NAPA AutoCare of Nashville

When accidents occur in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, the victims’ emergency contacts are extremely important. Too often, those involved aren’t able to provide rescuers with phone numbers and critical medical information.

When Tennessee police and rescue workers must sift through pockets, glove compartments, wallets, purses and cell phone directories they waste precious time.

In the unfortunate event that you are involved in an accident, you have people in the Mount Juliet, Tennessee area who you’ll want to be contacted to arrange help, give consent to treatment, and inform Nashville paramedics of medical conditions, allergies or medications.

A brilliantly simple solution is now spreading through Nashville and around the globe: ICE. ICE – standing for In Case of Emergency, is a way to identify emergency contacts in your cell phone directory.

Simply put ‘ICE’ before a contact name in your cell phone, like ‘ICE – Dad’, ‘ICE – Nancy’, or ‘ICE – Doctor Roberts’. Rescuers will be able to quickly identify your emergency contacts, saving valuable time.

Bob Brotchie, a Cambridge, England paramedic came up with the idea and created a promotional campaign in England in 2005. This strong idea is gaining attention in Mount Juliet, Tennessee and in other countries. Mount Juliet rescue workers all know of how many times they are unable to find a wallet or purse on an accident victim, yet most Nashville area folks over fourteen years of age are seldom without their cell phone.

There are national and worldwide disaster databases, but participation can cost up to two hundred dollars a year. ‘ICE’ is free to the 276 million cell phone users in the U.S.

It is easy for Mount Juliet motorists and their families to designate some ICE contacts in their cell phone. Remember to keep the listings current.

Please join Conder’s Automotive in getting the word out. Help us put Mount Juliet, Tennessee on ICE!

Mount Juliet motorists may know that all 2008 model year and newer cars, mini-vans and light trucks in Mount Juliet come with a tire pressure monitoring system. Many slightly older vehicles around Nashville have these systems as well. A tire pressure monitoring system – called TPMS – consists of sensors on each wheel that measure tire pressure.

If tire pressure drops 25 percent below the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressure, the sensor sends a signal to a monitoring unit that causes a warning to light up on the dashboard. When Nashville car owners see the warning light, they know it’s time to put some air in the tires.

There are many benefits to Mount Juliet drivers who drive with properly inflated tires around Mount Juliet. First is cost savings. Running at the correct air pressure improves gas mileage. Driving on under-inflated tires is like driving through sand – it drags down your fuel efficiency. Mount Juliet auto owners will also see longer, more even tread wear so your tires’ll last longer.

Another important benefit of properly inflated tires is increased safety for Mount Juliet auto owners. Under-inflated tires become hotter and that heat can actually lead to tire failure – possibly resulting in an accident. Your car and the tires themselves will just perform better and more safely around Mount Juliet with properly inflated tires.

Local Mount Juliet consumer groups, law-makers and car makers advocate TPMS systems hoping that they will save lives, property damage and inconvenience. While you can’t put a value on saving a life, Mount Juliet drivers should keep in mind that TPMS systems aren’t free.

The systems themselves are added into the price of the car. The batteries in the sensors will have to be replaced from time to time. Parts will break and need to be replaced. In colder climates around Tennessee, ice and salt are frequent causes of failure.

In addition, there are other behind-the-scenes costs we want Mount Juliet auto owners to be aware of. Every time a tire is replaced, repaired, rotated or balanced, the tire technician has to deal with the TPMS system.

Mount Juliet service centers such as Conder’s Automotive must purchase costly equipment used to scan and reactivate the TPMS system after every tire service. Because older tire change equipment can damage TPMS sensors, your Nashville service center may need to buy expensive, new tire changers.

Since there is no uniformity among automobile manufacturers, service specialists need to be trained on several TPMS systems. These behind-the-scenes costs are very real to Mount Juliet service center managers like Bruce Conder at Conder’s Automotive.

That’s why the team at Conder’s Automotive is anxious for Nashville motorists to understand the vital financial impact of TPMS systems. In the past, we’ve been able to quickly and cheaply provide tire services to car owners, and then pass the low cost on to Nashville customers as an expression of our good will. But now even these simple jobs take much longer and require expensive equipment.

Sensors will need to be removed and reinstalled. Even a tire rotation will require that the monitor be reprogrammed to the new location of each tire. When a car battery is disconnected, the TPMS system will need to be reprogrammed.

So when you start so see the cost of tire changes, flat repairs and rotations going up in Tennessee, please keep in mind that it’s because of this vital new safety equipment. The team at Conder’s Automotive just wants to keep you safely on the road – and we’re committed to doing it at a fair price.

It’s important to remember that the TPMS warning only comes on when a tire is severely under-inflated. You’ll still want to check your tire pressure regularly. At every fill-up is best, but you should check pressure at least once a month. Here’s wishing you safe travels.

Contact Conder’s Automotive for more key information about Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems.

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some Mount Juliet auto owners and is totally ignored by just as many. Just what it means is a mystery to most of us Mount Juliet car owners.

Let’s get the urgency issues out of the way first. If your check engine light is flashing, that means that something is wrong that could cause vital engine damage. Naturally, you need to get that taken care of right away. If your check engine light is flashing, you shouldn’t drive at Tennessee freeway speeds, tow or haul heavy loads. Take it easy all the way to your Mount Juliet service center.

If the light is glowing steadily, you should keep an eye on it for a day or two. If the light doesn’t go off, schedule an appointment with your friendly Conder’s Automotive tech to get it checked out.

Some more Mount Juliet information on how the Check Engine Light works may be informative for Mount Juliet car owners. Most of your engine functions are controlled by a computer, not surprisingly, called an engine control computer. The computer is able to adjust many engine parameters for environmental conditions, engine condition and even the way you drive.

In order to make these adjustments, the computer relies on a network of sensors to provide data. The computer knows the proper operating range for each sensor. When a sensor reading is out of range the computer runs some tests and may turn on the sedan’s Check Engine Light.

A simple example is a loose or missing gas cap. This may cause one of the sensors to read out of range. The computer doesn’t know if it’s a serious condition that caused the reading or just a loose gas cap, so it stores a trouble code and turns on the Check Engine Light.

Now when you tighten up the gas cap the sensor readings will be in the correct range. The computer will keep checking on the report for a day or two. Since a bad reading didn’t come up again, it turns off the Check Engine Light. The computer will also try to make adjustments to compensate for some readings. If it can do so, it’ll then turn off the Check Engine Light.

If the problem can’t be resolved then the light will remain on and you should get your sedan looked at. Your friendly Conder’s Automotive technician will plug a scanner into the on-board diagnostic port and read the trouble code stored in the computer. The trouble code will give the technician a starting place as he diagnoses the cause of the problem.