Auto Repair – Common Issues

The dash light is shining bright telling you that something has indeed stopped working properly in your car. But that ominous check engine light can mean a lot of different things, figuring out what exactly it means can be difficult at best. When you take it in your mechanic can hook it up and “talk” to it so you’ll know. It can often leave you wondering how common of a problem is this? Here are three of the most common auto repair issues you’ll see and the average cost to repair.

First on the list is misfiring spark plugs. In order for your car to run correctly the spark plugs must fire. These parts make the car run by igniting the fuel that is compressed in the internal combustion engine. When they misfire your engine won’t be using fuel efficiently and it can actually affect the engines overall power. This is one thing you might be able to do yourself for the cost of plugs if you know a thing or two about cars. The plugs must be aligned correctly and these tools can be purchased at your local car store. If you don’t have the equipment or prefer a professional do this, then you’re looking at around $300.

Loose or missing gas cap is another common reason the light goes on. This is probably the easiest and cheapest auto repair you can ever have. If you go to a mechanic for this the first thing the tech is going to do is turn off the car, tighten the cap, wait a few minutes and then restart the car. Generally they won’t charge you anything for this service. If the light still doesn’t go off, or there is not cap, then a replacement cap costs about $3 and literally takes less than a minute to install. You want to make sure you keep a cap tight on your tank because fuel will evaporate and it will also lower your gas mileage.

Finally, a broken catalytic converter is another somewhat common auto repair issue. This is when the car’s catalytic converter, which converts harmful gases into less harmful gases, fails to do so. This means instead of having carbon dioxide coming out of your car’s tail pipe you have carbon monoxide coming out. This is not a good thing, catalytic converters are covered with precious metal and can cost $2,000 or more to replace. They don’t go out often but if you’ve had misfiring spark plugs for long enough, you’re running the risk of killing your converter.

There are other reasons for the check engine light to be lit and staring you down. Failed oxygen sensors an malfunctioning air flow sensors are other common reasons. The main thing to remember is, if the light comes on don’t wait forever to get someone to look at it and tell you what you need to do. There are things that cause the light to come on at first and then other problems can go wrong. Take the time for routine maintenance and you won’t have to spend a lot of money on auto repair.