Hands On Auto Tech @HandsOnAutoTech

I thought it might be fun to share some photos of our Axolotyl. This lil guy was given to us by a friend that could no longer care for him. His health has been improving since he moved into this larger planted tank. I love creating fresh water planted aquariums. The plants help to consume the nutrients and bio load from the fish, making it a natural little biom. This Axolotyl has such a heavy bio load that I had to add the house plant you see in these photos. The house plant is absolutely loveing all the nutrients, and the tank water stays clean, healthy, and perfectly balanced. I know I have quite a bit of Algae on the left side of the tank glass. The Snails have been working on it diligintly, and I am reluctant to scrape away their meal, they seem quite enthusiatic about it! Does anyone know what type of house plant this is? Please share your tank photos, I would love to see them.

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Does anyone else heat their home with wood? A friend helped me score a huge load of wood from a local golf course that was removing trees. I have been working to split and stack it all over the past couple of months to prep for winter. Unfortunately I am way behind, and I hope it all gets a chance to dry out enough in time for the coldest days. Our Furnace failed last year, about the same time we were moving to the bigger shop location. At the time, all of my funds were invested in the shop expansion, and I could not afford to replace the furnace. I did have enough money to buy a wood stove and install it myself with the help of a few friends. Man running that heavy jack hammer with one leg was a workout for sure! It is not pretty yet, I have to finish the inset, but it is plenty functional. This will be our second winter heating only with wood upstairs and pellets in the basement.

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Thank you to Mead, Longmont, Boulder, and the surrounding communities for continuing to trust us as your friendly local mechanic.

When deciding if it is time to service your vehicles timing belt, most people think of only the mileage the belt has on it. What about age? Over time the rubber can become dry and start to crack as seen in this photo. If you have a car with a rubber timing belt, and it does not get driven very often, you may want to consider replacing the belt if it has been 5 or more years.

Plastic, Plastic, and more Plastic! This 2007 Audi A4 is leaking from the plastic coolant housing at the back of the cylinder head. Someone tell me why we are using plastic bolted to metal in a hot engine bay for a critical fluid like coolant?

All of this work just to replace what are essentially the PCV Valves in this car. This 2019 Mercedez-Benz S560 came in with a heavy oil leak from the rear crankshaft oil seal. It is very common for the Oil Separators (Basically fancy PCV Valves) to have a check ball become clogged and stuck with carbon build up. This causes the crankcase to become over pressurized, and the lip of the rear crankshaft seal pushes out causing the big oil leak. This is why taking a car like this to a knowledgeable shop is so important. If the mechanic only replaced the leaking rear seal, it will fail again very quickly as the underlying cause is not solved. In fact, if the rear seal is not too far gone, sometimes the leak can be solved by just replacing the oil separators, a fact that is stated in the TSB for this particular leak. Hands On Auto Tech is owned and operated by a 30 year tech veteran with the skills and know how to keep your fine automobile on the road and save you on improper or un needed repairs.

Did you know that Car-Fax is for more than just shopping for a car? Car-Fax is a great way to track your vehicles maintenance, and make your car more attractive when the time comes to sell it. At Hands On Auto Tech, all of the services we perform on your vehicle are shared with Car-Fax. This way, when you sell your car, the buyer can see how well you have taken care of the car by looking at the car-fax report. Make sure that where ever you get your car serviced, they work with car-fax so you get this free benefit with every visit!

Timing chain replacement on this 2019 Land Rover Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic SE. I was amazed at how loose the chain was. It had jumped timing, Cam/Crank correlation codes were stored. The car refused to idle but ran surprisingly well after passing 1200 RPM's. Please, if you like your car, do not go 10k miles between oil changes. I recommend 5k mile oil changes if you want to keep it past 100k miles.

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A small puddle beneath your vehicle can turn into an overheated engine on a Colorado commute faster than many drivers expect. Knowing how to spot coolant leaks gives you a chance to address the problem before low coolant causes overheating, poor heater performance, engine damage, or an unexpected breakdown. Coolant, also called antifreeze, circulates through the engine and radiator to control operating temperature. It also protects internal cooling-system components from corrosion and freezing. When it escapes through a hose, gasket, radiator, water pump, or another component, the system may no longer have enough fluid or pressure to do its job. How to Spot Coolant Leaks Around Your Vehicle The most obvious sign is a colored puddle under the front of the vehicle after it has been parked. Coolant may be green, orange, yellow, blue, pink, purple, or red, depending on the vehicle and coolant type. Color alone is not a reliable way to identify the correct fluid, especially if the coolant is old or contaminated, but it is a useful clue. Fresh coolant often feels slightly slick and may have a sweet smell. Do not taste it or leave it where children and pets can reach it. Antifreeze is toxic, and even a small amount can be dangerous to animals. Clean up visible spills carefully and keep pets away from the area. Not every leak creates a puddle. Coolant can drip onto hot engine or exhaust parts and evaporate before it reaches the ground. Check for damp spots, crusty residue, or colored staining around the radiator, radiator hoses, hose clamps, coolant reservoir, water pump area, thermostat housing, and the front of the engine. Dried coolant often leaves a white, green, pink, or orange crust behind. A leak may also show up after the engine is hot and the cooling system builds pressure. That is why a driveway inspection performed only when the vehicle is cold can miss a small leak. Never remove the radiator cap or coolant reservoir cap from a hot engine. Pressurized hot coolant can cause serious burns.

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PSA on Pressure washing your engine. You might want to remove the ignition coils after and blow the spark plug tube holes out with compressed air. These ignition coils were so rusted into the holes that they were extremely difficult to remove. They also obviously failed.

It took me a week of fighting to get the insurance company to replace the Turbo on this car. In these photos, you see what we found inside what was left of the oil pan after an accident. The pickup tube had snapped off. The car was driven until the engine shut down. There is a ton of bearing material in this pan. Do you think the Turbo would have survived this? The insurance company had a net profit of over 11 billion last year.

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This week I received a Cadillac SRX that was directed to me by the Tom Martino troubleshooter show. It was an elderly couple that drove the Cadillac to CB for an engine light. CB told them it needed a catalytic converter. Original quote 2800. They get a call next day, now it is going to be 6k. Ok they said, we need the car. They get a call the next day now saying the engine is blown, it needs a new engine, 18k or some crazy number. The is when they called Martino and got directed to me. The photo just shows one of several areas of poor craftsman ship. The large missing bolt here is a structural bolt for the transfer case bracket to block/oil pan junction. The heat shield was not bolted in, and the wire not tucked behind. We borescoped the cylinder and it was immediately clear that at some point they had run the engine with no oil long enough to absolutely destroy the engine. The car would not start at all the cylinder walls were so scored. There is now way it was like this when they drove it to CB, it would not have run or made it there. CB tried to say it had been towed in to them, but the client drove it there. To make matters worse, after we replaced the engine and the car was running perfect, the new Catalytic converter CB sold them was defective. We were able to replace it with a GM factory unit for $200 less than the $1800 CB had charged them for the failed aftermarket junk cat.

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A check engine light may be off, the vehicle may be running well, and an emissions test can still come back as not ready. That frustrating result usually points to emissions monitor readiness - the self-check process your vehicle’s computer uses to confirm that key emissions systems have been tested and are working as expected. For drivers around Mead, Longmont, and Boulder, readiness monitors often become an issue after a dead battery, recent repair, cleared diagnostic codes, or a rushed trip to the testing station. The good news is that a not-ready result does not automatically mean a major repair is needed. It does mean the vehicle needs the right diagnosis and enough normal driving time to complete its checks. What Emissions Monitor Readiness Means Most vehicles built for the modern on-board diagnostics system use the engine computer to monitor components that affect tailpipe emissions. These checks are called readiness monitors. Some run nearly every time you drive, while others only run when conditions are very specific. A monitor may evaluate the catalytic converter, oxygen sensors, evaporative emissions system, exhaust gas recirculation system, fuel system, or misfire detection. Your vehicle records each monitor as ready, not ready, or, on some vehicles, not supported. When a monitor is ready, the computer has completed its self-test without finding a fault serious enough to turn on the check engine light. When it is not ready, the computer has not completed that test since its memory was reset. That is a status issue, not necessarily proof that a part has failed.

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A vehicle that starts normally in the morning but struggles later in the day can leave drivers chasing the wrong problem. The battery often gets blamed first, but the best signs of bad alternator trouble point to a charging system that is no longer keeping up. Catching the issue early can mean the difference between a straightforward repair and being stranded on the way to work, school, or an appointment. Your alternator generates electrical power while the engine runs. It recharges the battery and supplies power for essentials such as the ignition system, headlights, climate controls, radio, power steering on some vehicles, and modern safety systems. When it weakens or fails, the battery gradually runs out of usable power - even if the battery itself is in good condition.

The Team at Hands On Auto Tech wishes you a safe and enjoyable 2026 Labor Day Weekend. We will be back in on Tuesday. If you need to drop off over the weekend, just send a text to our Main phone number, and use the Drop Box, which is right across the street, number 4104. Hands On Auto Tech 4104 N Valley Dr. Mead, CO, 80504 There is a key drop box across the street with 4104 on the door for after hours drop off. Please be sure you hear the keys hit the bottom, and text me after you place your keys in the box.

Do not ignore Ball Joint play! When a Ball Joint or Tie Rod has significant play in the joint, what you see in this photo is the next stage, joint failure. This can lead to a major accident! Get your Front End and Suspension checked by a reputable shop that knows how to properly check for Ball Joint play.

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Only 3 Business Days left to take advantage of our August Special, Get a Free Alignment when you purchase from us and have us install two Monroe Quick Struts to your vehicle.

Did you know? We Can Rebuild and Tune Carburetors. Did you know New Carburetors do not come tuned out of the box, and most need to be re-jetted for our altitude prior to installation? We can also install Holley EFI systems, to go from Carburetor to Electronic Fuel Injection. Did you know when switch to a High Pressure EFI system, you have to replace the Fuel Tank with a Baffled Tank, or add a sump to the bottom of the tank for use with an external pump?

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Did you know? We are Hybrid and EV specialists. We can Custom Fabricate where needed, We can Weld, We can service A/C systems for all Makes and Models. We have in shop a state of the art Laser Alignment Machine. We provide free courtesy vehicles so you have something to drive while your car is in the shop. We can even pick up and drop off your car at your location. Only 4 days to get your Free alignment with the purchase and installation of two Monroe Quickstruts.

I want to share some photos and some advice. This may be a controversial post. Opinions can obviously differ. In these photos are various control arm bushings in various states of decay. I see some shops are telling people this is a major priority that must be addressed right away. In my opinion, all of the bushings here have life left, and none are a safety concern at the stage pictured. In our climate, the rubber tends to dry out fast, and you will get these sort of cracks relatively quickly, even with new control arms or bushings, it may look the same in a year or two. Keep in mind, all of these photos show bushings that another shop said MUST be replaced ASAP! Even if the bushing were to fail completely, the arm is not going to fall off, it is captured by the metal control arm surround, and the bolt in the center. It is ideal to replace them before complete failure, and I would suggest checking them once every 6 months if the tear becomes more than 25% of the connected rubber, and replace them when the tear is closer to 40% or 50%. of the total connected area, depending on the style of bushing. Finally, the most recent car that prompted me to make this post, had arrived with a quote in hand for $3000 for two front control arms!! I am reasonably priced, but also priced as a quality shop, and I found about $670 per side for parts and labor, or about $1340 for the pair, way below the 3k he was quoted. Get a second opinion!!

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