From classic vintage to modern luxury vehicles, sooner or later every car needs a tune-up. Over time, spark plugs and wires get old and wear out, contacts and filters get dirty, and on older vehicles, the ignition timing needs to be adjusted. Performing a tune-up will ensure it keeps running at its best; otherwise, your car won’t run as smoothly or efficiently as it could and might even leave you stranded on the side of the road.
1. Recommended mileage points
Your vehicle manufacturer recommends a tune-up at certain mileage points. For older vehicles, it’s standard practice to have it done every 10,000-20,000 miles, while newer cars can be driven as far as 100,000 miles before a tune-up is needed. We recommend 75,000 miles, because the plugs don’t last to the 100,000 mile mark. Even if your vehicle shows no symptoms, pay attention to these recommendations, and take the car in for servicing if you’ve reached the recommended mileage point. Performing basic maintenance now will prevent more expensive future auto repairs.
2. Lower fuel efficiency
If your car starts getting bad gas mileage, it’s not necessarily a sign of age. Failing spark plugs, dirty filters and bad connections can all cause fuel efficiency to go down. Getting a tune-up can resolve these issues.
3. Stalling
Stalling can also happen for a variety of reasons, but a common reason is that the spark plugs and connectors aren’t igniting the fuel properly — which means you need a tune-up. If you’re experiencing this symptom, pay attention to when it happens: does the car stall when the engine is hot or cold? Does it stall when you turn on the air conditioning? Let your us know when the stalling happens because this information can help pinpoint the problem.
4. Increased trouble starting the car
While this symptom can point to a wide range of issues, quite often it’s simply that your car’s ignition needs cleaning or adjusting. Give us a call to find out for sure.
5. Rough idling or acceleration
If the car is idling roughly or when you apply the gas, it often means cylinders are “missing” because the spark plugs aren’t igniting the fuel. Also, if your vehicle “knocks” when accelerating or climbing hills, while it could be a bad mixture of gasoline, but it could also be a fuel efficiency problem. Either way, a tune-up may fix the issue.