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

Transmission Cut to show you the inside of it

Nothing works if your transmission doesn't work! Simply put you are going nowhere without it and it is the one thing that both car and truck drivers alike never think twice about until it really acts up or they have no power or simply don't move forward. Most of us have a newer car or truck with an automatic transmission in it vs. a standard transmission so do not notice that it is slipping gears until the problem is really serious so the question is how do you get the most out of your transmission? The obvious answer is to take care of your transmission with scheduled service per your owner's manual recommendation but we have put together a simple checklist for our Clarksville drivers to help them become "transmission aware" as it were.

Exhaust issues are extremely common, no matter what type of car, truck, or SUV you drive. At Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville, TN, we can get your exhaust back in shape in no time.

Exhaust issues tend to be neglected, and we get that; there are just other parts of your vehicle that you'd rather focus on. Besides a clogged catalytic converter, there isn’t much risk of damage from a bad exhaust system - it negatively affects your gas mileage, and the sound is annoying, but other than that, it’s an issue many people learn to live with.

We see this with our fleet customers, our regular Clarksville car pool drivers and our diesel truck drivers so it isn't just one type of driver that ends up with a nightmare on their hands costing thousands of dollars to repair, asking about the costs of a JASPER replacement engine! The fact is your driving habits and maintenance habits can easily avoid this issue! 6 EASY STEPS - Service, Tires, Don't Ignore Service Engine Lights, Keep it Clean & Stop Driving Crazy!

If you own a Ford vehicle you may be affected by this recall. According to CBS News, Ford recently announced a recall that affects over 1.3 million vehicles that are primarily located in North America. The recall was issued mainly due to problems with rear suspension and transmission control software.

There is a reason we check your brake fluid when you come in for a service check. Maintenance pays big dividends and we want to avoid high repair costs for our Clarksville drivers. Did you know that brake service isn't just all about the brake pads, drums & rotors? That we have found low brake fluid to be the cause of a large percentage of brake issues here at Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive? Seriously, brake fluid is an important part of your braking system and with your service intervals being less frequent on the newer vehicles 5,000-10,000 more miles this has become an issue! Why?...

Sometimes it is EASY to see if your car or truck needs to come into our shop for professional repairs!
1. You see steam rising from the engine!
2. The Check Engine Light is on!
3. The engine starts, but there is an odor that is not right.
4. You hear grinding or thumping noises.

Simple service visits can discover all kinds of things you would think are obvious but we simply get in and drive! If the lights come on and the car starts....No Problem. Then we see things like this here at Tony Kennedy's Crain's Automotive in Clarksville and we have to ask...When did you hit something and WHAT was it. The typical answer is WHAT??? They've already forgotten the incident an don't realize that a bent rim could case all kinds of problems. Then we ask...Does it pull a little when you are driving?

No Cold Air? This looks like a really clogged up home A/C filter right? It's an evaporator that on a vehicle is meant to allow air to flow through it and cool down your vehicle's A/C unit allowing it to work properly. This, however, is a seriously plugged up evaporator with very little air flow coming through! The A/C Evaporator did not get this way overnight, providing warning signals along the way such as the car wasn't cooling enough.