Automotive News & Information - Dirk's Auto Clinic

Is your engine on the way out? If it’s already kicked the bucket, then case closed - however, there are a number of other indicators that your engine is about to go, even if it’s still running at the moment. From Dirk’s Auto Clinic in Crystal River, FL, here are some signs of trouble that predict an imminent engine failure is in the cards for your car, truck, or SUV.

At Dirk’s Auto Clinic in Crystal River, FL, our priority is keeping your car or SUV in the best possible condition, for as long as possible. If you drive a BMW, Audi, Porsche, Subaru, Land Rover, or other luxury or performance vehicle, you want to keep it going strong for years to come. A huge part of that is keeping up with oil changes.

U-joints are a small, simple component - in fact, they have changed much since the very first automobiles. However, on any vehicle with a driveshaft, its ability to move depends entirely on the u-joint being there. You’ll often hear “maybe it’s the u-joints” as a solution offered for problems with a vehicle - but what are they, what do they do, and how do you know if yours is bad? Dirk’s Auto Clinic in Crystal River, FL has the answers.

If you drive a Jaguar, BMW, Land Rover, Porsche, Subaru, or other luxury or performance vehicle, the last thing you want to do is start your engine to be met with the sound of a screeching drive belt. Fortunately, we at Dirk’s Auto Clinic in Crystal River, FL have you covered.

Every car, truck, van, and SUV on the road today has headlights. However, you've probably noticed an increase in different types of headlights in more recent years - gone are the days where every vehicle on the road had the same bulb. Here is some information on headlights, from Dirk’s Auto Clinic in Crystal River, FL.

When you are having trouble with your car or truck starting and you open the hood up to take a peek to see this....you'll see what an overly corroded battery looks like. This happens naturally over time on vehicle battery terminals. If you are like 99% of normal Crystal River drivers, you don't check your oil or your battery so you don't keep an eye on the amount of corrosion that's building up on your car or truck battery. Here at Dirk’s Auto Clinic, we do and there are solvents that we can use here in the shop during a battery maintenance service that will help slow the corrosion process but nothing that can prevent it 100%. Way before it gets to this point, we will be suggesting you consider replacing the battery.

Transmission Cut to show you the inside of it

Nothing works if your transmission doesn't work! Simply put you are going nowhere without it and it is the one thing that both car and truck drivers alike never think twice about until it really acts up or they have no power or simply don't move forward. Most of us have a newer car or truck with an automatic transmission in it vs. a standard transmission so do not notice that it is slipping gears until the problem is really serious so the question is how do you get the most out of your transmission? The obvious answer is to take care of your transmission with scheduled service per your owner's manual recommendation but we have put together a simple checklist for our Crystal River drivers to help them become "transmission aware" as it were.

What condition are your tires in? At Dirk’s Auto Clinic in Crystal River, FL, we want to make sure you can tell. A simple visual inspection is all you need - it’s easy if you know what to look for.