Hanover Park Auto Repair

There's a segment of the Palatine population that's not committed to proper vehicle maintenance. Mistaken perceptions have crept into the IL area over time. Many Palatine motorists think the root lies in the fact that modern cars are so reliable. Reliability has improved dramatically in recent years. Quality surveys report fewer problems with new cars than ever before. Back when cars spent more time in the repair shop, Palatine drivers were more mindful of routine service. Now, it's much easier to put it off. Take tune-ups for example. In the days of mechanical ignition systems, an engine needed to be tuned-up every couple of years. The ignition points had to be replaced, spark plugs and coils replaced and the timing adjusted. If your engine was out of tune, you knew it. It ran poorly and got bad fuel economy. Now, the ignition system in your pickup is electronic and controlled by the engine management c ... read more

Sometimes we hear Hanover Park auto owners say, “What's up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don't break down.” While it is true that today's cars and trucks 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 Hanover Park auto owners don't realize how high tech automotive fluids have become. Fluids like, 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 miles 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 sto ... read more

The exhaust system on a vehicle is more complex than most Hanover Park motorists realize. It contains everything from old-fashioned pipes and clamps to sophisticated computers and sensors. All IL folks know a properly functioning exhaust system is good for the environment, but sometimes we forget that a damaged exhaust system can be deadly. That's why preventive maintenance on your exhaust system is so important. We can help you with that at Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission in Hanover Park. The exhaust manifold is the first component in your exhaust system. The manifold is attached to the engine. It collects the gases that are produced by the engine and directs them into the exhaust pipes. At this point, these gases are both hot and chemically dangerous. One of the gases produced in your engine is carbon monoxide. This gas is colorless and odorless. Breathing it can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and drowsiness. Continue breathing it, and you will di ... read more

There are a lot of new features, both optional and standard, on Hanover Park motorists' 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 Hanover Park. 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 Elk Grove Village atmosphere. Good news if you suffer from any types of allergies, or if you live in an area in Hanover Park 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 understanding Kamphaus Au ... read more

When it comes to preventive maintenance on our vehicles, most of us Hanover Park drivers remember to get our oil changed. But Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission services that occur at longer intervals — like transmission service — sometimes get overlooked. Yet transmission service is a key part of car care for Hanover Park car owners. A poorly maintained transmission will lessen fuel efficiency and lead to pricey repairs. The transmission transfers power from the engine to the drive wheels. When it's clean and well – lubricated, it gives maximum fuel efficiency. But when it gets dirty or worn down, your MPG will suffer. Your transmission relies on transmission fluid to keep everything running well. Transmission fluid has two jobs: to cool and lubricate the transmission. The transmission operates at high temperatures. It can get 100-150°F degrees hotter inside your transmission than inside your engine. Transmission fluid transfers some of the heat away f ... read more

Today's Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission post focuses on using the proper fluids for your vehicle. Significant advancements in automotive technology have lead to the development of high-tech fluids to keep modern cars operating at peak performance. This is due to both engineering advances and new high-tech materials used to build pickup automotive systems. A simple example of this is the cooling system. For decades it was primarily made out of iron, steel and rubber hoses. There was one kind of coolant that protected these components from corrosion. Now cooling system components are made with various metal alloys and plastics. These materials require different additives to protect them from corrosion. Since the materials used vary among pickup auto manufacturers, we now have a number of different kinds of coolant. It's essential for Palatine car owners to use the right coolant. If ... read more

At Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission we hear from a lot of people who are excited about the new diesel engines that will soon be available in passenger cars and SUV's. But our IL friends are often curious about the preventive maintenance requirements. People may not know that diesel engines have long been used extensively in Europe and Asia. In fact, in some markets, there're nearly as many diesel powered passenger cars as there are gasoline. Here's who's announced or is expected to announce new diesels for North America: BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Subaru. Of course, the US auto makers will be expanding their diesel offerings as well. Diesels will become a very big deal here in IL. You may ask, why has it taken so long getting to IL and North America? There are a bunch of reasons like fuel tax policies and such, but the biggest hurtle was that IL diesel fuel had a high sulfur content – too high for the latest gener ... read more

A fuel injector is a valve that delivers fuel to a vehicle's engine. It has to deliver the precise amount of fuel, to precisely the right place, precisely when the engine needs it. The fuel also has to be mixed with air before it can burn in the engine. Fuel injectors are engineered to spray fuel in a specific pattern into the engine. (The pattern varies by engine type and design.) In order to achieve these spray patterns, the fuel must be pressurized. The pressure in a fuel injection system varies depending on its type. Many gasoline engines use port injection systems, which operate with a pressure of 60 pounds per square inch. Newer direct injection systems operate at 10 to 30 times that pressure. Some diesel passenger vehicles have fuel injectors that operate at 30,000 pounds or more per square inch. Vehicles have one fuel injector for each cylinder in the engine. Your vehicle's control computer constantly monitors the engine and various sensors in the v ... 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 IL 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 Hanover Park car owners couldn't afford new cars very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could. It's a good thing that cars are more reliable these days for Hanover Park car owners. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us IL penny pinchers is that a modern car 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 Hanover Park car owners making sure we follow the car maker's recommended maintenance schedules. Every time you go a couple thousand extra miles between oil changes you have created an opportunity for sludge to be formed and clog ... read more

If you're gonna drive around the Elk Grove Village area, you've got to be able to see! So having a good pair of windshield wipers is extremely important. We've all experienced the frustration and fear of not being able to see clearly during a storm, or when our windshield is just dirty. It seems like your wiper blades are always at their worst when you need them the most. But windshield wipers are like most other vehicle parts– they require regular attention in order to work their best. You really ought to replace your wiper blades twice a year; in the spring and the fall. If it's going to be a particularly harsh winter in Hanover Park, you may even want to get special winter blades in the fall. Winter blades are designed to resist freezing. Speaking of winter and freezing conditions, if your car has been sitting for a long time and the windshield becomes frozen, don't use your wipers to clear off s ... read more