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You don’t have to know every little thing about your car to make smart decisions about it. A basic working knowledge of some of it’s most important parts can achieve that result. Do you know about how your transmission works, and the importance of maintaining it’s health? We go over both here. Come by our shop for expert repairs or replacement!

What does it do?

Your transmissions executes the very important function of controlling how much power gets put out from your engine to your wheels. Without it, your car car couldn’t run. Automatic transmissions control gear shifts automatically based on your car’s speed.

Transmission repairs and replacement cost a lot of money; because of this, you should never wait to repair damage. Take care of it as soon as you can, or you could end up throwing money down the drain.

Need expert transmission repairs? Come by our auto shop today! We employ professional, hard working mechanics that get the job done right. To find out more about us, just give us a call at (630) 932-4427.

Gas mileage is often a source of dread for many car owners. As we mournfully watch the dollars and cents spin upwards on the pump, we say silent vows to drive more efficiently and with less of a lead foot in the future. Here we have compiled a few tips to help you drive safer, smarter, and farther.

Driving for Fuel Efficiency

1. Follow the posted speed limit. Not only is this important for safety, but many cars achieve maximum efficiency around 45 to 60 mph. Driving the speed limit (or slightly below if it’s safe) will help your car run more efficiently and be friendly to your gas mileage.
2. Avoid using roof racks. These attachments to your roof interfere with your car’s aerodynamics and increase drag, causing your car to work harder to maintain its speed.
3. Keep your tires properly inflated. Only inflate them to the recommended pressure – any pressure above or below adds extra wear to your tires and your car. Properly inflated tires are important for safety and good gas mileage.
4. Drive calmly. Passing other cars and weaving through traffic requires rapid acceleration and lots of braking – both of which reduce gas mileage. Calm driving helps maintain your mileage and protects you and other drivers.

Tune ups, inspections, and repairs are all a critical part of maintaining your vehicle and securing the gas mileage your car is made for. For expert car service, call us today at (630) 932-4427!

We all want clean air to breathe. That means making sure all of our cars meet industry standards regarding how much pollution they put into the air. Fortunately, this doesn’t take too much work; you just have to take your car by J1 Auto Repair for expert emission repair services. Here, we’ll go over how auto emissions contribute to air pollution.

How much do emissions contribute?

The EPA gives us some reliable statistics regarding how much emissions contribute to air pollution. According to them, 1/3 of the kind of air pollution that causes smog stems from vehicles on the road. Also, transportation contributes 27% of all greenhouse gas emissions.

How can you keep these numbers down? Simple. When you suspect damage to your exhaust, catalytic converter or other emission equipment, take your car by our shop for expert repairs. Give us a call at (630) 932-4427 for more information.

We take on a lot of responsibility when we get behind the wheel of a car. Weighing in over a ton, they can create serious havoc even when going “slow”. Because of this, we have to make sure we all maintain our awareness on the road. Recently, you might have seen news stories about the dangers of texting while driving. We go over why you should avoid it here.

Dangers:

Drinking and driving usually decreases your reaction time by a fraction of a second. However, this creates enough danger that we jail people who do so. When texting, most people tend to take their eyes off the road for much longer than that. Remember, 5 seconds at 55 miles per hour equals the distance of an entire football field.

Stats:

• The National Safety Council has reported 1.6 million crashes a year due to cell phone use.
• Texting creates the most risk on the road of all cell phone usages.
• 11 teenagers die daily due to texting and driving.

Here at J1 Auto Repair, we want to remind you to stay safe out there on the road. If you want to ensure your car does also, bring it by our shop or give us a call. You can reach one of our friendly team members at (630) 932-4427.

When we think increased crash risk, most of us instinctively go to drunk driving. While extremely dangerous, drunk driving doesn’t make up the whole list of activities that raise your risk of getting into a car wreck. In fact, a few others have comparable rates of danger to drunk driving. One of those includes sleep deprived driving; we go over the dangers here.

Stats:

When it comes to driving, constant attention proves necessary to avoid collisions. When we get tired, we have to focus more and more attention on staying awake, thus slowing our reaction times.

• The National Sleep Foundation performed a study on the subject, and found that 2/3 of participants reported driving sleep deprived in the last year. 1/3 reported actually having fallen asleep behind the wheel.
• The same group also found that the young (men especially), shift workers and parents had the highest rate of sleep deprived drivers.

When your car needs repairs to function safely, J1 Auto Repair has your back. On the road, you need to stay focused. To learn more about our services, please don’t hesitate to call one of our friendly team members at (630) 932-4427.

Learning about each individual part in your car and how they all interconnect can seem like a daunting task. To achieve it, you really need to only do a little bit at a time. In the end, though, you will better know how to handle and maintain your vehicle. To help you out, we’ve gone over one of the parts here: the shocks.

What do they do?

Contrary to popular belief, shocks do not actually hold up the vehicles weight. In fact, they just manage the movement of your springs and suspension. They do this by converting the kinetic energy of these moving parts into heat, or thermal, energy that dissipates into hydraulic fluid. This works because they have a piston that pushes down into hydraulic fluid when the suspension moves. 

Keep learning about your car’s parts and you’ll understand it better eventually. If you need shock replacement in Lombard, J1 Auto Repair has you covered. To find out more about this and our many other services, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (630) 932-4427.

Thank god we have professionals to take care of complex problems like the ones we experience with our vehicles. It takes too much effort for the layman to understand how a car works, at least in a short period. We can all stand to learn a little more about our vehicles, and it doesn’t have to take much effort; learning the basics of 1 part every once in a while can go a long way. To that end, we’ve put together some information about your car’s O2 sensors.

What they do:

Your oxygen sensor monitors oxygen levels in your exhaust. This lets it gauge the entire fuel mixture and then regulate it. If the mixture comes out oxygen rich, the sensor increases the amount of fuel injected. When it comes out oxygen poor, it decreases the amount of fuel. Without your O2 sensor, your car couldn’t run efficiently.

Now you’ve got the basics of one part down, stay tuned for the next; you’ll have proficient knowledge in no time. If you need O2 sensor repairs, or any of our many other auto services, come by our shop today or give us a call. You can reach us at (630) 932-4427.

Trying to understand the workings of your car can prove a hard endeavor; so many parts go into it, where do you start? It may seem hard to understand, but if you take it one part at a time you’ll gain a good overall knowledge in a matter of months. To help you do this, we’ve put together a quick overview of what a muffler does:

Noise Pollution:

Mounted within your exhaust pipes, the muffler’s job includes minimizing the noise that comes out. See, as pressurized gas gets let out of your engine through the exhaust, it makes a whole lot of noise. The muffler has perforated tubes and things called baffles that stop the air on the way out of the exhaust, making it bounce around first to cancel itself out and keep it quiet.

Improve Performance:

While the muffler’s main job involves keeping the noise pollution down, it also can improve performance. Certain mufflers actually increase exhaust flow.

Hopefully, after this, you understand your car just a little bit better. If you need muffler repairs, or most any other auto service, in Lombard, IL, J1 Auto Repair can help you. For more information, drop by our location or give us a call at (630) 932-4427.

America has got the need for speed. Even if we can’t drive fast ourselves, we love to see and hear about people who do. No wonder cars keep getting produced that go well over 3 times any legal speed limit in the country; we love it. To help fuel that fire, we’ve listed the top 3 fastest street legal cars available:

Hennessey Venom GT:

This car breaks the current record (as of February 2014) for the fastest street legal car, clocking in at 270 miles per hour top speed. It goes from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. Also, compared to the other cars on this list, it has a relatively low cost of $1,000,000.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport:

This car held the world record for an impressive 3 whole years. It tops out at 268 miles per hour, going from 0-60 in 2.4 seconds. For the (not so) low price of $2,400,000, it could be yours.

Koenigsegg Agera R:

This car has been considered an up and coming rival of the Bugatti. No wonder – with a top speed of 260 miles per hour, it goes from 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. Also, this car features some “cool” add-on features, such as snow tires and a ski box.

While we appreciate the love of speed as much as they next person, we want to remind you to always drive safely. Here at J1 Auto Repair, we offer a host of repair services for your convenience. For more information, please drop by our location or give us a ring at (630) 932-4427.

The alternator is an integral part of the power sources of your engine. Without it, your car couldn’t run. It and the battery work together to power your vehicle. While most of us like to leave the specific knowledge to the mechanics, it’s a good idea to inform yourself on the basics of the components of your engine. At the very least, it may help you spot or isolate a small problem before it becomes a big one. To help you out, here’s an overview of how the alternator works and what it does:

The alternator’s job is to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy as alternating current (A/C being invented by Nikola Tesla). Nowadays, most alternators do this with a magnetic field, using what is called a rotor and a stator. This current powers up the battery and all the electronic devices in the car.

That’s the gist of it. The specifics are much, much more complicated, but now you’ve got the basics. If you have any questions about the health of your alternator, we here at J1 Auto Repair offer alternator repairs alongside a host of other auto-related services. For more information, please give us a call at (630) 932-4427.