AUTONET TV

Change Your Wiper Blades Twice Yearly at Westmoreland Transmissions

Because 90% of our driving decisions are based on visual information, unobscured vision is paramount. Which brings us to the topic of today's Westmoreland Transmissions article: wiper blades. While this isn't the most exciting automotive subject, it's important. You wouldn't drive at night in FORT WORTH with your headlights off, but a dirty or streaked vehicle windshield can catch the glare of the sun or on-coming headlights and make it just as difficult to see.

Most of us in FORT WORTH replace our wiper blades when they no longer do the job. They are so worn, hard or brittle that they can't clean the windshield. They may even be falling apart. In other words, we deal with our wiper blades from a failure perspective. We address them when they no longer function. The theory, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," doesn't apply here. Instead, we should think about wipers blades as an important safety system that we should maintain rather than repair.

TX automotive experts recommend that we change our wiper blades twice a year, in the spring and fall. That way you have functional blades for those FORT WORTH spring showers and winter storms.

When we use our wipers a lot, they get worn from the FORT WORTH road grime and bug juice. Even if we don't use them very often, they're exposed to the sun, heat and cold, and air which cause them to dry out, become brittle and break.

And of course, you need a good windshield washer fluid in your vehicle to help the wipers do their job. Always use washer fluid because plain water doesn't work as well and it can freeze in the reservoir. If you're driving where there are a lot of bugs in TX, you can pay a little more and get fluid that does a better job of clearing them. If you live where you have extremely cold winters, you can get fluid that resists freezing.

Like everything else in the automotive world, there've been some big advancements in wiper blades, both in terms of the design and the materials from which the blade is made. If you are a local FORT WORTH driver that has a need for better than average windshield wipers, you can pay some more for an upgraded wiper. And if you live where there's a lot of snow and ice in TX, they make special winter blades that don't clog up and freeze like standard blades.

At one of your fall and spring oil changes, ask your Westmoreland Transmissions service advisor which is best wiper blade for your driving conditions. Replace your blades on schedule so you never have to struggle with your vision when you switch on your wipers.

Westmoreland Transmissions
2001 E LOOP 820 S STE 19A
FORT WORTH, TX 76112
817.466.7295
www.westmorelandtransmissions.com

Battery Replacement at Westmoreland Transmissions in FORT WORTH

Hello, welcome to Westmoreland Transmissions. Today's focus is batteries. It seems like everything in FORT WORTH runs on batteries. Of course, the batteries we're most concerned with here at Westmoreland Transmissions are those in our customer's vehicles. Just like the batteries in our smoke detectors or TV remote, they wear out and need to be replaced . This can be thought of as the power output used to start a cold vehicle engine. The number of cold cranking amps you need depends on your vehicle and where you live in TX, specifically how cold it is. (Many FORT WORTH drivers have first-hand experience trying to start their car on a cold winter morning.) The two factors are that the colder your vehicle's engine is, the more power it takes to turn the engine over to get it started. It has all that cold, sluggish oil to contend with.

The other factor is that the chemical reaction in the battery that creates electrical energy is less efficient when the temperature dips. Let's say it's 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees C) in FORT WORTH. At that temperature, 100% of the battery's power is available. At freezing, only 65% of battery power is available, but it requires 155% as much power to start the engine as it did at 80 degrees F (27 degrees C).

As you can see, the colder it gets, more power is needed, but the available power drops.

So if you live where it's cold in TX, you need a battery with more cold cranking amps than you do where it's moderate or hot. The battery that originally came with your vehicle was based on averages. At Westmoreland Transmissions, we like to remind FORT WORTH drivers that they should always get at least as many cold cranking amps as their vehicle manufacturer recommends but may want to upgrade if they live where it gets real cold.

Westmoreland Transmissions
2001 E LOOP 820 S STE 19A
FORT WORTH, TX 76112
817.466.7295
www.westmorelandtransmissions.com

It Pays to Take Care of Your Transmission at Westmoreland Transmissions

If you've been paying attention, you've noticed that vehicle engines are getting more and more powerful in FORT WORTH. At the same time, they are getting better and better fuel economy. I've gotta tell 'ya, most of that's because of technological advances in transmissions. To get a better understanding of why that is, let's talk bicycles.

You've probably seen plenty of cyclists on FORT WORTH roads. Perhaps you ride yourself. Then you know that a cyclist's cadence is the number of times per minute he or she pedals. The ideal pedal speed is the zone where they can most efficiently generate power over a sustained period of time. The experienced TX cyclist uses her gears to keep her pedal speed in the ideal zone whether she's climbing a hill, cruising on a flat stretch or killing a downhill.

Think of it this way: if you have a 1-speed bike, you really have to pump hard to get up to speed. Your top speed is limited by how fast as you can pedal. And if you're climbing a steep TX hill – forget about it.

Now let's add a couple of gears: one lower and another one higher. With the lower first gear, you can get up to your ideal pedal speed more quickly. When you shift to second, your pedal speed drops below ideal for a while as you work to get back to peak efficiency. Same thing happens when you shift to third, but now you can go much faster than you could with a 1-speed bike using the same effort. Add more gears and you can see that it's much easier to maintain ideal pedal speed. The result, quicker starts, better hill climbing, higher top speed and, most of all, a lot less fatigue for the FORT WORTH rider.

Like a cyclist on a bike, every vehicle engine has an ideal engine speed called its power band. When an engine is running in that zone, it can make power very efficiently. It's the vehicle transmission's job to keep the engine in the power band over a wide range of operating conditions. Today 5 or 6 speed automatic transmissions are pretty much the minimum, and 7 and 8 speeds are fairly common in FORT WORTH.

Obviously these sophisticated transmissions are very expensive. In fact, next to your vehicle engine, your transmission is the most expensive component in your vehicle, so it pays to take good care of it. Your manufacturer has a recommended service interval for changing your old, contaminated transmission fluid. Servicing your transmission on schedule at Westmoreland Transmissions keeps it operating at its best and can prevent costly damage. Ask your friendly and knowledgeable Westmoreland Transmissions advisor if it's time for transmission service. Come see why smart FORT WORTH drivers trust their transmissions to Westmoreland Transmissions.

Give us a call.

Westmoreland Transmissions
2001 E LOOP 820 S STE 19A
FORT WORTH, TX 76112
817.466.7295
www.westmorelandtransmissions.com

Busting Automotive Myths in FORT WORTH, TX

Myths passed around our FORT WORTH, TX community start with a grain of evidence and are then built up with a lot of imagination and very elastic logic. And the internet is a breeding ground for automotive myths. Some bloggers recall the vehicles of yesteryear and declare their modern decedents to be virtually maintenance free and that anyone who says otherwise is out to rip you off.

To get the truth about auto myths you hear around the FORT WORTH area, come over to Westmoreland Transmissions.

Let's examine a couple of the more popular rants and look at the truth behind them.

The first one is that the chassis no longer needs lubrication for suspension, steering and the driveline. They declare that anyone who has charged you for lubrication is a charlatan.

The truth on which this myth is based is that many new vehicles come from the factory with sealed joints and cannot be greased. However, there are still some grease points on many cars around FORT WORTH. A grease fitting may have been installed in conjunction with a repair. And most trucks and truck-based SUVs driving in FORT WORTH still require chassis lubrication. This is because they are more heavy duty and proper greasing is still required to keep them going.

Another common rant you'll hear around FORT WORTH is that modern vehicles don't need tune-ups. That depends on your definition of a 'tune-up', which has changed as technology has progressed. Before engine control computers, electronic ignition and fuel injection, a tune up meant replacing mechanical parts that wore out. Service technicians at Westmoreland Transmissions would manually adjust fuel and air mix and timing. When these adjustments were off, spark plugs would foul and need to be replaced.

This definition just doesn't apply to modern vehicles. Service centers like Westmoreland Transmissions generally consider a tune-up to be the major service visit, recommended by your manufacturer, every 30,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) or so.

Of course you can't lubricate a sealed joint. Of course you can't adjust a carburetor if your car doesn't have one. You probably don't need to change spark plugs every year if your manufacturer says they can go 30,000 miles (50,000 kilometers). What are these bloggers getting so worked up about?

The danger with these modern-day myths is they prevent people in our local FORT WORTH community from taking care of the routine preventive auto maintenance that manufactures recommend. Check out this partial list of things you still need to do to take care of your car. How many of them are really any different today than they were 20 or 30 years ago?

Oil change, cooling system service, transmission service, tire balancing, tire rotation, wheel alignment, suspension service, power steering service, proper tire inflation, brake service, differential service, battery maintenance, engine air filer, PCV valve, breather element, fuel filter, belts, hoses, timing belt, windshield wipers . . .

You get the picture. Your vehicle is still a machine that needs to be maintained. And, hey, your service advisors at Westmoreland Transmissions have always adapted to keep pace with automotive technology. Next time you come across an angry voice about your car care, talk to your FORT WORTH service advisor at Westmoreland Transmissions, or do some research of your own.

Westmoreland Transmissions
2001 E LOOP 820 S STE 19A
FORT WORTH, TX 76112
817.466.7295
www.westmorelandtransmissions.com