Automotive News & Information - Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive

We’ve all been there: You start your car in the morning and begin to back out of the driveway. You hear an unusual noise coming from your car, and it sounds bad. How do you know if it's something you should bring in to us here at Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive to get looked at?

At Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN, transmission maintenance and repair is our specialty. Here’s some information on your transmission pump - what it does, and how to know if yours needs to be replaced.

If there’s one thing we know at Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN, its the importance of a transmission. While engines get a lot of the spotlight in conversations about vehicles, we know that the transmission is the unsung hero of your automobile. We want you to know just how important it is, too.

When a vehicle has trouble starting, many people initially blame the starter. What is the starter, and how do you know if yours has called it quits? At Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN, we want to keep you informed, and telling you what to look for will prevent further damage when issues arise. The starter is essentially just an electric motor; a gear at the end of that electric motor engages the flywheel, which turns the engine over, allowing it to start. How do you know if yours is failing?

Awareness and safety are at the top of our list of concerns here at Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive, even more so with all the recall scare that happens in the news. We think a well-maintained car is a safe car that can also save you money in the long run. Here are our top ten tips for keeping your family safe, saving you money, and keeping your car running smoothly.

Antifreeze is a fluid that’s just as important as oil to the engine in your car, truck, or SUV. You probably already know it’s essential to keeping your engine cool - but it’s important for more than one reason, and does require maintenance besides keeping it full. From Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN, here’s what you need to know about antifreeze.

Car enthusiasts would argue that "those were the days". Everything you drove was built like a tank and had the chrome on it so you enjoyed washing it but NO power steering. For most of us, it is hard to remember life without power steering – cranking those great big steering wheels? It was a pretty good workout. Now power steering is standard. The heart of any power steering system is its pump. The pump pressurizes the power steering fluid that provides assistance for steering. Most pumps are driven by a belt that is run by the engine – a few are electrically powered. A high-pressure hose passes fluid from the pump to the steering gear. A low-pressure hose returns the fluid back to the pump. Here at Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN we know that you depend on that power steering and check your fluid & hoses religiously!

Foggy headlights are a problem that has arisen in the past couple of decades, as we have moved away from glass sealed beam bulbs and into an era of plastic lenses with bulbs inside. While modern headlights are superior to the sealed beam headlights of years ago, they do tend to fog up after years of use. It’s a good trade for far better illumination and easier replacement, but an issue nonetheless. Hours and hours of heat, sunlight, and age eventually cause them to cloud up, which can reduce visibility at night in addition to worsening the appearance of your car, truck, or SUV. From Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN, here are some tips on taking care of your foggy or cloudy headlight issue.