July 8, 2018
Today's Tuffy Walled Lake post focuses on using coolant. If you pour in the wrong kind, it won't protect the cooling system and may even void the warranty. Check your vehicle owner's manual. Of course, your Tuffy Walled Lake service advisor will know the proper coolant for your vehicle.
Brake fluid is confusing for some Walled Lake drivers. Back when we opened Tuffy Walled Lake, most vehicles used Dot 3 brake fluid. Now we have Dot 4 and Dot 5. Some Walled Lake residents mistakenly think the higher numbers are an upgrade. You know, if 3 is good then 4 must be better. That's not how it works. They are different formulations to meet the demands of differences in brake systems. Only one of them is designed for your vehicle.
Ditto for transmission fluid. For decades there were two basic types of tranny fluid used at Tuffy Walled Lake: friction modified or not. With the tremendous engineering advances in vehicle automatic transmissions, there have been several new types of fluids developed to protect and lubricate them.
Nowhere are the advances in automotive fluids more evident to Tuffy Walled Lake professionals than in motor oil. Many new weights and formulations have been created to meet the demands of today's high-tech vehicle engine design. Modern engines have more parts and much tighter tolerances.
That's where the new grades of engine oil come in. They have to be formulated to lubricate, protect and clean all of those vehicle engine parts, big and little. The oil has to be thin enough to get into little passages, yet resistant to vaporization.
At Tuffy Walled Lake in Walled Lake, we believe that in some ways modern automotive fluids are just as impressive as the new engines. Because weights of oil and types of coolant and transmission fluid are so carefully matched to the vehicle, make sure you always use the proper fluid if you are topping off at home.
Tuffy Walled Lake
784 N. Pontiac Trail
Walled Lake, Michigan 48390
248.624.4440
June 15, 2025
When you get in your vehicle, how does it smell? If it's not so nice, it may be time to have your cabin air filter changed. It's not the same one that filters out the air used in the engine. The cabin air filter screens out dust and other particulates from the outside air so when it enters the c... More
June 9, 2025
There's nothing quite like getting in your vehicle on a hot day, switching on the air conditioning and having warm air blow out of the vents. You may have had no problem for months and then, one day, you are driving around in a sauna. You're hot stuff, but not in a good way! So what goes wrong w... More
June 2, 2025
Maybe your vehicle feels like Breaking Bad. In other words, when you brake, things are bad. You may find it takes you a longer distance to stop, you feel a vibration, or its pulsating when you depress the brake pedal, or perhaps your vehicle pulls to one side. Those can be symptoms of failing b... More