Hanover Park Auto Repair

The simple fact is that 70% of car batteries fail within 4 years. They just need to be replaced when they are no longer able to hold a full charge. Batteries are a big ticket item for most Hanover Park motorists and it's tempting to put off buying a new one as long as possible. But a battery that cannot hold a full charge requires the alternator to work extra hard, causing it to wear out prematurely. Your Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission tech can test your battery to see if it should be replaced. Testing is a good idea for IL auto owners because a battery might still be good, but become dead because of a bad alternator or even a worn serpentine belt and tensioner. Give us a call Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission 1005 Irving Park RdHanover Park, IL 60133

Hanover Park auto owners know that under-inflated tires wear out more quickly. Under-inflation is also a major cause of tire failure for IL auto owners. More flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances are all results of under-inflated tires. It's hard for many Hanover Park motorists to tell when a radial tire is under-inflated. If your automobile manufacturer recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your tire is considered significantly under-inflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds. Uncle Sam to the rescue! A recent federal law required vehicle manufacturers to include a Tire Pressure Monitoring System - or TPMS system - in all vehicles. The system is a dashboard mounted warning light that goes off if one or more of the tires falls 25 % below the automobile manufacturer's pressure recommendations. The law covers all passenger cars, SUVs, mini vans and pick ... read more

One topic that hits the news in Hanover Park on a regular basis is the price of gas. The answer for some IL drivers is to buy a vehicle that gets better gas mileage. For those of us Hanover Park auto owners who don't want to add a car payment to our monthly expenses, we need to improve our fuel economy any way we can. Following recommended service intervals by coming into Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission is one of the best ways Hanover Park auto owners can keep their minivan running efficiently. That means better fuel efficiency. When you give it some thought, it only makes sense. Dirty oil or transmission fluid can't lubricate or clean. That means more drag which reduces MPG. Keeping up with scheduled oil changes and transmission services will save gas for IL motorists. Dirty engine air filters are another efficiency pirate. They rob your sedan engine of enough air to effectively burn the fuel, so you need more gas to get the job done. Replacing a dirty air filter can pa ... read more

When you get an oil change, it's always a safe bet to just use the type of oil the auto manufacturer recommends. But sometimes we're asked if we'd like conventional or synthetic motor oil. We glance at the price tags on the two options and choose the cheaper one. But in this case, the more expensive oil might be the better bargain for Hanover Park car owners. Conventional oil is made from petroleum. Its molecules form long hydrocarbon chains. Synthetic motor oil is either more highly refined petroleum or completely man-made. Its molecules are more uniform. This provides essential advantages over conventional motor oil. First of all, the molecular structure of synthetic motor oil makes it more slippery than conventional oil so it lubricates better. This translates to better wear protection for Hanover Park drivers, cooler operating temperatures, more engine power and increased fuel economy. Further, synthetic oil is more heat-resistant t ... read more

Modern cars and trucks in and around Hanover Park run on 12 volt electrical systems. 12 volts is enough to get the job done for Hanover Park car owners 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 IL motorists 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 Hanover Park car owners resilient batteries that are able to meet these strenuous requirements. But th ... read more

Let's talk about transmission service. It can be easy for Hanover Park drivers to forget about getting their transmission serviced because it doesn't need it very often. It's easier for IL car owners to remember to change the engine oil - you know, every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers. But proper transmission servicing keeps your pickup running smoothly and helps us motorists avoid costly repairs down the road. The transmission undergoes a lot of stress. The grit Hanover Park car owners see in used transmission fluid is actually bits of metal that wear off the gears in the transmission. In addition to that, the transmission operates at very high temperatures. Usually it's 100 to 150 degrees higher than engine temperatures. Those high temperatures eventually cause the transmission fluid to start to break down and lose efficiency. As the fluid gets older, it gets gritty and doesn't lubricate and cool the pickup transmission as well - leading to even more wear. The fluid can ... read more

With the recent focus in Bartlett on improving fuel efficiency, we've been told how important it is to maintain our tire pressure. Hanover Park auto owners know that tires wear out, but we want to make them last as long as possible because they're not cheap to replace. In addition to saving gas, properly inflated tires last longer. Under-inflated tires will wear out more quickly. Some Bartlett auto owners wonder if they should add a few extra pounds of pressure when they fill up their tires. Bad idea. In fact, there are very good reasons not to over-inflate your tires. For one, the middle of the tread will wear unevenly because the full tread is not contacting the road properly. That also adversely affects your handling. Stop by Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission to see about tire maintenance for your Hanover Park, IL vehicle. Kamphaus AutoCare and Emission1005 Irving Park RdHanover Park, IL 60133 Every vehicle in the Bartlett area ... read more

A while back, the Cash for Clunkers program was all over the IL news. Hanover Park people could trade in their old vehicle for a new one that got better fuel economy and receive a government rebate. A lot of Hanover Park motorists had so-called clunkers that they wanted to keep. They're good commuters, Hanover Park grocery getters or toy haulers. They enjoy that fact that they're paid off, or soon will be. They would gladly like to keep their pickups for 200,000 miles or more - as long as it's economical to do so. There are plenty of Hanover Park drivers whose vehicles are running after 150,000or 200,000 miles. We can learn from what they're doing to keep our own pickups on the road in IL. The astute Hanover Park auto owners of high-mileage cars often report a common denominator of never skipping an oil change. That may sound a bit unsophisticated, but it's really not. First ... read more

A recent report stated that over 80 percent of the vehicles on our Hanover Park IL roads have one or more service or repair that's needed, but hasn't been taken care of. Now that's a lot of undone service. That translates into something over 160 million vehicles in the U.S. alone. Some of the neglected items are minor. Others are serious safety concerns. There are several reasons why we hesitate to take care of recommended services; especially services that our Hanover Park IL automotive advisor recommends when we're in for something else, like anoil change. The first issue boils down to comfort with car care. We don't always feel we know enough to make good decisions. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that vehicles are so reliable these days. They almost become an appliance. Of course you love your pickup, but if you don't have to worry about it breaking down all the time, you're not forced to think as much about preventiv ... read more

The price of gas and the uncertain economy are both causing IL residents to review their finances. More and more Hanover Park motorists are opting to keep their vehicles longer and put off purchasing a newer car. It is estimated that two-thirds of the vehicles on the roads of North America today have over 75,000 miles on them. And the average age of vehicles is now over eleven years. That translates to some car care issues that many Hanover Park men and women haven't dealt with in the past. Older vehicles simply have different maintenance requirements than newer ones. Learning those requirements presents a challenge for Hanover Park motorists because many owner's manuals only publish maintenance schedules up to 60,000 or 90,000 miles. Vehicle owners have to keep good records and be more involved in planning preventive maintenance if they want to keep their pickups on the road. First of all, any service in your owner's manual that comes with a recommended mileage i ... read more