Todays r134 air conditioning system differs from the old r12 system in a couple of areas. The most import difference, for the health of the air compressor, is the inability of the r134 freon and the lubricant in the system to mix and become a single unit. What happens is a molecule of lubricant gets picked up by a molecule of r134 as it moves through the system. If freon is even just 10% low you also have 10% less lubricant in the compressor leading to failure. The industry recommends, as a preventative measures to have your a/c totaly evacuated and recharged to the correct amount of freon and adding the amount of oil recovered from the system.

I have been asked recently the proper way to rotate tires. It has been said that tires could not be crossed rotated. This information was originated back in 1971 when Michelin was have tire separation trouble with their radial tires. They put out a bulletin not to cross rotate those tires. The domestic tire manufactures had not found out how to build a radial tire yet and were having a large % of tire separations. They in turn said not to cross rotate tires as it would cause them to separate. The reality is this was incorrect. All the manufactures had design flaws and the rotation of the product was not the cause of the failures. However this was so ingrained into the tire dealers that this myth was perpatrated up to this very day by some tire dealers. All tire manufactures recomment rotating tires as follows. Take the non driving tires and move the to the driving axle and cross them to the oposite side of vehicle. Move the driving axle tire  to the non driving axle on the same side of vehicle. In the case of a 4 wheel drive the front axle would be considered the non driving axle.

We just celebrated our first year in business January 10th. It has been an interesting year  in a  depressed economy, but it was a successful one. I want to thank all our customers which made this first year a success. We started from nothing and you helped us grow a solid base to build on. We look forward to this next year and hope to add a few more services especially in the suspension and alignment area. Please feel free to let me know how we can improve your experience here at Clovis Ashlan Express Lube.

Now that the weather has changed, damp, cold, foggy and rainy conditions will be encountered. Make sure your vehicle is ready for these adverse conditions. Wiper blades need to clearly wipe windows. Headlights must be able to penetrate the dark, cloudy lenses can be made clear.  Tires must have adequite tread to keep from hydroplaning. Batterys and charging systems must be able to start vehicles in the cold. These items are just a part of our checklist we perform on our oil changes. stop by and we will check these items for you free of charge even if we do not change your oil. Have  safe and enjoyable holidy travels.

Friday and Saturday Oct. 29th & 30th, we will donate $10.00 for every oil change performed on vehicles that is shown to belong to a student, relative of a student , faculty or family member of faculity of any clovis high school. We will donate this money to the schools sports program.

Looking for schools in our area to partner with in funraising efforts. We have some ideas and look forward to dialoging about this issue. We know schools are cash strapped especially for extra curricular activities and would like to partner with them.

We are now a sponser of Clovis High football on espn radio. Let us know if you hear our advertising.

 There is a lot of fear about our economic future. There are few entities from non profits to to major corporations to small indipendent businesses which have not been affected. In order to reduce our cost of living we must stretch our assets and change our lifestyle to maximize our cash income. Here lets address your vehicle.  For every year you can drive your vehicle, assuming you own it, can reduce your cast of owning transportation. Vehicle for the most part are an expense not an asset.  One should look at the cost of owning a vehicle,  not just the payment, maintaince or major repair cost individually but all collectively. Next you calculate haw many miles are driven and divide the number. example my yearly payment was $4000.00. may reapir and maintance was $375.00, insurance $875.00 fuel $1440. which is a total of $ 6690.00. I drove 12000.00 miles showing cost per mile as $0.55 per mile. Do not look at what a vehicle is worth when you do repairs but look at the benefit and cost per mile before you just go and trade it in. The keys to look at are will it be dependable and what is the expect service life left.

There is a difference of just changing oil and servicing your vehicle. We at Clovis-Ashlan Express Lube perform an extensive vehicle check along with changing your oil and oil filter. We top off all your fluids, inspect your belts and hoses, lights, wiper blades, tires, adjust air pressure, check battery and charging system, we will also rotate your tires and check brakes and front suspension componts, as desired, all for the price of your oil change. We employ ase certified technitions and aoca certified lube technitions. Make sure your quick lube is actually servicing the maintainance needs of your vehicle and not just changing oil

Vehicle engines today are extremely different from ones built 20 years ago. They may look the same but internally they are different. Running tolerences and internal engine clearences are much tighter. Oils must be more suited to the heat and demands of these engines. If one can reduce friction, heat is reduced and engine longevity is increased. Mobil has developed many different oils which help with lowering operational cost. Some of these oils help with seal and gasket integrity reducing engine oil leaks, (high milage oil both synthetic and conventional). They have developed oils which require less horsepower from the engine to move throught the engine it lubricates(advanced fuel economy oils). Keep in mind reduce friction increases fuel milage, reduce friction engines last longer. Vehicles lasting longer reduces cost of ownership.