Your gas mileage mostly depends on what kind of car you drive; engine displacement and vehicle weight are the largest determining factors on gas mileage, and there’s not much you can do to change either of those. That doesn’t mean attempting to improve your fuel economy is a completely hopeless endeavor, however. With these tips from Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD, you might be surprised how much your fuel mileage can be improved.

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD, we’ve witnessed our fair share of burnt out and broken clutches. While clutch failure is an inevitability, there are a variety of ways to make sure yours lasts as long as possible.

It’s easier than ever to keep your fleet running smoothly for thousands of miles. If a vehicle has less than 50,000 miles on it today, chances are it still has 75 percent of its driving life ahead of it. That’s good news if you’re a company managing a fleet of vehicles. It wasn’t that long ago that hitting the 100,000-mile mark on the odometer was a major milestone. Today, vehicles are built to last. With the proper maintenance and attention, there’s no reason you shouldn’t expect to see that 50,000-mile reading on the odometer one day roll right past 200,000 and keep ongoing. Here at Skip's Auto Repair, we're going to give you some tips on how to make that happen!

Manual transmissions require far less maintenance than automatics. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t need a fluid check from time to time. Here’s what you should know about checking and adding fluid to your manual transmission, from Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD.

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD, our goal is to keep your car, truck, or SUV on the road. The best way to prevent a huge problem is to pay attention to the small ones and get issues taken care of before they leave you stranded. As you know, small problems can lead to big problems and if you're not careful you could miss the signs and your transmission could fail you. 

Gauges are your first, and often only, line of defense in catching a major problem before it’s too late. At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, we know that sometimes a faulty gauge is overlooked when the truck is still running fine and there’s a busy day ahead. However, gauges are extremely important, and are typically easy to repair.

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, our priority is keeping your transmission shifting smooth and running strong for years to come. While proper maintenance, driving habits, and a myriad of other conditions affect the life and reliability of a transmission, there are also ways to increase the overall efficiency of your unit, even above stock performance.

A huge part of what the hydraulic system in your transmission does is tell the mechanical components what to do and when to do it. Even if you don't understand how that works, our technicians at Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD have trained with the best to make sure they understand all the ins and outs of your system. We want you to understand what we're talking about when we talk to you about your vehicle so we'll break down some aspects of your hydraulic system. 

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, we know you’re busy. We also know that while there are certain issues with your car, truck, or SUV you can ignore for a while, some of them shouldn’t wait. While serious issues are often obvious, sometimes they aren’t - ball joints are one such case.

Have you always wondered what a spark plug does? Our team here at Skip's Auto Repair is here to help you out. It's simple in theory but does quite a lot of work for such a small piece of equipment. Your spark plug forces electricity to arc across a gap like a bolt of lightning at high voltage and fits into your engine's cylinder head, where it “sparks” to ignite the fuel and creates combustion within your engine. Without it, you wouldn't be able to drive your car or truck. 

It’s a busy morning, you’ve finally gotten everyone where they need to be and you’re just pulling into the parking lot at work when your dash light starts glaring at you. Your check engine light shines bright, but you have no idea why. Whether you can tell a difference in the way your car, truck, or SUV is running, your car is trying to tell you something. At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD, we can help!

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD, we recommend always making it a priority to change your oil on time. Here’s a look into why it’s so important, and what happens if you don’t keep up with oil changes.

Sludge - If oil stays in an engine too long, sludge begins to build up anywhere oil can go. The oil absorbs tiny debris and contaminants, kind of like a liquid sponge - once it’s at capacity, that oil begins to stick, clog, and build up throughout the engine. Small veins that carry oil to components like actuators, turbos, and bearings will become blocked, starving critical components of oil and causing component or engine failure.

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, our goal is to keep your car, truck, or SUV shifting and riding as smoothly as it did the day it rolled off the lot. A big part of that is the mounting hardware that keeps the moving parts in your drivetrain running smooth.

Do you hear a funny clicking sound when you turn the wheels of your vehicle? It could be your car or truck's CV or Drive Axle, and it may be in need of repair. Safety is the number one priority for our customers here at Skip's Auto Repair, and it is our goal to keep your vehicle running smoothly. Driving around with a damaged CV Joint or Drive Axle problem can be extremely dangerous. The axle is a structural component that bears the weight of the vehicle, any cargo, and the acceleration forces between you and the ground. It is so important to have your vehicle inspected regularly by a trained automotive repair professional here at Skip's Auto Repair to ensure its safety.

Sometimes your car, truck, or SUV stops performing quite like it used to. At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, we can fix that. A simple but common issue on vehicles equipped with a manual transmission is shifter bushing issues. Your shifter has a bushing on the end of it, where it connects to the actual transmission. Its purpose is to provide tight, smooth shifting. 

Hydraulic power has a lot to do with how your transmission operates. There are some basic hydraulic components that keep your transmission running smoothly.

Whether you drive a Duramax, Cummins, or Powerstroke diesel pickup, you have an exhaust system that is prone to failure. When you have a leak that needs attention, Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, MD can help.

In the market for a new car, truck, or SUV? Used cars aren’t always what they seem; here’s some advice from Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick to make sure you get the used car of your dreams.

At Skip's Auto Repair in Frederick, we know that maintenance and repair can go a long way toward keeping your trucks on the road. We also know that sometimes, things have to be replaced altogether. The rear end, or differential, isn’t a component that needs to be replaced often; but when it does, a new one will make your truck feel like new.