Stoney Creek Auto Repair

Do you drive a Mazda 3 or Mazda 5? Do you also hear a slapping or whacking metal noise coming from the rear? If so, I would continue reading this sentence, because I have shocking news. Mazda 3s and 5s share the same rear shock design, with a mount at the top particularly susceptible to corrosion. After wear and tear occurs during normal vehicle operation, the shock mounts corrode to a point of no return... And completely fail. This leaves your shock smacking around the inside of the wheel well, potentially puncturing holes into the body or damaging other components. Luckily, to replace these mounts is pretty straightforward, and actually quite fast too! See below for pictures of this specific failure and keep it in mind when you’re driving your Mazda around town. It’s important to address this failure quickly, as failed shocks can lead to other problems that are costly. A good example of this is tire cupping, the lateral movement of the suspension is dampened by the shocks ... read more

   If you are wondering when you should put your winter tires on then you are not alone.  With the weather as warm as it has been it sure seems like winter is a far way off and winter tires may be unnecessary.  Although the past few days of beautiful weather may have us feeling like we might escape the cold weather, unless we head south(which is much harder with the border being closed) we will see the snow and cold weather sooner than later.  So when should winter tires go on? winter tires provide improved traction at temperatures below 7C winter tires have a tread patterns that are designed to provide improved traction during snowy and slushy road conditions   Typically we recommend installing your winter tires once the average temperature is below 10C so that you don't have to worry about increased tire wear on your winter tires that comes with driving in warmer weather.  Unfortunately we can not say with any certainty what the weat ... read more