San Carlos & Valley Springs Auto Repair

    Air conditioning   Your air conditioning system relies on a closed system that circulates refrigerant through a compressor, an evaporator, a drier and one or more heat exchangers to pull heat out of your car and dump it outside, leaving you 20 degrees or so cooler inside than out. O-rings and gaskets seal the joints in this system and keep the refrigerant inside.  Your compressor moves refrigerant through the system, where it expands to a gas then returns to liquid to “condition” the air without being used up.  Refrigerant gases are environmental hazards if released into the air, so we use special machines to evacuate them from your A/C system and return them after repairs.  When your car sits unused, the tiny seals inside your climate-control system can shrink slightly and let refrigerant escape. Over time, you may lose just enough refrigerant that your vents blow coolish but not cold because you’re low on refrigerant. We’ve ... read more

  Hybrid powertrains Hybrid powertrains rely on liquid coolant to remove heat from the electric motors, batteries and inverters, which are often hidden behind the rear seats, under the floor or in the trunk area, and rely on carefully managed airflow combined with special coolant and radiators.  I remember a Honda Insight that lost this coolant due to a rock striking the grille area, setting a check engine light on the dash.  The owner ignored the warning and kept driving the car, until forced to stop on the side of the road.  That tiny pebble caused the hybrid power system to overheat and take out some other components - several thousand dollars in repairs.  Hybrid batteries use the car’s engine to turn an alternator or an electric motor to charge them, maintaining a complex balance of power to provide brisk acceleration or electric-only driving, then burning fuel to recharge the battery bank and extend driving range.  These cars and trucks are des ... read more

  Rodent damage While you’ve been sheltering in place, rodents may have sheltered under your hood.  In the last couple of months, we’ve seen five or six cars with wiring damage along with remnants of nesting, eating and “visiting the powder room.” Some cars have very complex wiring harnesses that must be replaced as entire assemblies - expensive parts and extensive labor.  Sometimes, the first evidence is a rough idle, a check-engine light, bits of plant material under the hood, or a telltale smell.  These cars usually require a thorough cleaning of the engine compartment, some diagnostic work, replacement or repair of wiring, and some preventive measures. We recommend wrapping wiring harnesses with capsaicin-impregnated tape (it’s spicy hot) to deter rodents from chewing.  Rodent repellents, containing odors rats don’t like such as mint, and fox-urine pheromones, can help a bit, and you can install under-hood strobe lights ... read more

  Catalytic-converter theft The catalytic converter is a component in your exhaust system that converts oxides of nitrogen (NOx) into less-polluting emissions, and they contain several valuable metals.  Toyota Prius cats have larger quantities of these metals, and pay higher prices at the metal recycler.  Thieves target these cars, in particular, for a quick “jack and hack” that’ll cost you a few thousand to repair, but nets them a couple hundred dollars or less. Every car is a potential target, and those parked unused for several days can attract the attention of the bad guys.  Your first clue is usually a car that sounds like the muffler fell off - the entire middle section of your exhaust system gets cut out with a power saw in a minute or two, often stealing or damaging the oxygen sensors, pre-cat and post-cat exhaust pipes, and sometimes even denting things with careless jack placement.  We can install catalytic-converter shields using ... read more

(As seen in San Carlos Living Magazine) What makes Toole’s Garage different is our people – Francisco, Luis, Rob, Dave, and Cameron. Dave Toole, the owner, takes great care in selecting and developing his master technicians, mechanics at the top of their game in training and experience. We rely on their skills to perform the tricky diagnoses and the complex repairs sometimes necessary to get a car running well. There are two paths in becoming a master technician. First, many talented automotive technicians entered the profession at the side of another tech, learning and watching and asking questions while picking up information and confidence along the way. In time, you can get pretty good at working on cars if you learn the right techniques from a patient mentor. Alternatively, other students enter our profession in a more academic way, enrolling in an automotive technology program at a college or trade school, and studying engines, transmissions, electrical systems, gear ... read more

Hey fans!   I get many phone calls from potential clients that ask me if their shocks or struts really need to be replaced. They usually say, "my car does not seem bouncy" or " my car seems to handle very well". Those are both true statements. The downside to cars today is that they are built so well...........Did I just say that???? Yes, they are built very well, components last longer and the car feels fine with higher mileage. The concern with that is that the suspension components are moving a lot more than they would when things like the struts are worn, but you don't feel that as a driver. The manufacturer of struts says they should be replaced every 50,000 miles. The valving inside those struts move 75,000,000 times in 50k. 75 Million times, that is a lot. Not many things last that long.  When the valving wears down, it allows the strut (or shock abso ... read more

What's up everybody! Dave the Car Guy! Today, I'm going to let you know the best way to find your forever Auto Repair Shop Mechanic! This is a question that people ask a lot, and with good reason. There truly is some misconception out shops out there and some of it came from some poor actions of individuals owning a business. Many auto repair shops out there today have great integrity, are convenient, and do have your best interest in mind. There are many more of these type of shops than the ones that you have heard horror stories about. The great thing about being a consumer today, is that the internet has leveled the playing field. You can get a glimpse of any company in which you would like to do business with in the privacy of your own space, by searching them online. This is how we will start our search! Step 1:   Ask a friend, family member, or colleague if they LOVE the auto shop that they use. Whether they have great ... read more

Hi peeps!     The word Hybrid has been a very active word since year 2000. What does Hybrid mean? Well, when you say the word today, A car comes into mind, most likely, a Toyota Prius.   Hybrid essentially is the blending of different things. For example, have ever eaten a Pluot? It is a Hybrid of a plum and an apricot. Hybrid in a vehicle means that there are more than one mode of propulsion. There is an "Internal Combustion Engine" or ICE and a form of high voltage electric motor blended to work together. The high voltage motor requires electric current. This comes from stored energy or the HV Battery. Typically, the HV battery is made up of many small batteries together in series to create a large high voltage battery. The purpose of this technology is to allow high MPG. The HV system will produce torque to allow the ICE to not work as hard, this conserves fuel. One t ... read more

Hey Fellow Car Fans!   Today, I’m talking about wheel alignments. We have all heard the term. Some clients even come in because the car drifts or pulls and they think they might need one. The question is, how can you really tell? Here is the skinny on wheel alignments. Most of the time, pulls and drifts are not caused by an incorrect wheel alignment. The cause is usually tire related. A wheel alignment usually just aids in the proper wear of your tires. I will give you some terms or measurements associated with your suspension. The primary culprit for tire wear is a measurement called TOE. There is POSITIVE TOE, OR TOE IN. We describe this condition as Pigeon Toed, where the front of the tires are closer together than the rear. The next is NEGATIVE TOE, OR TOE OUT. We call this “Charlie Chaplin” where the front of the tires are further from each other than the rear of the tire. The ... read more

Hey fans and people who just want to be in the know! Have you ever had a shop tell say that you had an oil leak, but yet you never see any oil on your driveway or in your garage? It makes you wonder what they are looking at. If you are a client of Toole's Garage, you already know that we send pictures so you can see what we are looking at. Just because an engine or transmission has an oil leak doesn't necessarily mean it will travel and hit the ground.  Sometimes these pesky oil leaks will slowly seep down the sides of the engine or transmission and get enough dirt and debris stuck to it to where it just puts a coating on everything. The reason shops will recommend doing oil leak repairs is because when the oil gets on any rubber components, like control arm bushings, engine mounts, or strut bushings, it will cause the rubber to deteriorate. Most cars of todays oil sealing gaskets are made out of rubber. They do a fantastic job of keep ... read more