Des Moines Auto Repair

There is a story you can read here saying that the electric starter motor was first developed by Cadillac because the original hand-crank starter actually killed a man. The original handcrank starters were both difficult and dangerous. Many women did not have the strength to turn them, and so could not drive without a man present to start the vehicle. It’s safe to say that the electric starter has transformed society, and the electric starter, of course, would not have been possible with asupply of electricity, which needed to be mobile. In other words, it needed energy storage. The impact of the automotive battery goes beyond starting your vehicle’s engine.Before the battery was put into use in cars, headlights had to be run on gas. Imagine pulling up to the fuel pump and to ... read more

There are a few major inventions that have shaped the evolution of the automobile, and thus society at large. We’ve tried to keep this list short by leaving out some of the things that haven’t greatly changed motoring for the average consumer. Take ABS brakes, for example: there might be more accidents (and more severe accidents) without them, but progress would probably not have gone in a different direction if they had never been invented. We would probably still live and drive more or less the same. Without the inventions on this list, though, the driving experience would look totally different. 1. The internal combustion engine Before the internal combustion engine, cars were run by the steam engine. The combustion engine proved to be more energy-efficient, and thus was key to making automobiles that could travel fast and far at affordable cost. In addition, combustion engi ... read more

Here are a few notes we want drivers to be aware of during the winter months: 1. Being prepared for roadside emergencies is more important than ever in the winter time. There are two main reasons for this: getting stuck on the side of the road is more likely, and getting stuck on the side of the road can be dangerous. Not only do you run the risk of freezing, you also have to worry about another driver losing control on sketchy roads (perhaps exactly the way you did). We recommend having an emergency kit in your car for winter driving, which we’ve covered in this article. 2. No heat or low heat? Check your radiator. Your car’s heater works by transferring heat from the engine to the heater core, via the coolant circulating through your cooling system. Even a small drop in your coolant level can mess with the functioni ... read more

As you’d probably guess, the high vehicle prices over the last two or so years have been caused by low supply and high demand. Here is the sequence of events that the experts say are behind the current conditions: Reduced production of vehicles due to lockdowns, starting early in 2020 The micro chip shortage began around the same time, also due to COVID. This shortage is hampering auto production Global shipping issues beginning in 2020 have made it hard to ship whatever inventory is available Increasing demand over the course of 2021, due to multiple reasons, Reduced production of vehicles due to lockdowns, starting early in 2020 such as people moving out of cities, people avoiding public transport because of COVID concerns, and unusually low interest rates on auto loans. The shortage start ... read more

There are two main criteria to pay attention to when it comes to selecting motor oil: Viscosity (often referred to as weight) Synthetic vs non-synthetic First of all, if you’re under warranty, always follow the terms of the warranty, which may specify the type of oil to use. Second, even if you’re not under warranty, you should follow any recommendations your owner’s manual makes in regards to oil. Some cars require either conventional or synthetic, and this will be specified if that’s the case. However, with things like viscosity, there are sometimes reasons to deviate a little, and we’ll explain why below. Why is viscosity important? Viscosity, as you probably remember from science class, refers to the thickness of liquid matter. When it come to motor oil, the viscosity is expressed in two numbers, such as 5W-20 or 10W-30. Lower numbers mean a lower viscosity; in other words, the substance will be “thinner”. Think of high oil viscosity ... read more