Clackamas Auto Repair

Check Engine Light Flashing in Clackamas? How to Decide Whether to Drive In or Call a Tow The check engine light starts blinking as you climb Sunnyside Road toward Happy Valley. The engine shakes, and you can feel it pulling less than it should. You're a few miles from home and a few miles from the shop. The question running through your head is simple: can I make it, or do I need a tow? When your check engine light is flashing in Clackamas, the engine is almost always misfiring severely, and that misfire is pushing unburned fuel into the catalytic converter, where it can overheat and destroy it. Whether you can drive in depends on how the vehicle is behaving, how far you have to go, and the road between you and the shop. In many cases, a short, gentle drive is fine. In others, a tow is safer and actually less expensive, because it protects the converter from damage that would cost far more than the tow. At Tim's Automotive Repair and Sales, we diagnose and repair flashing c ... read more

Brakes Grinding in Clackamas? When the Noise Comes With a Pull, a Shake, or a Clunk Sometimes a brake problem comes with company. You hear grinding when you stop on Sunnyside Road, but you also notice the car pulls to the right. Or the steering wheel shakes every time you slow down coming off I-205. Or there’s a clunk from the front end when you brake on a hill. Now you’re not sure whether you have a brake problem, a steering problem, or both. When your brakes are grinding in Clackamas, the other symptoms that come with the noise are some of the best clues to what’s really wrong. Worn pads cause one kind of grinding. A sticking caliper causes grinding along with a pull. Warped or uneven rotors cause shaking. And some grinding and growling noises come from wheel bearings, axles, or suspension parts rather than the brakes. Finding the true source the first time is the difference between one repair and a string of them. At Tim’s Automotive Repair and Sales, we h ... read more

Car Battery Keeps Dying in Clackamas? What It Means on a Used Car and How to Check Before You Buy You bought a used car a few weeks ago. It drove well on the test drive, the price was fair, and everything seemed fine. Then the battery died in your driveway. A jump got you going, but it happened again last week, and now you’re wondering whether you bought a problem. If your car battery keeps dying in Clackamas, especially on a vehicle you haven’t owned long, the cause is usually something that can be found and fixed. Used cars come with history you didn’t see: an aging battery, a charging system that’s starting to weaken, wiring a previous owner added, or a hidden drain that only shows up after the car sits. Sometimes the battery is fine and the issue is simply that your driving habits are different from the last owner’s. The key is to find the cause instead of guessing. At Tim’s Automotive Repair and Sales, we repair vehicles and sell used cars, s ... read more

Accident Repair Second Opinion in Clackamas, OR: Finding the Damage the First Estimate Missed The accident itself took only a moment: someone rear-ended you in stop-and-go traffic on Sunnyside Road, you slid into a curb on a wet morning, or you clipped something on a dark stretch of Highway 212. Since then, you’ve been dealing with insurance calls, photos, and an estimate that mostly covers what you can see: a bumper cover, a headlight, maybe a fender. But the car doesn’t feel right. It pulls a little, there’s a new noise, or a warning light came on that wasn’t there before. An accident repair second opinion is about making sure the estimate covers all the damage, not just what’s visible. Collisions often damage parts behind and underneath the body panels: cooling components behind the bumper, steering and suspension parts after a wheel hit something, wiring and sensors near the impact. Initial estimates are often written before the car is taken apart, s ... read more

Car Leaking Fluid in Clackamas? What Leaks Reveal About a Used Car, Before and After You Buy A fluid leak tells a story about a vehicle. Sometimes it’s a short story: an aging gasket on a car with plenty of life left. Sometimes it’s a warning about a much bigger problem underneath. If you’re shopping for a used car in Clackamas, reading that story correctly can save you from an expensive mistake. And if you just bought one and found a spot under it in your driveway, knowing what to look for helps you decide what to do next without panicking. The short answer is that not every leak is a reason to walk away from a car, and not every leak on a car you own needs immediate repair. Small seeps are common on vehicles with miles on them. But certain leaks, such as brake fluid, fuel, coolant that’s causing overheating, or a transmission leak with burnt fluid, are serious, and they deserve a careful professional look before you buy or before you keep driving. At Tim&rs ... read more