On two-wheel drive vehicles equipped with the 1ZZ-FE engine, a crack may develop at certain solder points or on the electronic component used to protect circuits against excessive voltage. In most cases, if a crack occurs at certain solder points or on certain varistors, the check engine may illuminate, harsh shifting could result, or the engine may not start. In limited instances, the engine could stop while the vehicle is being driven.

There are three unconfirmed accidents alleged to be related to this condition, one of which reported a minor injury.

“This recall is an example of our commitment to standing by our products and being responsive to our customers,” said Steve St. Angelo, Toyota chief quality officer for North America. “Our goal is to help ensure that Toyota drivers are completely confident in the safety and reliability of their vehicles.”

The ECM on involved vehicles will be replaced at no charge to the owner. Beginning in mid-September 2010, Toyota will mail an interim notification to advise owners of the recall. They will receive a second notice when parts become available to make the repairs. Owners who have previously paid for an ECM replacement can be reimbursed. They should refer to the letter from Toyota for instructions.

For more information, visit Toyota online or call them at 800 331 4331. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your Star service advisor.

Posted by Andy

To make the inspection process even more effective, however, be sure to schedule your appointment at least a week—if not two weeks—before your trip. Here are three reasons why:

1. You’ll allow enough time for the shop to complete necessary repairs and services. If the technician uncovers a major problem, you could be faced with the unpleasant choice of driving the vehicle that way, delaying your trip, or driving an alternate vehicle. Replacing a failed head gasket or failing transmission is a two day job at least and can easily spill into three or four days. More commonly, a leaking manifold gasket is at least a one day job, and your car will need an extra half to full day in the shop if you need anything additional, such as crucial maintenance or brake work. You also want to allow time for any parts delays or other complications.
   
   
2. You’ll ensure there’s sufficient time to drive the vehicle locally after the repair. This will help ensure everything is performing as intended. Even the best technicians make a mistake once in awhile, and even the highest quality parts fail occasionally. If you have an intermittent engine performance issue or a quirky noise concern, this will give you time to ensure the problem has been resolved. Some of these conditions are extremely tricky to diagnose properly the first time.
   
   
3. You’ll increase your chance of scheduling with your favorite shop. It’s not uncommon for shops to be booked several days in advance, especially smaller, well known shops. If you have an auto repair provider you like and trust, schedule well ahead of time to ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute to find a different shop (and one with which you have no rapport).

It’s easy to get caught up in the daily hustle and bustle and procrastinate on your pre-trip needs, but this is one case where the benefits clearly outweigh the gamble you take in putting it off until a day or two before your trip. Questions about pre-trip inspections? Let us know.

While many of us worry about our car batteries dying in the frigid subzero temps of Chicago winters, more batteries actually fail in the high heat of summer. And with record-breaking heat across the nation this summer, it seems there’s no better time than the present to take a look at some battery basics.

The myth is that cold weather is harder on batteries because it takes more power to crank a cold engine, but the opposite is true because batteries are chemically more active when they’re hot than when they’re cold. Batteries in very cold climates have an average life expectancy of 51 months compared to 30 months in very warm climates. (Only 30 percent of vehicle batteries overall last for an average of 48 months.)

A car battery will actually start to discharge on its own within 24 hours in hot weather. It takes several days in cold weather. When batteries are left too long in a state of partial discharge, the discharged portion of the battery plates actually, for the lack of a better word, ‘die.’ Recharging the battery will not restore the dead part of the battery plate.

This is a challenge for motorists who drive short distances with several starts and stops. Their batteries are often partially discharged. As you may know, the battery’s primary job is to start the car. After starting, it takes some time for the alternator to recharge the battery. When you drive short distances, your battery may not fully recharge.

Another burden on our batteries is that vehicles are coming equipped with more and more electricity hungry accessories like navigation systems, DVD players, CD and MP3 players, heated seats, heated steering wheels and so on. And we often plug in cell phones, computers and other gadgets. Combine that with short trips, and it’s no wonder that our batteries are partially discharged.

A protective measure you can take is to avoid deeply discharging your battery. For example, don’t run the headlights and stereo with the engine turned off. That will take months off the battery life every time you do it.

As we discussed earlier, heat is hard on a battery. A dirty, greasy battery holds more heat. You can wipe off excess dirt with a paper towel or ask your service advisor at Star Auto Authority to clean it for you. Star Auto Authority can even test your battery and tell you if it’s time to replace it.

When it is time to replace it, always make sure you get a new battery that meets the factory specifications for your vehicle. If you feel you need more battery capacity than what came with your vehicle, talk with your service advisor at Star Auto Authority about appropriate upgrades.

Caution: Most of us have had a dead battery at one time. If try to jump start it, be careful to inspect it first. If the case is bulging, cracked or leaking, do not jump start it. Damaged batteries can explode or catch fire. Also, deeply discharged batteries can freeze. Do not jump start a frozen battery. Finally, there are a lot of theories out there about the best way to jump start a battery. If you are uncertain, do not attempt it. It’s not worth the risk to yourself, others  or your vehicle’s computer system if you do something wrong. To learn how to properly, safely jump start a vehicle, sign up for one of our upcoming Car Care Clinics.

Today, let’s talk about fuel system cleaning. The  first thing to know is how important it is to have a clean fuel system. You need fuel to go, and the cleaner your fuel system, the more efficiently the fuel will burn. That means more power and better fuel economy. And as we all know, better fuel economy means you’ll save money at the pump.

The average car on the road is at least 9 years old. That means it has had time for dirt and rust to start accumulate in the fuel tank. It’s critical for this debris to be filtered out of the fuel before it reaches your engine, and that’s the job of the fuel filter.

If the fuel filter is not replaced on a routine basis (see your owner’s manual), it can become clogged. This will allow dirty fuel to bypass the filter and head into the engine, where it can clog fuel injectors and get into the cylinders. This could cause some damage, or at the very least, cause your fuel injectors to perform inefficiently and reduce your gas mileage.

During it’s travels, your fuel also passed through the throttle body. This is another area where varnish and gum can accumulate and cause trouble. Your idle may be rough or erratic, or perhaps, too low. A professional fuel system cleaning will use a combination of special cleaning chemicals and old-fashioned swabbing to clean out the throttle body, as well as the fuel injectors.

They are the last stop in the fuel delivery system, and it’s critical for the fuel injectors to be clean. They deliver a precise amount of fuel, at exactly the right time, in a particular spray pattern. If they’re dirty or clogged with debris, they just can’t perform the way they’re supposed to. Dirty fuel injectors will rob your car of power and will waste fuel. Again, a professional fuel system cleaning can work wonders for the fuel injectors. Ask your Star Auto Authority service advisor or consult your owner’s manual for more information.

The bottom line: You’ll save money and enjoy better performance from your car when the fuel system is maintained. Replace your fuel filter when recommended and rely on a professional fuel system cleaning to take the carbon and varnish buildup from your throttle body and fuel injectors.

Posted By Bill

Perhaps we don’t quite trust the shop that recommended A, B and C items, or maybe we want to compare pricing to find the best value. For items that can be inspected visually—tires, belts, hoses, fluid leaks, worn shocks—it’s easy enough to confirm or quash the recommendations and to provide an apples-to-apples cost estimate.

But it’s a different matter entirely when there’s poor engine performance, weird suspension or steering noises, braking issues, and  “Service Engine Soon” lights. (Or similarly, antilock braking (ABS) or airbag (SRS) lights.) Understandably, we field phone calls from motorists asking questions like, “How much to replace the EGR valve in my 2004 Toyota Camry?” and “I was told I need new rotors because of a vibration. How much will that be?”

We can certainly estimate the replacement cost for you, but the next part is tricky. What if you bring the car to us, we replace the EGR valve or rotors based on the prior shop’s diagnosis, and your problem is still there? You will have spent money fixing a non-problem, and chances are, you’ll be angry and frustrated—with the situation, with us and with the other shop.

I can hear your objections now: “Yeah, but how often does that happen?” or “Doesn’t the computer tell you what’s wrong?” Surprisingly and unfortunately, we see incorrect diagnoses regularly—at least 50 percent of the time. This is not meant as a dig on our fellow auto repair shops. We can get into the reasons for misdiagnoses another time. But rather, I’m sharing this with you to explain why we think a second inspection or evaluation is, more often than not, worth the money.

If you are bringing the vehicle to us after another shop has seen it, there’s a reason. Does the answer just not seem right to you, or do you not like the pricing? Do you really want to risk us taking their word for it and replacing said item? Or is it worth it to you to pay a second diagnostic fee to ensure the diagnosis was correct—or incorrect?

Countless times, I’ve explained this to clients. They’re doubtful at first, and I can understand that. It’s one thing to pay another $35 co-pay at the doctor’s. It’s another to spend another $100+ on a second diagnosis for your car. But also countless times, I’ve been able to come back and say, “Hey, you don’t need that $500 part after all. All you really need is a $100 wire repair.” One client who was told he needed a new engine in his Toyota pickup truck, when he actually needed a knock sensor. Another client was told she needed a head gasket when she needed an intake gasket. I could go on and on with the examples.

Obviously, I’d recommend that you find and stick with a repair shop you trust to give you the right answer the first time. But if you find yourself in a position where you have doubts, definitely ask yourself the questions above. Chances are, you’ll see the wisdom in paying for a second formal opinion.

Sometimes, we like to turn the “microphone,” so to speak, over to a third party who can offer some equally valuable, credible information. Here’s an article from MSN Autos that we believe does a thorough job of advising you on how to choose a repair shop: Go to article now.

We’re also happy to say that we live up to the standards established in that article. If you’d like more specifics, please don’t hesitate to ask us for information.

While most of our clients are conscientious about maintaining their vehicles, many don’t realize their vehicles come with two different maintenance schedules—one for “severe service” and one for “regular service,” depending on how the vehicle is driven. (Check the fine print in your owner’s manual. They’re both in there!)

Despite your best intentions, if you’re following the wrong maintenance schedule, you’re doing your vehicle a disservice. Chances are, you’re looking at the regular service schedule when you should be looking at the severe one. While this isn’t as detrimental as neglecting maintenance altogether, you’re certainly not gaining all the benefits. Consider the difference between seeing your dentist every 6 months vs. every 12 months or your doctor every 3-5 years vs. every year.

At Star Auto Authority, we find that the vast majority of our clients should be following the severe service schedule. The Automotive Filter Council supports our recommendations, as does a recent AAA study. Only 6 percent of motorists polled by AAA believed they drove under severe conditions, when in reality, 62 percent met the severe service requirements.

While each manufacturer’s recommendations differ slightly, AAA identifies severe service driving as:

• Driving short trips of less than 5 miles in normal temperatures or less than 10 miles in freezing temperatures.
• Driving in hot weather in stop-and-go traffic.
• Driving at speeds of less than 50 mph for long distances.
• Driving on roads that are dusty or muddy or that have salt, sand or gravel spread on the surface.
• Towing a trailer, carrying a camper (on a pickup truck), or transporting items on a roof rack or in a car-top carrier.

Think about your typical week. Do you live a quarter mile from the tollway and enjoy a non-stop commute to work? Or do you pass through 4 miles of traffic lights just to access the highway and then crawl at 20 mph the rest of the way to work? In the Chicago area, we’d contend that most of our trips are on the severe service list because of traffic congestion and our often extreme temperatures.

“Manufacturers provide differing sets of recommendations for severe driving conditions because of the increased wear they put on vehicle components and fluids,” says Steve Benedict, director of AAA Tidewater Automotive Services. “With increased traffic congestion and longer commutes becoming more common, many motorists do not realize what they think of as normal driving is actually severe when it comes to wear and tear on their vehicle.”

Why is this so important? Maintenance schedules for severe driving conditions typically recommend having the vehicle’s fluids and filters changed on a more frequent basis, and more frequent inspections of some components.

In terms of your oil changes, moisture builds up in the engine oil from normal condensation. Short trips around Vernon Hills or driving when it’s really cold means that the engine doesn’t heat up enough for the moisture to evaporate. The water in the oil leads to oil sludge, which gums up your engine and doesn’t let the oil protect it as well. You need to change your oil more frequently to get the sludge out before it causes problems.

Towing, heavy loads and very hot Chicago summers means your engine and transmission will operate at higher temperatures and with more stress. The fluids will break down more quickly. Additives that clean and prevent corrosion will be depleted sooner. Dusty conditions, which may extend also to areas with high air pollution, mean that fluids will get dirty faster and that filters will plug up and won’t work right.

All of these things can lead to premature wear and repairs down the road. They’ll also hurt your fuel economy. The good news is that we’re watching out for you at Star Auto Authority. We take the time to ask about your driving habits and conditions, and we can customize your maintenance schedule to your needs. Plus, we inspect your vehicle with every visit, and that includes visually evaluating the condition of your fluids. If we see your coolant is brown or your transmission fluid is black before the recommended flushing interval, we’ll advise you of that. If you have any questions about your maintenance needs in between visits, don’t hesitate to contact us.

(Note: The AAA study was conducted as part of the 2008 AAA Car Care Month and included interviews with 841 U.S. adults, both AAA members and non-members, who currently own or lease a motor vehicle. Interviews were weighed by age, sex, geographic region and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total population, 18 years of age and older.)

Posted by Angi

Her situation is not unique. Our clients frequently debate the same issue. They have an older car that’s worth a few thousand dollars at most, and it needs $1,000 in repairs. What should they do?

Traditionally, our consumption-minded instincts would say, “The car’s not worth it. Just buy a new one.” But in most cases, I believe that’s the exact opposite of what you should do. Don’t evaluate your car’s worth based on what you can sell it for. Instead, be a financially savvy consumer and assess your older car in terms of:

1. The value of the service it provides day to day.
2. What it will cost to replace.

First, let’s look at its day-to-day role or purpose. What do you use your car for? Most likely, to get you to and from work, the train, school, soccer matches, the grocery store, social activities, etc. Will a new car be able to do those things? Sure. Will it do it better? Maybe it will be a bit more stylish or fuel efficient. But ultimately, both vehicles will get you to and from where you need to go. Is the new car worth the additional cost when the old car fulfills its duties just fine? If you’re commuting 2 hours round trip each day, you may find it easy to lay out the cash for a new car. But if you’re driving around town or a couple miles to the train station, the added cost becomes harder to justify.

Second, let’s compare the costs we’re talking about. To continue driving your older car in our scenario, you need to invest $1,000 in repairs, plus pay for insurance and gas. Then you can drive it for months to come with minimal additional expenses. What will a new car cost? In 2009, the average cost of a new car was $28,400, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA). At an interest rate of 5.48% (the average auto loan rate in Chicago right now), you’ll pay $542 per month for the next five years on that new car—plus gas and insurance.

A number of web sites, including Edmunds.com and NADAguides.com, offer tools to help you calculate the true cost of ownership for any automobile. If you still think you may want a new car, I’d encourage you to check out their tools. (Click on the links in the previous sentence to go directly there.) According to the NADA, a 2010 Ford F-150 that sells for $25,493 will cost $46,237 over the course of five years once you factor in depreciation, fees and taxes, maintenance, gas, etc. Similarly, a 2010 Toyota Camry that sells for $23,254 will cost $39,899 to operate over five years. Buying a new car is certainly more fun and exciting than driving your old, reliable vehicle, but that wears off long before the new car payments come to an end.

Finally, unless you know you’ll be buying a new car in the very near future, consider the risks you take by delaying the recommended repairs. In the case of my friend’s timing belt, it should have been replaced at 60,000 or 90,000 miles, depending on the maintenance schedule she’s following. (In Chicago, I’d argue that everyone should follow the severe schedule, which means the belt should have been replaced more than 75,000 miles ago.) Yes, her car may be worth $2,000 now, but if the timing belt breaks, the engine will self-destruct. The car will not be drivable, and then it will be worth about $50 to a salvage yard. Plus, she’ll be in the uncomfortable position of buying a car under the gun. Wouldn’t you rather preserve your car’s remaining value, continue driving it as long as you want, and buy a new car on your terms and your timeframe?

So now ask yourself: How much is that older car really worth?

(For more about timing belts and engines that self-destruct vs. those that don’t, please see our blog post on “Why neglecting your timing belt could cost you thousands.”)

Life’s full of surprises, and some of those surprises come with a price tag. A leaky roof, a broken tooth, an unexpected car repair. While planning for scheduled maintenance is fairly straightforward, it can be difficult to budget for unexpected repairs. Fortunately, there are tools online to help you plan for those.

One such tool is on Edmunds.com. The site’s True Cost to Own calculator helps you estimate a service and repair budget. Let’s suppose you have a 2003 Toyota Camry. It’s paid for, and you’d like to keep it running for the next three years. Go to Edmunds’ and enter your vehicle’s data. The calculator will provide estimates of what it will cost to service and repair your vehicle over the next five years. The estimate is based on where you live, manufacturers’ recommendations and repair experiences for your particular model. (The calculator also estimates depreciation, financing, insurance, taxes and fuel costs.)

Of course these are just estimates. There’s no way to predict what will actually happen to the car in your driveway, but it’s a good starting point. Here’s some additional information that may help. This table shows that the average monthly cost of maintenance and repairs is $83 dollars. That may sound like a lot, but compare it to a new car payment. And if you can set aside $83 a month, you’ll go a long way toward taking care of routine maintenance and being prepared for the unexpected repairs that arise.

As vehicles age, some motorists worry about what can go wrong with their older car and they buy a new one. That’s fine if you really want a new car, but if you properly maintain your older vehicle, you’ll save a ton of money on new car payments and insurance. It just makes good economic sense. Of course, if you want personalized advice, please don’t hesitate to contact your Star service advisor.

One of the most useful systems in today’s cars and trucks is dedicated to on-board diagnostics. This system ensures your engine is running properly and not producing too many emissions. When trouble is detected, it triggers your “Check Engine” or “Service Engine Soon” light to let you know the car needs some attention. Unfortunately, this system is also one of the least understood.

For example, many motorists believe that only a handful of problems will turn that light on. In fact, there are more than 1,400 reasons the “Check Engine” light can be triggered. That’s a significant number.

Since 1996, all cars and light trucks on U.S. roadways have been required to use a standardized diagnostic system to help repair technicians determine what’s wrong with your vehicle. The diagnostic system works with the vehicle’s Engine Control Module, the vehicle’s primary computer. The computer monitors dozens of components and processes. Depending on what the sensors read, the computer will make adjustments to compensate for conditions and minor problems. When there is a condition that it can’t adjust for, the computer will turn on the “Check Engine” or “Service Engine Soon” light. This is a signal to you to seek help from your auto repair shop. Service centers like Star Auto Authority invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in scan tools and powerful software to help the technician diagnose the problem.

If you’ve searched for “check engine light” on the internet, you may have seen that you can buy an inexpensive scanner or go to an auto parts store to retrieve the trouble code and find out exactly what’s wrong. This is another common myth. The code itself doesn’t tell you what’s broken. It simply tells you where to begin looking. It tells you which engine parameter is out of range, but it won’t tell you what’s wrong or how to fix it.

Let’s say your daughter isn’t feeling well. You take her temperature, and the thermometer reads one 102 degrees. You’ve confirmed a fever, but you don’t know what’s causing it. Is it a 24 hour flu, an infection, appendicitis or something more serious? A fever is a symptom of all of these medical problems, but it takes a skilled physician’s exam and additional tests to find out what is actually causing the fever.

The situation is similar with your vehicle. An example of a diagnostic trouble code could be: P0133, for which the description is “Bank 1 sensor 1 circuit slow response.” This means that the front oxygen sensor responds too slowly to changes in the air-fuel mixture going into the engine’s cylinders. You might immediately think your oxygen sensor is faulty and should be replaced. While it could be the oxygen sensor, it could also be a bad or contaminated airflow sensor, an exhaust leak, an electrical problem, an intake manifold leak or any of a number of other things.

You can imagine a lot of oxygen sensors have been replaced unnecessarily because of that code. While on-board diagnostics point the way, it still takes skill and high-tech equipment to actually pinpoint the problem. The cheaper scan tools that a consumer can buy don’t have the ability to retrieve some of the operating history that’s stored in the engine control computer. That history’s very helpful in diagnosing the problem.

When your “Check Engine” light comes on, think of Star Auto Authority. If the light burns steady, don’t panic. You can continue to drive until your service appointment. But a flashing “Check Engine” light means that there is a more severe engine problem. While you can continue to drive the vehicle, get it in asap. Waiting too long can lead to very expensive damage.