You’re driving down the road listening to the radio and thinking about what you need to buy at the store when, suddenly, you hear a thump, thump, thump sound and the steering wheel starts jerking in your hands. For a split second, you think to yourself, “What the heck is that?” Then it dawns on you, “For crying out loud, I have a flat tire.”Of course, this scenario assumes you haven’t

To properly maintain your vehicle, it helps to arm yourself with some basic knowledge about your car’s proper operation and maintenance so that you’ll recognize a potential problem. You’ll also want to employ your senses to gather clues about the problem so you can pass them on to your mechanic.Seeing a puddle under the engine is a pretty good indicator that something is leaking. Feeling a shimmy

No one would go to a doctor they didn’t trust when their health was on the line, just as they wouldn’t knowingly take their financial portfolio to a financial advisor with a felony background for embezzlement.  The same logic holds true when bringing their car to an auto-repair shop. A less than reputable auto-repair shop can leave you with costly and unnecessary auto-repair expenses. Trusting

Proper maintenance of your vehicle is important. It will help to increase the life of your car while decreasing the likelihood that you’ll find yourself sitting on the side of the road when something went wrong. There was a time when a periodic injector flush was part of that maintenance process. Now days, not so much. In fact, frequent injector flushes as part of regularly scheduled maintenance

It’s shocking to imagine a drive in your car without a suspension system. Every bump and crack in the road would transfer from the chassis and up the passenger’s spines. But, more than a matter of comfort, properly functioning shock absorbers save wear and tear on your vehicle while making the driving experience safer.Have you ever hit a really bad pothole and felt the steering wheel jerk in your

“It doesn’t look that bad, it wasn’t the guy’s fault but it’s $3,600,” said Tony Licocci, with McHenry MAACO Collision Repair & Auto Painting, as he looked over a vehicle that recently came into his shop for season repairs.In the auto body industry, seasonal repairs represent those that are caused by weather conditions. In this case, the $3,600 bill is the result of icy conditions

Slippery roads make winter driving a bit more intense than most driving of the mid-summer variety. Around these parts, in the Midwest, we’ve all seen cars in the ditch testifying to the reality that cars do slide on ice. But, slippery conditions are not the only cause. In fact, some of those cars in the ditch got there as much because of impaired vision as from the level of traction on the highway.Keeping

“12:00 … 12:00 … 12:00.” If you were around in the days of VCRs, you probably remember the repetitive flashing of that number. Back when VCRs were state of the art, most of the video machines included a clock with a digital display on the front. For those who were not entirely technically savvy, programming the clock was a nuisance they often skipped.As a result, instead of the time changing

In the darkness of the late night drive, reflective mile markers flashed by with a monotonous rhythm.  Bob pushed the accelerator down just a touch hoping to eke out a bit more speed and, thereby, shorten the duration of his trip. But the slippery roads rebelled and he felt a looseness in the steering as Mother Nature challenged for control of the car anywhere past 45 mph. He imagined his family

(Originally posted November 2011) From 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 17, the MC3 business networking group, part of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce, will throw one heck of a shindig at McHenry VFW east of the bridge on Route 120. Denny Norton, of Performance Unlimited, 5415 Austin Court, Ringwood, is a member of MC3 and the “Shop With A Cop” party is one of his favorite events of the year.“This