Wilmington Auto Repair

Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Wilmington drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Wilmington. You started out in a lower gear and shifted to higher gears as you went faster. Down shift for hills, stuff like that. Think of your legs as the engine – there's an ideal speed you can pedal and you change gears to leverage the work you're doing.Lower gears for power on hills or for starting out. Higher gears for more speed. That's what the automatic transmission does – it automatically starts in lower gears and shifts up to higher gears to go faster on Delaware roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Wilmington hills, pass or start up again.Vehicle automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds, five is very common. At PONTE'S ... read more

Today in our PONTE'S AUTOCARE blog, we're going to talk about following recommended service intervals. Your vehicle isn't the only aspect of your life in Wilmington with recommended intervals: Let's start with twice yearly dental check-ups and regular physical exams. How about laundry, watering the lawn and paying the bills?Now, what would happen if you didn't follow these intervals? Well, you'd get more cavities. You may not discover health conditions that could be more effectively treated with early detection. And you'd have to wear dirty clothes, be embarrassed by your brown lawn and have your utilities shut off.Clearly, there are some things in life that we have to take care of regularly. If we don't, there are negative consequences. Our quality of life in Wilmington takes a hit and it inevitably costs more money.So why is it so hard to remember to follow regular preventive maintenance on our vehicles?Probably a couple o ... read more

Delaware service centers have a menu board that lists the services they provide. Some Wilmington drivers may not be familiar with all of the items on the board so here is a quick description of some of the typical services that might be listed.PONTE'S AUTOCARE fuel system cleaning: Over time, the vehicle fuel system gets gum and varnish built up. A fuel system cleaning gets rid of that and cleans out the fuel injectors. Saves gas, by the way.PONTE'S AUTOCARE headlamp replacement: Halogen and standard headlamps gradually fade. It's usually good to change them every year or so.PONTE'S AUTOCARE inspections: Wilmington drivers get inspections for many reasons. Maybe they're going on a trip or just want to make sure their vehicle's ready for a Delaware summer or winter. Maybe they just bought a used vehicle and want to give it the once over. An inspection may reveal some things that are broken or are getting ... read more

The crankcase is the lower part of the engine where the crankshaft is housed and where the engine oil lives. The crankshaft is connected to the pistons that power the engine. When you are diving around Wilmington, fuel is burned in your vehicle engine, it pushes the pistons down and the crankshaft rotates and sends power to the transmission. Some of the explosive gases from combustion squeeze past the pistons and down into the crankcase.Now this gas is about 70% unburned fuel. If it were allowed to remain in the crankcase, it would contaminate the oil and quickly turn it to sludge. Sludge is like Vaseline and clogs passages in the engine, leading to damage. Also, the pressure build up would blow out seals and gaskets. So in the old days, there was just a hose that vented the crankcase out into the air. Obviously, not good for our air quality in Wilmington, Delaware.Enter the PCV valve. It's a small, one-way valve that lets out the gases from the crankcase and routes them back ... read more