LakesideGarage

LakesideGarage - Nailsworth

Lakeside Garage was established in 1984 by the current owner Pete Blackwell, on the site of his father's timber yard. The garage may have been around for the last twenty seven years, but it is a constantly evolving, modern, forward thinking business.

Today, you will find Pete and his mechanics using the very latest in computerised technology to assist them in keeping your car running smoothly. They use industry standard computers and software to read out your car's in built computer, to help them diagnose faults and problems.

Lakeside Garage became an MOT testing station in June 2011. Pete and Jon are now fully trained and accredited MOT testers with the very latest equipment to hand for testing the mechanics, emissions, brakes, etc.

As more and more cars come fitted with Air Conditioning, Lakeside Garage has kept up to date with its own specialised mobile Air Conditioning filter and gas cleaning unit.

As you can see, Lakeside Garage is a well established "local" garage with all the necessary high-tec equipment that is needed to keep modern cars running smoothly. However, they have the experience to work on almost any car, new or old. So don't worry if you drive the latest Ferrari or a 1950s Austin A35, Lakeside Garage can MOT, service and maintain it for you and also supply tyres at very competitive prices. If you need help with car problems, come and talk to Pete; his years of experience and training can help you get back on the road with a smoother running, more economical and more reliable car. Trust Lakeside Garage with your vehicle, one less worry for you!

Air Conditioning

Remember - Air Con is not just for summer!

Yes, you can have cool air in summer, but you can use it to have warm dehumidified air in winter which easily demists the windows. The filtering system helps reduce pollutants and other airborne particles, including pollen.

As you can see in the diagram, your car's air con is quite a complex extra system attached to your car's engine. You know the need for good engine maintenance, but what about your air conditioning system?

Here at Lakeside Garage we have the latest specialised air con equipment to help keep your car's system running at 100% efficiency.

Car Air Conditioning Problems?

Although the average car air conditioning system comprises only 5 main components there are still things that can go wrong during normal operation of the unit. The biggest threat to the system in general is that of excess water building up within the refrigerant that this uses.

Under normal circumstances water is produced as the system runs, this is perfectly acceptable when it is dripping out under the car. It is when moisture becomes free-floating within the system that the real problems arise, with the potential for this to become iced-up and corroded over time.

Here at Lakeside Garage we start with a visual check of the various pipes, connectors and hoses that are part of the Air Con system. Now we attach the gas analysis machine to check what's inside the pipes and parts. We can read out the exact composition of the gas, oil and anything else in the system. Once we know what is going on inside the system we can sort out problems, clean out any moisture and re-charge the system to the correct amount of gas needed to keep you car cool.

You can't do anything yourself, its not like checking the coolant, tyre pressures or the oil before a long journey - the gas is under pressure and should be sealed in.

To have your Air Con running at maximum efficiency, to avoid leakage of gas into the environment and to clean out the bacteria from the filter system, bring your car to Lakeside Garage and let us service the parts that are often neglected. We have the equipment and the expertise to keep your Air Con in tip top shape.

Once upon a time cars were simple - plugs, points, valve gaps, distributor, etc. Children learnt the names of the engine parts that went wrong the most often! Usually it was dads out under the bonnet tinkering with the various parts, trying to keep the car running smoothly. Cars were relatively simple, often unreliable, not very economical, prone to breaking down and given to not starting easily in the winter months.

Now we have cars that only need servicing every 12000 miles, start every time, give good fuel consumption and seldom need the bonnet opening - wonderful. One major change is the engine management system, its complex and clever and hopefully you need never know much about it!!

The RAC have a wonderful section of their web site dealing with "Engine Management Systems" - have a click on it.When everything is running well, leave it well alone and when it isn't, then bring your car down to Lakeside Garage.

In order to "talk" to the EMS, Lakeside Garage have a range of hand held sensors and laptop computers. Every car has a different system, with a range of different parameters governing the running of the engine. All this technology is not for the feint hearted, first you buy the kit, then you buy the updates and then you replace it all and start again. Mr Kerbside Motors doesn't stand a chance with systems like this.

Emissions are controlled by the EMS, using sensors all over the car and the exhaust systems - one small problem and your car can come to a grinding halt - "the computer says no!"

To replace the brake pads on some cars the management system has to electronically release them, the mechanic now replaces the pads and the management system re-adjusts the brakes.

With cars that are this complex, bring them down to the experts at Lakeside Garage when problems do occur and let them restore all the system operations back to normal. If your car has more warning lights than your Christmas tree, let Pete and his team bring them back under control.