Category Archive: Mobile Mechanic Services

Sep
29

My car won’t start !

We had a call from one of our customers asking if we could call round to his neighbor who was having car problems. Apparently the female owner had been having problems with her car not starting and she had already spent a lot of money on parts and labor from various other ‘mobile mechanics’ who were still unable to find the problem.

The car was a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu with a V6 motor, the problem was that it would not turn over let alone start. Below is a list of parts they convinced her to buy:

Starter , battery, alternator, radiator (?) and water pump (?) .

The starter and battery could of possibly cured the problem but we are at a loss as to why the alternator, radiator and the water pump would cause the engine to not turn over. After making our own checks we noticed that the spark plugs appeared rusty and there was no coolant in the system, the owner confirmed she watched the last ‘mechanic’ put in new coolant. With our suspicions aroused we filled the radiator and tank with water  and asked the owner to attempt to start the engine. The starter engaged but stopped with a clunk ( symptoms that could be misread as a bad starter or battery), with the ignition off we tried to turn the engine over by hand but it appeared to be seized up. Removing all of the front 3 spark plugs proved my first hunch was correct, I asked the owner to try and start the engine one more time once I was stood to the side of the car.

Sure enough the engine turned over and water came shooting out of the spark plug holes, my initial diagnosis was correct. The engine had overheated so badly that coolant  was seeping into the combustion chambers causing a ‘hydraulic lock’ , this to an inexperienced ‘mechanic’ would sound like a bad starter. We explained that the cylinder heads would need to be removed to check the full extent of the damage, worse case the heads or even the engine block could be cracked and unrepairable requiring a complete motor swap.

Now we could not confirm as to why the water pump and radiator needed replacing but if faulty could of contributed to the engine overheating.

If the most basic checks had been checked first the owner would not of had to spend out $$$$$ for parts she did not need.  Stories like this are  unfortunately  becoming  more and more common , inexperienced and unqualified ‘mobile mechanics’ are preying on unsuspecting motorists when they are vulnerable and it is costing them $$$$ of their hard earned money.

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Jan
21

Do you own a BMW ?

Attention all BMW owners, if you have a problem or concern please give us a call. We have been specializing in servicing,repairs and modifying BMW’s as an independent specialist since 1987. We have the latest diagnostic equipment to cover all models up to 2009 including genuine factory technical information and repair guides.

If your BMW is overheating call us first before taking it into  your local repair facility, virtually every BMW we have come across has had inadequate or incorrect repairs leaving the engine with continuing ‘over heating’ issues. If left unchecked could cost you many thousands of $$$$$.

If you have ANY concerns, questions or would like  a fully comprehensive diagnostic and vehicle inspection on your BMW please call us on 321-356-4698.

We have the right diagnostic equipment to check your BMW.   

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Nov
15

Used Car Inspections can save you money.

If you are thinking of buying a used car in the Orlando area Mobile Auto Diagnostics strongly recommends you have a pre purchase inspection before you hand over any money. Buying a used car can be full of pitfalls especially if you are not sure what to look for, the car may have hidden problems or repairs that have been carried out to sub standard conditions. With todays cars even the smallest of repair could cost thousands to rectify. The addition of multiple onboard computers , electronic transmissions, wasted spark ignition systems, multi point and direct injection systems as well as multi link and active suspension systems means mechanics and technicians of today have to be highly skilled and versatile to work on these vehicles. The down side is that vehicles are put up for sale having had a  poor quality repair or  a temporary fix by an in experienced mechanic because the current owner cannot afford the correct repairs.  The common place for these cars to turn up for sale is in the used car auctions held around the areas of Central Florida. Another place to watch out is the ‘Car Dealers’ that operate from their homes having ‘borrowed’ a Dealers Tag from a friend. They sell as a dealer but most offer no warranties. So what can  you, the consumer and prospective buyer do to protect yourself from buying a potential ‘money pit’ ? The paint work may look nice and shiny and the interior clean and smelling nice but what about the important things like the Motor, Transmission, Brakes and Suspension ? Thats where our services can help you , for a fee Mobile Auto Diagnostics can carry out a full and detailed inspection. Below is an example of what could happen if you buy ‘blind’ without an expert to help you. This owner bought a used car from the Miami area, after driving it around for a short amount of time he noticed a knocking/clunking noise and uneven tire wear. After attempting to have the alignment done he was told the car has worn suspension and an alignment could not be done. After calling us and explaining his problems we promptly turned up to carry out a detailed inspection. What we found shocked and upset the owner as all of the urgent repairs that needed doing would have to come out of his pocket, we explained that if he had had a pre inspection  done before he parted with his hard earned money he would of more than likely made a different decision and not bought this car. The front suspension had worn ball joints, inner bushes and control arms. The passenger side  inner steering tie rod was excessively worn and the rotors badly worn together with the front pads almost on the metal. The worst problem we found is shown in the pictures below, the inner control bushing had completely failed causing the control arm to foul the subframe damaging the mounting area. The damage to the front sub frame is so severe that it is not repairable and will have to be replaced at a great expense to the new owner. With this particular vehicle the subframe is a complete unit that the suspension, steering and the motor all bolt to. The part is only available from the main dealer and the car would have to go on to a chassis jig for the subframe to be changed over. This is a major repair that is very labor intensive. This is an excellent example of why our Safety and Vehicle Inspections will benefit anyone when they are thinking of buying a used car.

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Nov
15

Buying a used Car ?

If you are thinking of buying a used car in the Orlando area Mobile Auto Diagnostics strongly recommends you have a pre purchase inspection before you hand over any money.

Buying a used car can be full of pitfalls especially if you are not sure what to look for, the car may have hidden problems or repairs that have been carried out to sub standard conditions. With todays cars even the smallest of repair could cost thousands to rectify. The addition of multiple onboard computers , electronic transmissions, wasted spark ignition systems, multi point and direct injection systems as well as multi link and active suspension systems means mechanics and technicians of today have to be highly skilled and versatile to work on these vehicles.

The down side is that vehicles are put up for sale having had a  poor quality repair or  a temporary fix by an in experienced mechanic because the current owner cannot afford the correct repairs.  The common place for these cars to turn up for sale is in the used car auctions held around the areas of Central Florida. Another place to watch out is the ‘Car Dealers’ that operate from their homes having ‘borrowed’ a Dealers Tag from a friend. They sell as a dealer but most offer no warranties.

So what can  you, the consumer and prospective buyer do to protect yourself from buying a potential ‘money pit’ ? The paint work may look nice and shiny and the interior clean and smelling nice but what about the important things like the Motor, Transmission, Brakes and Suspension ? That where we come in, for a fee Mobile Auto Diagnostics can carry out a detailed inspection.

Below is an example of what could happen if you buy ‘blind’ without an expert to help you. This owner bought a used car from the Miami area, after driving it around for a short amount of time he noticed a knocking/clunking noise and uneven tire wear. After attempting to have the alignment done he was told the car has worn suspension and an alignment could not be done. After calling us and explaining his problems we promptly turned up to carry out a detailed inspection.

What we found shocked and upset the owner as all of the urgent repairs that needed doing would have to come out of his pocket, we explained that if he had had a pre inspection  done before he parted with his hard earned money he would of more than likely made a different decision and not bought this car. The front suspension had worn ball joints, inner bushes and control arms. The passenger side  inner steering tie rod was excessively worn and the rotors badly worn together with the front pads almost on the metal. The worst problem we found is shown in the pictures below, the inner control bushing had completely fail causing the control arm to foul the subframe.

The damage to the front sub frame is so severe that it is not repairable and will have to be replaced at a great expense to the new owner. With this particular vehicle the subframe is a complete unit that the suspension, steering and the motor all bolt to. The part is only available from the main dealer and the car would have to go on to a chassis jig for the subframe to be changed over. This is a major repair that is very labor intensive.

This is an excellent example of why our Safety and Vehicle Inspections will benefit anyone when they are thinking of buying a used car.

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Nov
10

HID light kits fitted to your ride

Not happy with your headlights? Do  you want HID lights fitted ? Mobile Auto Diagnostics of Orlando offers a full professional  fitting service for HID kits  to most cars, SUV’s and pick ups. We can supply the kits and install them or fit your own supplied parts. We only fit DOT approved parts unless customer signs waiver for non approved parts labelled ‘off road use only’ . With winter coming now is the time to upgrade your lights to see and be seen . For more information please use the contact us form  and put ‘HID lights’ in the title.

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Nov
10

Do you need an iPod adaptor fitted to your car?

Mobile Auto Diagnostics of Orlando offers professional installations of iPod ® adaptors and convertors in to your car. You can enjoy your choice of music where ever you go without the worry of changing discs.

Most of the kits we supply enable control through your car audio equipment ( certain restrictions apply depending on audio equipment fitted) and use  direct ‘plug and play’ connectors. No poor reception via FM modulators, direct connection kits offer premium sound quality through carefully designed interfaces. In the majority of cases all the wiring is hidden from view leaving just the iPod ® connector within easy reach.

For more details please send us a message via the contact us page. Please include ‘i-pod adaptors’ in the title.

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Oct
27

Have you checked your cars A/C filters recently?

When was the last time you had your mechanic check or change your A/C cabin filters ? The majority of car owners in the Orlando area that we have met didn’t even realize that their car had cabin filters fitted . Most  modern vehicles on the road today that have A/C systems  fitted  also have filters  for the interior ventilation. They are often called ‘Cabin Filters’, ‘Pollen Filters’ or ‘Particle Filters’ and play a very important role in filtering the outside air whilst preventing harmful debris and contaminants from entering the inside of the vehicle.

If left unchanged they can starve the interior blower motor of air which can in the worse case cause the motor to fail and possibly burn out.  The first signs of problems are when these filters become blocked and leave a stale smell, this is the debris such as leaves, pollen and dust rotting in the paper filter  which allows  bacteria to grow and spread into the air ventilation hoses and vents. This can cause  breathing issues to anyone who suffers from symptoms such as asthma  and allergies .

These pictures below show Cabin Filters removed from a  2005 Honda, the owner didn’t even know that these filters existed and they had been in the car from new !

Just look at all that mould , dust and pollen festering in the filter !

We strongly recommend that Cabin Filters are replaced every 12,000 miles or 12 months to prevent issues like this from happening.

We would like to point out that  some manufacturers did not fit  Cabin Filters due to vehicle design restrictions . To find out if you vehicle has such filters please call us with your vehicle details.

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Oct
11

Mobile Auto Diagnostics offers premium engine services in Orlando for all Chrysler, Dodge & JEEP 2003- 2010 HEMI’s

Are you looking to save money and extend the servicing schedules in Orlando on your HEMI ® engine with out sacrificing  performance and reliability?  Did you know that Chrysler/ Dodge/ Jeep in Orlando  want you to change the spark plugs in the HEMI ® engine every 30,000 miles? And did you realize there are 16 spark plugs to change ? The reason is because they only fitted the very basic Champion copper spark plugs ( these plugs are OK in weed wackers) , these  type of spark plugs are old school technology that do not last with modern ignition systems. It was always recommended to change copper spark plugs every 12,000 on the older cars, with todays high voltage ignition systems asking these type of spark plug to perform up to 30,000 miles is pushing it. In our experience we have seen them deteriorate around the 20,000 mile mark ( symptoms of failing plugs is a decline in mpg and a lag/ surge when accelerating). This fault is often blamed on the MDS and can feel worse on 4×4 vehicles. Worse case is it could throw a fault code and your check engine light will come on.

With our premium service package we replace these basic spark plugs with the latest Iridium plugs by NGK, these will last in excess of 60,000 before needing replacing. The gains are a small improvement in mpg ( at todays gas prices ANY improvement in mpg is a blessing), a smoother idle and cleaner sharper acceleration.

We replace the basic paper air filter element ( these normally only last 12 months at best with average driving habits) with a K&N panel filter. The benefits with this is that the filter never needs to be replaced, only needs cleaning every 50,000 miles and the manufacturer backs it by  a Lifetime 1 million mile warranty ! Using these filters DO NOT void any warranties . Fast fit oil centers may try and  tell you otherwise because selling you new paper air filters is part of where they make big $$ out of you.

As part of the premium service package we change the oil in the HEMI ® engine for MOBIL 1  fully synthetic oil together with a genuine factory oil filter. It is a well known fact that synthetic oil performs better , lasts longer and protects more than regular oil. It is already factory standard on all SRT models and the only oil listed for  the European models.  It is proven that MOBIL 1 will easily last 15,000 before requiring  to be changed ( this only applies to an engine in excellent mechanical with out any know faults). We recommend after the change to fully synthetic oil that the oil filter is changed after the first 6000 miles and the oil is topped up. So basically you are changing the oil once and  2 oil filters once  a year/ 15,000 miles.  Put that against a traditional 3000 mile oil change ( 5 oil filters and 5 full oil changes = 15,000 miles )and you can see how easily it is to save money. It is also a big benefit to the environment as the waste oil and disposal of the oil filters is greatly reduced.

All of the above items will help maintain the  performance, improve drivability and help  reduce your HEMI ® powered Chrysler / Dodge/ Jeep regular maintenance  costs. For more information on our premium service packages please use the contact us page.

Interesting information: The wasted spark ignition system with 2 spark plugs per cylinder used in the  HEMI ® engine is nothing new, Mercedes have been using this idea for more than 10 years at least, ironically  the HEMI® engine was designed and put into production when the company was called DaimlerChrysler  ( Mercedes and Chrysler were partners in business) so one has to ask why did they only fit the most basic Copper spark plugs ( Cost cutting? Contract obligations with existing parts suppliers?)  when an identical system in all Mercedes engines only recommended Double Platinum or Iridium spark plugs and the service schedule for spark plugs is at least 60,000 miles + .

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