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Simple Answers from Mountain View Automotive for Thornton: Fuel System Service Question What benefit will I get out of a fuel system cleaning? Answer Well, the dirtier your fuel system is, the bigger the improvement you’ll see in performance and fuel economy.  But don’t wait until your engine is running poorly, you’ve wasted hundreds of…

Hello, Thornton! Today’s Mountain View Automotive auto care topic is the serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that’s driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems. Let’s go over them. First, the serpentine belt drives your air conditioning system. Next, the belt powers the alternator. The…

As your engine runs, dirt gets into the oil.  Oil sludge can also start to build up.  Fortunately, motor oil contains detergents that clean the engine and gather up contaminates.  The oil circulates through the oil filter where clumps of dirt and sludge are captured.  An oil filter can eventually get clogged up – so…

If you’re a quart low, there isn’t enough oil to lubricate your engine properly.  The extra friction causes drag that reduces fuel economy. Same goes for dirty oil.  It doesn’t reduce friction properly.  The result is you get to watch those numbers at the gas pump rolling higher and higher. The transmission also needs the…

You probably have a cabinet in your kitchen filled with pots and pans. Your vehicle has one very important pan in it as well. It’s the pan that holds oil for your engine called, naturally, an oil pan. The oil pan is a very important, though simple, component of your engine’s lubrication system.  The oil…

Clean air quality is something that helps all of us thrive here on Planet Earth.  And considering that motor vehicles are a contributor to air pollution, emissions tests in the U.S. and Canada are in place to keep vehicles from needlessly spewing dangerous gases into the air. While laws vary from place to place, the…

Let’s address a very important maintenance item – timing belt replacement.  It’s important because letting this one slide can lead to very expensive engine damage. Your timing belt choreographs the timing of your combustion process.  Your pistons travel up and down in the cylinder.  Intake valves open at the right time to let in air…

Simple Answers Service Intervals Question: What is the benefit of winter tires? Mountain View Automotive Answer: This is a really good question. Most new vehicles in Thornton come with all-season tires that work pretty well in the Denver winter conditions drivers many encounter. First, let’s talk about the things that dedicated winter tires do really…

Nobody loves wasting money.  Gasoline costs money, so using less saves money.  One of the ways vehicle manufacturers are helping you save gasoline (and money) is with smaller, turbocharged engines. You might have heard of turbos associated with race cars, but more and more everyday street vehicles are getting into the turbo game.  The big…

I’d like to give you a quick overview of the fuel system.  It starts with the fuel tank.  The fuel pump is located inside the tank and pumps fuel out to the engine.  Somewhere along the way is a fuel filter whose job is to filter out dirt before it hits the engine.  Then there’s…