At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, 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 Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, 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.

Unless you use your vehicle to tow every day for work, odds are you haven’t paid much attention to your truck, SUV, or crossover’s towing capacity. Maybe you’re looking to buy a boat for some summer fun or just need to rent a trailer to get your belongings from one dwelling to the next. Whatever the reason for pulling something behind your vehicle, it’s important to get a firm grasp on what exactly your towing capacity means. Understanding how each of the components in your vehicle contributes to your overall tow rating can keep you from putting undue stress on your rig and keep you and your family safe.

Every year, more and more trucks come equipped with turbochargers. What was once a novelty or a performance option has become increasingly common as stock equipment. What are they for, and how do they work? Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL is here to help.

Tune-ups are an important and frequently neglected aspect of automotive care. Most drivers don’t really consider the mechanical condition of their car, so long as nothing is wrong with it. However, if a vehicle is tuned-up and maintained correctly, many mechanical failures (and expenses) will be avoided altogether. So whne is the right time to get a tune-up?

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.

There comes a time in the life of every fleet vehicle or commercial truck when you have to decide - is it time to retire that truck or van, or should you put the money into fixing it? At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we’re here to help.

When your car, truck, or SUV is burning oil, it can be frustrating and costly. There are numerous reasons an engine will burn oil - these range from an altogether worn out engine to a simple part replacement. At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL we want to keep you informed, here's what you need to know about why your engine might be burning oil.

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 Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, here’s what you need to know about antifreeze.

Sometimes a tire goes flat over the course of days, weeks, or even months. A leak like this never has an obvious cause - so why is your tire losing air? From Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, here’s some info on leaky tires.

Cars, trucks, and SUVs use and create multiple liquid substances. Here’s what you need to know about the puddle of liquid under your vehicle, from Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL. There are a few different substances that can pool under an automobile, and some are more serious than others. Knowing what to look for and what to do could save you from hassle with your vehicle in the long run. 

An article about routine maintenance probably doesn’t sound like the most riveting read, but at Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, proper maintenance is something we believe in wholeheartedly. Routine maintenance is the key to making a vehicle last for decades; if done correctly, your vehicle will stay reliable and enjoyable to drive, and you will save time and money in the process.

When something goes wrong on your vehicle, it can be tempting to take the cheapest route. With eBay, Amazon, and the countless other sources for car and truck parts on the market today, many people decide to go that route to save some money. Here are some points to consider when buying quality automotive parts, from Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL.

Alignment is the position of your wheels in relation to your vehicle and how they interact with the road. When your vehicle is properly aligned, your wheels will point in the same direction as the vehicle. To maintain proper control of your car, you must keep your wheels in proper alignment. Otherwise, steering will become difficult, your tires will wear unevenly and your fuel economy will decrease. 

Ah, windshield wipers. Like so many indispensable things in life, we tend not to appreciate them until they’re gone. But what if all drivers had a basic understanding of the wonderful world of wipers, enabling them to identify problems early and choose replacements wisely? We like that idea. Accordingly, we’ve put together a crash course that should bring your knowledge up to speed. Your automotive windows to the world require dependable wipers, so let’s learn more about these unsung heroes.

If there’s an issue with your diesel fuel system, the most important thing to remember is to fix it sooner rather than later. With gas engines, you can often power through a fuel issue for quite some time - they’re irritating, but not often permanently damaging.

Your Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN, is essentially your car’s fingerprint. In its entirety, it is specific only to your car. Each car has its own unique VIN number and can be decoded to provide manufacturing and identification information on any vehicle on the road. Date of manufacture, manufacturer, vehicle type, where it was made, and options such as engine and transmission type, whether a car is a two or four-door, and a multitude of other specifications can be gleaned from a VIN number. Essentially, a VIN number will tell you exactly what a car is and where it came from, without even having to see the car.