Malvern PA Auto Repair

Question: I need new tires. How do I know which tires to get? ASM Auto LLC Answer: Let's look at selecting new tires in light of three factors: Function, Fit, and Value. Function: This gets at what your needs are for new tires: weather conditions, terrain, temperatures, etc. Most new family vehicles in come with all-season tires. They can be used all year long and do pretty well in most road conditions – but they aren't ideal at the extremes. Winter tires have a more aggressive tread for handling snow and ice on roads, and they have a rubber compound that helps them have better traction as temperatures drop below 45 degrees Fahrenheit/7.2 degrees Centigrade. In winter weather, you'll definitely experience better stopping and road-holding characteristics for vehicles than all-season tires. Dedicated summer tires enhance warm weather performance driving for. If you drive off-road around, there is a wide spectrum of tires ... read more

There's nothing quite like the feeling of driving down the road and, suddenly, the back end of your vehicle collapses. A possible cause is that something in your suspension has broken. Suspension components gradually wear out – you may not even notice the ride and handling slowly getting worse. But a sudden failure is unnerving and will often leave you unable to drive your vehicle. A broken spring can cause your suspension to drop suddenly. There are different types of springs, including coil springs, leaf springs, and air springs. Most vehicles these days use coil springs, and they look just like you think they'd look: a coiled-up metal spring like what you'd find if you took apart a ballpoint pen. Coil springs fail from rust (thanks, brine and road salt), trauma (think potholes, speed bumps, curbs) and just plain metal fatigue. Leaf springs are often used in larger vehicles such as trucks and large SUVs. The design has been around since the early days of carriages ... read more

Let's talk about air conditioning service and repair issues for the area. Most of us don't give our air conditioning a second thought as long as it's making cold air. But it's a complex and expensive system that we should think about before it starts blowing hot air. The refrigerant in the air conditioner contains a special oil that lubricates and cools the A/C parts. When enough refrigerant leaks out, your air conditioner still makes cold air, but the parts don't have enough oil to protect them and they wear out faster than they should. So it's important to service the air conditioner as recommended by your service center. Replacing old refrigerant has another benefit: refrigerant tends to gather moisture and become corrosive. That causes leaks in the system which can be expensive to repair. Fresh refrigerant protects the air conditioning components and keeps the system operating at peak efficiency so it doesn't have to work ... read more

Let's address a very important maintenance item for everyone – timing belt replacement. It's important because letting this one slide can lead to very expensive engine damage. Your timing belt choreographs the timing of your combustion process. Your pistons travel up and down in the cylinder. Intake valves open at the right time to let in air and fuel; they close at the right time to allow the fuel to burn and then the exhaust valves open at the right time to let out the exhaust. All this happens thousands of times a minute and it's your timing belt that makes sure the valves are opening and closing at precisely the right time. If the timing is off, your engine won't run. And that's the best case. The worst case is that a valve is opening at the wrong time and collides with the piston. The result is bent valves and maybe even more damage to the cylinder head. Repairs can run several thousand dollars. Now, timing belt ... read more

Let’s talk about your suspension – you know, the system that connects your wheels to your vehicle, controls your handling and delivers a good ride. Your suspension is critical for proper steering, stopping and stability. Hey, it’s a rough world out there – every time you hit a pothole, a bump or an object in the road, your suspension system absorbs the impact and maintains control. As you can imagine, your suspension has a lot of joints and pivot points that allow your wheels to move up and down over bumps and to turn as you steer. These parts include ball joints, tie rod ends, the pitman, idler arms and the control arm bushing. They simply wear out over time. When a joint or other part is worn, the suspension parts don’t fit together as tightly as they should. Handling and steering have a loose feel and you may hear strange noises. Your tires will wear unevenly because they’re bouncing down the road a little off kilter. A loose joint has the effe ... read more