Archive for the ‘News’ Category

more dodgy DPFs

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Particulate filters are the latest emissions control idea for Diesels. The only major problem is that they have a life span as short as 30,000 miles if a car only gets local town use and the dealers consider their £2000 replacement costs to be an acceptable service charge. Personally we feel that’s a more reasonable cost for a new engine, never mind a wearing component that you’ll need to change again. because of this we do a lot of DPF removals. We bypass the filter assembly and the car then gets sent to have the ECU decoded. the whole lot costs around £200 to £500 and you’ll never need another DPF. You’ll also gain a bit of power as an added extra. This BMW had a full stainless system built for better performance and had the car remapped while he was at it. It produced driveshaft snapping torque figures once finished.

944 Nightmare

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Sometimes what seems like a simple job can just keep snowballing. This 944 came in with a fairly small water leak. It turned out to be the water pump so we advised on new pump and cambelts while we were at it.  Porsche had used mostly nuts and studs to hold the pump in place so with a bit of gas to heat up the nuts they were soon undone. Unfortunately they’d decided the bottom 2 fixings should be bolts into the block, and there’s no way to loosen them off. 20 years of aluminium reacting with steel meant that despite our best efforts the inevitable happened and the bolts broke in the block. A jig was made to locate the drill and using special bits the old bolts were carefully drilled out. New threads were tapped and the new pump went on. We had been supplied a later S2 pump having been told the earlier one was no longer available. With a few changes it did fit but left an idler pulley sitting incorrectly on the cam belt. This lead to several days mix and matching S1 and S2 pulleys to get everything sitting right. All finished well with the job done and no problems. Not the easiest water pump to change though!

PPC in the Park

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

AA Silencers were at Practical performance car’s annual show and Mallory Park. AA Silencers owner Mark Hammersleys is a writer for the magazine and gave passenger rides and driver tuition at the show. He also took out the magazines Rolls Royce for some demo laps. AA Silencers staff also took their cars out for some track action

Dealer Services

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Not everyone realises but even if your car is still under warranty we can stuill service it here at AA Silencers. So long as the approved schedule is adhered to and main dealer parts are used we can stamp your service book and maintain your warranty. Most of the time we are nearly half the price of main dealer services. That’s a saving that’s hard to ignore.

A bit more mild

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

As the summer sets in all the classics come out and head for the shows. This one was also in need of a few touch ups in the exhaust department. Again there was no need for a complete new system and given that the car only did limited mileage each year the owner felt a stainless exhaust wasn’t necessary. For a fraction of the cost of stainless we custom built the back box in mild steel saving him money and still giving that tailor made touch.

Testing tyres

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

AA Sport has teamed up with Practical Performance Car magazine again for some tyre testing. tyres are the most important factor in performance driving, getting them working well is a test for the driver and mechanic. Gathering data from the tyres will tell you how well the car is set up and help improve things. It’s a labourious process but worth the effort. Our test car is an astra GTE race car.  Read how we get on in Practical Performance Car mag.

Recession Beater – free exhausts!

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Let’s face it, times are hard.  If you believe everything you read in the newspapers we’ll all be queueing for bread in the streets soon. The last thing you need is big repair bills for a car that you can’t manage without. We always keep our prices as low as possible plus run several scheme’s here to try and make life a little easier on the customers wallet. To add to our promotional offers for a short time only we are giving away free exhausts. The 8th customer invoiced for an exhaust each day will receive their exhaust system fitted free of charge up to a maximum cost of £50. Just print out this page and bring it along when you pay to see if you’re our lucky customer.

Free texts alerts

Monday, September 13th, 2010

If  like many other people out there your cars service or MoT due dates aren’t your top priority when it comes to calendar dates we have a solution. As members of the Good Garage Scheme we can offer you free text or email reminders. Simply go to www.GoodGarageScheme.com and fill in your details, or grab an appointment card from us next time your’re in. You never need be in a last minute dash to get your car MoT’d again.

Win a free service

Monday, September 13th, 2010

We are proud to be members of the Good Garage Scheme. This scheme has information on garages in your area and offers you as the customer the assurance that you are being served by skilled and reputable staff. When we have completed the work on your car you can fill out a Good Garage Scheme feedback form to rate our service. At AA Silencers filling out this form also enters you to win a free interim service, one available each quarter. This offer is only available at AA Silencers, not all Good garage Scheme garages. Next time you’re in be sure to fill out a form, it could be worth your while.

Thank you to our loyal customers

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Although many of our regular customers already know we offer a loyalty discount scheme which can save you 10% off your bill. If you have one of our AA Silencers window stickers on display in the window of your car the discount applies to any final bill except for MoT’s and servicing. Next time you’re in be sure to pick up a sticker, and thank you for your custom.