Car diagnostics near Convent Glen

Jeanne d’Arc to the 174

From Convent Glen, take Jeanne d’Arc Boulevard south to the 174 west. Where the 174 meets the Queensway, 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.

It is 12.9 km and about 13 minutes outside rush hour, almost all of it on the 174. The shop is Unit 1, 1541 Star Top Road, Ottawa, ON.

In the morning rush the same drive takes longer, since the westbound 174 is slow well before the Queensway. If you are booking a drop off, give yourself extra time, or pick a slot after the rush. The last drop off of the day is 2pm.

Commuter cars and warning lights

Convent Glen sits at the north end of Orléans, close to the river, and for many people here the day starts and ends on the 174. A car doing that commute adds kilometres fast, and high mileage is when sensors, coils and small vacuum hoses start to fail. The first sign is usually a check engine light on the way home.

A computer diagnostic is $50. We read the codes and the freeze frame data that shows what the engine was doing when the fault set, then test the part instead of guessing. A lean code, for example, can be a cracked intake hose, a dirty mass air flow sensor or a weak fuel pump, and only one of those is cheap. The check engine light page covers the most common codes on commuter cars.

If the light is flashing, the engine is misfiring. Do not keep driving at highway speed, because unburned fuel can overheat and ruin the catalytic converter.

A/C in the July crawl

The 174 in July, westbound at 7:30 in the morning or eastbound at 5, is where a weak A/C shows itself. If the air is cold on the open highway but warms up as soon as traffic stops, the system is often low from a slow leak, or the condenser fan is not switching on.

A/C repair starts with gauges on the service ports to read the pressures, then dye to find the leak. Topping it up without fixing the leak just puts you back in the same place a few weeks later. A/C work is quoted per car once the cause is found.

The yearly visit

Commuter kilometres add up to a lot of wear in a year. A tune up and yearly maintenance visit is $150 and covers the filters, the plugs, the fluids and a full once over, so the next problem is found at the shop instead of on the shoulder of the 174. Book it for spring, after the salt and the potholes, when worn parts are easiest to spot.

Safeties for selling or buying

If you are moving on from a car with a lot of kilometres on it, the buyer will need a Safety Standards Certificate to plate it. The Ontario safety inspection is $240 and the certificate is issued electronically through DriveON.

Saturday hours are 9:30am to 2pm, so a car that is needed all week can still come in.