costly problems. Here at Houska Automotive we don't just change the oil, we perform a 20 point inspection of your vehicle in an effort to spot problems before they become severe.Back to top When tires are manufactured there are imperfections in the stiffness of the tires. At 60 mph these imperfections can cause the wheel to literally slam into the ground 14 times a second. Traditional tire balancing uses counter weights to minimize the effects of these imperfections. The new OEM matching process uses a "road roller" to simulate the road force of the tire being on the vehicle rolling on the ground. This allows us to match the imperfections in the tire with the imperfections on the wheel giving the least vibration and the smoothest ride possible. This process has been used at vehicle manufactures for several years, but is only now being made available to the general public. Back to top In the not too distant past a technician could look under the hood and physically see a problem area in the vehicle. Traditionally engine controls were operated by manual means, either with vacuum produced by the engine or by centrifugal weights within the distributor that advanced the timing as the engine speed increased or by a combination of the two. With new standards of performance and emissions this is no longer enough. Vehicle manufactures found it necessary to design a system to regulate the air/fuel mixture being fed to the engine. They also needed to reduce tailpipe emissions and increase fuel economy to be in compliance with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy laws of 1981. Thus computer controlled carburetors and engine controls were born. Later replaced with fuel injection and then updated types of fuel injection all relying on input from sensors. If one of these sensors or the miles of wiring between them fails, then the engine will not operate smoothly, and may cause the "check engine" light to come on. To find these problems technicians now need to use special computerized equipment to access the vehicles onboard computer system and analyze the affected systems. With this information the technician can test the individual sensors to isolate and repair the problem. Back to top In the 1970's scientists expressed concerns that Chloroflourocarbons were destroying the ozone layer. By the mid 1980's it was confirmed that CFC's were indeed harmful and one of the worst offenders was R-12 refrigerant used in automobiles. In accordance with the clean air act in 1992 it became prohibited to vent R-12 into the atmosphere. In 1995 this same rule went into effect for the new HFC-134a refrigerant. Shops now are required to purchase and maintain specialized equipment for both types of refrigerant and for the technicians to attend classes and be certified by an EPA-approved organization. State and Federal laws now read that knowingly venting refrigerants is prohibited and impose penalties depending upon the infraction of up to $15,000 state, $25,000 federal per violation per day and possibly jail time. Back to top
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