Pacific Highway Auto Repair

In many places, license plates have to be renewed every year or else you can't drive your vehicle legally.  Usually, you'll get a reminder from the agency that issues the plates. That kind of regular attention needs to be paid to your vehicle as well.  Its manufacturer has determined a schedule of service items that need to be done regularly, just like renewing your plates. Some depend on time, others depend on distance.  A perfect example is oil changes.  It's the most important scheduled maintenance you can have done to give your engine its longest life possible.  The manufacturer recommends the oil filter be changed at the same time. Here are some more items.  Your engine air filter gets dirty and needs adequate air to run most efficiently.  The manufacturer recommends an interval for replacing that.  Also tires, brake pads, timing belt, oxygen sensor and other items require regular replacement.  This is one of the reasons to find a servi ... 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

Sometimes we hear people in San Diego say, "What's up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don't break down." While it is true that today's vehicles are extremely reliable, they are also becoming increasingly complicated and use more exotic materials than ever before. All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most San Diego drivers don't realize how high tech automotive fluids have become,  fluids such as engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.Did you know that a modern engine would not run for more than a few months using motor oil formulas from 30 years ago? Today's automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle's components from premature wear and corrosion. Time and distances march on for all of our cars. Please don't think we're using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance - but here are some personal stories we've heard t ... read more

Today's Pacific Highway Auto Repair article focuses on severe service maintenance. Many San Diego drivers are not aware of them and yet there are also very vocal advocates in CA who think that severe service schedules apply to everyone. Somewhere between a complete lack of awareness and the dire blanket statements lies a reasonable approach to severe service maintenance at Pacific Highway Auto Repair.To back up a little, vehicle owner's manuals have schedules for preventive maintenance: things like oil changes, transmission service and so on. They say you should change your oil after a certain distanced traveled or after so many months. San Diego drivers understand this very well. What they may not know is that there are actually two service schedules: the regular schedule and the severe service schedule. The mileage and time intervals are lower on the severe service schedule.Now when you hear 'severe service,' you may think it doesn't apply to y ... read more

Have you checked out the price of new vehicles at San Diego car dealers? Ouch! Add financing and insurance and a new ride may not seem so attractive. A lot of San Diego, CA, folks are hoping to make their cars last a lot longer.Fortunately, with the current state of automotive engineering and manufacturing, there's no reason a modern vehicle can't be made to last for a 150,000 miles (250,000 kilometers) or more for smart San Diego drivers.The old adage: 'a stitch in time saves nine' is really true for San Diego residents when it comes to car maintenance. A great example is coolant service.Over time, coolant becomes corrosive and actually starts to damage your radiator and other parts. Smart San Diego drivers have their cooling system service taken care of right on schedule at Pacific Highway Auto Repair.Ditto for your power steering system, brake fluid, air conditioning system, differential and transmission. Of course, oil changes should be done right on schedule to avoid th ... read more

High gas prices in San Diego increase the cost of living for CA drivers. You've probably budgeted a certain amount for vehicle related expenses. Increased fuel costs now consume a larger portion of our incomes, causing some San Diego vehicle owners to skimp in other areas – like scheduled maintenance.According to CA news reports and automotive industry studies, this is becoming increasingly more common. In fact, nine out of ten personal vehicles on the road have at least one maintenance or repair item that hasn't been done. Some of these items pose serious safety risks. Others are just more likely to make it more expensive to drive. In this area, we can take a lesson from professional San Diego vehicle owners. I'm talking about fleet owners and operators. You know, San Diego folks like the trucking companies and delivery services. Because their livelihood depends on it, they have gotten sch ... read more

Most San Diego folks occasionally have days when they've got a bunch of errands to run. Yesterday was my day off and I needed to fill the gas tank, pick up some groceries at my San Diego market, swing by the ATM and get the kids from school. I could have made four trips . . . but that would have been totally inefficient. Instead I got unusually organized and planned my stops. I hit the ATM first and got gas next. Then I went to the supermarket and picked up the kids on the way home. I was proud of my wise use of time and money.What does this have to do with your car? Well, back in the day, each of your engine's accessories, like the alternator and air conditioner, were powered by separate belts. A vehicle might have five or six belts. These days, vehicles have a single belt to run all the accessories. It's called the serpentine belt. A pulley attached to the vehicle engine's crank provides the power to turn the serpentine belt. On the engine in the video, the first accessory in line i ... read more

Every San Diego car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter's dirty. Here's what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your vehicle owner's manual will have a recommendation of when the filter should be replaced. Now, most air filters purchased in San Diego don't cost a lot to replace. It's just that CA people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Pacific Highway Auto Repair can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change in San Diego. Think about a dirty furnace filter in your San Diego home. When it's all clogged up, enough clean air can't get through. In your vehicle, that means that your engine can't get as much air as it needs to burn the fuel efficiently. So it makes do with less air and has to use more gas to move your vehicle around San Diego roads. Your vehicle actually needs about ... read more

The median age for cars in the San Diego, CA area was over nine years. And two-thirds had over 75,000 miles. At Pacific Highway Auto Repair we hear reports that those numbers continue to rise. If you have a high-mileage vehicle in the San Diego area, bring it into Pacific Highway Auto Repair for high-mileage maintenance.4306 Pacific HighwaySan Diego, CA 92110619-299-7700 Many people in CA are keeping their vehicles longer. The economy has influenced that, but the fact that modern vehicles are more durable and reliable means that owning a high mileage vehicle doesn't have to be a painful experience.Local car owners in San Diego with over 100,000 miles on their vehicles often ask which service intervals they should follow. Let's start with the special needs of the older vehicle...The reality is that time and mileage will take its toll. The engine and transmission will have more sludge. The fuel, steering and brake systems will have gum and varnish built ... read more

The hottest CA news story may be different every day, but there's one topic that seems to come up over and over again – the price of gas in San Diego. If you feel like most of your paycheck goes into your gas tank, this post is for you. Here are several basic things people in San Diego can do to greatly reduce their gas consumption, save money, and help the environment. You can really improve your fuel economy by how you drive – but first, here's a review of things you can do for your vehicle that'll save gas no matter how you drive.The first one for San Diego drivers is keeping tires properly inflated. That can save 2 miles per gallon/.85 km per liter. Driving on low tires is like driving through sand – your car just has to work harder. Most San Diego service centers will fill up your tires for free, so just ask Pacific Highway Auto Repair. Also, make a habit of checking your tire pressure whenever you fill up. Many San Diego gas stations have an ... read more