This week has seen another Vauxhall Zafira gearbox problem brought into us at Aarons Autos and it seems another troublesome Vauxhall Zafira 6 speed M32 gearbox has failed.

The customer complained of a ticking in third gear and also a whining noise when driving but as the gearbox is a sealed unit the only way to find the problem was to remove the gearbox from the car.

We removed the Vauxhall Zafira 6 speed gearbox and stripped it down to find that third gear had lost some teeth and all of the bearings inside the gearbox were completely worn out. We replaced the affected gears and all of the bearings to make sure the gearbox has no future issues.

While the gearbox was out we checked the Vauxhall Zafira clutch and dual mass flywheel and unfortunately both were worn outside of the manufacturer’s tolerances so they were replaced at the same time.

Whilst the Vauxhall Zafira 1.9 CDTI was in the customer requested we replace the cambelt kit and water pump as it hadn’t been changed and was close to the mileage due for replacement.

Once rebuilt and after a road test the car was given back to our happy customer knowing they will now enjoy many more miles in the car.

Remember we do Gearbox repairs, Clutches, MOT’S, MOT repairs, Car Servicing, Van Servicing, Tracking, Tyres, Diagnostics and all things vehicle related at great prices, Give us a call today for a quote.

Aarons Autos would like to wish all our customers, friends and suppliers a very Merry Christmas and a very prosperous new year.

Our opening hours over the Festive period are –

• Saturday 24th December (Christmas Eve) Closed
• Sunday 25th December (Christmas Day) Closed
• Monday 26th December (Boxing Day) Closed
• Tuesday 27th December (Bank Holiday) Closed
• Wednesday 28th December 8.30 – 1.00
• Thursday 29th December 8.30 – 1.00
• Friday 30th December 8.30 – 1.00
• Saturday 31st December Appointment Only
• Sunday 1st January (New Years Day) Closed
• Monday 2nd January (Bank Holiday) Closed

Normal hours will resume as of Tuesday 3rd January.

‘Best Rated’ Handpicked The Top 3 Car Garages in Derby. We check customer reviews, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, trust, cost and their general excellence. You deserve only the best in life!

Number One

AARONS AUTOS

Since 2004

Suspension, Steering, Brakes, Exhaust, Fleet Servicing, Oil Change, Car Alternators, Batteries, Tyres, Car Suspension Adjustment, Wheel Alignment, Diagnostics, 4 Wheel Tracking, Car Engine Tuning & Car Electrics Services

Offer a Free collection & delivery service

aaronsautos.co.uk/services-derby

info@aaronsautos.co.uk

01332 205070
Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 5:00 pm Saturday 8:30 am – 12:00 pm Sunday Closed

I drove a 160 mile round trip to see Aaron Autos about a knocking sound I had with my Clio 197. They diagnosed it pretty accurately over the phone and gave me confidence that they would

send reviews to reviews@threebestrated.co.uk
Boyer street, Derby DE22 3SH

Number Two

EDEN TYRES & SERVICING

Since 1981

Diagnostics, MOT, Tyres, Exhausts, Brakes, Clutches, Wheel Alignment, Air Conditioning, Batteries, Wheel Alignment, Air Con Regas, Vehicle Servicing, Suspension & Servicing

Free MOT & Service Reminders

edentyres.com/mot.aspxsales@edentyresales.co.uk

01332 342005 Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 5:30 pm Saturday 8:30 am – 4:00 pm Sunday Closed

Compatitive pricing was good and the staff were professional and friendly. I recommend them.

send reviews to reviews@threebestrated.co.uk
Alfreton Road , Derby DE21 4AP

Number Three

A1 CLUTCHES

Since 1990

Batteries, Brakes, Cambelts, Clutch Repair and Replacements, Cooling Systems, Diagnostics, Exhausts, Flywheels, Gearbox Repairs and Replacements, MOT’s, Repairs, Servicing, Suspension & Vehicle Recovery

Free courtesy car whilst your vehicle is being repaired subject to availability

a1-clutches.co.uk/services

info@a1-clutches.co.uk

0133 236 7010
Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 5:30 pm Saturday 8:30 am – 3:30 pm Sunday Closed

Very good extremely helpful service would recommend to others. excellent price. clutch done on a Renault scenic not the easiest of jobs so I am told!

send reviews to reviews@threebestrated.co.uk
51 – 59 Mount Street, Derby DE1 2HH

Water is corrosive. You will shorten your engine’s life if you don’t add antifreeze. Antifreeze, on top of everything else it does, also acts as a rust inhibitor. Yes, you can run straight water, but your coolant boiling point will be lower AND you’ll corrode the inside of your engine and destroy your water pump.

Today, with different types of antifreeze technology in a rainbow of colors, confusion abounds among automotive people and consumers alike as to what color antifreeze is best. The easy part is that most antifreeze manufacturers still make coolant with ethylene glycol (EG), a type of alcohol made from ethane. Manufacturers also make more environmentally friendly versions with less-toxic propylene glycol (PG), a similar compound made from propane.

As with anything automotive, proper maintenance is the key to longevity. More important than the type of antifreeze you use is to maintain the cooling system properly by maintaining freeze point protection and proper coolant level. Almost all coolants work best at the ideal freeze point mixture, which for most parts of the country means a 50/50 antifreeze-to-water mixture. At this level, antifreeze protects to -34°F and boil-over protection to 257°F. In addition, maintaining proper freeze point protection ensures corrosion inhibitors are present at intended levels.

So, if your still not sure if your car has the correct amount of anti freeze in it, give us a call on 01332 205070 or just nip in to the garage for a FREE check, and don’t get caught out in the colder months.

All engines require a drive system to make them operate correctly, this drive system can come in several different types from ‘Timing Chains’ to ‘Timing Belts’ and also ‘Gear Drive’ and ‘Wet Belts’ depending on which system your car uses you may need to have it replaced at a certain mileage or age interval.

Most cars with ‘Timing Belts’ require them to be changed at a set mileage or age such as 60,000 miles or 5 years depending on which comes first.

Cars with ‘Timing Chains’ are normally only changed when they have stretched past a certain length or are showing signs of wear, but in certain cases they also should be changed on a mileage or age basis depending on manufacturer.

This Renault Clio 172 got recovered in to the garage with a noise coming from the Timing Belt area, the customer informed us that he had only brought the car 12 months ago and was assured the Timing Belt had been replaced the previous year!

After removing the top engine cover it was apparent that there was an issue due to how slack the Timing Belt was, once all the covers had been removed we could see the cause of the fault.

The Timing Belt idler pulley had completely failed, the plastic section of the pulley had split into 3 pieces! and the Timing Belt was running on the small bearing that sits inside the outer plastic casing.

In this instance the customer was indeed very lucky, if the belt had slipped any teeth on either the crank pulley or the cam shaft pulleys it would have caused catastrophic engine damage and cost the customer a large amount of money!

After replacing the Timing belt kit the car was then road tested and handed back to a very happy customer.

The last few weeks have been crazy at the Garage and out of the Garage, we have seen a vast array of different jobs from clutches and head gaskets to servicing and tracking and last weekend we took part in the Coventry Motor Festival with our Clio race car.

The Covfest (as it was nicknamed) had something for all of us who love Motoring and Motorsport, one of the main features was the fact that they had closed a section of the Ring Road and were allowing a selection of race cars, race trucks, motorbikes and club cars to do laps  of the closed off road to put on a show for the spectators. There was plenty of classic cars and motorcycles scattered all around Coventry City Centre for people to see including the new Aston Martin Vulcan (which also did some very impressive laps of the ring road).

Aarons Autos are very well known when it comes to setting up 4 wheel geometry or tracking on
all types of vehicles from full on Race cars to the every day work van.

The biggest problem people have with geometry is understanding what they are adjusting and what affect that adjustment will have on the vehicles handling, problems such as irregular tyre wear, steering wheel pulls to the left or right and general grip on the road.

A vehicles geometry or tracking should be checked/adjusted after any work is carried out on its suspension or steering, work such as replacing a ball joint, replacing a track rod end or even just a shock absorber can alter the vehicles geometry massively resulting in poor handling and excessive tyre wear.

We are noticing that the bigger companies who are investing thousands of pounds in the latest all singing all dancing computerised 4 wheel alignment equipment (which is good in the right hands) have no idea about geometry, and are relying on a computer to tell them what to do! and YOU the customer are getting a hefty charge to pay for that equipment.

We are seeing more and more customers who have been to these bigger companies that are charging the best part of a hundred pounds to put their cars onto this wonderful computerised alignment equipment to find that they cannot get it right!

• The steering wheel is out!
• The car is pulling!
• The tyres are still wearing!

These are Just a few of the complaints we hear on a regular basis, we even get the occasional ‘Bigger Company’ asking if we can take a look at a car because they have done as the computer has told them and it is still wrong!

Understanding geometry is the key, understanding what needs to be adjusted to get the car to handle as it should, understanding what needs to be adjusted to make the steering wheel straight, understanding why the tyres are wearing and most importantly understanding how to make sure the car is safe!

Take a look at our Page on Tracking by clicking here.

The ‘Real Winter’ is coming with temperatures set to drop well below freezing and chances of snow all over the country.

Are you ready for the weather?

Is your car ready for the weather?

When you go out in the wintry weather you always make sure you wear the appropriate clothing and shoes/boots, but when it comes to your car do you make sure it is ready for the weather?

Things like checking your tyres for good tread and correct pressure, checking you have the correct amount of oil in the engine, checking the strength of the Anti Freeze in the engine to prevent it from freezing and causing expensive internal damage, checking that your washer fluid has sufficient Screen Wash to stop it from freezing and help keep your windscreen clear of road salt and dirt.

Aarons Autos will check these items for FREE, just drop your car in and we will check the following items free of charge.

• All lights for operation and condition
• Tyre pressure, condition and tread depth
• Oil level and condition
• Anti freeze content and level
• Washer fluid level and content
• Wiper blades for condition and operation
• Visual inspection for any other possible problems

Any faults found during our free check can be rectified on the day as long as authorisation is given.

Aarons Autos would like to wish all our customers, friends and suppliers a very Merry Christmas and a very prosperous new year.

Our opening hours over the Festive period are –

• Thursday 24th December (Christmas Eve) 8.30 – 12.00
• Friday 25th December (Christmas Day) Closed
• Saturday 26th December (Boxing Day) Closed
• Sunday 27th December Closed
• Monday 28th December (Bank Holiday) Closed
• Tuesday 29th December 8.30 – 1.00
• Wednesday 30th December 8.30 – 1.00
• Thursday 31st December 8.30 – 1.00
• Friday 1st January (New Years Day) Closed

Normal hours will resume as of Monday 4th January.

If you had not noticed we work on a lot of Renault Sports here at Aarons Autos, one of the those models is the lovely Clio 197 Sport which in our opinion is a great little car straight out of the box, whether you just use it to commute to work or it is your track day toy it always leaves you with a smile on your face.

This particular 197 came into us after it had failed its MOT on two broken front coil springs, we priced up some new springs from Renault and told the customer he had a couple of options.

Option 1, fit the Renault springs and pay the extortionate price for the springs.

Option 2, Fit a full set of Spax lowering springs for just over half the price of fitting two Renault springs!

After fitting the new Spax springs and showing the customer the difference it made to the look of his car he was delighted, and he had saved a few pounds as well.

A few weeks later we had a phone call from the customer to firstly say thank you for helping him save money and to tell us how well the car drove on its new springs.