Automotive News & Information - Tom Quirk Automotive

transmission fluid being poured into car

In theory, you shouldn’t have to add fluid to an automatic transmission. However, if your transmission is leaking, even slightly, at some point you’ll have to. Here’s what you should know, from Tom Quirk Automotive in Albuquerque, NM.

No matter what type of fleet vehicles or commercial trucks you maintain, the fuel system on your diesel is an integral part of keeping you on the road. Gas systems are pretty simple - there’s basically just a pump that pushes gasoline to the injectors. Diesels are a bit more complicated.

If you drive a luxury or performance vehicle, you’re an owner of a reliable machine. Still, occasionally problems do arise. On vehicles like these, with so many electronics, a dead battery is a common issue. At Tom Quirk Automotive we want to keep our customers informed, here’s how to jump-start your vehicle safely.

In the diesel world, "blow-by" is a term you're bound to run across at some point if your line of work involves diesel-powered vehicles of any kind. What is blow-by, what causes it, and how concerned should you be? At Tom Quirk Automotive in Albuquerque, NM, our fleet maintenance and diesel technicians see it on a regular basis. Here we'll take a quick look at blow-by, correcting it, and preventing it.

What is Blow-By? - Diesel blow-by is a term that describes an event of lost compression into the crankcase. Blow-by occurs whenever a burnt or unburnt fuel and air mixture escape from the cylinder and past the piston rings and into the crankcase. In a perfect world, the piston would be sealed tightly in the cylinder, able to move up and down but keeping all the air and fuel and exhaust that enters or exits the cylinder during the combustion process out of the crankcase. As you'll see, this perfect world doesn't exist, but it is important to minimize the amount of blow-by in a diesel engine.

At Tom Quirk Automotive in Albuquerque, we understand all too well the importance of changing your oil regularly. Three to five thousand miles sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t really take that long to rack them up. The busier you are, the more you probably drive, and the more likely you are to forget it’s time to change your oil. Here are some reasons to pay attention to your oil changes, and help you better understand why oil changes are so important.

Your transmission cooler is an integral part of the reliability and proper function of your transmission. At Tom Quirk Automotive in Albuquerque, NM, we’re well equipped with the knowledge you need about coolers, and the ability and equipment necessary to keep your transmission in good shape.

If you drive a Mercedes, Porsche, Subaru, BMW, Jaguar, or other performance and luxury vehicle, you’re a person who appreciates the value of quality. At Tom Quirk Automotive, we share that appreciation - that’s why we specialize in quality cars and take pride in quality work.

If there’s an issue with your diesel fuel system, the most important thing to remember is to fix it sooner rather than later. With gas engines, you can often power through a fuel issue for quite some time - they’re irritating, but not often permanently damaging. Diesel systems are a little more important, and parts rely heavily on one another to avoid damage and keep working properly, as well as maintenance and repair from professional technicians.