If you’ve owned a vehicle long, particularly one with a few miles on it, you have probably encountered a peculiar smell that grabbed your attention. Scents that you encounter while driving (emanating from your vehicle, not the horse farm down the road) are indicators of your vehicle's health and often the first warning that something may be wrong. Rhodes Engines in St Charles has assembled this list to prepare for you for the next time you smell something odd, so you’ll know what’s going on next time you notice a funny smell.

Your fleet or commercial vehicles are heavy duty machines that see a lot of wear and tear. When your engine mounts begin to fail, sometimes it feels like the whole vehicle is falling apart. Get your vehicle back into shape with the professional technicians at Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO.

Your brakes have a lot to do with how your car drives. Brakes are a frequently neglected item on a lot of people’s checklist, and many drivers on the road have subpar brakes and don’t even know it. A car that brakes well and brakes correctly are just as important as acceleration, handling, or any other aspect of a vehicle’s drivability. A car with brake issues has the potential to be a far more enjoyable ride when fixed.

Obviously, your brakes are essential. However, it’s easy to neglect or ignore brake issues, and even miss them altogether; as long as the car, truck, or SUV still stops, many people don’t see the need to have their brakes serviced. From Rhodes Engines in St Charles, here are some common brake issues, and why you should fix them.

At Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO, we enjoy providing you with useful knowledge that pertains to the ownership and maintenance of your car, truck, or SUV. You may have noticed more and more electric cars hitting our roadways over the past few years. With that in mind, here’s a brief, but interesting look at the history of electric cars.

Exhaust issues are extremely common, no matter what type of car, truck, or SUV you drive. At Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO, 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. 

At Rhodes Engines in St Charles, we know how irritating an issue with your car, truck, or SUV can be, even if it doesn’t immediately affect your vehicle’s performance. One such problematic issue, the excessively loud radiator cooling fan, is a common plague many automobile owners will experience.

There are many parts and systems outside of the car’s transmission that is equally as important as the parts and systems inside the transmission. Without them, the transmission won’t do much. There’s no way to transfer power from the engine to the shafts, disengage it to shift the gears, or power the differential without them. Just in case you need us, at Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO, we can help keep your transmission in top shape, but here’s what you need to know.

Who created the world’s first car is actually a matter of debate; since the invention of the engine, people had been installing them on horse carriages to make them self-propelled. Even when automobiles specifically designed for engines came around, they were hardly recognizable as a car by today’s standards. However, the first patented automobile, a vehicle specifically designed to be propelled by an engine, was built by Karl Benz and completed in 1885.

At Rhodes Engines in St Charles, we know that some of the most elusive issues with any car, truck, or SUV are often caused by the simplest of malfunctions. While you might consider a gas cap fairly innocuous, it can actually malfunction too, prompting a check engine light on your dashboard.

Good gas mileage is something we all want. In fact, many drivers purchase certain cars solely for gas mileage, and almost all of us at least take it into consideration when purchasing a vehicle. While it is true that gas mileage is by and large determined simply by the type of car, there are actually a variety of things you can do to increase the gas mileage of any automobile. The tips Rhodes Engines in St Charles want to provide you here are simple and effective steps you can take to increase your gas mileage, often more considerably than you think.

If your car, truck or SUV is experiencing engine issues and you are concerned about having to purchase a new vehicle, our technicians at Rhodes Engines in St Charles have an answer that will save you money and help you maintain the value of your vehicle. Today's vehicles cost more than they ever did and you typically have a loan for a much longer time period - yet the warranty it seems stays relatively short!

Here, we believe in treating your vehicle as if it were ours and if your engine is not reliable we can replace it with a JASPER replacement engine with a nationwide parts and labor warranty! It is what we would do with our car, truck or SUV instead of trading it for a higher payment or a vehicle we didn't like as much as what we had!

When you are having trouble with your car or truck starting and you open the hood up to take a peek to see this....you'll see what an overly corroded battery looks like. This happens naturally over time on vehicle battery terminals.  If you are like 99% of normal St Charles drivers, you don't check your oil or your battery so you don't keep an eye on the amount of corrosion that's building up on your car or truck battery.  Here at Rhodes Engines, we do and there are solvents that we can use here in the shop during a battery maintenance service that will help slow the corrosion process but nothing that can prevent it 100%. Way before it gets to this point, we will be suggesting you consider replacing the battery. 

We all love the sunshine but getting into that HOT car isn't always so wonderful even when you have a remote start it will take the breath out of you when the temperatures are soaring. Makes you want to pack your lunch instead of meeting friends for lunch! We decided that you should meet friends for lunch! So we got together and found some quick ideas for you. It isn't much but enjoy the sunshine on us here at Rhodes Engines here in St Charles! Call it our fun day fact!

At Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO, a big part of our job is helping you make decisions that are right for you, your car, truck or SUV. When it comes to replacing a transmission there are a lot of options out there, and we’re here to help you make the right choice. Our technicians can help you decide based on your budget, vehicle and lifestyle. We're here to get your car going again and earn your business in the future.

There are many factors that go into making Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO a repair shop that’s above the rest.

Manual transmissions are generally more reliable than automatic transmissions. They don’t have as many parts, aren’t as complex, and can take a lot more abuse. However, if an issue is allowed to persist, more and more damage to surrounding components on your manual transmission will occur. Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO can help you take care of your car as soon as you notice a problem.

If your car, truck or SUV is experiencing major engine issues, the technicians at Rhodes Engines in St Charles, MO have you covered. You hear the engine knocking when it decides to start? Is there smoke pouring from your truck’s exhaust pipe? Whether you’re burning oil, your engine is on it’s last leg or has simply given up altogether, we can help. And if you’re not sure what you need, we can help with that too.

At Rhodes Engines in St Charles, we know that transmissions are one of the greatest technological marvels of the automotive world. How does a standard shift transmission work? Why should you care? Our expert technicians here at Rhodes Engines in St Charles have the answers.

When you get in your car, truck, SUV, or minivan to drive and the A/C does not work what could be wrong? Here at Rhodes Engines, we have some simple answers to help you understand how your vehicle A/C system works. The first question we are asked is "Why isn't my air conditioner blowing cold air?" Let's talk about what could be happening.