Vehicle Maintenance
When we think about vehicle maintenance what comes to mind? Oil changes, tire rotations, alignments, tune –up? While yes these are all necessary to keeping costly repairs to a minimum there are several other that people are not aware of or don’t find out about till a costly repair comes up. Preventative maintenance is the key to keeping repairs to a minimum and extending the life of your vehicle. One particular maintenance procedure people don’t do often is Air induction Cleaning or AIC.
Why Vehicle Air Induction Cleaning is Overlooked
Unfortunately, several people overlook AIC because they may feel it’s not warranted or perhaps don’t understand the benefits behind the procedure. This procedure is especially important to consider if you have a newer vehicle. Most new vehicles do not have throttle cables like older vehicles do. Since there is no throttle cable when you step on the accelerator the computer in your vehicle recognizes this action and in turn opens the throttle plate. Over time this continual action causes fumes, oils, exhaust to get sucked up into the intake and coats the back of the throttle plate, intake valves and bottom of your injectors. The buildup causes air obstructions in the throttle plate and eventually drivability issues i.e. check engine light, hard start, rolling idles etc… In order to keep a buildup from happening on your throttle plate an AIC should be performed.
Vehicles Have Their Own Requirements
Each make of vehicle typically has its own requirements for when an AIC should be done. An AIC has 3 parts to the process to ensure all debris is cleared from the throttle plate. First we will clean the internal workings of fuel injectors and fuel system, second put an additive into the intake which will spray a mist over the intake, third we will manually brush and clean down the throttle plate and the beginning of the intake. Upon completion of the process your ASE Certified Technician should go in and clear your vehicles adaptive features. This particular process is designed as a maintenance procedure and will not fix the problem if you are already having drivability issues. Please review your owner’s manual for when the appropriate time is to have an AIC done and as always be sure to retain your vehicle maintenance and repair records.
If you have any further questions please feel free to contact our shops. For our Goodyear AZ shop please call 623-882-8200 and for our Surprise AZ shop call 623-376-6791. You can also visit our contact page.