Pacific Highway Auto Repair

When your vehicle has a problem or just needs some routine service, you might get a little nervous. Your vehicle's so important to your life in San Diego, you need to get back on the road as soon as possible – with the problem fixed right the first time.If you've ever checked into some of the technician training Pacific Highway Auto Repair professionals receive, you may be surprised at how much specialized knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern car. For example: Today there are four cylinder engines that generate more power than the 1980s-era V-8's. I mean a new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket's Ferrari in a race to 60 mph/100 kph. Our engines are more and more powerful and at the same time their fuel economy keeps inching up – even with steep San Diego gas prices. They are also amazingly reliable: Kudos to the automotive engineers. But the advances come at the price of simplicity. The ... read more

Imagine you've left San Diego and you're up in the arctic on a dog sled.Your dog team is pulling straight and true. You can cover a lot of ground quickly. Now imagine what would happen if one or two of the dogs wanted to go their own way and were pulling off to the side.That would slow you down. You would have to work harder to keep the sled going where you want it. The dogs are all working as hard as before, but you're covering less ground for the same effort.You're wasting kibble.The same is true of your vehicle when the wheels are out of alignment. That wheel that's pulling to the side is dragging down the rest of the vehicle; so you push a little harder on the gas pedal to keep up your speed. You're wasting gas.So have your wheel alignment checked at least once a year. It is important to get it checked right away if you feel the vehicle pulling to one side.Sometimes we San Diego residents bump a curb or hit a pothole and knock our wheels out of alignment. An accident can take ... read more

We live in such a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. In the old days, CA folks were real sticklers about taking care of their things. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough - they had to do without. Most San Diego drivers couldn't afford new vehicles very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could.It's a good thing that vehicles are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us CA penny pinchers is that a modern vehicle can easily go 200,000 miles/320,000 km with proper care. The engineering and the manufacturing quality is tremendous. The missing ingredient is us San Diego vehicle owners making sure we follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules.Every time you go a little farther between recommended oil changes, you have created an opportunity for sludge to be formed and for clogg ... read more

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some San Diego drivers, and is totally ignored by just as many. Just what it means is a mystery to most people. Let's get the urgency issues out of the way first. If your Check Engine light is flashing, that means that something is wrong that could cause engine damage. Naturally, you need to get that taken care of right away. If your check engine light is flashing, you shouldn't drive at high speeds, tow or haul heavy loads. Take it easy all the way to your San Diego service center. If the light is glowing steadily, you should keep an eye on it for a day or two. If the light doesn't go off, schedule an appointment with your friendly and knowledgeable pros at Pacific Highway Auto Repair to get it checked out.Some more information on how the Check Engine light works m ... read more

Like everything in the CA automotive market, there have been great strides in headlight technology in recent years. CA drivers can be safer at night because of it. Good headlights improve visibility on San Diego roads, enabling you to see farther. They also improve your peripheral vision, helping you to see the sides more clearly. The more you can see, the more quickly you can react to road conditions. This is because nearly half of traffic fatalities take place at night. And as San Diego resident population ages, everything that helps older eyes is welcome.Most new vehicles sold in CA come with halogen headlamps. A decade ago, halogens were exotic and expensive. Now that they are standard equipment, the price has come way down. Many luxury cars are equipped with high intensity discharge, or HID, headlamps. You have probably seen them on some San Diego roads; they're very bright and have a bluish tint.From behind the wheel, there is no doubt that HID headlamp ... read more

There are so many tire choices in the San Diego area that selecting the right one can be a bit overwhelming for drivers. And even though it's kind of fun to have new tires on your vehicle, they're a significant investment for most San Diego area folks so you want do it right.Tip: talk with your friendly and knowledgeable Pacific Highway Auto Repair tire professional. He'll help you sort through the choices.Here are some of the issues you'll talk about: One is size – you know, all those numbers on the side of the tire. The right size is . All new vehicles are required to have stability control which, along with other important safety systems, is calibrated to work with specific tire sizes. Your San Diego tire professional can help stay within manufacturer's specifications or program a different tire size into your vehicle's computer.And you'll want to discuss how and where you drive to determine the type of tire you need: summer, winter,  all ... read more

Most San Diego drivers worry about a breakdown or a tire blowout on a busy CA highway, but don't worry too much about failure of their air conditioning system. A breakdown on the side of the road can be a miserable and dangerous affair during San Diego rush hour, but so can a long ride in a hot vehicle.A lot of San Diego drivers judge their vehicles' air conditioning systems as “non-essential” and so may neglect them in favor of repairs and maintenance that keep the vehicle running. But preventive maintenance of an air conditioning system is simple and inexpensive, while auto a/c repair can be very expensive.San Diego drivers should have the refrigerant in their air conditioning system checked regularly to ensure it is adequate and clean. Air conditioning systems often fail because air and water have contaminated the refrigerant. Air reduces the efficiency of the ref ... read more

Since driving requirements and lifestyles differ among San Diego drivers, your vehicle manufacturer publishes two auto maintenance schedules: the regular schedule and the severe service schedule. Which schedule should San Diego drivers follow? Here are some questions to ask yourself:Are most of your trips less than four miles/six kilometers around San Diego?Are most of your trips less than 10 miles/16 kilometers in below-zero CA temps?Are most of your trips off-highway in CA?Do you drive often in dusty San Diego areas?Do you regularly tow a trailer or carry heavy loads around San Diego?Do you drive in very hot or very cold CA weather?Think about your typical week. Do you live by your nearest San Diego on-ramp and enjoy a non-stop commute? Or, do you drive the neighborhood car pool in stop-and-go traffic on San Diego surface streets? Let's suppose your owner's manual says the severe service oil change recommendation is 3,000 miles/5,000 kilometers and the stan ... read more

When they hear the word suspension, many drivers in San Diego may think back to those energetic days of grade school. Well, your vehicle's suspension is actually a good thing because it keeps your vehicle up off the road and helps provide a comfy ride around San Diego. Its job is to keep your wheels firmly planted over bumps and through curves. Your suspension system has many parts. If you look under your vehicle, it's basically everything that connects your wheels to the vehicle's frame. These are heavy duty parts that do a lot of work. They need to be inspected for damage and excessive wear at least once a year. A good time for this is when you get your annual alignment service at Pacific Highway Auto Repair. Here are some warning signs of suspension problems: the car pulls to one side it wanders the steering is erratic you see uneven tire wear you experience a poor ride or handling you see oil leaking from shocks Basically, you just don't feel in control when ... read more

Air quality has certainly become a hot issue in our modern world. We install air filters on our ventilation systems and in our vacuum cleaners. There's a filter that cleans the air going into our vehicle's engine — so why not one for the air in the passenger compartment?Foreign and domestic vehicle manufacturers haven't been ignoring the issue. Cabin air filters are becoming a standard feature on newer vehicles. These filters can clean particles out of the air down to three microns, which accounts for pollen, dust and most pollutants. San Diego residents who suffer from allergies or have a respiratory disorder should be a lot more comfortable. And even if you don't have a medical need for the filter, the cleaner air in your car just might help you breathe better, figuratively as well as literally.Cabin air filters are still fairly new in the San Diego area, so you'll have to check your vehicle owner's manual to see if you have o ... read more