Daytona Beach Auto Repair

Today’s vehicles are safer than they’ve ever been. Design and construction techniques provide tremendous protection in an accident. Your airbags are part of a very sophisticated system of sensors and computers called the Supplemental Restraint System – or SRS. These sensors are all over your vehicle, detecting things like where passengers are sitting, how much they weigh, as well as the speed and direction of an impact during a crash. All of this information is feed into the SRS computer that determines if and when an airbag or airbags should be deployed. An airbag has to be inflated very quickly in order to protect vehicle occupants. The inflation is basically the result of a controlled explosion: a violent event in itself. That’s why the SRS computer will only deploy an airbag in life threatening circumstances where an airbag will actually be of help. Deploying an airbag in the wrong circumstances could do more harm than good. Hard, direct side and front impacts ... read more

Let's talk about air conditioning service and repair issues for the Daytona Beach FL area. Most of us in Daytona Beach we 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 Daytona Beach FL 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 refrigeran



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You've probably noticed a bunch of warning lights on your dash when you start your engine. They flash on to test the circuits and then go off if everything's OK. One of the warning lights looks like a car battery. Its job is to tell you if your battery's not charging properly.

You know that your battery stores electricity – enough to start your engine and get you moving. But that's about it – you can only get a few miles in Daytona Beach on battery power alone. You need an alternator to generate enough electricity to run your engine and power your electrical accessories like the stereo, power seats, heater fan, on-board computers, and so on. On top of that, the alternator needs to recharge your battery. So when your alternator isn't working properly, there isn't enough electricity for all of those things. When your alternator fails, you aren't going very far.



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Your axles are the last link in transferring power from the engine to your wheels. They're strong parts that last a long time – but they can run into trouble.

Axles just wear out over time and need to be replaced. And sometimes axle seals leak, causing the axle to wear out prematurely. Lubricant leaks out, and water and dirt can get in and contaminate the gears. When this happens you might hear strange noises coming from your axle.

If you have a rear-wheel drive vehicle, the sound would be at the rear end. If you have a front-wheel drive vehicle, the sound would be up front. Of course, with an all-wheel drive, the sound could come from either front or back. It might be a groaning sound or clunking when turning.

There are different kinds of axles, each with their own potential problems. Your Day





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Batteries are a huge part of modern life in Daytona Beach FL. I mean, how many battery chargers do you have?

Of course, our purpose here is to talk about your car battery. When people come into our Daytona Beach FL service center and need a new battery, they're really not that happy about having to spend the money. But the fact is that 70 percent of batteries don't make it for 4 years.

There are some things that you can do to extend the life of your battery. First, keep it clean. If you see it getting dirty or greasy, let us know at Honest 1 Auto Care - Daytona Beach and we can clean it off. A dirty battery runs hotter and that shortens its life. If your battery terminals are corroded, let us take a look at that too. We can clean them, and if the corrosion has gotten into the battery cables, we can replace them.





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When your check engine light comes on, you may be torn between utter panic and just wanting to ignore it and hope it goes away. That's perfectly understandable. That same check engine light could come on for anything from a serious engine or transmission problem all the way down to a loose gas cap.

There's a very common misconception that the trouble codes stored in your engine computer when your check engine light comes on will specifically identify a problem. It's really more like pointing to the symptoms of a problem. Think of taking your temperature. Say it's 101. Your heat sensor – the thermometer – tells you that your temperature is out of the normal range. But it doesn't tell you why you have a fever. Is it the flu or a sinus infection? You need more information; more tests.

For any given trouble code, there could be a num



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Your brakes are extremely important as you drive around Daytona Beach FL. Having good brakes just keeps you out of trouble. You'll want to carefully maintain your brakes. With disc brakes, brake pads rub on a disc – or rotor – to slow the wheels.

The brake pads are attached to a caliper that squeezes the pads against the rotor. It's kind of like how squeezing the handbrake on a bicycle pushes the brake pads against the wheel of the bike.

Now pads just wear away with use – kind of like a pencil eraser wears out. The good news is that replacing brake pads is a straight-forward repair.

If you hear squealing or grinding when you use the brakes, have your Daytona Beach FL service advisor check them out. He'll have a technician perform a thorough brake inspection to see what needs to b





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Brakes that work properly are essential to your safety as you drive and stop on our Daytona Beach streets. You want to carefully maintain your brakes. In vehicles equipped with drum brakes, the brake components are housed inside a drum that rotates with the wheel. When you step on the brake pedal, brake shoes push out against the inside of the drum, slowing the wheel.

Now brake shoes just wear away with use from rubbing on the drum as you brake. When it's time to replace brake shoes, it's a straight-forward repair.

If you hear squealing or grinding when braking, have your Daytona Beach service advisor check them out. He'll have a technician perform a thorough brake inspection to see what needs to be done. He'll check for signs of brake problems and go over other brake components to see that they're working properly



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Let’s talk about your vehicle’s evaporative emissions control system; or EVAP for short. 
Your vehicle’s fuel system is sealed to trap vapors before they can escape into the atmosphere. The EVAP system draws in fresh air, gathers up vaporized hydrocarbons and delivers them to the intake system to be burned in the engine.  If there’s a leak or a blockage in the EVAP system, a trouble code will be generated, setting off the check engine light. There are many EVAP system components that could have problems – things as simple as a worn or loose gas cap or a rusty fuel filler pipe. Other EVAP system components include the fuel tank, purge valve, canister vent valve, charcoal canister, the canister filter, the fuel tank pressure sensor, the fuel level sensor, electronic control module, vapor lines, and the vapor switching valve. As you can imagine, with a list like that, it takes some skill – and some specialized equipment
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We've all heard a car or truck in our Daytona Beach neighborhoods that needs a new muffler. But there's more to the exhaust system than just the muffler.

The exhaust system has three main functions: Exhaust gas is poisonous. You don't want it getting into the passenger compartment. For example, carbon monoxide can be deadly. That's why you should never run your engine in a closed garage. If you have a leak in the exhaust system, exhaust could get into the passenger cabin and make you sick or even kill you.

If you smell exhaust in the vehicle, roll down your windows and get it inspected. You may smell or see exhaust coming from the engine compartment or under the vehicle if you have a leak. Sometimes the sound from an exhaust leak is loud and obvious. Sometimes it's a ticking sound when you start the engine that g



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