Posted on 8/15/2013
1989 Volvo 244 – 502,911 miles! 1998 Volvo Cross Country – 301,877 miles! Congratulations to our customers who have performed regular maintenance and achieved the benefits of longevity! Both of these photos were taken onsite as vehicles came in for maintenance. The Volvo 244, which has surpassed 500,000 miles, belonged to our fleet of low-cost rental cars for seven years and retired into private service. The Cross Country, which has surpassed 300,000 miles, belongs to a new customer. In this mild climate, with proactive care your car can remain sound and achieve long-term mechanical health
Posted on 7/3/2013
Scintillatingtimes at Swedish Automotive! As local temperatures have climbed into the high 80’s, we have been experiencing long, sunny days and are excited that a 9.6 kW array of Itek solar panels is being installed on the roof of our service bays at the time of this writing. These made in Washington panels will feed directly into the city power grid, and Swedish Automotive will get credit from Seattle City Light for our contribution to Seattle’s power needs. Four years ago, Swedish Automotive’s facility was designed with solar power in mind. Even though every solar installation loses a fraction of it’s potential ... read more
Posted on 6/5/2013
TPMS Warning Light The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is an electronic system that alerts the driver when the car’s tire pressure has fallen below an acceptable level of inflation by means of a dashboard warning light. The purpose of the TPMS is to improve vehicle handling, increase road safety and fuel economy, and decrease stopping distance and tire tread wear. Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) enacted the TREAD Act of 2008, a mandate that all vehicles be equipped with a TPMS, most Volvos, Saabs, Subarus and Minis have opted toward a direct TPMS, which uses a wheel-mounted sensor that measures air pressure. When air pressure drops 25% below the manufacturer’s recommended level, the sensor tells your car’s computer and triggers the dashboard warning light. Another possible option, which we see on vehicles manufactured before the technology was mandatory is the i ... read more
Posted on 5/31/2013
Bert the Salmon Earlier this year ( see blog post ) many organizations including Swedish Automotive contributed to and participated in the “Don’t Drip and Drive, Fix that Leak!” campaign. The campaign is officially over for this year, but there are still other ways to help Puget Sound and make Seattle a better place. Bert the Salmon has a great FaceBook page with links, resources, and opportunities to do just that. From these resources, we are delighted to discover that the city has loaner stencil kits and markers for labeling the storm drains in our neighborhoods and is looking for volunteers. ... read more
Posted on 5/1/2013
THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the April campaign “Don’t Drip and Drive. Fix that Leak!” A SPECIAL THANK YOU to those owners of vehicles who chose to repair the leaks and have a positive impact on the quality of Puget Sound. SWEDISH AUTOMOTIVE INSPECTED 148 VEHICLES! Of the vehicles we inspected, 101 vehicles were leak free at the time of inspection and 18 vehicles had leaks repaired while at our shop. We found leaks of varying degrees on 29 additional vehicles, and these leak repairs were deferred for a variety of reasons. Many other repair facilities participated in this campaign as well. We have reported our results to the campaign coordinator and will post an update when we have the final results for the campaign as a whole
Posted on 4/10/2013
Overheated, melted electrical connectors in headlights is a failure that is becoming more common in older vehicles in which the headlights have been configured to be ON when the car is ON. There are safety benefits to having the headlights on and convenience benefits to not possibly forgetting to turn the headlights off, so let’s not quibble about the cause of the failure but come up with a workable solution… Sample Headlight Connectorsphotographed by David Winters During a routine bulb replacement, we may discover melted electrical connectors, which require replacement. If we replace melted materials with the same materials, they are likely to melt again. As an improvement to this repair, we have added to our inventory of parts a heavy-duty electrical connector with larger wires that can be soldered in place to replace the original (melting) plastic connector. This robust connector can handle the heat produced when headlights are on constantly ... read more
Posted on 4/4/2013
Clean-Up Crew Holding Oil Clods What do you do for fun? Swedish Automotive owners David Winters & Sandra Wanstall along with their family collect trash off the beach. It starts as a beach walk (with garbage bags just in case) and ends with a trash haul, in this instance almost too heavy to carry. Trash Bags Heavy with Oil Clods The garbage bags in the photo are heavy (at least 70 lbs each) with oil clods picked up along the beaches of southwest Vashon Island. Since the king tides in January many more of these clods have surfaced, remnants of the 1991 600,000-gallon oil spill at Tacoma’s US Oil & Refining. What spilled washed up on the beaches and became these clods, whichrese ... read more
Posted on 3/29/2013
Swedish Automotive is partnering with the Automotive Service Association (ASA) of Washington, Puget Sound Starts Here , and more than 40 local jurisdictions, non-profits and businesses in the Don’t Drip and Drive Fix That Leak! campaign to extend the life of your car while helping to protect the Puget Sound environment. This campaign is made possible by a grant from the Washington Department of Ecology and the donations of time and service by participating businesses for the purpose of improving your car’s safety and reliability by checking for vehicle leaks. Every drop counts! Vehicle leaks are bad for our environment, and while every year hundreds of tons of oil and other petroleum-related products make ... read more
Posted on 3/27/2013
Want to know how the Subaru All-Wheel Drive (AWD) technology stacks up against the competition? VERY WELL! The following video demonstrates a ramp test simulating slippery road conditions. The Subaru Forester with symmetrical AWD shows superior ability to transfer power to all wheels over Nissan Rogue, Honda CRV, Ford Escape, and Toyota RAV4. (Test results are certified by the United States Auto Club.) Watch this and other Subaru performance videos athttp://www.subaru.com/engineering/all-wheel-drive.html.
Posted on 2/14/2013
Swedish Automotive and our customers love their Volvo’s for the safety, security and longevity they provide and many of our customers own the same Volvo today that they brought to us when we opened in 1983. Volvo’s have long had a reputation of being safe and reliable cars and their durability is tank-like. Indestructible and withstanding whatever is thrown at them (or vice versa), these cars have a reputation for lasting forever and everyone know it. It is probably not a surprise learn that someone asked the question: “I wonder what it would take to kill a Volvo” and then acted on it. An online search found that many people have tried. For entertainment purposes only, here is a video of an 850 wagon put to that very test by a junkyard in a very thorough way. No trying this at home! Video courtesy of Bhagat Volvo administering a test of strength to a Volvo 850 Wagon