Two days, two serpentine belts and two quality repair shops

Business took me down from Woodstock to areas south of Chicago last week. For those down that way, if you’re not familiar with Woodstock, we’re just beyond the Sacred Elephant Graveyard. In other words, we’re a bit off the beaten track.

While casually cruising southbound on Highway 355 in my father’s Lincoln I suddenly smelled something akin to burning rubber as I saw a sign for the Route 34 exit. Then, the battery light came on just as I noticed an marked stiffness in the steering wheel.

I know these symptoms of automotive malaise well. In fact, it was only 24 hours earlier that, like déjà vu, I experienced the same symptoms in my own car (hence the need to borrow my father’s car for the day).

What are the odds of throwing a serpentine belt on two cars in consecutive days? It has to be some kind of a record.

Contemplating the irony of the events was secondary to my immediate problem as I turned off of 355 onto westbound 34. The prominent issue plaguing my mind was what to do now.

When someone looses a serpentine belt, the battery light comes on because the belt is no longer turning the alternator. That means the alternator is no longer creating a flow of electricity necessary to keep the car running. The car can run for a while off stored energy in the battery but that is a quickly diminishing commodity. In other words, just as someone knows they’d better find a gas station soon when the needle comes to rest on empty, I knew that I needed to find a repair shop before that red battery light on the dash began to fade.

And there it was – Lisle Automotive & Tire beckoning with hope for a solution from my dilemma. Grabbing the steering wheel firmly, I muscled the car into the parking lot and shutoff the engine.

Finding a repair shop is one thing. Finding one that can work on a car ‘now’ is another. I had driven on a diminishing batter to Denny Norton’s Performance Unlimited, 5415 Austin Court, Ringwood, after hours the day before. I knew, however, that my car was in good hands. But, Lisle Automotive & Tire? I had never even heard of this repair shop and, until I burned up the serpentine belt in my dad’s car, there was no reason I would have.

It occurred to me that I might have to find a room in Lisle and get back on the road the next day. And, whether I had to wait or not, what kind of a job would they do? I’m sure we’ve all heard the same auto-repair horror stories.

It’s my philosophy that finding a good mechanic is as important as finding a good doctor. When your car breaks, you need someone you can trust – someone who will get you back safely and expeditiously onto the road with a minimum of expense and hassle. That’s why I bring my car to Denny. I know, from experience, that I can trust Denny and his staff to take good care of me and my car.

At Lisle Automotive & Tire, however, at best it was the luck of the draw.

We’ve established that I have about the worst possible luck in serpentine belts. I discovered last week that, apparently, I have the best possible luck in finding auto mechanics. Don Thomey, of Lisle Automotive & Tire, 1508 Ogden Ave., Lisle, had me on the road in about an hour. And I had far less pain in the wallet than I expected.

You’ll notice I’ve included the address to his shop. I don’t provide addresses and recommendations for companies I don’t trust. I can’t tell you how glad I am to have a place like Performance Unlimited to maintain my car. But, now I know that, if I’m traveling to southern reaches of Chicagoland, I can always call on Lisle Automotive & Tire with a similar level of confidence.

To learn more about Lisle Automotive & Tire, visit: www.lisleautomotiveandtire.com. To learn more about Performance Unlimited, visit: www.4performanceunlimited.com.

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

Get out to McHenry Music Festival for a good time and music near to home

Some folks here in McHenry will load up the car and head out to Red Rock Amphitheater near Denver to see a show. Some will go to the MSG Sphere near Las Vegas. Some will go to the Bonaroo Festival Concert to see a show. That’s quite a bit of driving and you’d better make sure your vehicle is up to the trip. What happens, however, if something goes wrong – if your vehicle breaks down while driving there or back? What happens if the show is canceled, as happened this year with the Bonaroo Festival? We’re talking about some serious inconvenience, aren’t we? Wherever you go, whether your driving to Colorado, Nevada, Tennessee or anywhere else in this continent, you want to perform your due diligence and make sure the vehicle is up for the trip before you go. And it doesn’t really matter if you’re driving somewhere to see some live music or for any other purpose. A breakdown can be costly and may put you at the mercy of weather conditions or nefarious characters that come across you while y...

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