North Richland Hills Auto Repair

Regular Schedule or Severe Service ScheduleToday's Honest - 1 Auto Care - Hurst, TX article focuses on severe service maintenance. Many HURST drivers are not aware of them and yet there are also very vocal advocates in TX who think that severe service schedules apply to everyone. Somewhere between a complete lack of awareness and the dire blanket statements lies a reasonable approach to severe service maintenance at Honest - 1 Auto Care - Hurst, TX. To back up a little, vehicle owner's manuals have schedules for preventive maintenance: things like oil changes, transmission service and so on. They say you should change your oil after a certain distanced traveled or after so many months. HURST drivers understand this very well. What they may not know is that there are actually two service schedules: the regular schedule and the severe service sc ... read more

Tire Tread Depth for HURST, TX DriversDriving on bald tires is like playing roulette. Though you may be fine today, eventually your luck is going to run out. The Feds don't have any laws for tread depth, but 42 of the states, and all of Canada, do have regulations. They consider 2/32 of an inch to be the minimum legal tread depth. Two other states, including California, consider 1/32 to be the minimum and six states have no standards at all. Call us at Honest - 1 Auto Care - Hurst, TX; (just call 817-369-3921) to find out what your requirements are in the HURST, TX, area. Since 1968, U.S. law has required that a raised bar be molded across all tires. When tires are worn enough that this bar becomes visible, there's just 2/32 inch/1.6 mm of tread left. But does that older standard give HURST vehicles enough safety? Consider this ... read more

Save Fuel by Watching Your Weight Most HURST drivers are all talking right now. Better gas mileage. Fewer emissions. TX folks want to save the environment and our pocketbooks. And we HURST drivers all know — or should know — that preventive maintenance will help maintain maximum fuel efficiency. But is there something more we can do? After all, some of us HURST road warriors can't cut back on our driving, and others would like to do more to economize. Weight is one major enemy of fuel economy. The more you lug around in your vehicle, the more fuel you have to burn to get around HURST. And that means buying more gas and producing more emissions. Of course, your vehicle's weight isn't negotiable. And you can't do much about the weight of your passengers. And this isn't an article about diet and exercise. But look around your car. Are you hauling a bunch of unnecessary weight while driving ar ... read more

Positive Crankcase Ventilation Valve Did you know that the first federally-mandated emissions control device was introduced in the 1960's? The Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve, or PCV valve, has been installed in TX vehicles since 1964 and represents the first legislation by the United States government to regulate harmful emissions as well as to improve performance in the country's vehicles. The PCV valve, as you can probably guess, is located on the crankcase. The crankcase is the lowest part of a vehicle's engine. It houses the crankshaft and the engine oil. The crankshaft connects to the pistons that power the engine. Pistons are pushed down when fuel is burned in an engine. This causes the crankshaft to rotate, which sends power to the transmission.  It ultimately turns the axles and causes the vehicle to move. Some of the gases released by the burning fuel squeeze around the pistons and down into the crank ... read more

Trip Inspection HURST area drivers love their vehicles. And one of the most enjoyable things about them is taking a road trip. Freedom from daily schedules, new sights and the open road – it's great! But there's nothing like vehicle trouble to bring the fun to a grinding halt. Now HURST drivers can't always avoid problems, but you can take steps to reduce the probability of getting sidelined on your trip. The first step is to look at your trip plan from your vehicle's perspective. What kind of roads will you be traveling – winding TX byways? Purple mountain majesties or fruited plains? What weather conditions are you likely to encounter? How far will you travel each day? How much weight will you be hauling – passengers and luggage? Pulling a trailer, roof top carrier or ATVs? Will it be dusty? Pre ... read more

Keep Your Tires Well Rounded in HURST: Tire Rotation and Wheel Balancing at Honest - 1 Hurst Taking care of our tires is part of vehicle care for HURST drivers. We know they have to be replaced when they wear out, but tires also require some preventive maintenance. This maintenance will improve and extend the life of the tires, so it's well worth the effort and expense for HURST drivers to get it done. Tire maintenance includes keeping tires properly inflated, rotating tires and balancing wheels. The recommended tire pressure for a vehicle's tires is printed on a sticker on the inside of the driver's side doorjamb. A lot of engineering goes into calculating the correct pressure, so it's an important number for HURST vehicle owners to know. Not following this recommendation can throw off the suspension system and can lead to ti ... read more

  What type of technology do you use? Do you prefer an 8-track tape or an iPod? When it comes to winter tires, much of HURST driver's perception dates back to when 8-track was the best way to listen to the Bee Gees. Twenty years ago in TX, winter tires differed from highway tires only in their tread design. TX drivers called them snow tires back then, and they had big, knobby lugs that were designed to give good traction in deep snow. They had the same rubber compound as regular tires and they weren't very good on ice, packed snow or wet TX roads. They were not even very good on dry roads. They really helped in deep or loose snow, but they did a poor job the rest of the time. They were loud and rode hard. People couldn't wait to get them off in the spring. Then all-season tires started to appear in HURST tire shops. All-season tires are really a compromise between summer and winter performance. They have acceptable hot weather ride and tread life and can get TX driv ... read more

  Knowing how their engine works can help HURST drivers make informed decisions about auto care and prevent repairs to their vehicles. This is especially true when it comes to timing belts. An engine's power is generated in the cylinders. Inside the cylinder is a piston that moves up and down while the engine is running. Power is generated in a cycle that includes four strokes of the piston. First, the piston drops and a valve at the top of the cylinder opens to let in fuel and air. The piston then rises, which compresses the fuel and air. At this point, the spark plug fires, igniting the fuel and pushing the piston down. This downstroke transfers energy to the engine, which provides the power it needs to run. The piston rises again, and a valve opens to release the exhaust. All of this movement is orchestrated by a timing belt. The timing belt ... read more

Remember snow tires? They were basically just regular tires with big, knobby lugs to get them through deep snow. They were loud and rode hard, and HURST drivers couldn't wait to get them off the car. Then along came television advertisements for “all-season” radials. TX drivers ran out and bought some and we thought we were done with snow tires forever. Tires have come a long way since then. Modern winter tires sold in the HURST area are much better designed for the wide range of conditions that come with TX winter weather. They are made with a rubber compound that helps them stay flexible in cold weather. Regular tires become hard and stiff at HURST temperatures below 45°F (7° C) which reduces their traction. That's a concern in winter, especially with snowy or wet conditions. But it also means that HURST drivers are better off with winter tires in cold weather even when it's dry. The tread design on winter tires has been improved to move snow, slush ... read more