Tampa Alignment Service

January 1, 2023

Your car might have an alignment problem if: it drifts or pulls to one side, your steering wheel is off center, you have uneven tire wear or your car doesn't feel like it handles right. When all of a vehicle's wheels are lined up exactly with each other, your wheels are in alignment. Running into... More

Not Too Hot and Not Too Cold (Temperature Gauge)

December 25, 2022

You know your body temperature is supposed to be 98.6 degrees F, 37 degrees C. Your vehicle has a normal temperature, too, and if you pay attention to it, that can save you some big headaches down the road. Many vehicles have a temperature gauge on the dash that takes the temperature of the engi... More

The Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Tampa (Gunn Hwy) Basic Guide To Synthetic Oil

December 18, 2022

Synthetic motor oil has been around for a long time, and more and more new vehicles are leaving factories with synthetic in their engines. But a lot of drivers don't really know much about it.Let's start with conventional oil the kind folks are used to. Conventional oil is made up of naturally o... More

A Hot Mess (AC System-Compresser)

December 11, 2022

Air conditioning used to be a real luxury in a vehicle, but now it's standard in most. Your vehicle's air conditioning system is built to last a pretty long time, but like anything mechanical, sometimes it fails. It helps to know a little about how the A/C works. There's a compressor that press... More

Go With the Flow (MAF Sensor Replacement)

December 4, 2022

A driver brought her vehicle into the shop the other day and told us how she was getting lousy fuel economy and that the engine was running rough. Plus, the Check Engine light was on. Our technician checked the code the engine had generated (why the Check Engine light was on) and found the prob... More

Restore Your Get-Up-and-Go (Fuel and Air Induction Cleaning)

November 27, 2022

You may have heard the old saying, "My get-up-and-go got up and went." If your vehicle's engine's fuel economy is noticeably worse, your engine is idling roughly or stalling or your vehicle's acceleration isn't what it used to be, ask your service advisor if you might need your vehicle's fuel and... More

Don't Start with That (Bad Starter Motor)

November 20, 2022

We've all heard that expression, "That's a non starter." When it comes to your vehicle, that's not music to a driver's ears. That sickening sound when you start the ignition and instead of hearing the engine crank, you hear it slowly turn over and your dash lights go dim. There can be many reaso... More

Serpentine Belt Service at Tuffy Tire & Auto Service Center Tampa (Gunn Hwy) in Tampa

November 13, 2022

If you've ever heard a squealing sound under your vehicle hood, chances are it was your serpentine belt. More importantly, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that's used by your vehicle's electrical systems and also charges the battery. Without the alternator, the... More

How to Get Better Gas Mileage in Tampa

November 6, 2022

There is no escaping it: things work better when you take care of them. Something most of us in Tampa can relate to is our computers. You've probably noticed how they get slower and slower over time. It takes longer to start up and programs take forever to load. Eventually, many of us just get a... More

The Truth about Tire Pressure (Tire Inflation)

October 30, 2022

Most light vehicles (under 10,000 pounds/4,500 kg) in North America sold from 2008 model year on have a feature that many people are confused about. It's the tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). You may have some experience with it yourself if you own a newer vehicle. Vehicles with TPMS hav... More