Frequently Asked Questions

To ensure your vehicle is running in optimal condition, regular oil changes are recommended. Consumer Reports suggests five things you should know about oil changes.

1. Be sure to check your car’s owner’s manual for when to change the oil. Generally, you can expect to change the oil every 7,500 km (or every four months) for vehicles 2008 and newer or every 5,000 km (or every three months) for vehicles 2007 and older.
2. Check your vehicle’s oil levels at least once a month. Be sure to park on level ground, to turn off the engine, and to clean the dipstick in order to get an accurate reading. After inserting and removing the cleaned dipstick, check for two things: 1) the oil level appears within the hatched area of the dipstick tip, and 2) the colour of the oil is brown or black.
3. Even if you follow your owner’s manual recommendations on when to change the oil on your car, it’s important to remember that oil becomes less effective as it ages. Even if you don’t drive your car a lot, you should be changing the oil at least twice a year to keep your engine oil fresh.
4. Your owner’s manual will recommend what type of oil to use, and newer models will likely have it printed on the cap where you add oil. 
5. Synthetic oil can cost more than conventional oil, but it is also designed to be more resistant to breaking down (therefore lasting longer) and withstanding high temperatures. Living in an area like Sault Ste. Marie where we are exposed to cold winters and hot summers, synthetic oil can be more effective than conventional oil. Be sure to check your owner’s manual to see if it recommends your using synthetic oil for your car.

Most manufacturers recommend getting a four-wheel alignment at least once a year. Other times you may need a front-end or four-wheel alignment include:

• After purchasing a set of new tires
• After a collision, accident, or hitting a large pothole
• When replacing suspension or steering parts
• If you feel your vehicle pulling to one side when driving
• If your steering feels unstable or you feel a vibration
• If your tires are wearing unevenly or squeal on turns

Your car battery has many demands placed on it — it needs to provide a lot of power to start your engine and then to power all the electrical systems plus things like seat heaters and stereos, on top of having to charge all of our gadgets like cell phones, computers, and more. 

On short trips your car’s alternator doesn’t have time to fully recharge your battery, leaving it with only a partial charge. The uncharged parts of the lead plates in your battery “die” after a period of time and can never again retain a charge. This is why 70% of batteries don’t make it past 48 months.

One mistake to avoid is deeply depleting your battery, or running it down to almost nothing. Things like running your headlights or watching a DVD without the engine running take the charge in your battery down very low, and it may take weeks of normal city driving to get the level of charge back up to a normal range. During that time, the uncharged parts of the lead plates are dying. A car battery can only take about 10 of these deep depletion cycles before the battery is no good – so you can see how even once can take a big toll! 

So avoid deeply depleting your battery and even consider charging your battery with a battery charger every few months to help it last as long as possible.

With fuel costs as high as they are, it’s natural to want to save money by improving your car’s fuel economy. You can find lots of claims on how to make your gas dollar go further – some are legit, some are questionable, and others are downright fraudulent.

Before spending your hard-earned money on the latest gas-saving fad, do some research. If it defies the laws of physics, it’s probably too good to be true. There aren’t any magic pills or devices that drastically improve fuel economy. Do-it-yourself engine modifications can cause damage, compromise your safety, and may even be illegal.

Stick with tried-and-true fuel-saving maintenance services: have your engine oil and transmission fluid replaced on schedule, keep your tires properly inflated, and have a fuel system cleaning done as recommended. Reduce cargo weight by removing unneeded items from your vehicle. These simple things can have a great impact on your fuel economy.

How you drive can also help you save gas: avoid rapid starts, obey the speed limits, and use your cruise control when it’s safe.

Finally, you can always consult with your Classic Automotive technician to see what you can do to further improve your fuel economy.

Onboard computers monitor a myriad of sensors and engine functions. If something is out of whack, the computer stores a trouble code and turns on the Check Engine Light. There are hundreds of possible trouble codes and causes and just one Check Engine Light, so when the light comes, on you really don’t know what might be wrong. That takes some diagnostic work. 

If your Check Engine Light is flashing, it means something is wrong that can lead to immediate damage. You should not drive at highway speeds, tow a trailer, or haul heavy loads when your Check Engine Light is flashing. Bring your car in to your service centre as soon as possible. 

A constantly illuminated Check Engine Light is less serious – you have a few days to get into the shop. For example, one of the most frequent reasons for a Check Engine Light is a loose gas cap. After the cap is tightened, the computer will keep an eye on things for a couple of days. Once it realizes the problem is gone, your car’s computer will turn the light off. 

When you take your vehicle in for a Check Engine Light diagnosis, your technician will retrieve the trouble code(s) from the vehicle’s computer. The trouble code will suggest which systems are out of spec and give him or her a starting place for finding out what is wrong and how it should be repaired. This could be a quick process or it could be more extensive, depending on the problem. 

Ignoring the Check Engine Light is to ignore a problem. You wouldn’t ignore health symptoms like a fever or pain – you would get to a health care professional to find out what’s wrong and how to treat it. When your Check Engine Light is on, get into your service centre to take care of the underlying problem.

Many of us were taught to use a higher octane fuel when we wanted to “treat” ourselves to a little extra power. With modern computer-controlled engines, choosing among regular, mid-grade and premium gasoline is more complicated than that. 

The octane rating is expressed by a number like 85, 87, 89, or 92. The higher the number, the more resistant the fuel is to premature detonation. As the fuel and air is compressed in the engine, it can explode before it is supposed to, which isn’t good. Your vehicle manufacturer has a recommendation for the proper octane rating to work with the way your engine is designed. This number is indicated on a sticker by your gas cap. 

General Rules:

• Never use a lower octane rating than recommended by your manufacturer. This can lead to engine damage over time.
• Using gas with a higher octane rating than recommended in most modern vehicles will not deliver any significant advantage in terms of performance or fuel economy. Simply put - it isn’t worth the extra money.
• Some engines, usually in high-end luxury and performance cars, are designed to work with two octane levels. The manufacturer will state a horsepower output for each of the two ratings. They accomplish this with additional sensors and computer controls that aren’t found in most vehicles.

Manufacturers are building more and more high-compression-ratio and turbocharged engines that require high-octane rated fuel to deliver the power and durability that was engineered into the engine. Bottom line: saving a few pennies on a litre of gas can turn into a big expense down the road.