Your vehicle's radio and headlights, plus a slew of other important functions, are powered by an electrical current generated by your vehicle’s engine. A vital part of generating electricity is having a place to store it while it’s not being used, which is where a car battery comes into play. The battery holds electrical energy while a car is off in order to help the engine turn over and create a spark to start internal combustion. Without a working battery, your car will not be able to start. If you perform proper maintenance, however, an average car battery can start your car reliably for roughly four years.

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, we know that keeping up with required maintenance schedules is the difference between a truck that lasts a few years and a truck that stays strong for decades.

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS, we know that over the past decade, depending on what type of car, truck, or SUV you drive, it may seem like oil changes have gotten more expensive, and there are more options from synthetic to standard 10w/30 oil.  What kind is best for your vehicle and is the higher price worth the cost? 

You’ve known someone at some point that has a seemingly impossible amount of keys, keychains, and other accessories hanging from their key ring. You might even be guilty of that yourself. At [BUSINESS_ NAME] in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS, we’ve seen our fair share of these loaded down car keys, and also the damage it can cause. Here’s what you need to know.

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS, we’ve witnessed our fair share of burnt out and broken clutches. While clutch failure is an inevitability, there are a variety of ways to make sure yours lasts as long as possible.

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, we know that the first and most important step toward keeping your car, truck, or SUV reliably on the road, is knowing how to properly care for it. Here are a few tips on how to keep your vehicle in shape.

Judging by the number of near-rear-endings we witness on our morning commutes, the typical attitude toward brake maintenance appears to be, “Brakes: Don’t let them stop you!” This puzzles us because monitoring your braking system’s health is one of the most straightforward aspects of car ownership. You do have to know what to look for, though, or rather, what to listen and feel for. So let us, uh, break it down for you. Here are the top three signs that your brakes need fixing.

A good technician will give your car a quick inspection whenever you have maintenance performed. Fluid levels, tire condition, dashboard lights, and a variety of other items typically are briefly explored whenever you bring your vehicle in for maintenance. At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, we're good at noticing things that need repair, but the fact of the matter is that only you know your car. You know when your car feels off when its been serviced last (or that it hasn't been serviced at all,) and have at least some vague idea of what’s going on with your vehicle day to day. Here are some questions you can ask us next time you come by the shop;

At some point or another, it’ll happen to you. You leave your headlights on, your battery finally fails, or for some other reason, you don’t have enough juice to start your car. Don’t call a tow truck just yet, though...Cecil's Automotive in Collierville has the info you need to properly jump-start your car.

Gauges are your first, and often only, line of defense in catching a major problem before it’s too late. At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, we know that sometimes a faulty gauge is overlooked when the truck is still running fine and there’s a busy day ahead. However, gauges are extremely important, and are typically easy to repair.

It’s a busy morning, you’ve finally gotten everyone where they need to be and you’re just pulling into the parking lot at work when your dash light starts glaring at you. Your check engine light shines bright, but you have no idea why. Whether you can tell a difference in the way your car, truck, or SUV is running, your car is trying to tell you something. At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS, we can help!

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS, we recommend always making it a priority to change your oil on time. Here’s a look into why it’s so important, and what happens if you don’t keep up with oil changes.

Sludge - If oil stays in an engine too long, sludge begins to build up anywhere oil can go. The oil absorbs tiny debris and contaminants, kind of like a liquid sponge - once it’s at capacity, that oil begins to stick, clog, and build up throughout the engine. Small veins that carry oil to components like actuators, turbos, and bearings will become blocked, starving critical components of oil and causing component or engine failure.

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, our goal is to keep your car, truck, or SUV shifting and riding as smoothly as it did the day it rolled off the lot. A big part of that is the mounting hardware that keeps the moving parts in your drivetrain running smooth.

Sometimes your car, truck, or SUV stops performing quite like it used to. At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, we can fix that. A simple but common issue on vehicles equipped with a manual transmission is shifter bushing issues. Your shifter has a bushing on the end of it, where it connects to the actual transmission. Its purpose is to provide tight, smooth shifting. 

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, routine maintenance and repair isn’t the only thing we do. For custom parts installation, you can also count on us. Common modification enthusiasts do is swapping to a short-throw shifter; but what actually is a short-throw shifter, and what does it do?

You’ve probably heard the term “transmission flush” before at some point in your automotive experience. But what exactly does it mean to have your transmission flushed, and why does it matter? Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS has the answers.

At Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, we know that few problems are simultaneously as simple and confusing as a bad ground connection on your car, truck, or SUV. Here’s a look at some symptoms of a bad ground, and what you can do to correct it.

The best way to deal with a blown tire is to prevent it from happening in the first place. However, eventually, a flat tire is going to occur, and it’ll most likely be when you least need it. From Cecil's Automotive in Collierville, TN and Olive Branch, MS, here’s what you need to do.

All the lights on your vehicle have an important job to do. Brake lights, tail lights, blinkers, reverse lights, and headlights are a crucial part of driving. Lights make you visible, make things visible to you, and allow you to communicate with other drivers. All of a vehicle’s lights make driving easier and safer, and all of them are important...not to mention legally required.

Chances are you don’t pay much attention to your vehicle’s battery until it dies, when you get to perform the dreary dual task of waiting for a jump while simultaneously calling for an appointment to get a new battery fitted. Of course, that’s if you’re sure it’s the battery that’s dead in the first place. The only way to be certain is to take it in to be tested. However, it generally helps to know the health of your vehicle battery prior to finding yourself stranded.