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Regular Toyota maintenance ensures your vehicle is always in good condition. This helps it work more efficiently and extends your vehicle's lifespan. As your Toyota dealership, we want to tell you a few signs you need to visit us for essential maintenance. Coolant Leak A coolant leak is easy to spot, as the liquid is brightly colored, usually pink, blue, green, or orange. It's essential for your cooling system, as this liquid absorbs heat, which helps control the engine temperature. Coolant is pumped through the engine, absorbing heat as it moves until it reaches the radiator. Inside the radiator, the heat is removed from the coolant by heat exchange, and the coolant circulates through the engine again. more Coolant can leak from several places, including worn seals, a damaged radiator, or a worn radiator hose. As the engine loses coolant, heat levels will rise as the remaining coolant slows down. If you see your engine temperature rising for no apparent reason, contact us ASAP. We'll find and fix the leak, then refill the coolant. Worn Tires Tire tread is essential for safe driving, as healthy tread securely grips the surface, ensuring your Toyota handles as well as it's designed to. As time passes, the tire tread gradually wears down due to surface friction. As the tread level drops, your braking distance increases, and handling problems develop. Low tire tread also increases the chances of skidding on wet or muddy surfaces due to reduced traction. Severely worn, or bald, tires are extremely dangerous because their smooth surfaces provide little to no grip on the road. Our technicians will examine your tread, and we can quickly replace any severely worn tires. Shaking Steering Wheel If your steering wheel starts shaking or vibrating when driving, you have a problem. This issue is caused by either bad wheel alignment or worn shocks. Wheel alignment is the angle of your wheels relative to the axle. The correct alignment for your vehicle is determined during the design phase to ensure the most efficient weight distribution and performance. Poor alignment causes a shaky wheel as the tires hit the ground irregularly. The shocks absorb the bouncing motion caused by driving over irregular surfaces. In time, the shocks will become worn, causing a jostling, bumpy ride if you drive over rough terrain. Worn shocks cause the steering wheel to shake as vehicle suspension becomes unstable. We can replace damaged shocks or correct wheel alignment issues using our computerized alignment machine. These are just some of the maintenance issues we can repair. If your Toyota has a problem, contact our service department at Ken Ganley Toyota Akron in Akron, OH.

Does your car feel less smooth on the road than usual? If so, you might have misaligned wheels. Over time, all automobiles suffer from misalignment to some degree as their wheels become knocked and tugged slightly out of position by bumps over potholes and worn suspension parts. Fortunately, this issue is easily corrected with routine wheel alignment at your local Toyota dealership. Common Causes of Wheel Misalignment A variety of factors can lead your wheels to become misaligned. Repeated bumps over potholes and curbs gradually take their toll. Worn-out suspension parts can also begin struggling to hold the wheels in the correct position. more Issues with the tires, such as uneven tread wear or improper inflation, can also put awkward pressure on the wheels. The worst culprit is any kind of collision, which will often knock the wheels and many other components out of place. Signs Your Wheels Are Out of Alignment At first, slight misalignment might be imperceptible. But as time passes, you'll notice your handling diminishing and the steering becoming less precise. The steering wheel may start to feel sloppy in your hands and might even become fixed in an off-center position, making it difficult to drive in a straight line. With one or more wheels crooked on the toe angle (the wheel's angle when viewed from above), you might also find your car veering slightly to one side. You're also likely to hear odd noises, such as excessive rumbling from below; your tires could also start to squeal loudly when you corner. If you inspect your tires, you may find them wearing down unevenly at an excessive rate: a problem that both causes and is worsened by misaligned wheels. Overall vehicle vibrations will also increase, robbing you of your ordinarily smooth and peaceful driving. Visit Your Toyota Dealership for Realignment When misalignment becomes particularly bad, you might notice them visibly look out of position. However, misalignment isn't easy to detect or measure without the proper machinery. It's advisable to have the alignment of your wheels professionally checked twice a year with the appropriate computerized tools. Our technicians can measure the alignment of each wheel with pinpoint precision, identifying even the slightest misalignment along each wheel's camber, toe, and caster angles. If required, they can then conduct a full realignment, returning your wheels to exactly the position they were in when brand new. This returns your car's handling, steering, smoothness, and overall performance to top-notch condition. If you haven't had your wheels checked for a while, visit Ken Ganley Toyota Akron in Akron, OH, today. Our courteous, seasoned professionals are committed to providing exceptional service and customer experience, whatever your automotive needs.