Car service near Cardinal Heights

Down Blair Road

From Cardinal Heights, head down Blair Road past Gloucester Centre and Blair station to the 174. Take the ramp for Highway 417 East (Cornwall, Montréal) and get off at Exit 112 (Innes Road). Turn right on Innes and right on Star Top Road, and Unit 1 is about 350 m up on the right.

That is 5.3 km and about seven minutes to 1541 Star Top Road, Ottawa, ON. Most of the time is on Blair Road, where the lights by the mall and the station are what slow you down.

Regular or synthetic

Cardinal Heights driving is a mix: Blair Road and Ogilvie Road lights, the mall parking lot, the occasional run out on the 174. That kind of mixed driving is where the choice of oil matters.

A regular oil change is $55 and synthetic starts at $100. The right one is whatever your engine calls for. Many newer engines are specified for a thin synthetic like 0W-20 and should get it. An older engine built for conventional oil does not need synthetic, though some owners choose it for easier cold starts in January. If you are not sure, say so when you book and we check the cap and the manual.

The booking form lets you add the vehicle by scanning the VIN with your phone camera, which takes the guesswork out of which engine and which oil. While the car is up for the change, we look underneath at the exhaust, the brake lines and anything the salt has started on.

The check engine light

A solid check engine light means a fault was stored. It can be as simple as a fuel cap that did not click shut, an oxygen sensor that has aged out, or a small evaporative leak. The car usually drives normally, but you should not ignore it, because a second fault can hide behind the first.

A flashing check engine light means the engine is misfiring badly enough to damage the catalytic converter. Slow down and get it looked at right away. The check engine light page explains what happens next, and a computer diagnostic is $50.

Exhaust that rusts from the inside

Every litre of fuel burned makes water, and it leaves through the exhaust as vapour. On a short trip the pipes never get hot enough to drive it out, so it condenses in the muffler and sits there. Add road salt on the outside and the muffler is being attacked from both directions.

The signs are a deeper rumble on start up, a rattle from a heat shield over bumps, or a pipe hanging lower than it should. Muffler and exhaust repair is quoted per car once it is up and we can see what has rusted through and what is still solid. An exhaust leak near the front can also let fumes into the cabin, so do not put it off.

Tires and rust while it’s up

A seasonal tire swap on rims is $50, and the spring swap back is usually in April. If you plan to keep the car through a few more winters, rustproofing with a no drip undercoating is $140 for a car and $180 for an SUV, best done in the fall before the salt trucks are out.