Category — Car Questions

This may be the most frustrating thing of taking you car to the auto repair shop. You take your car into the shop, tell them what’s going on with your car, and they can’t replicate the problem so they can figure out what’s going on. I always joked that technician Kevin was the worst about this. One day I made him come with me all the way to Nashville-back roads all the way- to get my car to do the weird slippy thing my car would do. No dice. All the way from Murfreesboro to Nashville and back, and the car ran like it was brand new the whole way.

This is why it’s so important to try to remember the exact conditions your car does its strange things under, so you can help our technicians replicate the problem. Does it happen when the car has been running awhile, or does it happen when it is first started? Does it happen when you’re going uphill, or downhill? The more information you can give, the more it helps when trying to get a diagnosis.

And sometimes, the car just won’t act up when it’s at the shop. That’s okay. We can usually catch the problem with our pinpoint computer diagnosis, and if not, we’ll drive the car and figure it out. A test drive can help us diagnose many problems that occur with cars. This is one of the reasons we have you sign our estimate sheet- to give us permission to drive your car if necessary.

Tell me, what’s going on with your car? Does it run like a champ or does it have weird things it does? A customer once said the reason his car was running strangely is because it’s a machine, and machines do weird things. I can’t agree with his assessment more.

Dear Master Tech Automotive,

When I’m coming to a stop while driving, my steering wheel vibrates and the whole car shimmies. What causes that and is it serious?

Signed,

Shimmy In Smyrna

Ivy says:

Usually, the cause of vibration and shimmy while stopping is due to warped brake rotors. Now, you may ask “Ivy, what is a brake rotor?” No problem, I can explain. When you push on your brake pedal, it sends brake fluid to your brake calipers, which are like clamps. The fluid causes the caliper to clamp onto the rotor, which looks kind of like a metal dinner plate.

If your rotors get warped (generally due to heat from the brakes or possibly worn out brake pads, or even sometimes just normal wear and tear) then this causes a vibration when the calipers are clamping down on your brakes, causing the whole wheel to shake and making your steering wheel vibrate.

Now, is it serious? It’s not the most serious thing that could ever happen to a car, but it is important to get this looked at as soon as you can. The vibration does affect your braking ability to some extent, and therefore you should get it checked out. It also can cause your anti-lock braking system to malfunction. Additionally, some vibrations and shimmies are not caused by brakes and could be indicative of something more serious. It’s hard to tell without looking at the vehicle, so be sure to bring it into the shop.

Did you know our technicians are ASE brake certified? When you bring your car to our shop, you can rest easy knowing the guys that are looking at your car know what they are doing. Not only do they have the ASE certification, but they have years of experience. They’ll keep you safe.

Do you have a car question you would like answered? Send us an email at questions@wefixautos.com