Such a Little Part (Climate Control Resistor)
February 13, 2022
You expect your heater/air conditioner to work like it should. You have a control for temperature and one for fan speed. You even have a control for what vents the air comes out of. Don't be surprised one day if your blower fan develops a mind of its own and starts going crazy. Most of the ti... More
I NEED All Wheel Drive (Pros and Cons of AWD)
February 6, 2022
So winter has arrived and you don't feel confident in how your 2-wheel drive vehicle does in the snow and ice. You envy all those people with all-wheel-drive (AWD) and 4-wheel-drive (4WD) cars, trucks and SUVs. You start thinking, "I need one of those. I'll be able to go anywhere without any w... More
Keeping Your 'Old Faithful' Auto Running
January 30, 2022
At Sterling Tire & Auto we've had a lot of Sterling Heights customers asking how they can make their vehicles last longer. These questions are actually a reflection of a trend that's been building for several years in Michigan. The median age of personal vehicles is now over nine years. And 33 pe... More
Not Too Hot and Not Too Cold (Temperature Gauge)
January 23, 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
What's in a Number? (What Tire Numbers Mean)
January 16, 2022
You've probably never paid much attention to the writing on the sides of your tires, but they contain a wealth of information. There's a long combination of letters and numbers that can tell you a whole lot about what tires your vehicle was designed to be riding on. Let's check out this example... More
See the Light (Automatic High Beam Dimmers)
January 9, 2022
It's happened to all of us. We're driving down a highway at night and over a crest appears a car with its high beams blazing. You are momentarily blinded, hoping the other driver will switch them to their low beam setting and restore your vision. Not only do we not appreciate being blinded, fac... More
I Had No Idea! (Four Things You Didn't Know About Vehicles)
January 2, 2022
Bet you didn't know: Some of the earliest rearview mirrors were marketed as "Cop Spotters" so drivers would know when police were following them. Who wants a ticket, anyway? According to eBay Motors, Elmer Berger first patented a rearview mirror that was mounted on the front fenders, on the spare... More
How to Radiate Cool (Radiator Care)
January 1, 2022
There's nothing that radiates cool like a vehicle radiator that's helping to keep your engine running at the proper temperature. You don't have to baby it, but you can't simply ignore it, either. Let's take a quick dive under the hood to let you know what the radiator is doing. It takes the he... More
Follow the Bouncing Vehicle (Bad Struts and Shocks)
December 26, 2021
If you hit a bump in the road and your vehicle just keeps bouncing up and down for a lot longer time than it used to, you may have bad struts and shocks. They're the things that help to keep your vehicle's wheels and tires planted to the road surface. But they don't last forever. With care and ... More
Busting Automotive Myths in Sterling Heights, Michigan
December 19, 2021
Myths passed around our Sterling Heights, Michigan community start with a grain of evidence and are then built up with a lot of imagination and very elastic logic. And the internet is a breeding ground for automotive myths. Some bloggers recall the vehicles of yesteryear and declare their modern... More