Car repair for Carson Grove

Three roads and one exit

From Carson Grove, take Ogilvie Road to the Aviation Parkway, then Highway 417 east to Exit 112 (Innes Road). Turn right on Innes, then right on Star Top Road. Unit 1 is about 350 m up on the right. It is 3.8 km, about six minutes.

The highway part of the trip is short, so it is one of the easier drives to the shop at 1541 Star Top Road, Ottawa, ON. If a warning light comes on or the brakes start making a new noise, it is close enough that you are not gambling on a long run across town to get it looked at.

When a light comes on

A check engine light, an ABS light or a battery light tells you the car’s computer saw something out of range. It does not tell you which part failed. The code points at a system, and the same code can come from a cheap sensor, a vacuum leak or a wiring fault.

A computer diagnostic is $50. We read the stored codes and the freeze frame data, which shows the speed, temperature and load at the moment the fault was logged, then test the part the code points to. You get a straight answer on what is wrong and what it costs before any parts are ordered. The check engine light page covers what a solid light means compared with a flashing one.

Batteries in cars that live outside

If your car spends the night in a parking lot or on the street rather than in a garage, winter is harder on it. At minus 20 a battery gives up a big part of its cranking power, while a cold engine with thick oil needs more of it. A battery that started the car without complaint in October can quit on the first hard morning in January.

Slow cranking is not always the battery, though. A tired alternator or a small drain from something left on will kill a new one in a week. For battery testing and replacement we load test the battery and check the charging system first. The price of a new one depends on the make, model and year, and on the battery quality, from standard to high performance.

If it will not start at all, the shop does not tow, so arrange a tow or call first. The car won’t start page explains what we check.

Brakes on the stop and go

Ogilvie Road is lights and turning traffic, and the Aviation Parkway ends in a merge where you brake hard more often than you would like. That kind of driving wears front pads quickly and glazes them if you ride the pedal.

A squeal when you first touch the pedal is usually the wear indicator. A grind means the pad material is gone and metal is touching the rotor. Brake repair starts with measuring the pads and rotors, and you see the quote before anything comes off.

Tires and oil in the same visit

If the car is coming in anyway, add what is due. A seasonal tire swap on rims is $50 and a regular oil change is $55. Both go on the same booking, so one trip covers it.