Pacific Highway Auto Repair

  Welcome to the Pacific Highway Auto Repair automotive blog. Today, let's talk about the effect of tire wear. Let's focus on stopping in wet San Diego conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can't move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water.That's called hydroplaning. If it's really bad, San Diego drivers can actually spin out of control - endangering themselves and the other drivers around them. At best, you won't stop as fast. So how does a tire move water? It has channels for water to flow through. Look at your vehicle tire and you'll see channels: channels that run around the tire and channels that flow across the tire. They're designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.And the deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new Pacific Highway Auto Repair tire has very deep channels and can easily ... read more

Let's talk about air quality in San Diego. It's a global issue, but affects us wherever we are. Many decades ago, San Diego drivers began to become aware of how air pollution negatively affects health. But what about the air inside your vehicle?Now, it's only been in the last few years that cabin air filters have become common in San Diego. You can look in your owner's manual to see if you have one. If you do, there'll be a recommendation for replacing it when it gets dirty. If you live in an area of CA where there's a lot of dust, pollen or pollution, you may need to change it more often.You can also ask your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at Pacific Highway Auto Repair in San Diego. How hard is it to change an air filter on a car? It depends on your vehicle. Some are quite accessible; others take some doing to get to them. They're usually in the engine compartment or under the dashboard.Because cabin air filters are so new on the scene, some people h ... read more

What type of technology do you use? Do you prefer an 8-track tape or an iPod? When it comes to winter tires, much of San Diego driver's perception dates back to when 8-track was the best way to listen to the Bee Gees.Twenty years ago in CA, winter tires differed from highway tires only in their tread design. CA drivers called them snow tires back then, and they had big, knobby lugs that were designed to give good traction in deep snow. They had the same rubber compound as regular tires and they weren't very good on ice, packed snow or wet CA roads. They were not even very good on dry roads. They really helped in deep or loose snow, but they did a poor job the rest of the time. They were loud and rode hard. People couldn't wait to get them off in the spring.Then all-season tires started to appear in San Diego tire shops. All-season tires are really a compromise between summer and winter performance. They have acceptable hot weather ride and tread life and can get CA drivers through mild ... read more

There are a surprising number of small, inexpensive parts that can lead to expensive engine damage when they fail. It doesn't seem right.Fortunately a lot of those things can be taken care of in routine maintenance. They may not be easy to remember because it is a long list, but your service center at Pacific Highway Auto Repair can help you know what's scheduled to be taken care of.Some of us in San Diego, CA, really don't look forward to going in for an oil change and then getting a list of the other things the manufacturer recommends.But automotive maintenance is all about prevention and addressing small problems before they get big. Let's take the fuel filter for example.You may not know this but the median age for private vehicles on our San Diego, CA, roads is over nine years. When vehicles get older, five years or so, they've accumulated a lot of dirt and rust in their gas tanks. If that dirt gets into the engine it can cause thousands ... read more