Knowing how your car’s exhaust system works can actually help you attain maximum performance while helping to maintain your vehicle in top shape over the years. So, let’s talk about what an exhaust system is, what it does, and how an exhaust tune-up from a professional repair shop can save you money down the line. First Things First - What Is Exhau

No matter what season it is now, if you live in St. Louis we all know it is cold one day, hot the next and if it isn’t leaves, it is flowers or gumballs – always something falling on your vehicle. I wanted to touch base with you on a problem we see that can damage vehicles that no one really spends much time thinking about.   All of our vehicles ar

It is indisputable that the brake system is one of the most critical safety systems, if not the most important, of all of the integral systems in a motor vehicle. Brakes are essential to user integrity and safety and are the primary means of protection that we have on the road when we go behind the wheel of a car. The brake system helps us to slow

Let's talk about air conditioning . Most of us in St. Louis don't give our air conditioning a second thought as long as it works when we turn it on.  But it's a complex and expensive system that we should spend time thinking about before it starts blowing hot air. The air conditioning system in your vehicle performs four basic functions:  cooling,

Signs that you need to find a brake service repair shop for your vehicle often fall into one of two categories: you brakes are making noise or you are feeling a pulsation in the brake pedal when braking. Let's start with the noise. Some brake pads have a built in brake wear indicator that will make a chirp or soft squeal (ok, sometimes it is more o...

I wanted to make you aware of an epidemic we are seeing in the Automotive Repair Industry and it has to do with oil consumption and parts breaking down on newer cars. Let me back up and start with what is responsible for this. The Federal Government is holding the vehicle manufacturers accountable for fuel economy standards that they are working ha...

Let me start off by telling you the old way of replacing Transmission Fluid and then the new… We used to and sometimes still do (for leaking pan gasket) a transmission filter and pan drop. We take the oil pan off the unit and replace the filter and then put it back together including a new gasket for the pan. The problem is that you usually only ge

The big debate on oil changes is how often do I change my oil: 3,000 miles?  5,000 miles? 7,500 miles or even more? Back in the day the recommended mileage interval was every 3,000 miles and/or 3 months. Today vehicle manufacturers are pushing back the intervals to 5K and some are going as far as 10K with the advertisement of vehicles with low main

Brake fluid attracts moisture, over time moisture creeps into the brake hydraulic system and can cause serious problems (especially on today's cars with anti-lock brakes). What happens is the moisture gets into the system and not only causes rust and corrosion in the lines, but it can also reduce the boiling point of the brake fluid and this can ca

      On this picture, you are seeing a rubber plug that has been crammed into the side wall of a tire. There is so many things wrong with this that I don’t know where to start, but I’ll attempt to hit the high (or low) points. #1 At Jammin’ J Automotive, we will not install a plug on a passenger car tire, it's not a good fix for any tire! (A tire

We have had customers come in wanting us to do what we call a pad slap.  A pad slap is when you just put new brake pads on and do nothing to resurface the rotor surface. When I get asked to do a pad slap I always hear my Automotive Tech School instructor’s voice in my head saying “Never, never, never put new pads on an old rotor surface!”  While a

  Today I would like to talk about Cadillac Converters, or Catalytic Converters! A Catalytic Converter is an emissions control device that runs the pollutants from the internal combustion of your engine through a honey comb which contains Platinum that converts these emissions byproducts into less toxic substances before being released as exhaust.

Yes I'm sorry to say it came off my car! I have an old 1969 Mach 1 Mustang that talks to me in my sleep, it says things like… “pssssst - the kids don’t need braces, I need a new performance radiator” or “buy me the latest Ricky Racer go fast part don’t worry about the kids needing school supplies, it's OK. “ Well, as you can imagine, the car sits f

  How do I know what my recommended tire pressure should be? If you are unsure what your tire pressure should be – rest easy – you are not alone.  It is a subject that many people are unsure about.  With recommendations coming from all directions, including well-meaning family members, it is hard sometimes to know exactly what to do. Tire Manufactu

  Recently we had a customer call on the phone requesting a quote to put an EGR Valve on his car. When someone calls our shop with a specific quote request like that, my first question is always, "why do you think it needs an EGR Valve?" He said what many customers say, "My Check Engine Light is on and I got a diagnostic from the local Retail Auto

    Induction What? Induction Flush, Induction Cleaning Back in the golden oldie days of Carburetors (the 80's) the cleanliness of the air and fuel delivery system was important! Today with precision Multi-port fuel injection it has become imperative that we keep the Induction system clean. As we drive and burn fossil fuels (dead dinosaurs) they le

This brake rotor is toast! Please observe the 1/4 inch ledge on the outer edge of this brake rotor, it's not supposed to be there. This car came in for a flat repair only. When we alerted the customer and showed them just how dangerous these brakes were, they claimed to have heard no noise when braking or experienced any other symptoms. These brake

  One belt snap can cost you big! Your engine has an internal timing belt that synchronizes your camshaft(s) with the crankshaft and on some engines it can cause devastating engine damage if it breaks. Some engines are called interference engines (7 out of 10 vehicles on the road) which means that the valves in the cylinder head will "interfere" wi

Has this car been dredged up from a moss filled lake? No, in this case a rodent has made a nest around and on top of the vehicle's battery. The problem with this is that they can cause a terrible odor in the car as well as chew though wires, hoses, and insulation and can wreak havoc on how the car drives and performs. In this case this car is drive