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To ensure your motor vehicle is kept performing optimally, we recommend that you have a full service every 12 months or every 10,000 miles. For complete peace of mind, you can always opt for an interim service during this period to ensure that the vital elements of your vehicle are still in good working order. Normally someone would choose to have an interim service after 6 months of having a full service or 5,000 miles. All our work is fully guaranteed and falls within the Government legislation passed in 2003 called Block Exemption, meaning that our garage can carry out your car service and that your warranty is still protected - this now means you no longer need to use a main dealer to do your car service. As we use genuine car parts of OE standard, your warranty is protected at all times. Please don't be mislead by some claims from main dealers that will try and influence your decision to stay with them, the reality is that a car service or car repair with our garage is just as good, if not better and is always likely to be cheaper than what a main dealer charges

Why should I service my air conditioning system?

Your air conditioning system, can, over the course of a year, lose around 15-20% of its refrigerant gas. This occurs due to the movement and vibration of your engine and its effect on the numerous O-ring joints in the system, which compensate for this movement. These joints can allow small amounts of gas and lubricant oil to escape as they flex, expand and contract.

Low levels of refrigerant gas and lubricant oil will cause your system to work harder to cool your car and increase your fuel consumption. As levels drop further, there is the risk of compressor failure due to insufficient lubrication. The typical costs of a replacement compressor is £200 - £400 plus labour for installation, and then the cost of recharging the system with gas and oil.

Your air conditioning is not part of your vehicle's service schedule. To greatly reduce the risk of problems with your air conditioning system, it is advisable to have it serviced on a regular basis, just as you do with your engine. You can also further reduce the risk of damage by ensuring you use the system regularly, whatever the weather; this helps to stop the O-ring joints drying out and corrosion developing in the system. Regular use will also reduce the likelihood of bad smells developing through bacterial and fungal growth in the system.

We recommend that your air conditioning is serviced every 2 years, and for vehicles over 6 years old every 12-18 months. Regular maintenance can save you from some very large bills!

Air Conditioning service costs £145.00+VAT and includes:

• Visual inspection of compressor and mountings.
• Visual inspection of drive belts and re-tension as required.
• Visual inspection of condenser for damage and security.
• Visual inspection of condition and routing of all hoses and wiring.
• Charge system with leak detection dye and check for leaks.
• Check and top up compressor oil level.
• Recovery and safe disposal of existing refrigerant gas.
• Vacuum system to remove air and moisture.
• Recharge air conditioning refrigerant gas to correct level.
• Perform operational check to ensure no faults exist.

Air Conditioning Treatment

Specially formulated anti-bacterial deodoriser. Effectively destroys bacteria, mould and fungi which occur in A/C systems, especially when not used for long periods of time. Also eliminates any unpleasant odours and provides a pleasant fresh smell within the passenger cabin

Repairs

If your air conditioning system develops a problem (for example, a leaking component) and is left un-repaired, moisture can accumulate inside the system, leading to internal corrosion and ultimately more expense. If you know that your air conditioning is not working properly, it would certainly be wise to have it inspected sooner rather than later.

Full Diagnostic service

If your car suffers from any of the following, you need to speak to us first.

• Poor starting
• Poor idling / stalling
• Hesitation / misfire
• Low on power
• Poor fuel economy
• Emissions failure on MOT
• Dashboard warning lights

If a your vehicle is suffering any of the above complaints then an appointment is required for you to visit us for a complete evaluation consisting of standard preparation work, serial testing, parallel testing, formulation of results and Engineers report.

Visual Assessment

Before any test equipment is connected, a quick assessment is made under the bonnet, all vehicles have there own particular weaknesses due to poor design and all share weaknesses due to poor maintenance. Vehicle electronics have to operate in extremely harsh conditions, excessive heat, vibration and contamination are the worst enemies and all too often it’s a mechanical fault with a vehicle which can lead to a problem with a vehicle’s performance. Poor contact in wiring block connections due to water and oil leaks, dirty airflow meters due to oil contamination are all common. All these problems have to be fixed first before any electronic testing takes place.

It is quite often the case at this point we will advise the you the customer that some remedial mechanical work is required before further diagnosis is possible.

Serial Diagnostic

If all is well then we next connect a serial diagnostic to the serial connector of the vehicle. Here at West4Autos Limited we have a selection of serial testers collectively covering the majority of European and Japanese cars. All our diagnostic machines are main dealer level and have “Live data” capability and can be used to access other vehicle systems such as airbag, ABS, Body systems as well as Engine Management., however the most important thing is, is that all our diagnostic machines are upgradeable which means as vehicle technology moves on, so do we.

At this stage the appropriate tool is used firstly to see if any fault codes exist, if there are then they noted down. We DO NOT at this point replace the component the fault code refers to as many other repairers do, this practice can work out expensive both us the repairer and the you the customer and is unprofessional. The relevant code is noted and the circuit it refers to is noted, this is where the technician has to understand how a system works and how the components integrate, you have to work out what events would lead to that code being stored. To help us further we can then access the “Live Data” from the ECU and see if it is sensible. We have a database of “Live Data” to refer to as well as experience in knowing what to expect from sensors under various conditions.

MOT Testing fee: £54.00

If your vehicle is 3 years or older, by law you are required to have an MoT (the Ministry of Transport test) Test. The purpose of the MoT test is to make sure that the vehicle meets the minimum safety level required by law.

We currently offer these levels of MoT:

Class 4:

A Class 4 MoT is an MoT test for a four wheeled car, motor home, 4x4,and small car derived vans such as a Vauxhall Combo, Ford Escort Van, etc.

Why should I change my timing belt?

Changing the timing belt (also known as the cam belt or toothed belt) is one of the most expensive operations you will have to perform on your car. While it might be tempting to put off changing the belt you should bear in mind that the cost of repairs following timing belt failure can be more than 5X the cost of replacing the timing belt. The timing belt turns the camshaft to operate the engine's valves. When it breaks, the pistons continue to move, but the valves do not, resulting in pistons hitting and bending/breaking some valves. A more common scenario is a tensioner seizing or breaking up, however the end result is the same, valve damage is almost certainly guaranteed.

When should I change my timing belt?

This information can be found in the first few pages of your service book. The replacement interval varies from vehicle to vehicle. Generally speaking it should be replaced every 80,000 miles on most petrol engines, or every 60,000 miles on most diesels. Alternatively it should be replaced every 4 to 5 years if the replacement mileage is not reached.

What is changed with the timing belt?

Obviously the timing belt is changed, also any tensioners or rollers should be replaced. On some engines a vibration damper is fitted this should also be replaced. The water pump is often driven by the timing belt where this is the case we replace the water pump as a precaution. There is no extra labour charge for replacing the water pump, only the cost of the pump itself typically £30 to £50.

How can I check if my timing belt has previously been changed?

Check any receipts you may have from previous owners, phone any garages who serviced the car around the time the cam belt was due to be changed. If in doubt replace the timing belt.

Why are tyres so important?

When you're driving - whatever the speed or conditions - your only contact with the road are the four postcard size 'footprints' of your tyres. Statistics show that almost half of all car accidents are caused when a car skids - tyres are your vital link with the road and it pays to have the best fitted by our professional, qualified Tyre Shopper fitters.

What function does the tyre tread perform?

The purpose of the tread on tyres is to allow the tyre to grip in the wet. Huge volumes of water on the surface of the road have to be squeezed out by the tread grooves. For example, at 60mph, with a water depth of only 3mm, the tyre has to clear over 2 gallons of water per second! And 3mm of water on a rainy day is not unusual. In rain puddles, you will often find as much as 8 to 10mm. If this water is not rapidly dispersed, the tyre will begin to "aquaplane" - a sheet of water builds up between the tyre and the road - and the tyre loses all contact with the surface of the road. This is exceedingly dangerous. The capacity to disperse water is drastically reduced with low and worn tread depth - so carefully monitor the depth of tread on your tyres - YOUR LIFE could depend on it.

What is the legal limit?

The law demands that tyres have a tread depth of 1.6mm in a continuous band around the centre three quarters of the tyre. These levels represent the absolute minimum and tyres as worn as this should be replaced immediately. To help you judge how much tread you have on your tyres, manufacturers often mould tread bars at roughly 1.6mm. If you can see these bars your tyres are about to become illegal and unsafe. Recent research conducted by the independent automotive research and testing centre, MIRA, has proved that there is a significant deterioration in wet braking distances when a tyre wears below 3mm.

What causes a tyre to wear prematurely?

Often tyres have to be replaced long before their specified life has been reached principally because of rapid or uneven tread wear.

The most common causes of avoidable tread wear are:

• Under Inflating - Causing rapid wear along the edges of the tread.
• Over-Inflating - Causing rapid wear along the centre of the tread.
• Incorrect wheel balancing - Causing bald spots around the tread of the tyre.
• Incorrect wheel alignment or ‘tracking’ - Causing rapid wear along the inside or outside edges of the FRONT tyres.