Wayne's Garage - Auto Repair
Our page for interesting things we see and what's going on with Wayne's Garage, servicing Eugene and Springfield's automobile service needs.
At Wayne's Garage every visit with an invoice enters you into the monthly drawing for a $25.00 discount on your next service!
Some interesting Automobile Facts
There were 253 active automobile manufacturers in 1908. That number dropped to only 44 in 1929 after the stock market crash.
Henry Ford first coined the phrase “tune-up” when he was working on his first automobile prototype. The first ignition system was made up of spark plugs and ignition coils. As these coils worked they would emit a buzzing sound, and if they were all working together correctly they would all buzz at the same level and be “in tune.” If they weren’t working together, this meant the vehicle wouldn't run well, and these coils needed to be adjusted – or tuned-up – to make the car run better.
The average American can spend about 38 hours a year stuck in traffic. That means by the time you turn 60, you could have spent 95 days stuck in traffic.
There was a monk in the 1200s who predicted the existence of cars. Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar wrote in one his documents: “Cars can be made so that without animals they will move with unbelievable rapidity.” He also predicted airplanes, steamships and submarines.
75% of cars that Rolls Royce has produced are still on the road today. That’s an amazing feat, and a testament to a quality car, and lower mass production.
In 1916, 55% of all the cars in the WORLD were Model T Fords. This record has never been broken.
The average car is made up of 30,000 parts and may contain some 1,500 copper wires—totaling about 1 mile in length. In 1948, the average family car contained only about 55 wires, amounting to total length of 150 feet. It’s no wonder that the automotive repair profession has become very complex and technical.
Cabin filters are good for removing dust, smoke and pollen before the air enters our car but squirrels and rodents can plug them up real fast. This filter was recently removed from a car in our shop.
Wayne's Garage is a multiple winner in the Register Guard Reader's Choice Poll! We want to give a special Thanks to all of those who voted for us.
No start Honda due to customization.
This decorative ring for the ignition switch came in a kit with other items to customize a Honda with a lot of sparkles. Unfortunately when it was towed in for a no start condition we found that it was causing interference between the sensor that reads the chip in the key and preventing the car to start. Apparently at times it would start, but not always.
Broken Timing Belt - Bent Valves
If you own a car with a timing belt, check the mileage when it is due as a belt failure can more than triple the cost of a new belt. If the timing belt is more than 7 years old it may be a risk of failure even if not due by mileage.
This Subaru came in with a broken timing belt at 120K, upon further inspection all the valves were bent and required a valve job. Ouch!
Clunking Jeep
Another example of why getting a good pre-purchase inspection is a good idea before buying that car, even sometimes on a fairly new vehicle. Customer had just bought this Jeep with only 1800 miles "as is" and later noticed a clunk in the front end at times. We found a damaged strut assembly from a previous minor accident. New strut and back on the road much quieter.
Explorer only wants to back up.
This Ford Explorer had a very interesting problem. It would stall whenever it was put into drive but would not in reverse, you could back up just fine, but any time you put it in a forward gear the engine would instantly die!
With some testing we found that the computer was locking the torque converter to the transmission when put into forward gear, which stalled the engine just like it would on a manual transmission if you didn't push in the clutch.
It is normal for the converter to be locked when you're cruising down the highway, but never when stopped or below 25 MPH.
A replacement Engine Control Module repaired this vehicle and it was happy to go forward down the road again.
Why do mice and other rodents like to chew the electrical wires on your car? Mostly to sharpen their teeth, The hard material of the electrical wires are a very good surface that helps the mice control the size of their teeth. Some of the materials used in the insulation in some newer cars is also more appealing. They cause hundreds of thousands of damage to cars every year. It is not uncommon to have a car towed in for repair to find rodent damage to the wiring.
Buying a used car can be a gamble, especially if you don't get a good pre-purchase inspection. And not just one where they look under the hood and kick the tires. Here's an example of what we found on one of these inspections.
Someone had installed vice grips on this brake line and neatly zip tied them in place. Why did they do that?
Probably because they didn't want to fix the brake problem!
When we pulled off the drum there were no brake shoes or hydraulics and they just blocked off the right rear brake assembly so they wouldn't have to fix it.
Best to always get a good inspection along with a Carfax report when buying a used car.
Wayne's Garage recently purchased a new Coolant Exchange machine for more efficient Cooling System Services!
2019 has been an interesting year for Wayne's Garage, we consolidated our 2 shops and moved our equipment and staff from the South Eugene facility to our Springfield facility. We've updated a lot of equipment and made some improvements to our Springfield location.