West Seattle Auto Repair

THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the April campaign “Don’t Drip and Drive. Fix that Leak!” A SPECIAL THANK YOU to those owners of vehicles who chose to repair the leaks and have a positive impact on the quality of Puget Sound. SWEDISH AUTOMOTIVE INSPECTED 148 VEHICLES! Of the vehicles we inspected, 101 vehicles were leak free at the time of inspection and 18 vehicles had leaks repaired while at our shop. We found leaks of varying degrees on 29 additional vehicles, and these leak repairs were deferred for a variety of reasons. Many other repair facilities participated in this campaign as well. We have reported our results to the campaign coordinator and will post an update when we have the final results for the campaign as a whole

Overheated, melted electrical connectors in headlights is a failure that is becoming more common in older vehicles in which the headlights have been configured to be ON when the car is ON. There are safety benefits to having the headlights on and convenience benefits to not possibly forgetting to turn the headlights off, so let’s not quibble about the cause of the failure but come up with a workable solution… Sample Headlight Connectorsphotographed by David Winters During a routine bulb replacement, we may discover melted electrical connectors, which require replacement. If we replace melted materials with the same materials, they are likely to melt again. As an improvement to this repair, we have added to our inventory of parts a heavy-duty electrical connector with larger wires that can be soldered in place to replace the original (melting) plastic connector. This robust connector can handle the heat produced when headlights are on constantly ... read more

Clean-Up Crew Holding Oil Clods What do you do for fun? Swedish Automotive owners David Winters & Sandra Wanstall along with their family collect trash off the beach. It starts as a beach walk (with garbage bags just in case) and ends with a trash haul, in this instance almost too heavy to carry. Trash Bags Heavy with Oil Clods The garbage bags in the photo are heavy (at least 70 lbs each) with oil clods picked up along the beaches of southwest Vashon Island. Since the king tides in January many more of these clods have surfaced, remnants of the 1991 600,000-gallon oil spill at Tacoma’s US Oil & Refining. What spilled washed up on the beaches and became these clods, whichrese ... read more

Swedish Automotive is partnering with the Automotive Service Association (ASA) of Washington, Puget Sound Starts Here , and more than 40 local jurisdictions, non-profits and businesses in the Don’t Drip and Drive Fix That Leak! campaign to extend the life of your car while helping to protect the Puget Sound environment. This campaign is made possible by a grant from the Washington Department of Ecology and the donations of time and service by participating businesses for the purpose of improving your car’s safety and reliability by checking for vehicle leaks. Every drop counts! Vehicle leaks are bad for our environment, and while every year hundreds of tons of oil and other petroleum-related products make ... read more

Want to know how the Subaru All-Wheel Drive (AWD) technology stacks up against the competition? VERY WELL! The following video demonstrates a ramp test simulating slippery road conditions. The Subaru Forester with symmetrical AWD shows superior ability to transfer power to all wheels over Nissan Rogue, Honda CRV, Ford Escape, and Toyota RAV4. (Test results are certified by the United States Auto Club.) Watch this and other Subaru performance videos athttp://www.subaru.com/engineering/all-wheel-drive.html.

Swedish Automotive and our customers love their Volvo’s for the safety, security and longevity they provide and many of our customers own the same Volvo today that they brought to us when we opened in 1983. Volvo’s have long had a reputation of being safe and reliable cars and their durability is tank-like. Indestructible and withstanding whatever is thrown at them (or vice versa), these cars have a reputation for lasting forever and everyone know it. It is probably not a surprise learn that someone asked the question: “I wonder what it would take to kill a Volvo” and then acted on it. An online search found that many people have tried. For entertainment purposes only, here is a video of an 850 wagon put to that very test by a junkyard in a very thorough way. No trying this at home! Video courtesy of Bhagat Volvo administering a test of strength to a Volvo 850 Wagon

The Volvo S60 was best in show for all 2012 vehicles tested in the small overlap, moderate overlap, and full frontal impact tests. Although all vehicles tested performed similarly on the moderate overlap test, of the eleven 2012 midsize luxury and near-luxury cars evaluated in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) small overlap frontal crash test, only two (including the Volvo S60) earned the highest rating of “good.” In the test, 25 percent of a car’s front end on the driver side strikes a five-foot-tall, rigid barrier at 40 mph replicating what happens when a front corner of a car collides with another vehicle or an object like a tree or utility pole. S-60 Volvo small overlap frontal crash test These crashes primarily affect a car’s outer edges, which aren’t well protected by front-end crush-zone structures, and account for nearly one quarter of the frontal crashes involving serious or fatal injury to fro ... read more

photo by flicker user BigMarx SAAB Automobile Parts of North America, the original equipment manufacturer and supplier of SAAB parts, has really stepped up availability and distribution. As little as 3 months ago, we had about 30% success rate in receiving parts ordered. Now we can now get nearly 100% of all parts we order. This is a very encouraging turn of events! If you tried ordering an ignition key or other previously hard to find part and were told that it was not available, call us again! It may be available now

Does your car horn sound anemic, worn out, not loud enough? Swedish Automotive now carries Hella brand horns that can be retrofitted to most cars. These horns offer a robust sound, much louder than stock horns. If your horns are worn out or were never very loud to start with, it is easy to upgrade. Just let us know next time your car is in for service. Horns photo provided by flickr user exfordy

School is back in session. Here are a few tips to ensure our children make it to their destinations and back safely. The most important rule is to SLOW DOWN and don’t be distracted while driving. Follow school buses at a safe distance, they make frequent stops. Yellow flashing lights indicate the bus is preparing to slow down and stop to load and unload kids. Slow down and be prepared to stop. Remember that children react differently than adults. They act impulsively and are easily distracted; they are not aware that their size can prevent drivers from seeing them and don’t understand what it takes to stop a moving vehicle. Children arriving late for the bus, or anxious to meet an awaiting adult, may dart out into traffic without looking or unexpectedly jump out from between parked cars. WA State law mandates the following rules for passing stopped school buses: Two-Lane Roads: All vehicles mu ... read more