San Leandro Auto Repair

Battery Replacement in San Leandro, CA   Doral’s Auto Repair offers complete electrical system, starting and charging system diagnostics and repairs. Among the services we offer at our San Leandro car care facility is battery testing and battery replacement.    Car batteries typically last 4 to 5 years. Cold winter weather is particularly hard on batteries, especially if they are in the latter stages of their lifespan. If your vehicle’s battery is nearing its 5 year mark, or is exhibiting any of the signs listed below, it’s time for a visit to our San Leandro auto repair garage to have the battery checked out, and possibly to have it replaced.    Signs that your car’s battery may need help: • Engine cranking slowly when starting  • Electrical components (entertainment center) acting up • Headlights dim when the engine is turned off • Battery wa ... read more

Why Did the Heater in My Vehicle Stop Working?   Your vehicle's heater is something you rely on during the winter months. It is how you keep warm when getting out to go to work in the early mornings. It is also helps with fogged up windows when the outside temperature is lower than the inside temperature. So even though it seems counterintuitive, heater is a safety item.    Unfortunately, the heating system in a vehicle consists of many components that can fail - some mechanical, some electrical. When you turn the heater on, and there's no air coming out, or the air is not warm, there are many potential culprits. Here is a partial list:    • Not having enough coolant will prevent the heater from putting out warm air. Low coolant can also lead to engine overheating, so it’s important to have this conditio ... read more

Engine tune-ups aren’t as commonly talked about as oil changes or other maintenance activities, but they are a valuable way to extend the life of your car and improve its performance. Most modern cars are self-tuning. Electronic components adjust things in real time, thus making an old fashioned tune-up rare indeed. However, there are times when your vehicle’s computer cannot handle an issue, or filters need to be replaced, so we can still perform a tune up, even though it’s a bit different than the tune up of old. Naturally, if you start to feel a change in your car’s behavior, such as worsened gas mileage, engine misfires and knocks, or a rough idle, it’s time for a tune-up – and chances are your car’s computer will turn on the Check Engine Light to motivate you to visit your friendly mechanic. What Is An Engine Tune-Up? Different shops will have different procedures for their tune-ups, but the main goal of a tune-up is to check throu ... read more

CarMD.com recently published its annual Vehicle Health Index, and for the Check Engine Light category, the most frequent repair in 2020 was Catalytic Converter Replacement.   The high frequency of catalytic converter replacement is due to the nationwide wave of catalytic converter theft. High prices of the precious metals used in building catalytic converters have motivated thieves to steal them all over the country. Oxygen sensor replacement is second on the list. This is also due to the crime wave – when thieves steal the catalytic converter, they often damage oxygen sensor system in the process. Doral’s Auto Repair offers a catalytic converter shield that discourages theft – it can be insta ... read more

You have probably heard that car manufacturers are using a new a/c refrigerant: R-1234YF. It is designed to be better for the environment, however it does require new equipment, so very few shops can perform a/c R-1234YF recharge. Fortunately Doral’s Auto Repair the shop that have the new equipment, and our technicians are trained in its proper use. We offer comprehensive auto air conditioning services whether you vehicle uses the old or the new, R-1234YF, refrigerant. The new refrigerant goes by many names, so when reading your vehicle manual, you may encounter following names: YF-1234, R-1234-YF, HFO-1234, R1234YF, R1234, HFO1234YF, HFO-1234-YF, and YF1234. They all refer to the same new refrigerant. The new refrigerant is not only superior in terms of its chemical composition, but the new a/c equipment is also designed to protect the environment: New equipment is designed with different fittings, so there can be no accidental cross-contamin ... read more