Daytona Beach Auto Repair

The drive train in your vehicle includes all the components that transfer power from the transmission to the wheels. Those components differ depending on what type of vehicle you drive, namely, front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The preventive maintenance your driveshaft needs will also differ by what type of vehicle you drive.Let's start with front-wheel drive. In this vehicle, the transmission and the differential are combined in one component, known as the transaxle. The transaxle is connected to two half-shafts (axles), which are then connected to the wheels with a constant velocity (or CV) joint, which is protected by an airtight rubber boot.Honest-1 Auto Care service for this type of driveline includes servicing the transaxle and inspecting the CV boot. If the boot is damaged, the CV joint will need to be inspected, and the boot will need to be replaced. If you hear a clicking noise ... read more

All those automotive fluids can be confusing for Daytona Beach drivers. Recent years have brought new grades of engine oil, types of transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid. The right fluid protects your vehicle and helps it perform at its best. The wrong fluid won't work as well and could even cause damage.In addition to new grades of engine oil, many vehicles now leave the factory with synthetic oil. People in Daytona Beach should always use the grade recommended by their manufacturer. All coolant, also called antifreeze, used to be green. Now there are several other colors of coolant sold at Honest-1 Auto Care in Daytona Beach. Each type is designed to protect the cooling system components that are particular to your vehicle. The wrong stuff can void your vehicle cooling system warranty and could even cause engine damage.Most passenger vehicles on Daytona Beach roads today use either DOT 3, DOT 4 or DOT ... read more

Your vehicle is important to you, and keeping it running properly is important to your lifestyle. That's why you're smart enough to have it serviced regularly at Honest-1 Auto Care in Daytona Beach. And even though it may just be routine maintenance, you want it done right by automotive professionals.It's also very important to your Daytona Beach service center to keep you happy and on the road. You might be surprised at the amount of money our Daytona Beach auto service center spends annually to make sure our friendly and knowledgeable technicians are properly trained.Honest-1 Auto Care offers a variety of automotive services for many kinds of vehicles. We need to be current on the latest techniques and parts so that we can give you quality service. Our Daytona Beach service centers subscribe to data services that list the high quality parts and fluids recommended by your manufacturer.And each service has a checklist of standard procedures. Honest-1 Auto Care technicians follow ... read more

Today in the Honest-1 Auto Care auto care blog, we're going to talk to Daytona Beach drivers about oil change intervals. It seems that as engine technology advances, oil change intervals become longer for Honest-1 Auto Care customers. For example, recently four of the world's largest vehicle manufacturer's shortened the published intervals for several of their engine models. They originally published intervals that extended out to a much as 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers).In real world Daytona Beach driving, the oil started to sludge up before the recommended change interval. Oil sludge is a thick jelly-like substance: quite literally petroleum jelly – like Vaseline. This goop was clogging vehicle small engine passages so the oil wouldn't flow to some parts of the engine. This resulted in engine damage. We see it too often at Honest-1 Auto Care in Daytona Beach.The vehicle manufacturers began to offer an extended warranty to cover sludge damage. But there was a ... read more

Myths passed around our Daytona Beach, FL community start with a grain of evidence and are then built up with a lot of imagination and very elastic logic. And the internet is a breeding ground for automotive myths. Some bloggers recall the vehicles of yesteryear and declare their modern decedents to be virtually maintenance free and that anyone who says otherwise is out to rip you off. To get the truth about auto myths you hear around the Daytona Beach area, come over to Honest-1 Auto Care. Let's examine a couple of the more popular rants and look at the truth behind them.The first one is that the chassis no longer needs lubrication for suspension, steering and the driveline. They declare that anyone who has charged you for lubrication is a charlatan.The truth on which this myth is based is that many new vehicles come from the factory with sealed joints and cannot be greased. However, there are still some grease po ... read more

Let's talk about alternative fuel vehicles. In their quest to reduce the use of fossil fuels and harmful exhaust emissions in our FL environment, automakers will have a number of alternatives for Daytona Beach drivers very soon.For instance, Flex Fuel vehicles are already available in the Daytona Beach area. Flex Fuel vehicles can run on gasoline or on E85 fuel. E85 is a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The ethanol is made from corn. The benefits to Daytona Beach drivers are in using less petroleum and reduced pollution. The drawbacks are that E85 gets lower gas mileage and when gas prices are low, E85 can be more than straight gasoline.Daytona Beach drivers should only use E85 if they have a Flex Fuel compatible engine. Flex Fuel vehicles have special seals and gaskets that can stand up to the high alcohol content of E85. Using E85 in a regular engine can lead to gas leaks and fires.Diesel engines have been a ... read more

There are a lot of new features, both optional and standard, on Daytona Beach drivers' vehicles these days. One you may not have heard of is called a cabin air filter. Simply put, its job is to keep the air in the passenger compartment of your car nice and clean.A cabin air filter is similar to the filter you use on your furnace at home in Daytona Beach. Cabin air filters can catch particles down to three microns. By comparison, a grain of sand is 200 microns. So cabin air filters are effective against dust, dirt, pollen, mold spores and most pollutants in our Daytona Beach area atmosphere. Good news if you suffer from any types of allergies, or if you live in an area in FL prone to air pollution.Cabin air filters are generally located in the engine compartment or under the dashboard. They can be tricky to access and replace, so you'll probably want to go to your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at Honest ... read more

Like everything in the FL automotive market, there have been great strides in headlight technology in recent years. FL drivers can be safer at night because of it. Good headlights improve visibility on Daytona Beach 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 Daytona Beach resident population ages, everything that helps older eyes is welcome.Most new vehicles sold in FL 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 Daytona Beach roads; they're very bright and have a bluish tint.From behind the wheel, there is no doubt that ... read more

Modern vehicles in and around Daytona Beach run on 12 volt electrical systems. 12 volts is enough to get the job done for Daytona Beach drivers without having so much power that there is danger of electrocution. But today's vehicles have more electrical components and do-dads than ever before. This really strains your electrical system, making it hard for the battery to keep up. Think about it: electric seats, seat heaters, power locks windows and sun roofs. And then us FL drivers have all the power outlets for our cell phones, computers and DVD players.We also have navigation systems and powerful stereos. Plus there are all the engine and transmission computers, traction control, stability control, anti-lock brakes, sensors and on and on. Even the security system is running off the battery while the car is turned off.Fortunately, battery technology has given Daytona Beach drivers resilient batteries that are able to meet these strenuous requirements. But the fact is, batteries j ... read more

People in Daytona Beach have been hearing a lot about higher oil change intervals these days. Maybe you're wondering: What are the key issues?Some new vehicle manufacturers are now recommending much higher oil change intervals than they have in the past. As much as 5,000 to 8,000 miles (8,000 km to 13,000 km) or more. This practice came under scrutiny when four of the largest new vehicle manufacturers announced that owners like those in Daytona Beach were experiencing engine damage resulting from these higher oil change intervals.The manufacturers' standard oil drain service for particular vehicles was scheduled at around 7,500 miles/12,000 km. People following these recommendations were experiencing engine damage. It turns out that oil sludge was building up. This caused small oil passages to clog and engine parts to fail.What causes oil sludge? It's a factor of time and mileage. There are hot spots in every engine that cause oil burn off that leads to ... read more