Car Talk Archives - Page 9 of 9

Passing the Smog Test

Passing the smog test in Glendora is vitally important, of course, and here a few tips to make sure your car or light truck can ace its test!

Bring your DMV renewal notice with you to the smog check facility. There is a bar code on it that we have to scan in.
Drive around about 30 minutes’ prior so your car can be at full operating temperature. On the freeway for 10 minutes at 60 MPH can also help.
Use the correct grade of fuel (see your owner’s manual) and fill up your vehicle prior to the test.
A clean air filter and fresh engine oil is always a good idea.
If you are a short trip driver take your vehicle on an extended spin the week of your test. Try to go on the freeway so you can get up to speed. Your vehicle actually performs better on longer freeway driving trips than short stop and start trips. To really help it along take it uphill, on surface streets and overall make the trip at least 30 minutes long.
One of the most important items is your car’s gas cap. Does it fit properly? Is it in good working condition? If you don’t even have a gas cap your car will automatically fail the test.
Lighten up your vehicle! If your trunk or other storage space is filled with weighty items, it hurts your vehicle’s chance of passing the test. The dynamometer does weigh your vehicle.
We strap your vehicle down on a dynamometer for the test to assure that it does well under stressful conditions. Make sure it doesn’t have fluid leaks and other safety issues prior to the test.
Tires must be the original specified as the test is calibrated to run stock sized tires for your vehicle make and model. Make sure the tires are properly inflated and in good condition.
If you have been ignoring a check engine light or other dash board warning light get it fixed prior to the test.

I hope you find these helpful and that your vehicle gets a passing grade. Remember, at Certified Automotive Specialists, we not only service and repair vehicles, we are a Smog Check Test Center.

Please call us with any questions at 626-963-0814 or visit our website at www.CertifiedAutoCA.com.

Hometown Service You Can Count On!

Smarter Cars And Glow In The Dark Roads?

Standby, Glendora drivers! Apple is working on a new patent to help drivers be less distracted. The “CarPlay” system is planning to have on-board sensors which can block a driver from SMS, email, media streaming and tasks that are not related to driving. It also may be able to sense who is using the technology so if it is a passenger it will unlock the features so that the passenger has access to it!

If you are one of the Glendora owners of a vehicle that doesn’t come equipped with Apple’s CarPlay…no worries! They are working on a stand-alone console that will integrate CarPlay technology into all cars. With this device, drivers can access maps, make voice calls, send and receive messages and listen to their favorite tunes all with voice and touch activated controls. No word on how this integration stops distracted driving.

Dynamic paint with special foto-luminising powder can light up at night so drivers can see road markings. Currently this is being used on a 310-mile stretch in the Netherlands so drivers can simply see the “glow in the dark” road markings. This will save on energy and infrastructure costs because extra highway lighting will be unnecessary! This is being tested currently with an induction priority lane for drivers with electric vehicles!

As always, I’ll keep you posted as I read and hear more! At Certified Automotive Specialists, we aim to keep Glendora drivers “in the know”!

Please call us with any questions at 626-963-0814 or visit our website at www.CertifiedAutoCA.com.

Hometown Service You Can Count On!

Your Computer On Wheels And Malware

Like any piece of software, connected cars are vulnerable to malware. Cars’ computers are very necessary as they control everything from brakes to our “infotainment systems”. This is a market hackers are eager to explore and exploit.

When you or any driver in Glendora, get in your car you don’t have to log on first, you don’t have encryption or other ways to verify you are in command of your car’s computer system. Hackers can access your vehicle a number of ways by Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Internet. Just think about it…your laptop and mobile devices are actually more securely protected at this time than your vehicle. That doesn’t make drivers feel very secure, now does it?

Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus makes it possible for a car’s ECUs (Engine Control Units…and cars can have over 100 of these, depending on the make and model) to communicate with each other. They work hard to make sure your car is ready to go and quickly. Last year researchers showed just how easy such an attack is by getting “inside” a Jeep Cherokee. They disabled the brakes and controlled the steering remotely. Chrysler had to recall 1.4 million vehicles and “patch” this loophole.

Since protecting a vehicle with a firewall is not the answer as it slows down the ECU so it can’t control safety functions quickly enough when you start your engine, a company in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Karamba Security is looking for another way. They recently introduced anti-malware. It will provide security by protecting the gateways to the externally connected controllers. This anti-malware knows what should be running on these ECU’s and should a hacker introduce another “code” not on the list, the anti-malware will stop it in its tracks.

This works well with the codes supplied to Karamba from the manufacturers. The difficultly comes, however, when a driver decides to add aftermarket devices to their vehicles. The FBI and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a warning about this very thing.

Our mission is to keep Glendora drivers informed as we enter this new arena!

Please call us with any questions at 626-963-0814 or visit our website at www.CertifiedAutoCA.com.

Hometown Service You Can Count On!

We’ve All Heard The Jokes… But Could It Happen?

By Gene Morrill

We’ve All Heard The Jokes… But Could It Happen?

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason at all, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally, executing a manoeuver such as a left-turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, and you would have to reinstall the engine.
4. When your car died on the freeway for no reason, you would just accept this, restart and drive on.
5. Apple would make a car powered by the sun, reliable, five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. Oil, water temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single ‘general car default’ warning light.
7. The airbag would say ‘Are you sure?’ before going off.
8. Occasionally, for no reason, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key, and grabbed the radio antenna.
9. Every time GM introduced a new model, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You would press the ‘start’ button to shut off the engine.

With our cars becoming “computer on wheels” we can expect software updates to become a reality. Currently, Tesla Motors is wanting over-the-air Wi-Fi and 4G wireless downloads so cars can self-park and also have other functions. The more we push for autonomous cars, the more we will rely on software and software updates and downloads to keep them going. Tesla has a new software now that allows certain sedans to park themselves without a driver assist. To download this software takes 45 minutes and it also boosts engine performance and battery usage.

Cars have 200 million lines of code…that only a software expert can appreciate. To the lay person it means regular “updates” and software bugs. In 2014, Toyota had to recall over half of the Prius’ sold due to a software glitch. The more “connected” cars become, the more updates and bugs we can expect.

Software companies are all vying to be a part of the new automotive technology and of course, hackers are standing by as well. We are in for a ride…one way or the other!

Please call us with any questions at 626-963-0814 or visit our website at www.CertifiedAutoCA.com

Home Town Service You Can Count On!